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News of the day: Ukraine war, hate comments against women, passwords

2022-05-05T15:45:57.769Z


How Putin's bombs cause supply shortages in Germany's industry. Why hate on the Internet is particularly repulsive towards women. Why will we soon no longer need passwords for bank accounts and computers? This is the situation on Thursday evening.


1.

The Ukraine war not only causes unrest in German politics, but also in the economy - the industry complains about slumps in orders and delivery bottlenecks

Today, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj for around three quarters of an hour.

It is to be hoped that the quarrel between Selenskyj's faithful and the German government, which seems to me very unnecessary, will relax a bit.

I also hope that this phone call will calm down the competition between top German politicians for the allegedly more accurate assessment of the war situation.

The uncertainty in the German economy due to the Ukraine war is currently high.

Today it became known that orders for the industry have unexpectedly plummeted.

Unsurprisingly, the war also had an impact on the German economy.

According to Robert Habeck's Economics Ministry, the outlook for the next few months is "subdued".

Many companies want to raise prices.

And since the beginning of the war, delivery bottlenecks have been noticeable in many companies, which are being exacerbated by the corona crisis in China, an important trading partner.

Enlarge image

car tire

Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa

"It gets particularly tricky where important preliminary products are no longer produced in Germany and the suppliers are located in Russia," writes my colleague Michael Kröger in a story about branches of industry particularly affected by delivery problems.

Among other things, soot is a strategically important substance.

From the point of view of uninformed normal people, the black, greasy, sticky stuff, which consists largely of carbon, "has a rather bad reputation in everyday life," says Michael.

"But it's indispensable in business." It is used in the production of tires or rubber seals, but also in construction.

Cosmetics manufacturers use carbon black to give their mascara sticks the depth of color they need.

Around 60 percent of carbon black comes from Russia.

Although the German economy has been trying to find a replacement for weeks, the capacities in other supplier countries are apparently not sufficient to close the gap so easily.

Now one hopes for manufacturers from India, China or Saudi Arabia.

Still, there is one gratifying aspect of scarcity.

"Perhaps the change of era will also prove to be a blessing in the medium term," writes the colleague.

Due to the current supply difficulties, "completely new processes could establish themselves on the market, which are also much more sustainable than those previously used."

  • Read more here: Why car tires could soon become scarce and expensive 

And here is more news and background information on the war in Ukraine:

  • How separatists abduct Ukrainian men and send them to the front:

    In the so-called people's republics in eastern Ukraine's Donbass, men are apparently being forced into war against their own country.

    Thousands have already been killed, mothers and wives appreciate - and hope for signs of life.

  • Every fifth German believes conspiracy myths about the Ukraine war:

    The internet is full of false reports about the Russian attack in Ukraine - and according to a survey, many believers find them in Germany.

    The supporters of a party are particularly vulnerable.

  • Donor conference collects more than six billion euros for refugees:

    The international community of states agrees to give massive support to refugees from Ukraine: Around 6.5 billion dollars were raised at a donor conference in Warsaw.

  • Find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine here: The News Update

2.

Prominent women report on hate comments in SPIEGEL - unlike men, it is almost never about content, but immediately below the belt

Anyone who deals with everyday hate comments on the Internet is almost inevitably confronted with the question of the motives for a rather difficult to explain baseness.

"Nothing is as exhausting as investigating human stupidity," said the French writer Gustave Flaubert, who of course was unaware of the Internet, but in fact thought a great deal about possible causes of wickedness and stupidity.

My colleagues Dialika Neufeld, Nora Gantenbrink and Antje Windmann created hate protocols in a rather shocking research.

In them, seven prominent women report on how they experience the increasing violence on the Internet, how they are attacked by people who wish them to be raped or killed.

After every talk show, she knows "there will be a shitstorm," says feminist blogger Kübra Gümüşay, for example, about her experience with digital violence.

Apparently, hate and hate speech breaking out suddenly on the internet can affect anyone in Germany – but especially anyone.

In contrast to attacks on male targets, there is hardly any discussion of the content of attacks against women, no criticism of political positions or activities.

"For women, it's just below the belt," says Josephine Ballon, head of the legal department at HateAid, a Berlin aid organization for those affected.

A third of the comments women direct to them are solely about their looks, solely about their gender.

“We don't see that in men.

It's a very structural difference," says Ballon.

For fear of hate, 52 percent of women are now expressing their opinions less frequently on the Internet, according to a recent Europe-wide survey on digital violence.

This is devastating for the political discourse.

And the authorities?

In February 2022, the "Central Reporting Office for Criminal Content on the Internet" started work at the Federal Criminal Police Office.

200 civil servants should specifically combat hate and hate speech online.

But the social networks are obliged to report illegal content including user data, including the IP address, to the Federal Criminal Police Office - only Google and the Facebook group Meta have sued against it.

Apparently with success.

According to the Cologne Administrative Court, the obligation to report violates EU law.

That's why nothing comes from the companies.

During their research, how were the colleagues able to convince the interviewees that it was the right thing to do to make the attacks public?

"Some women declined out of concern that hatred would increase if they talked to SPIEGEL about it," says my colleague Nora Gantenbrink.

“All in all, it was observed that all women now weigh very carefully whether they still go on talk shows with their topics at all.

Too often the digital attacks afterwards were too big.«

  • Read the full story here: The Hate Protocols 

3.

The FIDO technology, co-developed by Apple, Google and Microsoft, is intended to make passwords superfluous – and to be available to everyone in 18 months at the latest.

For a long time, I made my passwords for all sorts of encrypted internet services and devices out of my favorite flavors of ice cream and a few numbers.

The ice cream flavors were called Magnum and Nogger.

After all, I was a lot more original with my choice of password than the people who show off their choice every year in the surveys for the most popular passwords: The sequence of numbers »123456« ends up very high on these lists to this day.

My colleague Matthias Kremp is now reporting that the ever-present danger of bad passwords or passwords falling into the wrong hands may soon be eliminated.

Namely through the password-free login, which experts from all over the world have developed under the umbrella of the so-called FIDO Alliance.

The three tech companies Apple, Google and Microsoft were apparently in charge.

"You no longer need passwords to log in with FIDO, just a digital security key," writes Matthias.

"And dealing with exactly that should now be much more convenient."

Enlarge image

This is what online registration could look like in the future (icon image)

Photo: FIDO Alliance

The abbreviation FIDO stands for »Fast Identity Online«.

Instead of passwords and second factors that could be stolen or hijacked by criminals, it relies on so-called cryptographic methods to protect its users' log-in data.

A cryptographic master key can, for example, be stored in a secure memory area of ​​a smartphone or in the cloud.

A second, public key is generated for every website and every app that you then log into with FIDO.

Log-in is only possible if both keys match.

Do you understand that completely?

not me yet

But that's most likely my fault, because as a technology ignoramus I don't even know anything about things like the "USB dongles with fingerprint sensors" that the colleague reports on.

In any case, an expert he interviewed promises that the user-friendliness of the new technology should be kept in mind.

It doesn't matter which of the new methods of FIDO technology you use, "You won't need passwords in the future," promises colleague Kremp.

"Which doesn't mean that you can start using it tomorrow." However, the technology should be available to everyone in a maximum of 18 months.

  • Read the full story here: Forget your passwords

(Would you like to receive the "Situation in the evening" conveniently by e-mail in your inbox? Order the daily briefing as a newsletter here.)

What else is important today

  • Majority of Germans want to use the nine-euro ticket:

    According to a survey, the planned cheap monthly ticket arouses great interest - even among many who have not traveled much by bus or train until now.

    However, it is questionable whether these people leave their car permanently.

  • France faces millions in fines for air pollution:

    The bad Parisian air has ruined his health, says a resident of the capital.

    He has now sued the state for damages.

    According to a report that has now been published, the man could even be right.

  • Bank of England increases base rate:

    The high inflation figures are forcing more and more central banks to take countermeasures: After the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England has now also increased the base rate – by 0.25 percentage points to 1.0 percent.

  • Almost 15 million people died in connection with the corona pandemic:

    Less than half of the victims died directly from Covid-19.

    In particular, the overloaded clinics and doctors drove the number of deaths up, according to the WHO.

  • Inflation rate in Turkey rises to 70 percent:

    In Turkey, consumer prices, which were already high, continued to rise in April.

    Goods and services are becoming more and more expensive, food prices have almost doubled.

What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+

  • Room with a view of the earth:

    The world is not enough: What sounds like a child's dream or the vision of a super-rich is about to become reality.

    A US company has presented plans for hotels in orbit.

  • “Sure, handing over a handkerchief is difficult”:

    During the pandemic, many psychotherapy sessions took place via video – now this is being restricted again.

    Kathrin Schallenberg has looked after many people in this way, here she talks about advantages and limits.

  • Once chicken in peanut sauce - but without peanuts:

    Dear Olaf Scholz, I have opinions, but nobody asks me if I want to sign anything.

    That is why I am writing to you in an open letter.

    Because if you want to save the future, you have to start today to destroy the present.

  • Ladies first:

    the UK votes regionally and Northern Ireland could be won by two pragmatic Sinn Féin politicians in favor of Irish reunification.

    Their triumph would be historic – but perhaps also dangerous.

  • Hendrik Wüst's biggest problem:

    With her zigzag course in the pandemic, the FDP minister has upset parents, teachers and students - and thus also endangers the re-election of Prime Minister Wüst's black-yellow coalition.

Which is less important today

Enlarge image

Leonardo DiCaprio (stock photo)

Photo: Christopher Jue/ Getty Images

  • Successful film star as a politician provocateur: Leonardo DiCaprio

    , 47-year-old US actor and climate activist, motivated Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to break out in anger.

    "Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems affected by climate change," DiCaprio wrote in tweets last week.

    He used them to urge young Brazilians to register for the October elections.

    "What happens there concerns us all." Today, the US broadcaster CNN reported that Brazil's president, controversial because of the deforestation his government enforced, has now reacted to the tweets of the film stars for the umpteenth time.

    Now, among other things, with the sentence: "DiCaprio should better shut up instead of talking nonsense."

Typo of the day

, now corrected: "Federal President Franz-Walter Steinmeier wanted to do the same, but was disinvited." 

Cartoon of the Day:

Confidence

And tonight?

Could you - if you want, even without a mask - go to the cinema again.

If you want to overwhelm yourself right away, the new Marvel film »Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness« seems to be the right choice.

Enlarge image

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange

Photo:

LMKMEDIA Ltd.

/ ddp

My colleague Andreas Borcholte recommends not asking for logic, but instead surrendering oneself helplessly to the »revue of madness«.

Why should they?

»Superhero comics were«, writes Andreas, »always escapist portals to escape from the grim present in utopias«.

In case you need another argument, the title role is played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

You can read the whole review here.

A lovely evening.

Yours sincerely,


Wolfgang Hoebel


Here you can order the »Situation in the Evening« by e-mail.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-05-05

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