1. Three traffic light signals
Federal government agrees on gas price brake - when the breaking news slides onto my phone, I'm reading the sentence: »People don't trust the established parties to solve their problems.« That was what the historian Luuk van Middelaar said in an interview, that my colleague Maximilian Popp talked to him about the resurgence of right-wing populists in Europe (more here).
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Photo:
Kay Nietfeld / dpa
As if she wanted to provide evidence to the contrary, there is now this message, highlighted in yellow.
And yes, it is a strong signal that the traffic light coalition is sending.
No, there are three signals:
We help:
In order to keep gas affordable for private individuals and companies, the price brake is coming.
And the gas surcharge, which would have burdened all consumers additionally, does not come.
»The prices have to come down, that's our conviction.
We're putting up a large defensive screen so that they sink," said Olaf Scholz.
We don't mess around, we go big: the
SPD, Greens and FDP want to loosen 200 billion.
On another occasion he spoke of a boom, said Scholz.
"One could say that this is a double boom." And Finance Minister Christian Lindner added that Germany is showing its "economic clout" here.
The billion-euro package is the appropriate reaction to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine in connection with an energy war against Germany.
(More on possible financing here.)
We stand together when it matters:
Scholz and Lindner appeared in front of the cameras together with Robert Habeck, with the Chancellor being connected via a screen from the corona quarantine.
In the past few weeks, many traffic light politicians have made a name for themselves by taunting and teasing each other in interviews.
Now unity and big words: "It's not just about getting through this crisis somehow, but to survive this time as a strong and robust economy," said Habeck.
That gives hope, even if that nightmarish Ernst Wilhelm Nay painting hung in the background (more about the picture here).
A commission is now working out the details.
She shouldn't take too much time.
Money is running out in many households and companies, and reserves have been used up.
And the signals should not fade – as Luuk van Middelaar says: »Fear of social decline is a motor for populists.«
Read more here: Olaf Scholz and the defensive screen
2. Terror Below
The auction house Christie's has auctioned an Aston Martin DB5 from the latest James Bond film "No Time to Die" for the equivalent of around 3.26 million euros - as part of an auction for the 60th anniversary of the series: "007 chases Dr.
No” hit theaters in the fall of 1962.
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Gas leak in the Baltic Sea
Photo:
Swedish Coast Guard/Handout/AFP
The serious news these days almost read as if Ian Fleming had written it while drunk on whiskey.
With the alleged attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, there are increasing indications that a state actor is behind it.
As my colleagues Fidelius Schmid, Matthias Gebauer and Maik Baumgärtner report, the German security authorities assume that the tubes were damaged by massive explosive devices.
It had been calculated that explosive devices with an effect comparable to that of 500 kilograms of TNT must have been used to destroy the tubes.
"The estimate also included the seismic signals registered by various measuring stations," the three write.
The federal government is hoping for more information from a more detailed examination of the pipelines.
In security circles it was said that divers or a remote-controlled robot could possibly assess the damage at the weekend.
Oh, if only it were nothing more than a new Bond.
Read more here: How vulnerable is our energy infrastructure?
3. The exchange dials 911
Porsche went public today – you can't drive, gnihi.
Experts say the market environment is difficult.
Everyone else says: Many stocks are rushing off.
For Porsche, however, things went well at the start of the stock exchange: the share initially rose by almost two percent above the issue price to EUR 84.00.
The parent company Volkswagen raised 9.4 billion euros - it is the largest German IPO since Telekom (more here).
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Porsche logo in front of the company headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen
Photo:
Christoph Schmidt / dpa
"Telekom is going public, I'll go with it," was how Manfred Krug advertised the "people's share" a quarter of a century ago.
For many who listened to him, sympathy for the actor should have turned to anger and frustration.
What is perhaps a little consolation for those affected: Krug himself was often annoyed by the Telekom people and their advertisers, as can be read in his diaries (more here).
At one point he explains to the Telekom boss what constitutes good advertising: "No insistence, no indoctrination, no overloading of takes with text, no inflation of messages, no constant mentioning of the name Telekom, no servile grin, no cuddling and snuggling up. «
My colleague Simon Hage from our business department says about the car manufacturer's successful IPO: »Investors long for good stock market stories in dark times.« The German car industry now has a figurehead that claims to play in the Tesla league.
Today, Porsche was worth more than Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
"If the IPO proves to be a long-term success, it could possibly even outshine the German trauma with the T-Share - and thus attract more private investors to the stock market again." What would Krug have thought of when he heard Porsche?
Read the answers to the most important questions here: Is the hype surrounding Porsche shares justified?
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News and background to the war in Ukraine:
Russia wants to annex four Ukrainian regions on Friday:
Russia wants to formally complete the annexation of the four Russian-controlled regions in Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin, "a ceremony for the signing of treaties on accession" is to take place this Friday.
How Kiev's air force outwits the Russian strategists:
The ancient MiG-29 fighter jet is making a comeback in Ukraine.
The machine fires modern missiles with which it is actually incompatible.
The tactic could be successful in other areas as well.
"Putin acts like a ruler of the 19th century":
Can one write the history of a war that is still going on?
Gwendolyn Sasse tries to do that in her new book.
Here she explains where the West is wrong - and why war is a competition
Does the West get rich on Ukrainian grain?
Barely two months after the launch of the "Black Sea Grains Initiative," Russian President Putin accuses Western countries of securing the largest share.
Export data show the truth behind the accusation.
Ukrainian human rights activist receives Alternative Nobel Prize:
The Alternative Nobel Prize goes to Ukraine for the first time: The human rights activist Oleksandra Matwijtschuk was honored for her commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
This is how Russian soldiers described the failed attack on Kiev:
Telephone conversations between Russian soldiers and their relatives give an insight into the early phase of the war.
The New York Times has now published recordings made by the Ukrainian security authorities.
Find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine here: The News Update
What else is important today
Inflation rate rises to ten percent:
9-euro ticket gone, fuel discount gone: Inflation accelerated in September.
According to an estimate by the Federal Statistical Office, it will climb to 10.0 percent nationwide.
US Vice President calls North Korea "brutal dictatorship": In
2020, then US President Trump celebrated his male friendship with North Korea's dictator.
US Vice President Kamala Harris struck a different tone during a visit to the Korean Peninsula.
One in eight bird species is threatened with extinction:
more than 160 bird species have disappeared from the planet in the past 500 years, a conservation organization reports.
And the pace of death is increasing.
Three factors are mainly responsible.
The number of Ebola cases in Uganda is increasing:
15 infections confirmed, 19 people have died: There is an Ebola outbreak of unknown origin in the East African state of Uganda.
The authorities are now looking intensively for contact persons.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
How Romania fights against the illegal clearing of its primeval forests:
Romania's forests are among the oldest in Europe and are the scene of illegal logging.
Now the police have searched 140 offices and warehouses in a raid – including at the Austrian timber company Egger.
"You feel completely transformed":
what Matthew Ball writes about the digital future is studied almost religiously in Silicon Valley.
The investor sees the next technological revolution in the Metaverse – here he explains why.
Hamburger SV falls into chaos:
The controversial HSV CFO Thomas Wüstefeld resigns.
He thus forestalls his dismissal by the Supervisory Board.
This exacerbates the club's problems – and time is of the essence.
When saving energy becomes a health hazard:
Everyone is talking about the absurd energy costs - but does it make sense to turn down the water temperature because of this?
What consumers need to know about legionella now.
Which is less important today
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Photo:
Evan Agostini/AP
Too many zeros?
Billionaire
MacKenzie Scott
, 52, one of the richest women in the world, is getting divorced again, as reported by the New York Times, among others.
In marriage number one, she lived with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 58, for 25 years. In marriage number two, she lived with a teacher at her children's school for almost two years.
Scott also became known because she announced after the first divorce that she would donate her fortune "until the safe is empty."
Typo of the day
, now corrected: »According to the press spokesman, everyone who has taken out the subscription online will be 'notified promptly by e-mail'«
And tonight?
Could you reminisce.
Either by watching old James Bond movies (see above).
Or by looking for the »Dangerous Minds« soundtrack in the box of old CDs.
In the 1995 film, Michelle Pfeiffer played a teacher whose students are gang members.
And the biggest hit on the soundtrack was Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise.
The release became the best-selling single of the year at the time, and the song topped the charts in 16 countries.
Probably no one who stumbled across a dance floor as a teenager in the 90s can deny having at some point howled along the lines: »Power and the money, money and the power.
Minute after minute, hour after hour."
Coolio has now died at the age of 59.
"To dismiss the rapper as a one-hit wonder would do him a bit of an injustice," says my colleague Felix Bayer and has put together a memory in songs (you can find it here).
I wish you a pleasant and melancholic evening.
See you tomorrow, CU When U Get There.
Yours, Oliver Trenkamp
Here you can order the »Situation in the Evening« by e-mail.