1.
The post-democracy
Three days before the
federal election
,
the
SPD
is still ahead of the
Union
in the
polls
, in the last SPIEGEL poll the Social Democrats come in at 25 percent, the Union manages 23 percent (more here).
With a statistical error tolerance of 2.5 percentage points, the speechwriters of Olaf Scholz and Armin Laschet should prepare at least two variants for the performances after 6 p.m.
A few figures are already certain: 47 parties are available to choose from, with 6211 women and men competing for entry into the highest legislative body of the republic.
Around 60.4 million eligible voters are allowed to make decisions.
Of which more than ever have decided - by postal vote.
Enlarge image
You need space for the envelope, but even more for the ballot.
Photo: Rüdiger Wölk / imago images / Rüdiger Wölk
Months ago, Federal Returning Officer Georg Thiel gave an initial assessment of how many Germans will
vote
by post
because of the pandemic
.
He came to a good
twice as many as on the previous election day in 2017
, when it was almost 29 percent.
"The feedback from the constituencies tells me that I might be right," he says now.
There is also the risk that
hackers could attack the computer systems of political parties and electoral offices
, and disinformation campaigns threaten.
That is why my colleagues Ann-Katrin Müller and Nele Spandick, together with my colleagues Gerald Traufetter and Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt, investigated the question: How safe is the federal election?
"It has never been so complicated - and expensive," she reports.
According to initial estimates, the costs “will rise by almost a third to around 107 million euros”.
The good news: Despite all the dangers, the election officer does not fear any quarrels like in the USA, where Trump supporters still suspect that postal voters are manipulated.
Read the whole story here: Postal voting, disinformation, hacker attacks - how secure is the federal election?
2.
Poor and rich in the middle
What is brewing in China?
The authorities there are apparently instructing local governments to prepare for a possible collapse of the real estate company
Evergrande
, as the "Wall Street Journal" reports.
The newspaper quoted government officials as saying that the local authorities are now instructed to prepare for the "possible storm".
This instruction is an indication that the Chinese government is not ready to save the company (more here).
Enlarge image
Construction site of an Evergrande project in central China
Photo:
JADE GAO / AFP
As a reminder, Evergrande is
China's second largest real estate developer
and now
has more than $ 300 billion in debt
. Part of the interest was due today. Just yesterday, a spokesman announced that the company could pay on time. As a result, the real estate company's share price rose significantly, at times by more than 32 percent. Is the collapse coming now after all? The crisis is not only affecting the group itself. Experts see Evergrande as a representative for China's real estate industry. This boomed for years and accounts for almost a quarter of the gross domestic product. At the same time, many of the corporations are heavily indebted.
Overall, China's predatory capitalism is reaching its limits - and the party is turning, as my colleague Georg Fahrion reports, our correspondent in Beijing.
Head of state Xi Jinping wants to break the power of the corporations and dare to try more socialism again.
"In doing so, he is causing an uproar among the business elite," writes Georg.
Read the full story here: China is rediscovering communism
3.
Joy, beautiful charging plug
The
EU Commission
is fighting
against more diversity - with
charging cables
.
Today she proposed a law to enforce
uniform charging sockets for electronic devices
.
USB-C is supposed to become the standard, that's the connector that looks like a squashed zero.
The measure is intended to save money on the one hand, and to avoid huge amounts of electronic waste on the other, apparently 11,000 tons annually.
Enlarge image
One for all: USB-C connector
Photo: Matthias Kremp / DER SPIEGEL
The EU is thus expanding its task of promoting peace to include private matters
.
No more arguments because someone messed up the only working iPhone charging cable and the new iPad charging cable doesn't fit into old phones.
No more roaring anger, because the mini USB Pinörkel looks similar to the Micro USB Pinörkel, but unfortunately doesn't want to go into the kitchen loudspeaker.
No more crying because the TipToi learning pen cannot be reloaded in the car.
Oh no, it works with batteries anyway.
And unfortunately, the EU rule should only apply to smartphones, tablets, headphones, speakers, portable game consoles and cameras.
So there is still a lot to be done, Commission.
Load To Joy.
Read more here: EU Commission proposes charging standard for mobile devices
(Would you like to have the "Situation in the evening" conveniently delivered to your inbox by email? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)
What else is important today
"Fruit and vegetables are finally becoming a luxury for low-wage earners":
The inflation rate is almost four percent, besides fuel and energy, many foods have also become more expensive.
Social associations and nutrition experts warn of social and health consequences.
Authorities close suspected "lateral thinkers" school:
In Upper Bavaria, the authorities have banned the unauthorized school operation on a farm.
The around 50 students are said to be so-called "test refusers" children.
US special envoy for Haiti resigns:
The US has begun to deport thousands of Haitians to their homeland.
The US special envoy for the region wants nothing to do with it.
He speaks of "inhuman" actions.
Poland's disciplinary body lifts judges' immunity:
Poland's judiciary can hardly be considered independent.
The European Court of Justice also found this - and prohibited the EU country from lifting the immunity of its judges.
Poland resisted the order.
My favorite interview today: the
"Chancellor's photographer" about the candidates
Enlarge image
Photographer Müller looks into my colleague Janko Tietz's camera.
Willy Brandt looked into Müller's camera.
Photo:
Janko Tietz / DER SPIEGEL
Merseburger's Brandt biography, Helmut Kohl's diary, both of which are gathering dust here on the shelf, read sometime years ago, perhaps while studying.
Why do I keep books like this?
Do I ever read this again?
Why do you fill entire walls with it?
As a self-assurance of how well-read you are?
As self-mortification for forgetting so much of what you have read?
As a self-presentation so that guests (before Corona) and video conference participants (since Corona) are amazed at the wall of books?
After all, the two chancellor biographies have good cover photos.
It only becomes clear to me today that they come from the same photographer when I read the conversation my colleague Janko Tietz had with Konrad R. Müller.
Müller is the only photographer who has photographed all chancellors from Konrad Adenauer to Angela Merkel
.
He also portrayed foreign statesmen such as the French President François Mitterrand and the Egyptian President Anwar as-Sadat, the tennis player Steffi Graf and the actress Martina Gedeck.
Janko spoke to him about the posters in the current election campaign.
Müller says he has never seen such bad ones.
He spares neither the candidates nor his fellow photographers.
Müller says about ...
... Armin Laschet, CDU
“A man who gave himself up inside long before the election even took place. The only picture I remember of him is the one where he looks so tight, as if he doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. I see no will to power, no strength, no confidence. "
... Olaf Scholz, SPD
“Nice to look at, and you take away from him the great will to achieve this position.”
But also:
“I find the posters with Olaf Scholz unbearably bad.
He looks like a puppet figure cut out by preschoolers and pasted onto an absolutely dead red background.
Nothing lives in photography there.
I would have cut Scholz at the top so that you don't look at this yawning blank area of his forehead, but into his eyes.
He stands or sits completely uninterested and uninvolved and holds something up in the air.
And then there is this total disproportion between the huge hands and the head.
It looks like the suction cup has been pulled out. "
... Christian Lindner, FDP
“A soot-blackened Lindner is sitting on a large-format poster, leaning forward and only illuminated by a lamp, and he seems to be looking for something. The man looks like he just escaped a deflagration in a coal mine. There are no transitions between the skin tones, everything is grayish - actually a little dingy. The very last thing I take from Christian Lindner is that he works his way to death for Germany late at night. "
... Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, Greens
“It would be a nice poster if they didn't look like iguanas swimming in the Amazon. Ms. Baerbock always has to drag Mr. Habeck through the poster world. He looks after her, but neither of them look at me as a potential voter. I used to say to the people I portrayed: Look at me, don't look through me, don't look away, only then will you also look at the voters. That the background is green may be understandable. But why are their faces green, like males from distant galaxies? "
Müller, you guessed it, does not suffer from a lack of self-confidence.
It would also be harmful: "If you face the person to be portrayed with red ears, you've already lost," he says.
"You have to make it clear from the start that you are working on the same level." This also applies to journalism, by the way.
You can read the entire conversation here: "I've never seen such bad election posters in my life"
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +
This is how the life of Germans changed in the Merkel era:
Before becoming chancellor, Angela Merkel announced reforms that should pay off "at the end of the road".
Has it succeeded?
Here you can understand economic and social developments in interactive graphics.
Will Philipp Amthor lose his direct mandate?
For some celebrities from the CDU it will be tight on Sunday, such as Julia Klöckner, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and CDU young star Philipp Amthor.
SPIEGEL Daily reporter Regina Steffens met him in Stralsund.
And she also accompanies the man who calls himself the "anti-Amthor": his challenger from the SPD, Erik von Malottki.
Here you can become a villager for two weeks:
in the Ticino village of Corippo, centuries-old granite houses nestle against the mountain.
Everyday life here is arduous - but just the thing for city dwellers looking for peace and quiet.
At least that's what the last locals are betting on.
Which is less important today
Clausblick:
The “heute” presenter
Christian Sievers
, 51, will
take over
from
Claus Kleber
, 66,
from January 2022 at “heute journal”
, as ZDF announced today.
You can't clone Kleber, tweeted Sievers, but you can learn a lot from him: »The approach: always uncompromisingly journalistic - and sometimes unconventional.
Offering our reporters in Germany and around the world the best possible platform.
That stays. "
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "On the other hand, Norway has now made a real change of course in monetary policy."
Cartoon of the day:
workshop pods
And tonight?
If you are still undecided, you could
watch
the »
final round of the top candidates
« on television (from 8:15 pm on ARD and ZDF) - and follow the live analysis on our website.
Baerbock, Laschet, Scholz, Lindner, Weidel, Wissner - everyone is there.
Only Dobrindt is missing, but Söder comes, although he is not a candidate.
Laschet will be happy about that.
A lovely evening.
Sincerely
yours, Oliver Trenkamp
Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.