The situation in the morning: The cruel countdown in Afghanistan

Today we are looking for the reasons why the Chancellor is moving away from the incidence value.

We look to Afghanistan, where there is not much time left to save people.

And the heated debate about election campaign spots.

Bye, bye, limit

Even the Chancellor is now in favor: The incidence value as the sole criterion for the well-being or woe of corona measures should be abolished, but another number will rise to the highest rank: that of hospital admissions per 100,000 inhabitants.

Health Minister Jens Spahn had been pushing for such a change for a long time, after all, the situation with many vaccinated people is different from the months when there was still no vaccine.

Spahn is now supposed to present a proposal for a modified Infection Protection Act.

He apparently wants to make the federal states responsible for setting the new limit values.

The change of course at the top of the government is amazing, Chancellery Minister Helge Braun had pointed out to the very end why the threshold of the 50s incidence is still important: Up to this value, the health authorities are able to track the chains of infection.

This has not changed since the beginning of the pandemic, said Braun.

The fact that Braun and the Chancellor changed their stance may have something to do with the election campaign.

Who wants to be asked between flags and balloons at the stand in front of the shopping center why their party is again restricting people's freedom?

According to reports, Merkel and Braun also received pressure from their own parliamentary group.

Several members of the CDU and CSU had worked to change the criteria and allegedly more or less threatened not to agree to an extension of the so-called "epidemic situation of national scope".

This decision is pending in the Bundestag today, the epidemic situation must be extended every three months.

It is the basis for the state-prescribed corona measures.

Someone who is in the middle of an election campaign and only managed to get a shaky place on the state list is not afraid of making himself unpopular. SPD man Karl Lauterbach criticizes SPIEGEL for turning away from the incidence criterion. “It is not a problem to say goodbye to the 50 value. It no longer corresponds to a population of which more than half is vaccinated, "Lauterbach said. However, he considers it risky to only refer to downstream values. You lose time and run after the pandemic. "If the incidence figures continue to rise like this, the unvaccinated will take the full risk - including the children," said Lauterbach. He warned against only considering the number of hospital admissions in the future. "Many people get seriously ill who never go to hospital."

The nationwide incidence value is now over 60.

• Read here what the end of the incidence criterion means from the point of view of the colleagues from the science department.

Afghanistan: the sealed end

It is a cruel idea: the Americans want to hold out in Afghanistan for seven more days and protect the evacuation flights; for another seven days, tens of thousands of people have hope that they will be able to get one of the rare seats on the planes.

And that hope is getting narrower every day.

At yesterday's G7 video conference, US President Joe Biden raised no hopes that he would extend the deployment.

The countdown to inhumanity has begun, it is clear that by far not everyone who has every reason to escape will succeed.

The United Nations is already speaking of indications of the first mass executions by the Taliban.

The Bundeswehr is working feverishly and apparently highly professional to get as many people as possible out of the country.

Your mandate will presumably be decided in the Bundestag today.

It is foreseeable that the soldiers will fail to rescue all those entitled.

But this is not your responsibility - Berlin politics will have to put up with a lot of unpleasant questions.

For example, Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU), who has long spoken out against a generous rescue of local workers.

Does he see that as a mistake?

Afghanistan, that is certain, will be with us well beyond election day.

• How dangerous is a Taliban emirate?

  Read US expert Seth G. Jones' assessment.

Hearing and seeing

I would like to draw your attention to exciting offers from my colleagues:

Meat consumption is a huge climate factor: This is due to the production, but also to the amount consumed.

At the same time, meat consumption is a very emotional topic for many: barbecuing is often part of a good lifestyle, and for many a thin veal schnitzel is still a culinary highlight.

So how should one relate between appetite and mind?

Why is the meat industry in particular damaging the climate?

And what can a future look like that will satisfy meat lovers - and still protect the climate?

My colleagues Sebastian Spallek and Kurt Stukenberg discuss all of this with their guests in this episode of »Climate Report«: Christine Chemnitz from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and Jens Tuider from the NGO ProVeg.

You can listen to the podcast here.

There are many climate goals, be it annual numbers or temperature limits.

But how can we achieve it without exacerbating social inequality?

My colleague Marius Mestermann deals with this question in the new "Voices Catch" podcast.

Because whether it is about the price of gasoline or the energetic renovation of buildings: Politicians have to be careful that nobody falls by the wayside in the transformation towards a climate-neutral society.

From Thursday morning you can hear here what we can learn from the coal phase-out, how important the CO₂ price is and why the Catholic charity Caritas is critical of the C-political parties.

Why has it become so difficult to argue online?

And can our culture of debate still be repaired?

Hardly any other topic has been discussed so often - and in many cases so unsuccessfully - in recent years.

One month before the general election, we are making a new attempt and talking to the influencer and presenter Louisa Dellert, who approaches this topic in her new book.

She answers questions from my colleague Sophie Garbe live on Instagram (instagram.com/spiegelmagazin) on Thursday at 3 p.m.

Reserve the appointment in advance!

• Louisa Dellert visits SPIEGEL

  .

Riddle of the day ...

... for me the question is why the debate about the

parties' commercials is

so heated

in this election campaign

.

The SPD focuses on the arch-conservative stance of Armin Laschet's most important advisor - crossing borders, it sounds.

The CDU shows Armin Laschet visiting the Holocaust memorial - instrumentalization, it sounds.

The Greens let many people sing a repackaged »No beautiful country at this time« - stuffy and not diverse enough, it sounds.

I still remember the time when the TV programs on ARD and ZDF kept showing the parties' spots before elections.

Most of them had just as much wit and humor as the feature films from »7.

Sense".

I think it's good when today's spots are more provocative, even if the limit of what is tolerable is often exceeded.

The latest news from the night

• The

  drummer of the

  century:

  He was the backbone of the Rolling Stones: For almost 60 years Charlie Watts managed to drive a herd of alpha animals in front of him.

  Now the world has lost a gentleman among the drummers

• "A hero has passed away":

  From the ex-Beatles to Elton John: the greats of the music scene around the world have thought of the late Charlie Watts.

  The focus is on the style, dignity and grace of the Rolling Stones drummer

• Hamburg only allows events for vaccinated and convalescent people:

  Full cinemas, pubs, theaters, no more curfew: In the Hanseatic city this is possible again from Saturday - provided the organizers and hosts choose the "2G option model".

  Unvaccinated people stay outside

The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today

• Republicans are reaching for California: Joe Biden faces the next setback

• Fine wines, Schogetten - and now?

  The patriarch's snack empire threatens to crumble

• Neurologist on strategies against constant excessive demands "We dream of a magical brain pill"

• Emancipated only half a day - episode two: Why I'm a feminist and still work part-time

I wish you a good start to the day.

Your Martin Knobbe