Don't we all know an oath like Djoković?

1.

Biden vs. Trump - the next round?

Is that a foretaste of the next US presidential campaign? Joe Biden attacked his predecessor sharply and accused Trump of complicity in the attack on the Capitol a year ago today. "The truth is," said Biden: "A former US president has spun a web of lies." He did it because his own interests are more important to him than the welfare of the country "and because of his inflated ego, which is more important to him as the constitution ”. No president in US history has ever done such a thing. "Undemocratic" and "un-American," Biden called Trump's attacks on the electoral system. And assured that he would defend the country and democracy.

"Even if Biden speaks from the heart of many Americans with his speech, because he describes the actual events, he is unlikely to convince his opponents," reports my colleague Roland Nelles from Washington.

The President has often expressed his anger at Trump, writes the New York Times in a real-time analysis, but has not been so sharp since he took office: “This speech is something else.

It shows Biden's frustration that his victory has been called into question.

By addressing Trump so directly, he is reinvigorating a political strategy that he and the Democrats benefited from in 2020, but which seems to be less popular lately. "

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Elected President

Photo: JIM BOURG / REUTERS

Can something like the Capitol storming be repeated? "There is some evidence that January 6th was not a slip-up, not an accident in history," comments Roland. "Far greater dangers await America's democracy in the coming months, there can be more violence, more chaos." Trump and his devoted Republicans are to blame. (Read the full comment here.)

They have long been preparing for the next coup - mostly at the local level, as my colleague Marc Pitzke reports: More and more Trump-dependent Republicans are securing positions in some states in order to control the electoral process.

"They pass laws that make voting more difficult for democrats and minorities in particular, and serve the representatives of the old legal system so that no one will offer any more resistance in the future." (More background here.) And Trump himself, still banned from Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, is building his own online network, he calls it "Truth social".

Two lies in the title.

• You can see today's speech in the video here: Commemoration for the anniversary of the storm on the Capitol

• And here you can read an analysis: Biden's reckoning with Trump

2.

The dead of Almaty

During the unrest in the Republic of Kazakhstan, security forces claimed to have killed protesters critical of the government in the country's largest city, Almaty.

The government has asked Russia for further support - and Moscow is sending military.

The Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan broke away from Moscow three decades ago.

Since then, the Kazakh leadership has tried to build a sovereign nation-state without provoking a secession of Russian-populated areas in the north.

"In doing so, she successfully asserted herself against Moscow's political, military and cultural dominance," reports my colleague Christian Esch, our correspondent in Moscow.

"Now she is voluntarily relinquishing part of the sovereignty that was so hard to achieve."

Why is Kazakhstan's President doing this?

"How many troops Russia actually relocates is not decisive for the President of Kazakhstan - it depends on the signal," analyzes Christian.

"The signal is aimed at his own security forces, who are currently faced with the question of whether or not they should go over to the demonstrators."

And what does this twist mean for Russia's president?

"If things go well for Putin, then the crisis could offer the chance to tie an important neighbor even more firmly to Moscow than has been the case up to now, with manageable commitment," writes Christian.

"The protests in the streets of Almaty would then have played into the hands of the Kremlin of all people."

• Read more about the background here: Putin's silent pact

3.

Over and over?

One of the victims of the pandemic is calm. This shows the excitement about tennis player Novak Djokovic. He wanted to win the 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and thus become the greatest and most successful tennis professional in history. Now he is stuck in the Park Hotel in the Carlton district of Melbourne because he is keeping a secret about his vaccination status and at the Australian Open, it has been clear for months, only those who have been fully vaccinated are allowed to compete.

This is not entirely surprising, as my colleagues Peter Ahrens and Jörn Meyn from our sports department point out: Djokovic already alienated the tennis world when he did not want to have his massive elbow problems operated on in 2017 and 2018 and preferred to rely on the healing powers of a mental coach. In 2020, the player irritated the public with a bizarre Instagram video in which he advertised that poisonous water could be transformed into healing water with the power of prayer. "The penchant for pseudoscience was accepted as a quirk, but the pandemic has given it a new social meaning," says Peter. Now the Australian prime minister threatens if Djokovic "does not provide acceptable medical evidence, he will be on the next plane home." The president of Djokovic's home country railed:"All of Serbia stands by him". How Australia deals with the tennis star is a "mistreatment" and a "political witch hunt".

What many people know from their private lives takes place on the world political and media stage. It's just more difficult to smile away at quirks and gossips than in non-Corona times. In any case, among my circle of acquaintances, it is more of the people who oppose the vaccination who previously suspected that September 11, 2001 was a production. Or they believe: whoever uses sun lotion gets skin cancer - after all, people have been outside a lot for centuries and have never had such problems. The private spinning mills used to be annoying, and some superstitions even had something charming about them. Now it is quickly escalating into a dispute. As important as it is that as many people as possible get vaccinated; so great is the longing for a time when things are less dogged.

• More here in the video: Djoković's father compares tennis star with Jesus

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What else is important today

• Kretschmer is planning extensive openings in Saxony - despite Omikron:

  Hotels, cinemas and museums are still closed in Saxony.

  But according to SPIEGEL information, Prime Minister Kretschmer wants to campaign for relaxation at the corona summit on Friday - at least for those who have been vaccinated.

• Mourning for Holocaust survivor Trude Simonsohn:

  Even at the age of 90, Trude Simonsohn told young people about the Nazi crimes.

  The survivor of the Auschwitz extermination camp has now died at the age of 100.

• Antibiotic resistance is much older than antibiotics:

  MRSA bacteria are feared in hospitals because of their antibiotic resistance.

  Up until now it was thought that they came about after the introduction of antibiotics.

  Now a study shows: some germs are much older.

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

• Where Germany's low-wage earners work - and who belongs to it:

  Four million people work full-time - for very little money.

  The problem is very unevenly distributed in Germany.

  Find out how big the low wage sector is in your area.

• Why is it no longer working for the Germans, Mr. Hannawald?

  Sven Hannawald was the last German to win the Four Hills Tournament 20 years ago.

  Before the final in Bischofshofen he speaks about the pitfalls of the competitions and Ryoyu Kobayashi's perfection.

• How Heinrich Schliemann found Troy - or invented it:

  Heinrich Schliemann dug a treasure out of a hill of ruins in 1873 and immediately declared it to be "Trojan".

  But the theory of the tricky amateur archaeologist, born exactly 200 years ago, was extremely shaky.

Which is less important today

Cubic capacity for the future

: Formula 1 star

hopes for new drives and an environmentally friendly future for his sport, as he said to the "Süddeutsche".

He would also like to meet Greta Thunberg, 19, who said the climate activist was "great" and "a real role model that the whole world should follow and, above all, older men should pay more attention".

Typo of the day

, now corrected: "She expresses concern about arms deliveries from the West to Ukraine and fears an Easter expansion of NATO."

Cartoon of the day:

School out!

... home!

And tonight?

Could you follow a recommendation from my colleague and show expert Anja Rützel and watch the new show "Masked Dancer" on ProSieben (from 8:15 pm).

The concept is that masked, more or less prominent people, dance and a jury and the audience must recognize who it is.

Sounds pretty trashy at first.

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Photo: Willi Weber / dpa

"You might ask yourself: how can you suddenly identify the kind of celebrities, who you would probably not recognize on the street even without a costume, by their step step?" Says Anja.

But she herself has already watched the British version and successfully identified a zipper as Howard Donald from Take That after just a few grooves.

So: maybe you give the show a chance after all.

Or, to say it with Anja: "Sometimes it's really nice when celebrities don't talk, but just dance."

And don't forget: Never pretend that it's all real.

Someday soon this will all be someone else's dream.

A lovely evening.

Sincerely,

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