1. Shocking Insights
Let your child press and hold their smartphone a little longer than usual today.
Maybe one day he will become a hacker.
The revelation of the Xinjiang Police Files shows that you can do a lot of good with this hobby or profession.
More than ten gigabytes of
Chinese government data
, classified as “confidential” and “internal”, prove for the first time that the Chinese state is systematically imprisoning Uyghurs in re-education camps.
The data leak includes thousands of prisoner photos, but also secret speeches, training documents from the security authorities and seemingly endless lists of detainees.
For years, China's government has claimed that the camps are professional training institutions aimed at fighting poverty and extremist ideas.
The stay in the camps is said to be voluntary - this claim can no longer be maintained, at least since today.
Enlarge image
Photo: [M] Lina Moreno / DER SPIEGEL;
Source: Xingjiang Police Files
The data set was leaked to the German anthropologist Adrian Zenz, who has published secret information about the camps in the past. According to him, the leak came from an anonymous source, apparently a hacker who penetrated the computer systems of Chinese security authorities.
According to the researcher, the source did not set any conditions, and there was no payment.
“It's like a window into a police state with so little information getting out.
We've never seen anything like it," says Zenz.
How did SPIEGEL check the authenticity of the documents?
What does the Chinese government say about the research?
SPIEGEL reporters
Christoph Giesen
,
Frederik Obermaier
,
Bastian Obermayer
and
Bernhard Zand
have compiled the most important questions and answers on the Xinjiang Police Files here.
According to a statement from her ministry today, Foreign Minister
Annalena Baerbock
spoke in a video conference with her Chinese colleague Wang Yi "also about the shocking reports and new documentation on the most serious human rights violations in Xinjiang".
Federal Minister of
Finance
Christian Lindner
The revelations by SPIEGEL and other media partners were also shocking: "We have to ask Chinese officials about the human rights situation on every occasion," he said on Twitter.
There should be no such thing as »velvet paws« based on economic interests.
Against this background, the enormous dependence of the German economy on the Chinese market is particularly depressing.
It is therefore "also an imperative of economic prudence to quickly differentiate our economic relationships".
The CDU foreign affairs expert
Norbert Röttgen
warned that it must be ensured that German companies are neither involved in forced labor in Xinjiang nor benefit from it.
After all, there has been a law with the beautiful German tongue twister title "Supply Chain Due Diligence Act" for a year.
It obliges companies to ensure that human rights are respected in their supply chains.
That's a good approach.
But still not enough to dissuade the surveillance state of China from the systematic oppression of minorities.
Read more about the topic here: Data leak gives unique insight into China's brutal suppression apparatus
Xinjiang Police Files: Baerbock demands clarification from China
2. Hot or promising future?
“Some people are so poor.
All they have is money” reads a protest banner in Davos, where the World Economic Forum is currently taking place.
But what good is money to a poor person when the world is burning around them?
Forest fires in the climate crisis: That is the subject of the latest episode of Klimabericht, the SPIEGEL podcast on the state of the planet.
This time the guest is
Hilmar Schmundt
from the SPIEGEL science department, who discusses with
Sebastian Spallek
why we have to fight fire with fire.
Enlarge image
Forest fire in Australia
Photo: Evan Collis / dpa
A UN report warns that extreme fires could even increase.
Fire economists are of the opinion that fires must be controlled regularly to prevent large fires from starting again.
Fighting fire with fire does not sound obvious at first glance.
Doesn't that put a strain on the climate?
At least one person is spreading optimism in Davos:
John Kerry
, the highest-ranking member of the US administration.
Kerry is current US President Joe Biden
's special climate envoy
.
"In the past few days, the ex-chief diplomat has been running through town tirelessly, always in sneakers, which he is still wearing today on the podium in the congress center," writes my colleague Gerald Traufetter.
"I'm absolutely convinced that we can achieve a society with fewer CO₂ emissions," says Kerry: "I just can't guarantee that we'll get there on time." in Glasgow committed to cuts that would
limit global warming to 1.8 degrees
.
That's good, that can be even better, that was Kerry's message.
"We have a promising future ahead of us," says Barack Obama's ex-Secretary of State.
"The forum could really use a mood lift like that," says Gerald.
It is exceptionally held in spring, but the atmosphere is rather frosty due to the Ukraine war.
Read more here: The World Economic Forum in Davos in the live ticker
3. Arm wrestling
Only so little?
No more than 22 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 11 are vaccinated against Corona.
Perhaps my amazement stems from the fact that I didn't hesitate a minute to have my seven-year-old boy vaccinated the moment it was possible.
During the Christmas holidays shortly after New Year's Eve, we stood in a long line in front of the Munich children's vaccination center at Gasteig for almost an hour.
The waiting time remained the only vaccination complication.
No tears shed, my son's arm didn't even hurt in the evening after the short jab.
So far he has avoided a corona infection.
Perhaps the appeal in one of my parents' columns in the summer of last year also worked: "Wanted guardian angel for school enrollment!" I wrote at the time, because it seemed likely that the little one would be infected soon without herd immunity and vaccines for primary school children.
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Use the summer: Stiko now recommends vaccinating all children between the ages of five and eleven against Covid-19
Photo: Kamon Seajueng / iStockphoto / Getty Images
At least the latter has been around for half a year.
Today, the Standing Committee on Vaccination has also decided to recommend Biontech's Comirnaty or Moderna's Spikevax to all children between the ages of five and eleven - and no longer only if "risk factors" are present.
The Stiko assumes that the majority of five to eleven year olds have already had a corona infection.
In the course of the pandemic, such an infection was confirmed by PCR in 48.8 percent of children in this age group, the committee writes.
There is also an unreported number, which is why 70 to almost 100 percent of the children were probably already infected.
Does vaccination still make sense now?
Yes, says pediatrician
Martin Terhardt
, a member of the Standing Vaccination Committee.
In the majority of children, the single vaccine dose can improve and broaden the immune protection that has already arisen as a result of an infection, so that they are even better prepared if they come into contact with the virus again and their risk of becoming seriously ill is reduced.
If the time of the survived corona infection is known, it is best to vaccinate at intervals of three months.
Enlarge image
Photo: DER SPIEGEL
And because we're on the subject of viral diseases, another tip from the SPIEGEL video editors: Tomorrow the
immunologist Christine Falk
will answer your questions on the subject of "monkey pox," which you can send to the following email address: community@spiegel.de.
Or just write your questions in the comments.
Read more here: Stiko recommends one dose of vaccine for all unvaccinated five to eleven year olds
(Would you like to receive the "Situation in the evening" conveniently by e-mail in your inbox? Here you can order the daily briefing as a newsletter.)
What else is important today
Poland's president accuses Germany of breaching its promise:
the dispute over the delivery of Leopard tanks is straining German-Polish relations.
Now Poland's President Andrzej Duda is following suit, he says: "We are very disappointed."
Court confirms nine-year prison sentence for Navalny:
"I despise your court, your system": The nine-year prison sentence against Alexei Navalny is up.
The opposition member used the court date for a verbal attack on Vladimir Putin.
According to a parliamentary report, cats rescued from Kabul, people put their lives in danger:
the West fled Afghanistan last year in a hurry, leaving thousands of local workers behind.
A British parliamentary report is now giving sharp accounts of the evacuation.
Instead of people, Premier Johnson helped animals.
French millionaire must be in custody:
A 22-year-old French woman accuses the former head of an insurance company of having held her captive for years and repeatedly raped her.
She herself had to recruit a successor.
Werder apologizes to HSV, the loser
of the relegation: After HSV lost the relegation against Hertha BSC, Werder Bremen's Twitter account posted a video with fan chants from Bremen's promotion party.
The club has now apologized for the "unsportsmanlike" behavior.
My favorite story today: Car-free, is that possible?
Hanover
is a textbook example of the car-friendly city of the post-war period.
In a 1959 cover story, DER SPIEGEL praised "The Miracle of Hanover" as the rubble of the pre-war city gave way to wide streets between lower houses.
On the modern city autobahns you can "rush to the city center at unlimited speed", the "traffic-obstructing streetcar" is "banned under the pavement".
Anyone who is familiar with this history will find what the city is now planning under the Green
Lord Mayor Belit Onay
to be almost revolutionary : he wants to rid the city of motor vehicles, traffic lights and parking spaces, as my colleague Arvid Kaiser wrote in a very exciting way.
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Vision for the future: According to the new concept, this is what Schmiedestrasse in front of Hanover's Marktkirche should look like
Photo: City of Hanover
“Baning cars by decree could quickly lead to trouble and blockades.
Hanover is trying a gentle cure that aims for a deep effect,« writes Arvid.
Among other things, the city wants to try Tempo 30 on main roads.
Where there used to be a huge parking lot on the edge of the red-light district, new trees, an illuminated water feature and café tables are now inviting.
Belit Onay emphasizes the dialogue with the citizens: "Feedback is welcome, everyone should get involved." With this, Hanover is turning away from its "miracle" of the post-war period: the then city planning officer Rudolf Hillebrecht simply went through with his car-friendly plans, even against strong protests, writes Arvid .
As SPIEGEL reported, the city took possession of prime locations without compensation: Anything that stood in the way of the car would become worthless anyway.
Read the whole story here: How Hanover wants to end the dominance of the car in the city
What we recommend at SPIEGEL+ today
Why the “Terminator” will only help Russia a little:
It is extremely heavily armed – and has recently been deployed in Ukraine.
A new Russian vehicle is designed to offer main battle tanks fire protection even in confusing situations.
What can the BMPT actually do?
How Russia presents the prisoners of Mariupol:
Film footage should show how well the defenders of Mariupol are doing in Russian captivity.
Concern about show trials is growing internationally.
There are even calls for the death penalty from Moscow.
The not-so
-nice Mr. Biden: On his trip to Asia, US President Biden made it clear that he wants to take on two superpowers at the same time: Russia and China.
Why did he also openly threaten Beijing?
Why women win titles earlier than men - and what role adrenaline plays:
There are 15 years between Iga Świątek and Rafael Nadal.
Both have a good chance of winning the French Open.
A SPIEGEL data analysis shows at what age tennis professionals reach their maximum performance.
What crimes will the future commit against us?
Infanticide and organ removal as art: David Cronenberg wanted to provoke in Cannes with his dystopian film »Crimes of the Future«.
In the end, the horror master himself was the most shocked.
Which is less important today
Enlarge image
Billie Eilish at the Met Gala in New York
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
At the age of eleven, the singer
Billie Eilish
found out that she had Tourette's syndrome: Now she told David Letterman's new Netflix show how she lives with the disease.
"If you film me long enough, you'll see a lot of tics," she said.
People who didn't know she had Tourette's syndrome wouldn't recognize her tics and would be insensitive to them.
"They usually laugh because they think I'm trying to be funny." She "always feels quite offended" by it.
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "Passers-by in Davos look at a portrait at the 'House of Russian War Crimes'"
Cartoon of the day:
Prices are falling - joy everywhere
And tonight?
A good beer tent speech can be great cinema.
If you happen to live in Munich, you can check out Markus Söder's
political entertainer qualities at the Trudering marquee
tonight .
Appearances in front of fully occupied beer benches are "something like a relaxation method" for him, Söder explained in the state election campaign four years ago.
Next year there will be another election in Bavaria.
The prime minister is already plowing through the country like a steam engine under high pressure.
Tomorrow at noon you can, for example, in Pfaffenhofen an der Glonn according to the appointment notice »Prime Minister Dr.
Markus Söder and Minister of Agriculture Michaela Kaniber on the farm with their own slaughter«.
A case for the Hohlspiegel section, which you are always welcome to enrich with your own submissions to hohlspiegel@spiegel.de.
A lovely evening.
Cordially,
your Anna Clauss
Here you can order the »Situation in the Evening« by e-mail.
