Final countdown for Djoković's pushback from Down Under

1.

Vaccination Summit

The crucial question of our time is: "Now, how about the vaccination?" Today, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier put it to seven citizens in a discussion event at Bellevue Palace.

According to the Federal President's Office, people were invited who had written letters to the Federal President explaining why they were against or in favor of a general vaccination requirement.

My colleague Veit Medick from the SPIEGEL capital city office watched the event and missed a medically trained voice who "could have scientifically refuted one or the other very gossip or the fear of vaccination damage caused by nano-lipids."

Nonetheless, Veit experienced the roughly two-hour discussion as a "welcome contrast to the current insistence on politics on the subject."

At the moment, however, the Bundestag seems to be at a loss as to how such a drastic encroachment on citizens' personal rights could be implemented in practice.

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Photo:

Chris Emil Janssen / imago images / Chris Emil Janssen

There is a clear majority in the population in favor of a general vaccination requirement, but approval is crumbling, according to a SPIEGEL survey. One thing is clear: the compulsory vaccination would come too late for the current fourth wave anyway, as it takes weeks for everyone to be vaccinated and for the protection to work. The process is also being delayed »because the members of the Bundestag should decide independently of their parliamentary groups. Unlike usual, parliamentarians first have to get together in groups, formulate applications and try to organize supporters for them, «write my colleagues Jean-Pierre Ziegler and Dietmar Hipp in their FAQ on the current vaccination debate in Germany.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz does not want to submit his own draft law on compulsory vaccination in Germany, but leaves that to parliament.

The traffic light coalition decided to take this route because there are reservations, especially among the FDP politicians, about a general obligation to vaccinate against corona.

Scholz defended his decision to make the general compulsory vaccination a decision of conscience in the government survey in parliament today.

Scholz praised himself that MPs should formulate group motions across parliamentary groups, as my colleague Christian Teevs reports, is the right path for "democratic leadership" and contributes to political pacification.

• Read more: The Chancellor's Counterattack

2.

Silent suffering

As the daily debates about the sense and blessing of compulsory vaccination show, in this country people prefer to talk about the sometimes very childish worries and hardships of adults instead of looking at the well-being of children and adolescents.

Many students suffer from having to skip birthday parties, choir rehearsals, swimming courses or even wild parties with friends.

A generation is growing up that lives in a permanent state of permanent threat, not just because of the climate crisis.

The pandemic is particularly bad for those who are not lucky enough to find security, board games or homework help in their parents' home.

There are currently hardly any opportunities to break out of everyday life in broken or cramped family relationships.

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Photo:

Brill Stuart / Millennium / plainpicture

As a result, people dealing with mental illness should not have been surprised by the news of rising suicide rates among children and adolescents.

A pediatrician in Essen reported in a video conversation of a survey according to which in spring 2021, i.e. at the end of the second lockdown, many more children and adolescents had ended up in children's intensive care units because of a suicide attempt than in the same months of previous years.

Christian Dohna-Schwake is the name of the Essen doctor.

He heads the children's intensive care unit at the university clinic there.

My colleagues Silke Fokken and Heike Klovert tried to find out what was behind the shocking study.

They write: "Even if the doctors in Essen had to correct their information in one direction or the other at the end of the day, experts have been warning for a long time about the problem they are pointing out." Suicide prevention program for Germany NaSPro: "There is more and more evidence that the pandemic hits young people particularly hard in terms of isolation, loneliness and suicidality."

• Read here: Psychiatrist warns of the consequences of corona for children and adolescents

• Lockdown children and adolescents: what's behind the suicide attempt study

3.

Back to the go

“Pushback” is the bad word of the year, as the jury of the language-critical campaign in Marburg announced today. The English term means "push back" or "push back" and is often used in connection with possible illegal rejections of refugees to borders such as the one between Poland and Belarus.

When I heard the word »pushback«, however, I immediately thought of the case of the Serbian tennis player Novak Djoković.

Last week, he was refused entry to Australia because he was not vaccinated against the coronavirus and the documentation of his medical exemption was insufficient for the authorities.

Because the border officials had not given him the agreed time to clarify, the decision was overturned during a court hearing on Monday, which is why Djoković is allowed to stay in Australia for the time being.

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Photo:

WILLIAM WEST / AFP

The decision of the Australian immigration minister is expected in the near future.

Many people in Australia would welcome that.

Even news anchors call him "an asshole" there.

On the fifth continent, people have no sympathy for an unvaccinated tennis player.

At least that's how my colleague Anna-Lena Abbott, who reports for us from Sydney, describes it in her story about Djoković's "popularity down under".

The people there are "extremely tired of corona".

They had "some of the toughest and longest lockdowns in the world behind them, the city of Melbourne was particularly hard hit."

In the meantime, the country's zero-covid strategy has failed, and the states have been reporting new highs in new corona infections every day for weeks.

Therefore, the confusion surrounding the PCR test of the 34-year-old tennis player is viewed very critically.

Djoković claims to have tested positive for Corona on December 16.

But as SPIEGEL research has shown, the digital test result says something different.

The alleged false statement - possibly made in order to be allowed to enter Australia as an unvaccinated person and play tennis - could now lead to rejection.

• Read more about the Djoković case here: Has his positive PCR test been tampered with?

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What else is important today

• Retailers are not entitled to half-half:

  If their business premises are closed due to a pandemic, traders are generally entitled to a rent reduction - but this applies on a case-by-case basis.

  The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe decided on Wednesday.

• Omikron causes less than half as many hospital admissions in the USA:

  In the USA Omikron is raging particularly heavily and causing unprecedented numbers of corona cases.

  From the data, researchers can draw conclusions about the dangerousness of the new mutant - compared to the delta variant.

• Volkswagen sales are shrinking significantly:

  It is the second decline in a row: Volkswagen delivered fewer vehicles in 2021 than in the previous year.

  But that was less due to insufficient demand than to missing parts.

• Interior Minister Faeser threatens Telegram to shutdown:

  Extremists network via the messenger app and spread death threats unhindered.

  Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is therefore considering further steps against the operators.

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL +

• Joe Biden's act of desperation:

  Using tricks, the US Republicans could make voting more difficult for Democratic supporters in some states.

  The President wants to prevent this by changing an old Senate rule.

  But the operation is delicate.

• "Dangerous precedent":

  China has declared a trade war on Lithuania over opening a Taiwan representation.

  German companies are also caught between the two fronts.

  Parliamentary State Secretary Brantner comes to Vilnius for a solidarity visit.

• This is how you can defend yourself against being thrown out of the energy supplier:

  Tens of thousands of households are receiving retroactive terminations from gas or electricity providers these days - and are slipping into particularly expensive tariffs with new suppliers.

  What you can do now.

• Dreamer in the Ferris Wheel:

  He did not have a happy childhood and later made millions of children happy: Ali Mitgutsch, father of the Wimmelbuch, has died.

  Obituary for one who viewed the world from above and loved the disorder of life.

Which is less important today

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Pope Francis in front of the "Discoteca al Pantheon"

Photo:

Javier Martinez Brocal / Rome Reports / AP

When the Pope comes into a record store ...

what sounds like the beginning of a good joke happened just like that last night.

The Holy Father went to the shop near the famous Pantheon to bless it, the press office of the Holy See said, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.

The owners are, according to the report, friends of Francis from the days before his pontificate when he came to Rome.

As a thank you, the Pope is said to have received a recording of classical music.

Francis is considered to be a classical connoisseur.

According to the Guardian, the Pope has a particular preference for Johann Sebastian Bach's “St. Matthew Passion” and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's “Great Mass in C minor”.

Typo of the day

, corrected in the meantime: "Both the threat of wanting to throw the superior out of the window and the announced rampage cannot be expected of the employer, said the judges."

Cartoon of the day:

New twist

And tonight?

If you find it a little difficult to get started with day-to-day business after the Christmas holidays, just like me, just plan your next vacation.

For example with the 52 travel tips from the New York Times, including a Danish stretch of coast, a desert full of cacti - and a place that for most people is just cheese (read more here).

I would also like to recommend you take a look at the hidden object books of Ali Mitgutsch, who died on Monday at the age of 86 in Munich (read Christoph Gunkel's obituary here).

Mitgutsch's pictures give warmth, make you want more togetherness and are an enchanting contrast program in times of distance requirements and quarantine regulations.

Not just for children's eyes.

Have a nice evening,

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