Today it's about the traffic light coalition, which comes under pressure even before its formation, about the summit meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping - and about the renewed candidacy of Friedrich Merz for the CDU chairmanship.
What is the traffic light doing?
There is the beautiful old saying: Politics begins with looking at reality. The reality is that the
corona situation in Germany
is
getting worse
every day. The
traffic light parties
, who will soon be in government, have apparently not yet fully understood what this means. You don't look at reality, but live in a dream world.
This can be seen in their plan
to let
the
"epidemic situation of national scope" come to an end
on November 25th. It is a symbolic mistake: You may not mean it that way, but the soon-to-be coalitionists are sending the signal that everything is not so bad. In line with this,
FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki
stubbornly
proclaims
the liberal mantra in the SPIEGEL interview: "We must not make unvaccinated people worse off."
The question is when the SPD, FDP and the Greens will actually arrive. From now on, bets are accepted as to when the hectic readjustment of rhetoric and action will begin. The pressure on the future coalition partners is enormous. The
state health ministers of the Greens from Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg and Hesse
called on the traffic lights to extend the epidemic emergency.
CSU boss Markus Söder
complained that Germany was not at all prepared for the Corona winter. He called for instruments such as contact restrictions for unvaccinated people and compulsory vaccination for certain professional groups. Unfortunately, Söder is right.
Austria is
making a start today in this regard.
There is a drastic
lockdown measure
: Citizens who have neither been vaccinated nor recovered are only allowed to leave their homes for urgent reasons, such as shopping, work or going to the doctor.
Anyone who violates this can
expect
a
fine of up to 1450 euros.
Germany's corona disaster and the alliance of the unreasonable: an idiotic situation of national importance
USA and China - summit of rivals
After the summit is before the summit: The ink under the
Glasgow climate decisions
is not yet completely dry, as the next event of global political relevance is already on the horizon.
US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping
are meeting today for their first long meeting since Biden took office. Although the meeting will only take place virtually, there will be no official press release afterwards. However, in both China and the United States, immense importance is attached to this summit.
For Biden and Xi, it is about nothing less than a redefinition of American-Chinese relations.
Tensions between the two giants have increased in recent months.
Above all, the dispute over
Taiwan's independence
, the Chinese
claims to power in the Indo-Pacific
and
various trade
conflicts are
putting a
strain on the relationship
.
Now both Xi and Biden are evidently trying to relax the relationship a little.
The surprising Sino-American collaboration at the climate summit in Glasgow is a first signal that a new rapprochement could take place - at least on certain issues.
China's President stressed that the US and his country are currently at a fork in their bilateral relations.
Both countries would benefit from more cooperation and lose if there was more confrontation.
Similar sounds come from the White House ahead of the summit.
In the meantime, nobody in Washington and Beijing believes in the beginning of a wonderful friendship.
For Biden and Xi, it is now more about calming the situation before it gets completely out of control.
Interview with Timothy Garton Ash: "Otherwise we will be eaten up by Russia, China and other powers"
Merz dares the third attempt
You have to give
Friedrich Merz one
thing: he has a certain stamina. He had to wait a good 20 years for his old
rival Angela Merkel
to leave
the field. He has already applied for the CDU chairmanship twice without success - and now he actually wants to start a third attempt today. It is expected that Merz will
officially announce
his
application for the head of the Christian Democrats
and be nominated by his party friends in the Hochsauerland district.
Shortly before the end of the application period on November 17th, there are three candidates: Merz, foreign policy specialist
Norbert Röttgen and the previous head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun
.
The CDU base is supposed to vote on the new boss between December 4th and 16th. If no one reaches an absolute majority, there will be a
runoff
.
The 66-year-old Merz has certain advantages as a candidate: He is known, is considered a dashing speaker and embodies the
conservative brand essence of
the Union.
However
, he does not necessarily stand
for
new beginnings and modernity
, which is why some Christian Democrats fear that the party with him at the top could soon look quite old.
Either way, the question arises for the CDU whether the next chairman will stay in the long run or is just a figure of transition.
The young, somewhat fresh minister-presidents in the Union such as Hendrik Wüst (North Rhine-Westphalia), Tobias Hans (Saarland) or Daniel Günther (Schleswig-Holstein) are noticeably not applying for party chairmanship.
You will know why.
Power struggle for CDU chairmanship: the duel between the Merz opponents
Winner of the day ...
... is the Austrian politician
Irmgard Griss
.
In an ORF talk show, the Liberals countered the criticism of the stricter corona measures.
The former President of the Supreme Court also advocated compulsory vaccination.
She gave a small lesson in liberalism to those who oppose the vaccination and to all those who feel that the Corona measures have robbed them of their rights of freedom:
"The freedoms we are talking about are not unlimited," said Griss.
“These freedoms can be restricted if a higher-value interest is jeopardized.
And public health is a higher priority. "
It's that simple. Actually.
The latest news from the night
Braun does not see Germany well-equipped - the chief medical officer laments "lost months":
A refresh of the vaccination protection could contain the fourth wave - but there is still a problem.
The head of the chancellery sees a lack of preparations.
And the German Medical Association is sharply critical of the vaccination course
Assassins fire on children's birthday party - numerous dead:
It's about the control of the drug market: there has been another attack by rival gangs in central Mexico.
Several children are among the victims
Game rescheduled refused - PSG women go down 6-1 against Lyon:
A footballer was attacked with iron bars during the week, another was taken into police custody.
Nevertheless, PSG had to face Olympique Lyon - and experienced a debacle
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I wish you a good start to the day.
Your Roland Nelles
