1.
The tragedy of Boris Johnson
Things are obviously getting tight for Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Scotland Yard is now hot on his heels for possible violations of corona regulations.
Police in London today confirmed they were investigating "a number of events" at the Prime Minister's Office and other government buildings.
Johnson is accused of partying in not-so-small circles while law-abiding people were in lockdown.
Just yesterday, the television station ITV reported on a birthday party with up to 30 people.
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Boris Johnson: Growing resentment in his own party
Photo: ANDY RAIN/EPA
Johnson has essentially denied all allegations so far. But several party friends oppose him. If 54 members of his parliamentary group vote in writing in favor of a change, there would be a vote of no confidence. The votes are being collected. Aside from the police investigation, much depends on top officer Sue Gray's investigation, the results of which are due to be released this week.
I have to admit that I feel sorry for Johnson in a way.
As an outsider, one would actually have expected that his compatriots would hold him accountable for his policies, for the economic upheavals caused by Brexit, for the many corona deaths.
But in this regard, the judgment of many Britons about Johnson does not seem to be so negative.
On the contrary: Many still think Brexit is the right move and also consider British corona policy to be successful on the whole.
Instead, Johnson could now fall over personal behavior, which in his case really shouldn't surprise anyone.
Johnson would rather party than follow the rules?
Yes, what else?
You wouldn't have expected anything else from him.
Read more here: Scotland Yard launches investigation into Downing Street parties
2.
A crash prophet torments the CDU
Max Otte, an author specializing in doomsday scenarios with a recent increase in the forecast deviation, is to become the next Federal President.
At least that's what the AfD decided in its committees.
Otte gladly accepted the task today.
He considers the suggestion that he should be a candidate in the race "a great honor," he told SPIEGEL.
The AfD stands "clearly on the ground of the Basic Law".
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Max Otte (CDU) is nominated by the AfD as a candidate for the election to the Federal President
Photo: Jürgen Heinrich / imago images
Now Otte is a fan of the AfD and vice versa.
But actually he is a member of the CDU and even national chairman of the so-called union of values, which claims to represent the “conservative brand essence” of the union parties.
Otte also said today that despite his candidacy for the AfD, he would like to remain in the CDU.
The office of the Federal President eludes the party dispute.
"I will not leave the CDU voluntarily," said Otte.
How will the CDU react to this?
Several party members have already called for Otte to be thrown out.
Mario Czaja, the new CDU general secretary, announced that the federal executive board wants to deal with the Otte case tonight.
In fact, it is hard to imagine that the CDU can offer Otte's behavior.
However, the party may also wonder whether it was a mistake not to put forward its own candidate for the presidency and instead support incumbent Frank-Walter Steinmeier for a second term.
A Union candidate would have as little chance as AfD candidate Otte or Gerhard Trabert, who was put up by the left.
But at least the Union representatives in the Federal Assembly would be spared voting for a man who couldn't bring himself to mention the name "Helmut Kohl" in his presidential speech marking 30 years of German unity.
Read more here: AfD nominates Max Otte as candidate for Federal President
3.
God dag BA.2
While Germany is facing the omicron wall, our neighbors in Denmark are already grappling with the next form of the virus: Farvel BA.1, god dag BA.2.
It is an omicron subtype that initially seemed irrelevant, but is now spreading rapidly in Denmark.
My colleague Katherine Rydlink researched the situation there: BA.2 suddenly made up 20 percent of the samples checked in the week after Christmas.
In the second week of January it was 45 percent.
And now the subtype is dominant, while the importance of the first omicron variant BA.1 is declining sharply.
"A clear indication that one subtype has evolutionary advantages over the other and drives it out," writes Katherine.
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Corona test center in Düsseldorf
Photo:
Leon Kuegeler / photo library / IMAGO
Only a few cases of BA.2 have been reported in Germany so far.
However, there is also little sequencing in this country.
The British health authority, on the other hand, has already classified BA.2 as a "variant under observation", which means a preliminary stage to "variant of concern".
Is BA.2 more dangerous for us than the other variants?
The US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding writes that BA.2 could possibly circumvent the immune protection even faster.
You have to take the warnings from Denmark seriously.
Read the full story here: What the spread of the omicron subtype BA.2 means
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What else is important today
US fighter jet crashes on aircraft carrier – several injured:
The pilot was able to save himself by ejecting: When a US fighter plane landed in the South China Sea, an accident occurred.
There are significant territorial conflicts between China and other countries in the region.
Police set up investigative group "Botany":
The police want to clarify the background of the deadly attack at the university in Heidelberg with a special commission.
Local concern is great.
Bavaria allows up to 10,000 spectators again:
sports officials are increasingly criticizing the corona measures in politics.
Now Bayern is pushing ahead: In future, fans will be allowed back into the stadiums and halls of the professional leagues.
My favorite story today: The iLapp
If you use Apple devices, you shouldn't be too price-sensitive.
Some say Apple likes to sell yesterday's technology at tomorrow's prices.
The company has achieved a stock market value that is greater than the gross domestic product of most industrialized countries.
Apple devices look very chic on the other hand.
There are said to be people who pay more than 50 euros for a plastic case for the iPhone just because it is an "original accessory" licensed by Apple.
But I don't want to say more about it, because that would cause trouble with a person close to me.
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Also needs to be cleaned from time to time: Apple's 25-euro polishing cloth
Photo:
Apple
My tech-savvy colleague Matthias Kremp from the Netzwelt department recently came across the ultimate Apple accessory: a polishing cloth with an apple logo.
Matthias called it the »i-rag«.
The iLappen costs 25 euros.
You can use it to wipe screens.
“The price made some people flush with anger,” writes Matthias, “and triggered a buying reflex in others.
As soon as Apple's cleaning help was available, it was already sold out.«
If you are one of the owners of an iLapp, I would like to recommend the new newsletter from our Netzwelt department.
Matthias came across information that you should consider when caring for the care cloth.
Accordingly, Apple has published an entry on the support pages with the following three tips:
Hand wash the polishing cloth with dish soap and water
and rinse thoroughly.
Allow the polishing cloth to air dry for at least 24 hours.
For stubborn dirt, however, Apple recommends using 70 percent isopropyl alcohol.
Matthias did some research: Unfortunately, you can't get it from Apple yet.
But in the pharmacy.
Read the full story here: The Saga of Apple's Cleaning Rag
What we recommend at SPIEGEL+ today
Will the new "people's shares" become flops?
The stock market hype is followed by a stock market hangover, and the fear of a crash is growing.
Above all, this affects the values of prominent growth companies, which many small investors have also opted for.
Without a car in the country - is that even possible?
It is often said that away from the big cities, everyday life can only be managed by car.
A family with three children in Brandenburg tries it out - and commutes 30 kilometers by bike every day.
How to cut children's hair - without shouting:
How it doesn't pull when you comb it, why the fringe is crucial - and you actually don't need to wash small children's hair at all: master hairdresser Roman Bartl says what you have to pay attention to.
Which is less important today
Enlarge image
Swift at a performance last October: "I write ALL my own songs"
Photo:
GAELEN MORSE / REUTERS
Songwriter:
Pop superstar Taylor Swift, 32, has denied accusations that she lets others write her hits.
She responded via Twitter to an interview by British musician Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), who had made disparaging remarks about her.
"She doesn't write her own songs," says Albarn.
The fact that Swift is named as a co-writer on some songs does not count.
Taylor Swift was outraged.
"I write all my songs," she tweeted, followed by the comment in Albarn's direction, "PS: In case you're wondering, I wrote this tweet myself."
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "The flight stop at the city's largest airport will be extended until 1 p.m. local time (11 a.m. CET), the operating company announced on Twitter."
Cartoon of the Day:
Party Rumors
And tonight?
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Anti-Semitic depictions of Jews from the Arthur Langerman Archive in Berlin: uncanny, bent over, with a hooked nose
Photo:
kind
Do you know the Harry Potter movies?
Then you surely remember the leprechauns from the wizarding bank: devious types with hooked noses.
How do you come up with such a representation?
Which stereotypes are served here?
The film »Jud Süss 2.0« by Felix Möller, which will be shown on Arte tonight at 10:40 p.m., provides a possible answer.
He shows how anti-Semitism is still spreading today in ciphers, in caricatures of bankers with hooked noses, in whispers about "Wall Street", "Rothschild", "Soros".
My colleague Arno Frank has already seen the documentary.
He writes: »'Jud Süss 2.0' not only illuminates the continuities, not only illuminates the topicality of the topic.
The film also conveys an idea of the menacing dimensions that the agitation granulated into a myriad of tiny channels has meanwhile assumed.
Incidentally, without clearly assigning anti-Semitism to a political camp, which is also a credit to the documentation.«
I wish you a thoughtful evening.
Heartfelt
Yours sincerely, Alexander Neubacher
Here you can order »Situation in the Evening« by e-mail.
