News of the day: SPD cabinet of Olaf Scholz, Austria's candidate for chancellor Karl Nehammer, objectivity in the corona pandemic

1.

Make a wish

On St. Nicholas Day, the designated Federal Chancellor

the names of the seven red stockings for his

.

This is Olaf Scholz's SPD government team:

• The State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance,

  Wolfgang Schmidt

  , becomes head of the Federal Chancellery

• Nancy Faeser is

  moving from the Hessian state parliament to the Ministry of the Interior

• The previous Environment Minister

  Svenja Schulze

  takes over the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

• Christine Lambrecht

  will head the Ministry of Defense instead of the Ministry of Justice

• The deputy SPD federal

  chairwoman Klara Geywitz

  takes over the newly created Ministry for Building and Housing

• And

  Hubertus Heil will

  keep the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

Enlarge image

Federal Chancellor-designate Scholz, future Minister of Health Lauterbach (in the Willy-Brandt-Haus)

Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa

Karl Lauterbach,

the great Corona explainer and talk show guest, will also be

If you haven't spent the day in the "mysterious hut" on the far side of the moon that a Chinese moon rover claims to have tracked down, you will of course already know that.

The congratulations and the sometimes open jubilation about Karl Lauterbach's nomination as Minister of Health were clearly audible throughout the day not only in political Berlin, but also in social networks such as Twitter and Instagram.

The designated SPD General Secretary

commented on Lauterbach's election in a Christmassy manner: “Nikolaus is when wishes are fulfilled.

You wanted it - you will get it. "

Even more exciting than Lauterbach's nomination, however, is the fact that Germany will see a female

for the first time in the country's history

.

had chosen no one except Olaf Scholz as the preferred candidate for this important department because hardly anyone outside of Hesse knew her.

In any case, I openly admit that, despite my 10 years of membership in SPIEGEL and the associated work as a political correspondent, I had never heard her name.

Which, however, does not have to say anything about the quality of the future Minister of the Interior.

You can also do politics very competently without constantly talking about it on talk shows, on Twitter or with SPIEGEL editors.

• Read a portrait of Nancy Faeser here

2.

Karl who?

"Six men and one woman at the head of the government wore out

in just five and a half years," said my colleague Walter Mayr in his story of Austria's new head of government, who was

sworn in

as

in the Vienna Hofburg today

.

The man's

is

.

Enlarge image

Chancellor candidate Karl Nehammer

Photo:

Georg Schneider / IMAGO

The 49-year-old former Minister of the Interior is a member of the

and is known for his robust rhetoric. Now he should lead the affair-torn country back to normal. A brief review: Last week,

announced that he would be

resigning from all political offices and retiring into private life. The resignations of the new chancellor

and the finance minister

follow on the same day

Nehammer, writes Walter Mayr, has nothing to do with the recent affairs, with post haggling, advertisement corruption, debunking chats and open attacks on the judiciary.

He "is regarded as strictly conservative in questions of immigration and internal security, but as reliable and sociable."

According to opinion polls, only a third of all respondents consider the new Prime Minister Nehammer to be suitable as Chancellor.

He will have to prove himself quickly: a decision should be made this week whether the nationwide

extended

and in what form the

introduced.

In partly violent demonstrations in Vienna on Saturday, more than 40,000 people protested against the government's policies.

• Read the full story here: The man with the flex

3.

Pious wish

An alliance of scientists calls for more objectivity in the

- and accuses the

targeted defamation.

In a statement by the Alliance of Science Organizations, on which my colleague Swantje Unterberg reports, it is said that the newspaper is continuing the "one-sided reporting it started last year against scientists".

The reason for the criticism is the "Bild" issue last Saturday.

Under the title "The Lockdown Makers", the newspaper had accused three scientists of being responsible for the

and the associated

from dining, retail and other offers in many federal states.

Enlarge image

Unauthorized elevator in Freiberg, Saxony

Photo: B & S / Bernd März / imago images / Bernd März

Just as one cannot blame science for driving Germany into a lockdown, one can accuse the »Bild« newspaper of having the torch-lit protest of some opponents of the corona policy in front of the private house of the

(SPD) provoked.

However, it can be said that the often very emotionally charged and personalized Corona reporting in Germany's largest tabloid certainly does not contribute to the objectification of the pandemic-related conflicts in this country. In Grimma, members and sympathizers of the

apparently moved in front of Köpping's house

on Friday

. A video on Twitter shows how people gather in front of the house and chant "Peace, freedom, no dictatorship".

The more heated the mood, the more likely some people will feel they need to reach for torches.

The march in front of Köpping's private house is reminiscent of "the darkest chapters of our German history," said Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU).

It was "organized intimidation of a state representative," he said.

Not anywhere, but in »Bild am Sonntag«.

• Read more here: Scientists defend themselves against "Bild" newspaper

(Would you like to receive the »Situation in the evening« conveniently in your inbox by email? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)

What else is important today

• EU politicians shocked after attempted attack on Belgian MPs:

  Unknown people threw arson at the house of Belgian MP Pascal Arimont and smeared hateful slogans on the building.

  Now EU politicians show solidarity across borders.

• Public prosecutor's office brings charges against HSV professional Bakery Jatta:

  He is accused of offenses against the residence law: The Hamburg

  public prosecutor's office is filing charges against professional

  soccer player Bakery Jatta.

  He is said to have a false name.

• ECB wants to redesign euro banknotes:

  The euro notes should look different in the future.

  The ECB wants to collect ideas for the redesign of banknotes in the coming years - and let the people in the euro area have a say.

My favorite story today: vaccine production in Africa

Last week,

the discovery of the

public.

Once again “the world will be shown how urgent it is to vaccinate the African population.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, experts have warned that the coronavirus will continue to mutate if a large part of the population is not vaccinated everywhere. "This is what the Africa correspondent for SPIEGEL Fritz Schaap writes in his very readable report on a South African company that runs Moderna - Wants to copy vaccine.

Enlarge image

Researcher in a laboratory at Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines in Cape Town

Photo: Dwayne Senior / Bloomberg / Getty Images

For over a year, the member states of the

arguing

over whether

for the duration of the pandemic.

But the cancer researcher and head of Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines Petro Terblanche doesn't want to wait any longer.

So far, writes Schaap, none of the mRNA vaccine producers has been ready "to share their knowledge and technology to the extent that Terblanche and her people could immediately start building production structures."

For the big pharmaceutical companies, profit is "apparently far more important than global health."

He also quotes Terblanche with a thought-provoking sentence: "Morality and capitalism go together with difficulty."

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

• A single coin that could avert the US budget freeze:

  the US is threatened with insolvency again.

  A wacky idea could be the lifeline for Joe Biden's government in an emergency.

• The addiction

  machine

  : In

  public, TikTok says its users should "take a break".

  However, the documents available to SPIEGEL on the algorithm of the popular video app paint a different picture.

• How a breakaway pilot carried the world war to Robinson Island:

  The islanders of Niihau lived so isolated that they did not even find out about Japan's attack on the United States in 1941.

  Until a Japanese pilot crashed in Hawaii - and started a deadly fight.

• A 19-year-old Brandenburg

  woman

  against the toxic German rappers:

  fiery red hair, a hard rap flow and texts that are about female self-empowerment: the young rapper Badmómzjay is celebrating success in the charts.

  Exactly the sound that Germany needs.

Which is less important today

• "16% of Germans are Bavarians, but Bavarian ministers: no results!" Tweeted

  CSU General Secretary Markus Blume,

  indignant after Scholz's announcement of the cabinet position.

  The pity was limited.

  The Bavarian FDP parliamentary group leader Martin Hagen believes that most Bavarians are possibly "very happy that top performers like Andreas Scheuer are no longer in the ministerial office."

  In any case, Blum's tweet shows one thing above all: The traffic light parties could not have given the CSU a greater gift than disregarding Bavarian interests.

  As a lawyer for regulars from southern Germany, Flower’s party will have an easy time of it for the next four years.

Typo of the day

, corrected in the meantime: "This is how government spokesman Steffen Seibert will appear for the last time at the Federal Press Conference today."

Cartoon of the day:

Get to work!

And tonight?

Let the chocolate Santa Claus live one more night.

Better to cook your favorite recipe.

"In troubled times, in sad moments, in the midst of a pandemic, cooking will always be part of the solution," write the winners of the

The Colombian Zoraida "Chori" Agamez and her daughter Heidy Pinto won over the jury of the Gourmand World Book Award with their traditional recipes from Latin American cuisine.

Enlarge image

Photo: Helga Lugert

If you don't have the right ingredients for Latin American cooking at home, the cook and SPIEGEL cooking columnist

recommends

a recipe with potatoes and cream.

An ideal dish for adults too, "when everything is gray outside and you want to make yourself comfortable inside."

A lovely evening.

Sincerely,

Here you can order the "Lage am Abend" by email.