1.
The state expressions of solidarity on the anniversary of the Hanau attack are good, and the decisive clarification of the terrorist act would be even better.
“Praise often.
Rarely admire.
Never blame. «This is what the writer Walter Serner, who was killed by Nazi thugs in 1942, wrote.
And this slogan from Serner, whose famous manifesto »Last Loosening« fits very well into our time because of the title, can of course also serve as the secret motto of the »Situation in the evening«.
Today
in
Hanau
the murdered person is commemorated who was shot by an obviously right-wing extremist and racist perpetrator a year ago.
I am not sure how commendable the attempts by German politicians really are to show solidarity with the murdered and their families on the anniversary of the attack.
The work of my colleague Özlem Gezer and my colleague Timofey Neshitov, who spoke long and thoroughly with the survivors of the attack and the relatives of the murdered, and researched how incomplete the investigation of the series of murders from Hanau is to this day, deserves great recognition.
Photo:
Milos Djuric / DER SPIEGEL
Before visiting today's
commemorative event in Hanau
, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier ordered mourning flags at his official residence in Bellevue Palace in Berlin.
Yesterday, demonstrators in Frankfurt pointed out the many unanswered questions in connection with the Hanau murders.
These include the question of why the Hanau murderer was not on the radar of the authorities responsible for monitoring violent extremists before his act, despite psychological abnormalities and signs of radicalization.
In an interview with his colleague Yannick Ramsel, right-wing extremism researcher and political sociologist Matthias Quent says: "Most of those who think or act in a right-wing radical do not look at it."
Icon: enlarge Photo: Andreas Arnold / dpa
The
relatives of those murdered in Hanau still
ask why the perpetrator was allowed to have a weapon, why emergency calls were not accepted on the night of the crime, why the emergency exit at one of the crime scenes was blocked, why their children were autopsied without their consent - and get so good like no satisfactory answer.
My colleague Özlem says of the anger of many people from Hanau over the slow investigation of the attack: »I understand that many of the relatives feel that they have been left in the lurch.
You have heard enough expressions of solidarity.
Now they finally need to be certain about what really happened on February 19, 2020. "
Read the whole interview here: How do you recognize right-wing extremists today?
The Hanau Protocols: Survivors of the attack report on their estrangement from Germany
2. A Hamburg researcher presents alleged evidence that the coronavirus comes from a laboratory in Wuhan - but it does not stand up to scientific verification.
One can certainly admire the audacity of the Hamburg nanoscientist Roland Wiesendanger.
The researcher told ZDF that his latest work was "not intended for the scientific community, but for the public".
Wiesendanger has attracted a lot of media attention with a "study" that "does not provide any highly scientific evidence".
He
claims to have compiled
"serious evidence" of a
laboratory accident at the virological institute in the city of Wuhan
in China as the cause of the current corona pandemic.
The
University of Hamburg
has published a press release in which it says that Wiesendanger has "shed light on" the origin of the coronavirus.
Icon: enlarge Photo: Henning Angerer / Hoch Zwei Stock / imago images
Unfortunately, Wiesendanger's work is just a “colorful hodgepodge of serious and dubious sources”, analyzes my colleague Julia Merlot.
In addition to studies that should be taken seriously, Wiesendanger also refers to YouTube videos, Twitter and conspiracy theorists' pages, some of them from the right-wing margin.
On television he stated bluntly: "In principle, any journalist could have found that out."
Julia writes that the researcher's 105-page report hardly provides any added value.
The reputable sources of the alleged study have been discussed in the professional world for months.
For example, a
group of WHO experts,
who have had some quarreling, is
investigating
the origin of the pandemic.
Even she cannot rule out a laboratory accident, but after a circumstantial examination, unlike Wiesendanger, considers it unlikely.
Unlike the proven medical, pandemic and zoonoses specialists in the WHO group, Wiesendanger is a researcher who has no expertise whatsoever in the field.
His work is the expression of an individual's opinion.
"Everyone is free to publish such a paper and put it online," says Julia.
However, the University of Hamburg does not just seem to not bother the unscientific approach of its professor, its President Dieter Lenzen has probably expressly supported Wiesendanger.
Julia finds it "difficult when such unscientific statements give the appearance of serious science, because they are being disseminated by an actually recognized, state-owned university of excellence".
Read the whole story here: University of Hamburg ennobles crude corona study
3.
Homosexuality is still a taboo subject in football and it should and could change now
In the latest edition of the magazine “11FREUNDE”, which I and many other football fans greatly appreciate, 800 players from the German professional league pledge their support to homosexual colleagues.
About seven years after former Bundesliga
professional Thomas Hitzlsperger came out, it is
astonishing
that this is even necessary
.
Unfortunately, very little has happened in the German football world since then, says the 20-year-old athlete Benjamin Näßler, who was voted "Mister Gay Germany" last year, in an interview with my colleague Marie-Julie May.
Näßler is also campaigning with the »Doppelpass« campaign to ensure that
homosexual footballers are
no longer discriminated against in the future.
Icon: enlarge Photo: Ben Peters / Focus Images / imago images
In contrast to
Philip Lahm,
the former captain of the German national team, who has just advised homosexual footballers to wait until the active phase of their career is over before coming out, Näßler thinks: »I don't think they should Time to come out can become even more ripe.
Football is several steps behind society.
If no one dares, we will never make progress. ”Näßler says that it is unlikely that a football club could still afford to kick one of its professionals out because he is homosexual.
However, remarks such as "gay passport" or "referee, you fagot" can still be heard on many football pitches;
that must stop.
Many still lack the awareness that there are homosexual football players in the team at all and that they are harmed with homophobic statements.
"Hugs and touches between men are considered normal on the soccer field or in the fan block," says my colleague Marie-Julie.
"But as soon as it comes to love, it obviously becomes a problem." If footballers were encouraged to come out, it could end with homosexual men still seen by many as weaker or more vulnerable, says Marie- Julie.
"It seems to have worked for women for a long time."
Read the entire interview here: "If nobody dares, we will never make any progress"
(Would you like to receive the »Situation in the evening« conveniently by email in your inbox?
Here you can
order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)
What else is important today
Federal government appoints special commissioner for corona vaccines:
The federal government is reacting to the slow corona vaccination campaign: According to SPIEGEL information, a special commissioner should eliminate bottlenecks in vaccine production.
He is a companion of Finance Minister Scholz.
The syringe that gives Africa hope:
Ebola has broken out again in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and memories of the violent epidemic in 2014 are awakened.
But this time a lot seems to be going better.
Canadian government wants to put Facebook on the curb:
The days when Facebook could dictate the terms to its business partners may soon be over.
The Canadian government is planning a law with a similar aim as Australia.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
Biden warns of "attacks" on democracy by authoritarian movements:
"America is back" - At the security conference, US President Biden addressed a European audience for the first time and promised a return to old partnerships.
But he also brought a warning.
Jens Spahn's rapid test strategy is so sketchy:
The Minister of Health has once again promised what he cannot keep.
Local politicians, entrepreneurs and researchers have long since developed concepts.
A SPIEGEL team has put together what opportunities now remain.
"Today before training you were soooo sexy":
A SPIEGEL research shows how national coach Stefan Lurz is said to have
coerced and harassed female
swimmers for years. Relevant photos and text messages of the man are available.
He was just allowed to go on until now.
Online agitators are now dealing with the BKA:
The federal government wants to pursue thousands upon thousands of hate posters and bring them to justice - social networks are to be forced to participate.
Which is not so important today
Icon: enlargePhoto:
Chris Jackson / Getty Images
The crown can do without: Prince Harry,
36, and his
wife Meghan,
39, will not resume their previous duties in the British royal family and will therefore return their patronage and honorary military titles, as the palace announced.
After talks with the Duke of Sussex, the Queen had confirmed that it would not be possible to "continue the responsibilities and duties associated with a life in the service of the people" if the royal family withdrew.
Typo of the day
, since corrected: "I was disappointed when Merkel flatly refused to even think about delivering weapons to the defeated Ukrainian army"
Cartoon of the Day:
Other Worlds
Icon: enlarge Photo: Thomas Plaßmann
And on the weekend?
I know and appreciate the actor and musician
Christian Friedel
from many theater productions.
His most impressive film role to date is that of the title hero in Oliver Hirschbiegel's film "Elser - He would have changed the world" from 2015, which is currently being presented in the arte media library.
The Swabian carpenter and resistance fighter Georg Elser, who dared a bomb attack on Adolf Hitler in Munich's Bürgerbräukeller on November 8, 1939, is played by Friedel in a film in which, of course, atrocities can be seen.
I think the film should still be school material, at least for older adolescents.
However, Arte has the following warning: "This program is not suitable for children, young people or sensitive viewers."
Have a nice evening.
In the coming week you will read my colleague Laura Backes here.
Sincerely,
Wolfgang Höbel
Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.
