Scholz' damage
There is an important phone call in the Chancellor's appointment calendar on Thursday.
Olaf Scholz has an appointment to meet Jair Lapid
, his counterpart from Israel.
Scholz wants to use this opportunity to put things right personally and wants to explain why he failed to put things right personally on another occasion.
It's about the meeting with Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday in the Berlin Chancellery, when the Palestinian President accused the Israelis of "50 Holocausts" against his people - which is not only factual nonsense, but also an unacceptable trivialization of the Nazi genocide of the Jews.
Lapid has called Abbas' statements "an outrageous lie" and a "moral disgrace."
Clear words that one would have wished for from the German head of government - after all, he was standing right next to Abbas when he became abusive.
But Scholz said nothing, instead shook hands with his guest – and now has a problem.
The chancellor is now trying
to limit damage that can no longer be limited.
The outrage follows, the Palestinian representative is summoned to Berlin, and the government spokesman has to take all the blame for ending the press conference without giving his boss the opportunity to object.
From a distance, it is always easy to judge how someone should behave as quickly as possible in certain situations.
There is also no doubt about the Chancellor's attitude, his genuine horror and contrition at what happened.
But the matter is too big to simply pass over.
If a guest on German soil, especially one who is known for anti-Semitic derailments, can play down the Holocaust unchallenged in the presence of the Federal Chancellor in the middle of the government headquarters, then this can
not be dismissed as an annoying slip.
The Social Democrat would be well advised to draw fundamental lessons from the disaster.
Because, as my colleagues point out in their analysis of the incident, it is
“not the first time that Olaf Scholz has not cut a very good figure at press conferences or public podiums”.
In the past, unlike in the current case, it was often about questions of style.
The chancellor likes to slyly talk arrogantly or dismiss questioning journalists.
He may find it funny, but in fact this behavior reveals a communicative weakness that he cannot afford in this office.
And it's always about political instinct.
Scholz has to be careful not to lose this instinct in crucial, public moments.
Holocaust scandal by Palestinian President Abbas: why the chancellor was silent
Erdoğan's goals
It is well known that the Turkish head of state
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
is not lacking in self-confidence.
So it's hardly surprising that the President's office has set high goals for Erdoğan's meeting with UN Secretary-General
António Guterres
and Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
this Thursday.
In Lviv, among other things, the "end of the war between Ukraine and Russia through diplomatic channels" should be discussed, according to Ankara.
One should never give up hope.
It is also always important to talk about how to stop the bloodshed in Eastern Europe.
At the moment, however, it does not seem realistic that the weapons in the Ukraine war will soon be silent half a year after the Russian attack.
Accordingly, the expectations in the Guterres camp are much more cautious.
There, negotiations on a nationwide ceasefire are only considered possible if none of the warring parties can record any significant gains in territory and refrain from the goal of victory.
Currently unfulfillable conditions.
After all, Guterres and Erdoğan have already achieved a negotiating success from the past few weeks, which they now want to build on.
At the end of July, the two mediated in the conclusion of an agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the export of Ukrainian grain.
After months of blockade of the Black Sea ports, grain exports via secure corridors have since picked up speed again.
Guterres and Erdoğan also want to talk to Zelensky about
the situation at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhia
, and possible access for international experts to the plant.
Although this is still operated by Ukrainian personnel, it is manned by Russian soldiers.
Zaporizhia is right on the front line on the Dnieper River, the nuclear power plant is repeatedly shelled, Russians and Ukrainians blame each other.
With each passing day of the war, the concern of a nuclear accident grows
, accident actually being the wrong term.
The fact that one of the reactors or the associated facilities is hit is ultimately accepted by Russia's troops, at least negligently.
My colleague Julia Merlot discussed the consequences of a shelling of Zaporizhia with Clemens Walther.
He is a professor at the University of Hanover and executive director of the Institute for Radioecology and Radiation Protection there.
None of the scenarios is reassuring.
War at the Zaporizhia NPP: Three possibilities for the catastrophe
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
That happened at night:
Ukraine reports a "cynical attack on civilians" in Kharkiv.
Estonia is tightening its visa regulations for people from Russia.
And: Selenskyj meets Erdoğan and Guterres.
The overview.
Russia is apparently bringing planes to safety in Crimea:
there have recently been several explosions on the peninsula annexed by Russia.
According to a report by the Ukrainian secret service, Moscow is now reacting and relocating planes and helicopters.
Why an offensive in the south is risky - but not without chance:
Explosions in Crimea indicate that Ukrainian troops are increasingly attacking in the south.
A large maneuver is hardly possible against the overwhelming Russian military - but a partisan fight is.
Russian influencer dies from landmine in Donbass:
Zemfira Suleymanova shot videos in the war zone, she now died in Donbass.
Media reports that she worked for RT.
However, the Russian state broadcaster denies it.
China is taking part in a military exercise with Russia at the end of August:
before the attack on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping swore to the "borderless" partnership of their dictatorships.
Now Russia invites to the "Vostok" maneuvers - and the troops of the Communist Party come.
The poison of the brackish water algae
You still don't know what happened.
"All we know is that something must have happened."
That is the
meager knowledge even days after the beginning of the massive fish kill in the Oder
, given on Wednesday by Brandenburg's SPD Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke.
Helpers are still fishing carcasses out of the river. There are now well over 30 tons in Germany and more than a hundred in Poland.
Meanwhile, experts are evaluating water samples and are continuing to look for the cause of the environmental disaster this Thursday.
This is also difficult because a discovery or an increased reading may be due to other causes, which in turn must be attributed to an originator.
Example: Aquatic ecologists have found that the
brackish water alga Prymnesium parvum
has multiplied rapidly in the Oder.
This can release a poison that is deadly for fish - it is not yet clear whether it did this in the Oder.
The fact that Prymnesium parvum developed so quickly may in turn have something to do with the increased salinity in the river.
But what is responsible for the increased salt content?
And finally who?
All uncertain.
Just this much:
Neither experts nor politicians currently believe in an accident or a natural cause for the fish kill.
After German politicians had recently complained loudly about the sluggish transfer of information from Poland, the local authorities now have to put up with the question of whether they really reacted quickly enough.
Apparently
the German early warning system also failed
when the water values in Frankfurt an der Oder began to change significantly.
But the Brandenburg authorities were not initially alarmed, only observed the situation.
According to the State Environment Ministry, the increase in the curves for conductivity, oxygen content and chlorophyll was "not yet interpretable on its own".
The tons of dead fish are now all.
Early indication of an Oder catastrophe: This reading should have alerted the environmental agency
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: Labor Minister Hubertus Heil studied political science.
Which of his predecessors was a trained tiler?
Loser of the day...
… is Christian Schmidt.
Schmidt is a CSU politician, he was Federal Minister of Agriculture under Angela Merkel, and he has been the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina for about a year.
As a top diplomat in the United Nations, he is tasked with overseeing the implementation of the civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in the country in the mid-1990s.
Now Schmidt undiplomatically freaked out at a press conference in the town of Gorazde in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, as seen in a video clip circulating on Twitter.
"Rubbish, full rubbish!" he yells, meaning "garbage, big garbage," apparently when asked by a journalist about controversial changes to the electoral law that Schmidt wanted to make within the scope of his not inconsiderable powers.
Schmidt feels attacked: "Guys, I'm not sitting or standing here - I'm interested in this country," he rages on in the most beautiful German English, he's fed up (roughly speaking).
But see for yourself:
As is so often the case in the Balkans, the background and connections are complicated.
Explaining them here would certainly be necessary, but would go beyond the scope of the format.
I promise you that my colleagues will work through Schmidt's outburst on Thursday.
Only so much: the appearance was certainly not appropriate for the office (and useful for the cause).
The latest news from the night
Family Minister warns of growing child poverty:
The prices for energy and food in Germany are rising significantly.
Lisa Paus is particularly worried about the children in the country.
Hanae Mori is dead:
as »Madame Butterfly«, the designer became famous far beyond her native Japan.
She dressed stars and royals - and made it into an exclusive Paris circle.
Gary Connery sentenced to 18 months in prison:
Disguised as Queen Elizabeth, the stuntman flew from the sky over the Olympic Stadium in 2012.
Now he was on trial: Because he attacked his girlfriend, he had to go to prison for a year and a half.
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How do you save electricity, Mr. Junker-Matthes?
The farm of Oliver Junker-Matthes and his family is not connected to the electricity grid.
Are his three children missing something?
"Not much."
And then we jumped into the sea like kids:
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Have a good day.
Heartfelt,
Yours, Philip Wittrock