Union threatens to block the corona law
Germany stands at a fork in the road: are we experiencing the major political breakthrough in the fight against the
corona pandemic today
or is there even more confusion?
The Bundestag should first
vote
on the amended
Infection Protection Act of
the future traffic light coalition. The
Prime Minister's
Conference will then meet
to agree on uniform measures to contain the dramatic Covid situation. There are still arguments all over the place, there is a great deal of corona muddle - and it is unclear how this day will end.
The easiest part is probably the Prime Minister's Conference:
As things
stand
, she and Chancellor Angela Merkel could take decisions to
quickly expand
the administration of
booster vaccinations
. In addition, the pressure on vaccine muffle is to be increased further. The introduction of
uniform 2G rules is planned
. Participation in larger events or, for example, hotel and restaurant visits across the country would then only be possible for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered.
The tricky part is changing the Infection Protection Act.
The traffic light parties want a new home office obligation, the 3G rule in means of transport and a test obligation in risk institutions.
Above all, however, they have so far stuck to their plan
to let
the
"epidemic situation of national importance"
expire on November 25th.
The problem here: The Union wants to reject the traffic light plans in the Bundestag because it considers letting the epidemic situation run out as
"irresponsible"
in the current situation
.
The Union-led countries could also oppose the following decision in the Federal Council on Friday if the traffic light does not improve their law.
In the best case
, at the end of the day between the traffic lights, the federal government and the states, everything is mixed and kneaded together in a big compromise - and there is a sensible overall package to finally stop the pandemic.
In the worst case
, the outcome is patchy and politicians are now proving to be incapable of tackling this crisis together.
In such a situation, Americans say: "Pray for the best, prepare for the worst."
Prime ministers and traffic light parties in crisis: the corona shock
Merkel did it again
Can she do that? The Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel called the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko again. It was about the situation of migrants on the Belarusian-Polish border. Merkel emphasized the need for humanitarian
care and return opportunities
for those affected to take place in cooperation with the United Nations refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said government spokesman Steffen Seibert.
Even after Merkel's first phone call at the beginning of the week there was criticism because Lukashenko is no longer recognized by the EU as an official interlocutor.
This
time, too, the
Polish government
in
particular
reacted indignantly to the German Chancellor's phone call, which is why Merkel called Poland's
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
to calm the mood
. She underlined the "full German solidarity with Poland".
Either way, the situation at the border seemed to have relaxed a little, at least in the meantime, possibly also a result of Merkel's telephone diplomacy.
Who knows?
According to Polish and Belarusian sources, the authorities in Belarus have started to bus some of the migrants from the border and provide them with accommodation.
Belarus: This is how Lukashenko's perfidious people smuggling works
Trump and his lunatics
In the USA, the processing of the
attack on the Capitol continued on January 6th
. The judiciary, in particular, is now cracking down on it. A Washington court tried another man on the matter,
Jacob Chansley
. Practically nobody knows the name, but everyone knows the photo: Chansley, an
ex-soldier from Arizona,
is the crazy guy who appeared in a shaman costume when supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.
Fur hat and horns
included. He is now in jail for 41 months for participating in the forcible storming of the Capitol. The judge remained just below the sentence required by the public prosecutor's office.
Chansley, who is also a follower of the
QAnon cult
, asked for forgiveness before the verdict was announced and protested that he regretted his act.
"I hope you see my good heart and my desire
to live
in the spirit of Gandhi and Jesus Christ
," he pleaded with the judge.
That left him cold, however.
"What you did was terrible," he said when the verdict was pronounced.
Just last week, a man from New Jersey was sentenced to more than three years in prison for participating in the storming.
He had assaulted a police officer.
In total, the authorities are investigating
the matter
against
more than 600 people
.
More convictions are likely to follow.
Attack on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: US Congress reprimands Trump supporters for violent videos
Winner of the day ...
… Are future Chancellor
Olaf Scholz
and US Senator
Chris Coons
.
You met for a conversation in Berlin;
Since then, a picture of the two has been providing amusing entertainment online.
Scholz and Coons look like twins who were separated after their birth and have now found each other again.
It is particularly nice that Coons distributed the doppelganger photo himself, but remained completely irony-free.
His dry comment: "I am pleased that I was able to meet with German partners to underline our strong and lasting relationships."
The latest news from the night
RKI boss warns of a "very bad Christmas":
The boss of the Robert Koch Institute sees "dark" days approaching Germany, hundreds of people would die.
In a video slot, he let his frustration with politics run wild
The Kaiser "is the Kaiser and I am only Markus":
Markus Söder describes himself in "Maischberger" as "one of the friendlier CSU chairmen" - and denies any complicity in the Union bankruptcy.
Even in the pandemic, he cannot find any faults in himself
Alleged email from Peng Shuai worries WTA:
Peng Shuai has accused China's former vice president of rape and has been missing since then.
The state media have now published an email that is said to have come from the tennis player
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I wish you a good start to the day.
Your Roland Nelles