Today it is about the possible return of Donald Trump on social networks, about the departure of Angela Merkel's China policy and a defeat of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Can Trump go back on Facebook?
Today
the judgment of a court
is issued
that does not follow any established case law
and does not belong to any state, but the consequences of which could nevertheless affect the whole world: The "Oversight Board" of Facebook announced today whether the former US President Donald Trump Do you still contact him?)
May use
his
social media channels on Facebook
again in the future
.
Facebook banned him (as did Twitter) after Trump supported the January 6 coup attempt.
During the four months that Trump had to live without his millions of followers, it has become surprisingly quiet around him.
Enlarge image
The Facebook logo in front of a picture of Donald Trump
Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP
Every now and then a video of him appears showing him in his luxury club Mar-a-Lago in Florida, how he tells a few dozen followers again and again how the election was allegedly stolen from him.
This not only shows how incredibly quickly power is dwindling in a democratic system.
But it also proves:
Trump is invisible without his social media channels
- he would probably never have become president without Twitter and Facebook.
Should it be decided today that he can return to Facebook, it will be interesting: will he return to the public as the leader of the opposition?
Trump is still an idol, a hugely popular figure, for Republican voters.
Should the ex-president return to social media, he would probably comment on the work of his successor Joe Biden incessantly.
And it could help reheat the country's political climate.
So Facebook's oversight board has a lot of power.
It is not an official organ, but only an international body financed by Facebook, which acts as a kind of supreme court in matters of moderation of content.
Enlarge image
Still popular: Trump supporters with the Trump flag
Photo: Paula Bronstein / AP
Even if there has been speculation that Trump could set up his own social network: So far, it looks as if the former president is also dependent on access to mainstream platforms.
How much Donald Trump lacks his former favorite medium, Twitter, can be seen from the fact that he has set up a kind of blog on his website in which he now posts short messages in Twitter style.
Without the previous echo room, without the tens of thousands of likes and retweets, his messages lack the force they once were.
And Twitter - in contrast to Facebook - has always made it clear: Trump should never again be active as @realdonaldtrump on its platform.
Ex-president's blog: Trump is building his own Twitter (or at least making it look like it)
What will happen to Merkel's China strategy?
It was to become the legacy of Angela Merkel's China policy:
the EU investment agreement
with the (still) second largest economic power in the world. But now the agreement is on hold - and last night said
Valdis Dombrovskis
, Vice President of the EU Commission, said the political environment was "currently not favorable for ratification of the agreement". It wasn't a secret before, but it was clear. The agreement was only concluded in December, on the penultimate day of the German EU Council Presidency. It should guarantee the framework conditions for trade and investment in both markets and underline Europe's geopolitical positioning: Not on the side of the USA against China, as the newly elected Joe Biden hoped, but strategically sovereign between the two superpowers.
The human rights violations in Xinjiang had never stopped Merkel from wanting to further intensify trade with China: The German economy depends on the Chinese one.
It was never clear whether the agreement would protect German investors enough.
And then it is also true that the country has not opened up through trade, but has become more authoritarian and nationalistic.
Enlarge image
Better times: Merkel, Xi in 2018
Photo: Jason Lee / REUTERS
In March, the EU couldn't help but
impose sanctions on Chinese officials
because of the suppression of the Uyghurs
;
China responded with counter-sanctions - since then, ratification of the agreement by the EU Parliament has become unlikely.
So it could be that Merkel's visit to China last week was not only a turning point because she completed her last German-Chinese government consultations in Beijing - but because Merkel's departure from power also means a reorientation in the relationship.
China is the most important trading partner, competitor and systemic rival.
How to reconcile these three truths will be the great challenge of the next few decades.
EU-China Economic Pact: Mediocre Treaty, Bad Time
What else you should know
Case NSU 2.0:
The news came on the very day that Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced that since 2001 there have never been as many politically motivated crimes as in 2020, namely 45,000.
On the same day it became known: In the "NSU 2.0" case, a suspect was arrested on Monday in Berlin - a 53-year-old long-term unemployed.
For three years, nearly three dozen people had received threatening emails.
Read more here.
Relaxation for vaccinated people:
They could come into force on the weekend - corresponding plans were decided in the federal cabinet yesterday.
The Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to give their approval;
that should happen this week.
Read here which rules currently apply in your state.
Macron and Napoleon's 200th birthday:
the French President gives a speech today to commemorate Napoleon Bonaparte.
That does not mean that he considers himself Napoleon (which in Germany one likes to assume every French president is supposed to), but that he wants to make himself popular with the right-wing electorate - who have a heart for Napoleon.
Macron believes that he can only get re-elected in 2022 with the support of the Conservatives.
A recommendation: The SPIEGEL Daily Podcast
The daily podcast SPIEGEL Daily has been
around for
a month and a half
- and because I think it's so good myself, I would like to recommend it to all of you: The
hosts Juan Moreno and Yasemin Yüksel
provide a good half hour background on current events every weekday - Or get to the bottom of relevant stories: Together with our editors, reporters and correspondents in Germany and around the world, they will help you to understand the news better. The last episodes, for example, dealt with the global Covax vaccination campaign, Alexej Navalny, the dissolution of vaccination prioritization and the future of tourism. Because it is an elaborately produced podcast, it is reserved for subscribers, you can find it here.
And then I would like to draw your attention to our "Republic 21" series, which runs until the federal election.
The articles deal with the big questions from politics and society - they invite you to discuss and participate.
Today at 5 p.m. my colleagues in the
SPIEGEL Q + A Live
on Instagram will be happy to
discuss
with you how Germany can become fairer.
They look forward to your questions: instagram.com/spiegelmagazin
Loser of the day ...
... is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who failed to form a government coalition by the midnight deadline.
After the fourth election within two years
, he was commissioned by President
Reuven Rivlin
to form a government - but failed to find a majority in the Knesset with its 120 members.
Netanyahu is considered a political magician, but still failed to form a coalition
that would have included both right-wing extremists and a small Islamist Arab party
.
Enlarge image
Netanyahu on election night
Photo: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS
Now the task of
forming a
government could be passed to
opposition leader Yair Lapid
in the next few days
- he will try to unite the opponents of Netanyahu in order to drive the prime minister from power after twelve years.
But even Lapid will find it difficult to form a government in view of the fragmented majority.
In the worst case, the fifth election could soon be on the agenda - and in view of the seemingly indissoluble political blockade in the country, the real losers are: the Israeli citizens.
Netanyahu fails to form a government: Everything is the same in Israel
The latest news from the night
France threatens Channel Island Jersey with electricity withdrawal:
It's about fish issues - and nerves are on edge: In the Brexit dispute, France has now brought radical measures into play: In an emergency, the island of Jersey will be turned off the electricity
Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla want to become AfD top candidates:
At the AfD, the members determine who should lead the election campaign for them.
The faction leader is now applying with the party leader - the camp dispute is programmed with it
Teenage boy kills children and carers in day care center in Brazil:
Witnesses spoke of “scenes of horror”: In Brazil, an attacker killed five people in a day care center.
The intervention of the staff may have prevented more victims
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
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Model projects in Schleswig-Holstein: "That will knock us constitutional lawyers on the ears at some point"
Wladimir Kaminer on his everyday Corona: "It sometimes seems to me as if we have all woken up in a slap"
Insolvent traditional club: KFC Uerdingen probably wrongly received around 770,000 euros in corona aid
I wish you a good start to the day.
Your Mathieu von Rohr