Kim Jong Un is losing weight

1.

Mass Destruction

Did the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un lose weight?

Intelligence officials and analysts believe they can see this in the latest photos that Kim showed at a Politburo meeting - his first public appearance in a month.

With the British Guardian, photos from July 2020 and June 2021 can be compared with a slide control - and indeed, with one swipe the double chin looks less powerful.

Enlarge image

The power hungry

Photo:

AP

Perhaps Kim has slimmed down in order to consolidate his power and increase his reputation in the country - the news site "NK News" quotes an expert with the thesis.

After all, many North Koreans are starving

; The supply situation is even more desolate since the isolated state hardly does any trade even with its most important partner, China. There is a lack of almost everything, food, soap, toothpaste and batteries. Then there are sanctions and natural disasters such as floods. A few weeks ago a letter from Russian diplomats made it into the international headlines: "Hardly anyone can endure the restrictions in daily life," it said. Diplomats from all possible countries are being ripped off en masse, and foreign employees of international humanitarian organizations have also left.

It

seems that

Kim's state of health

is being speculated with as much fervor as that of his country's nuclear weapons program. "NK News" quotes a US intelligence officer who doesn't seem to know anything, but at least says that weight loss raises serious questions. According to information from South Korea's secret service, the North Korean ruler weighed 140 kilograms last November. With being overweight, the chain smoker who is assumed to be 37 years old is naturally prone to cardiovascular diseases.

The speculation about Kim always leads to the question of who could step in if he fails, whether for health or political reasons. "The debate is not only driven by the fascination for an anachronistic, isolated regime," reported my colleague Katharina Graça Peters weeks ago, when Kim had just gone into hiding again. "But also from concerns about a possible power struggle at the head of a nuclear weapon state." Kim's children, of whom there are supposed to be three, would probably still be too young, the oldest is said to be of primary school age. Again and again the eyes are directed to the

dictator sister Kim Yo Jong

, "Who obviously enjoys his trust and has possibly risen to his number two," writes Katharina.

But nobody outside of North Korea seems to know for sure.

One thing is certain: Kon Jung Tiv rules the reporting.

• Read the latest news here: How healthy is Kim Jong Un?

• And here more about the background: The big Kim puzzle

2.

Final applause in minor

The applause has died down on the balconies - is there now also a dwindling awareness of the importance of the work of

nursing staff

in old people's homes and hospices, in hospitals and in mobile care services?

In the corona crisis, the image of an industry that squeezes its employees, badly paid and offers few prospects increased.

Many employers seem to think that a bar of chocolate is sufficient thanks.

And there was an unworthy tussle about the financing of the corona premium.

After all, shortly before the election, the grand coalition wants to push through a reform that should bring the 500,000 nurses a little more money.

Enlarge picturePhoto:

Jens Kalaene / dpa

But why does such a law have to be?

My colleagues David Böcking and Florian Diekmann investigated the question. "At the beginning of the research, we weren't even aware of how little the market in this industry worked," says Florian. "Elderly care has only been an industry in the true sense of the word for two and a half decades, when the legislature opened it to private providers." In principle, every nursing service can negotiate this individually with the health insurers. "The many small private services are clearly at a disadvantage compared to large providers like Caritas - apart from the fact that these small businesses are often founded by geriatric nurses without any business training.says Florian. Nonetheless, outpatient care is so unattractive that financial investors stay away from it - unlike inpatient care, where they are on a big shopping spree.

The market does not work for employees either

: Although geriatric care

workers have

been urgently needed everywhere for years, their wages are rising only moderately.

"That is not only because, but also because they are hardly aware of their strong position," says Florian.

"Very rarely do they ask their boss to pay more, only very few are in a union."

• Read the full story here: Why the market is failing in the care industry

3.

Farewell to Cinderella

Czech actress Libuše Šafránková is dead, she was 68 years old.

The name doesn't mean anything to you?

With a probability bordering on certainty, Šafránková will appear on any screen around you at Christmas: in the fairy tale film

"Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella"

she played the role of her life.

Enlarge image

The role of her life: Libuše Šafránková in "Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella"

Photo:

WDR / Degeto / picture alliance / dpa

In her homeland, the actress was a star to the present day.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said goodbye on Twitter: »I really liked Ms. Libuše Šafránková.

I've seen her Cinderella maybe a hundred times.

I can't imagine Christmas in the Czech Republic without them.

And I don't think either of us. "

• Read more here: Leading actress from "Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella" is dead

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What else is important today

• Biden Announces World Vaccine Plan:

  Is It About More Equitable Distribution?

  Shortly before departing for the G7 summit, Joe Biden announced that he would present a global vaccine plan.

  However, the US President has not yet commented on details.

• "There was a lot of adrenaline":

  Cardinal Woelki's disrespectful behavior drove Karl Haucke, a victim of abuse, from the advisory board of the Cologne Archdiocese.

  Now he has met the Pope's envoy to investigate Woelki's work.

• Laschet hires Tanit Koch as an election campaign advisor:

  Armin Laschet recently behaved awkwardly in TV interviews, and his polls are still poor.

  Now the former »Bild« editor-in-chief Tanit Koch is supposed to support him in the election campaign.

• EU Commission initiates infringement proceedings against Germany:

  Brussels criticizes a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court on the multi-billion dollar bond purchases by the European Central Bank.

  The accusation: Germany has ignored EU law.

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

• Was this Kremlin critic the target of a poison attack by the secret service?

  The Russian intellectual Dmitrij Bykov likes to criticize Vladimir Putin in verse.

  In 2019 he fell into a coma for reasons that have not yet been clarified.

  The same agents were present as in the attack on Alexei Navalny.

• “Pour water in my wine?

  That would be madness «:

  Italian winemakers are afraid that the EU will want to water down their product.

  Traditionalists fight for the identity of their country.

  Others see “Wein light” as a growth industry - and a means against climate change.

• How does it fly on Mars, Mr. Grip?

  Håvard Grip has piloted the NASA helicopter »Ingenuity« half a dozen times as chief pilot over the Red Planet.

  Here he reveals what the greatest danger was and what he learned from the flights.

• "If I'm already gay, then please shut up":

  Party colleagues warned him, but in the 2001 election campaign Klaus Wowereit said: "I'm gay, and that's a good thing." Here he remembers emotional thanks and hostility - and says what needs to change today.

Which is less important today

• Minor divorce:

  US reality star

  Kim Kardashian

  , 40, has

  declared her eternal love for her

  husband's

  birthday,

  Kanye West

  , 44, which at least begs the question of why she filed for divorce in February after seven years of marriage.

  Now she published a photo of herself and the rap superstar and their three children on Instagram.

  She wrote: "Happy Birthday" and "Love U for Life!"

Typo of the day

, now corrected: "It makes it possible to punish states that do not adhere to the principles of the EU by withholding money from the EU budget."

Cartoon of the day:

Watch out!

And tonight?

You could indulge in your

love of dinosaurs

.

They also have adults, my colleague Anja Rützel is convinced of that, and she also has a very good reason for it.

The older ones sympathized with the primeval lizards, because: "Sure, it didn't end well for them, but hey: You've already got through all the misery for it." Anja recommends a video in which only dinosaurs can be seen - a performance by the »hairstyle rock band« Van Halen, »in which they perform their song› So This is Love? ‹from 1981 at the feet of a somewhat pug-loving Brontosaurus«.

The tape was thought to be lost; now someone has dug it up.

Click here for the video.

And here to Anja's text.

A lovely evening.

Sincerely

yours, Oliver Trenkamp

Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.