1.
Where there are losers, there are winners
The Bundeswehr is in the process of
setting up
an
airlift to Afghanistan
- three A400M transport planes are to commute between Kabul and the Uzbek capital Tashkent.
An A310 plane is ready in case there are injuries.
In its first flight, however, the German air force only brought seven people out of the country, while the US air force allowed 640 people on board.
(My colleagues Matthias Gebauer and Alexander Sarovic explain here why the Bundeswehr flew out so few people.) The second Bundeswehr plane then sat at least 120 passengers, including German citizens, foreigners from NATO countries and Afghan local staff.
(You can find all current developments here.)
Enlarge image
Overcrowded US machine
Photo: COURTESY OF DEFENSE ONE / REUTERS
In geopolitical terms, the void that the West is leaving in Afghanistan is even bigger than it appeared a week ago, writes my colleague Bernhard Zand. "Somebody will fill it, history teaches us."
So who will benefit from the withdrawal of the Western coalition?
Who has the best connection to the Taliban?
Yes,
Russia
and
China come to
mind. They see the US embarrassment with satisfaction. "China's state media make fun of Washington with malicious headlines and jokes," reports Bernhard. “But these jokes seem stale.” They masked the dilemma that Moscow and Beijing, but also Tehran, now face: with the Taliban's takeover, the number of refugees has risen (90 percent remain in Iran and Pakistan) - and at the same time the risk of Afghanistan's security problems spilling over to neighboring countries.
Beijing and Moscow have opted for "a kind of hugging strategy," reports Bernhard.
They received
Taliban delegations
and did not close their embassies.
China has said it is striving for "friendly relations."
And what should Germany do?
My colleague Özlem Topçu discussed this with the security expert Carlo Masala.
He says we shouldn't be under any illusions.
"The foreign minister can tell whatever he wants, with his international isolation of the Taliban or the discontinuation of development aid." These are sentences for the German soul, it has nothing to do with realpolitik.
"We will probably not recognize the Taliban as legitimate rulers internationally, but we will leave open channels for communication with them."
Read more about the background here: The embrace of the Taliban
2.
Trust is good, control is better
The Federal Ministry of the Interior
prevented
a comprehensive investigation of the
IT security of the Luca app
by the
Federal Office for Information Security
(BSI), reports my colleague Max Hoppenstedt from our Netzwelt department.
13 federal states have now acquired a license for the app in order to arm themselves in the fight against the pandemic.
Hessen then wanted to have the technology checked once, with which countless people have to check in all the time.
It made a corresponding request to the IT experts at the BSI.
After all, there had been reports of weaknesses in the app in the past few months, and the operators had to make improvements.
Enlarge image
Don't forget to check out
Photo: Bernd Wüstneck / dpa
"A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior confirmed on request that the BSI would not comply with the request of the State of Hesse," writes Max. Since the BSI in Bonn is subordinate to the Seehofer Ministry, it must adhere to its instructions.
A ministry spokesman pointed out that the federal states are contractual partners of the Luca app.
They are therefore free to request appropriate tests from the manufacturer of the app themselves.
"The Luca case is a prime example of the competence problems of the BSI," says Max. "Actually, one would expect that the agency's IT experts would be able to take care of an app that is causing such a controversy in terms of security and data protection .
But now the authority is apparently again being thwarted by the federalism scramble. «Unfortunately, a constant in this pandemic.
Read more here: Ministry of the Interior rejects examination of the Luca app
3.
Talent lends, genius steals
The "father of Sudoku" is dead:
the Japanese
Maki Kaji
died after a long period of cancer on August 10, as the Nikoli publishing house he founded announced today.
He was 69 years old.
Maki Kaji did not invent the number puzzles, the solution of which is part of the daily ritual of countless newspaper readers like my mother (hug from afar!).
But he gave them the famous name and successfully marketed them.
Maki Kaji once said he fell in love with Numbers Place in the early eighties.
But he wanted to give it a Japanese title: "I invented the name within 25 seconds," the New York Times quoted him as saying that he was in a hurry and wanted to go to the horse race.
»Sudoku« is the short form of the sentence »Suji wa dokushin ni kagiru«, roughly: »Every number must be individual.«
Enlarge image
Maki Kaji in September 2012: Square, logical, good
Photo:
YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP
Maki Kaji joins those cover artists whose success far exceeds the originals. Who knows that “Nothing Compares 2U” was written by Prince and not by Sinéad O'Connor? Or that it was not the McDonalds brothers who made their fast-food restaurant into a global roast burger brand, but rather the agent Ray Croc, who was talking about the franchise rights from them? Sometimes it is not about having an idea, but about the consistency of implementing it and making it big.
"Mathematicians sort Sudoku into the sub-area of graph theory," says my colleague Holger Dambeck, who used to write the math column "Numerator" and now looks after our "Puzzle of the Week". "It's about points that are connected by lines - for example road networks, electronic circuits or the distribution of radio frequencies via a network of antennas." need to be solved the same way.
Who really invented Sudoku?
A riddle that is not that easy to solve.
Some traces lead into the 18th century to the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler, others into the eighth or ninth century to China, India and the Arab world.
The Wikipedia names the US architect Howard Garns: As a »mystery uncle« he designed »Numbers Place« for a magazine - the game that Maki Kaji, well, later drew inspiration from.
Read more here: The "father of Sudoku" is dead
(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
The largest water reservoir in the United States is
now
empty:
Lake Mead is crucial for the water supply of 25 million people - the authorities have now officially declared water scarcity for the largest reservoir in the United States, with drastic consequences, especially for farmers.
Suspected saline injections - the police set up the »vaccine«
investigation group
:
Eight investigators belong to a new investigation group that is supposed to clear up the vaccination scandal in Friesland.
"We have to keep shedding light on the darkness," said Oldenburg's police vice-president.
Cartel office imposes a fine of millions on manufacturers of ergobag and Satch:
school bags from ergobag and Satch often cost more than 200 euros.
Possibly also because, according to the Cartel Office, the manufacturers of the brands dictated the prices to the dealers.
Parents could have paid too much for years.
After the earthquake, a tropical storm looms in Haiti:
In Haiti, rescue work continues after the earthquake.
Many survivors have been sleeping outdoors for days.
Now the region is struggling with heavy rains.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
This is how disappointing Angela Merkel's economic record is:
In the 16 years of Merkel, the German economy has dangerously lost momentum.
The candidates in the election campaign want to score as clones of the Chancellor - the country needs a real fresh start.
Like a horror movie script:
Former R&B singer R. Kelly is on trial in Brooklyn for sex crimes.
For decades he fended off all allegations, now it's getting serious.
A broken man appears in the negotiating room.
The biology revolution from the computer:
With the help of artificial intelligence, a team in London is calculating millions of protein structures.
Scientists from all over the world pounce on the data - to solve medical problems and puzzles.
Which is less important today
Mustermann Müller
: The Israeli photographer
Yoav Kedem
, born in 1990, has repeatedly
visited and portrayed
Thomas Müller
for
four years
- various men who have the most common German names.
What began as work for the university developed a life of its own.
He talked to his protagonists for about an hour, they talked about their lives, their worries and their dreams.
Only one rule was important to him: the footballer was not allowed to appear.
Click here for the pictures.
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "Gidsel convinced in Tokyo with 46 goals, but his 34 assists also show his strategic playmaker qualities"
Cartoon of the day:
Islamism
And tonight?
Could you follow a recommendation from my colleague Wolfgang Höbel, which is always a good idea, and start a new book: The French Hervé Le Tellier wrote the
surprise orderer »Die Anomalie«
.
The book is about the fact that he and the rest of humanity may not really exist - a crime thriller and a shrewd thought experiment at the same time.
"The phenomenal seductive power of his successful novel arises from the fact that he writes in an entertaining and illuminating way about existential questions that actually go beyond the human mind," says Wolfgang.
In “Die Anomalie” there is the sentence: “Every certainty is a stab in the back against the intelligence.” This alone is worth reading.
(Here is the full book review.)
A lovely evening.
Sincerely
yours, Oliver Trenkamp
And finally, one more note: »Die Lage« is now also available as a podcast
.
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