1. Is the Berlin SPD ungrateful to its governing mayor?
If you live like me in a civilized city like Hamburg and only visit Berlin occasionally, you often wonder why the residents of the capital seem so proud of their rough manners . At first it therefore seemed like a gross, typically Berlin impoliteness that the Governing Mayor Michael Müller in his own party, the SPD, now has to fight for his position as a candidate for the federal election campaign in the constituency of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Shouldn't the SPD people be grateful to the man who is sometimes mocked as a boring man, but who has a lot of respect for his solid work?
Wolfgang Kumm / picture alliance / dpa
In fact, Sawsan Chebli , the woman who is now up against Müller in an intra-party competition, has a few good arguments for it. For example, she announced long before Müller that she wanted to run for office in her home constituency. As my colleague Christian Teevs writes, different worlds collide in the duel between Prime Minister Müller and his State Secretary Chebli: A young woman competes against a no longer young man, a climber against her sponsor, the new against the old SPD.
In order to overtake someone, as the filmmaker Francois Truffaut once said, you inevitably have to leave their footsteps and go your own way. In this respect, the SPD politician Chebli is quite rightly not to be put off by the concerns that can be heard from the Federal SPD against the power struggle in the constituency. "At the top of the Berliners but also the Federal SPD, many would prefer to forego this type of election campaign," says colleague Teevs. "Sawsan Chebli is not afraid of the conflict. She appeared very self-confident in the conversation and, according to my impression, really believes in her chance against Müller. He is of course the favorite, but the fact that his state secretary is up against him does not look good for the ruler."
Read the full story here: "Can you do that? Compete against the boss?"
2. Do Russia's critics of the regime have the most dangerous job in the world?
I admire people who have the courage to publicly criticize the powerful in their country , even though they know that this criticism can cost them their freedom, their profession and even their lives. A few years ago I was in Moscow with the theater maker Milo Rau , where he had some prominent people who had clashed with the Russian Jusitz appear in a show trial for his theater spectacle "Moscow Trials". At that time I met the pussy riot activist Yekaterina Samuzewitsch , among others , who formulated the beautiful sentence that in her country you can actually only talk about the state of freedom of speech in the courtroom.
The news that the Russian opposition politician Alexej Navalny is presumably unconscious in the No. 1 emergency hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk, the doctors call his condition "serious", is a shock for the millions of mainly young Russian followers who Navalny in his political Support the fight against corruption and the enrichment of the elites.
Sefa Karacan / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
Even if the exact causes of Navalny's poor health are still unclear, it must unfortunately be stated that Kremlin critics live very dangerous lives. Since the reporter and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in Moscow in 2006 and the ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London with radiant polonium in the same year, numerous opponents of Vladimir Putin's ruling apparatus have reported attacks and threats.
According to his account, the lawyer Navalny had already been attacked several times; a year ago he was allegedly treated for an allergy shock while he was imprisoned in a hospital. My colleague Christina Hebel says: "Navalny is the leading opposition politician in Russia , one of the strongest critics of the Kremlin. He is so uncomfortable for Putin's power system because he not only manages to gather thousands of people to protest, despite the repression in the country, but also to repeatedly demonstrate the mighty. " Navalny regularly publishes videos on YouTube about the possessions and assets of leading politicians, officials and business people in the country, thus making corruption in Russia public. "He and his fellow campaigners," says Hebel, have "succeeded in building a real counter-public on social media."
Read the full story here: Russian Kremlin critic in a coma
3. Can Billie Eilish see a President of her choosing at the White House anytime soon?
I was touched when the musician Bob Dylan , dressed in a bow tie and sunglasses, was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Barrack Obama nine years ago in the White House . The hero of several generations of music enthusiasts was not yet a Nobel Prize winner for literature, but at least he was 71 years old. I wish the singer Billie Eilish , who is still only 18 years old and is still considered the idol of a generation, that she will receive the freedom medal in the near future.
In any case, it was a touching, pleasantly unglamorous appearance that Eilish made at the virtual party conference of the American Democrats . I like the way the singer, who once said that she always feels weak when she has to smile, sees herself as a spokeswoman for serious, sensible young people who is convinced of the importance of politics.
DNCC / AFP
" For me, Billie Eilish played the role of the voice of her generation at the party congress very convincingly," says my colleague Felix Bayer, who analyzes the singer's performance. When Billie Eilish recently spoke in a commercial about how annoying it is that people their age are always asked what they are doing on their cell phones, Beyer felt caught. "That could have been from my daughter as well."
Read more about the party congress here: For the future of your generation
What else is important today
One-two blows to Donald Trump: Barack Obama and Vice-Presidential candidate Kamala Harris go tough with the incumbent President at the US Democratic Party. There is a clear calculation behind the appearances.
Small holes, major climate damage: a new study shows that a lot of methane escapes into the atmosphere from the gas networks in cities. The gas damages the climate far more than carbon dioxide.
Federal government issues travel warning for parts of Croatia: The Federal Foreign Office has issued travel warnings for parts of Croatia due to the increased number of cases. The travel warning applies to the port city of Split and the Krka National Park, among others.
Stephen Bannon charged with fraud: he was once a key adviser to US President Donald Trump. Stephen Bannon has now been arrested. He is accused of fraud in connection with a fundraiser.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
What is a house really worth? House prices go up and up. But when is an object too expensive? The real estate expert Bernhard Bischoff explains what is important - and why the kitchen is often a problem.
How to get access to your medical file: When patients change doctors or want to view their documents for other reasons, some practices are inconsistent. Experts tell you what you can do.
Every child can learn to swim: the waiting lists for swimming courses are long. But parents can do a lot themselves to get their children used to the water - and they don't even have to go to the indoor or outdoor pool.
Which is not so important today
In America, hitchhikers have ridden on freight trains for decades, the European bus system is less suitable for this.
Photo:--- / dpa
Stowaway on the Flixbus tail stopped: According to the police, the man was drunk and unresponsive. The dangerous journey of a 28-year-old on the Berlin city motorway has ended - he was sitting on a bicycle rack.
Typo of the day , now corrected: "Di María is also a weapon with his speed and his game intelligence."
Cartoon of the day: Covid, Helau
Thomas Plassmann
And tonight?
The actor Misel Maticevic plays a chemical engineer with a migration background in the exciting, clever movie "Exil", who suddenly sees himself threatened in his good suburban existence . The film by the director Visar Morina is an oppressive intimate play in which the audience gropes in the dark with the protagonist for a long time. Is the hero attacked by racists or is he just an ordinary victim of bullying? What is being told here may look like a crime thriller, but it is also a society portrait of our time. In any case, my colleague Hannah Pilarczyk is very fond of "Exile".
Have a nice evening. Sincerely,
Wolfgang Höbel
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