1. Was Alexander M. really a lone wolf?
Imagine you would like the contact details of, say, Maybrit Illner.
Or Jan Böhmermann.
Or Claudia Roth.
Or Karolin Kebekus.
People like that don't usually appear in the phone book.
So contact the police or the registration office and ask them for the addresses.
The friendly officer is happy to help.
Sounds incredible right?
But apparently that's exactly how it happened.
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Accused Alexander M. with a lawyer and police officers in the court in Frankfurt am Main: Which private person already has such access?
Photo: ANDREAS ARNOLD / AFP
In his hatred and madness, Alexander M., who came from Berlin, randomly picked out people who did not correspond to his world view: lawyers, politicians, journalists and representatives of public life.
As part of an obscure group on the dark web, he sent racist threats to her, said to have been more than 140 since August 2018.
All known letters were signed "Heil Hitler!, NSU 2.0, Der Führer.", an allusion to the murderous trio Zschäpe, Mundlos, Böhnhardt, who killed a total of nine people in Germany between 2000 and 2007 for racist motives.
Investigative authorities long suspected that the threatening letters could only come from within the police force itself.
Much of the data was apparently - for non-official reasons - accessed via official access to police computers in Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden.
The author knew the names and birthdays of relatives, private addresses and personal data of the recipients.
Which private person already has such access?
Seda Başay-Yıldız, a Frankfurt lawyer who works against right-wing extremism and represented the family of the first victim Enver Simsek in the NSU trial, also received one of the first letters.
Alexander M. knew the name of the child and the address of the family and threatened the lawyer: "Better piss off as long as you get out of here alive, you swine!".
In May of last year, the SEK finally stormed the apartment of Alexander M., an unemployed man with a criminal record who lived alone in a garbage-covered apartment in Berlin.
Today he was sentenced to almost six years in prison.
The public prosecutor's office demanded seven and a half years, was convinced that M. got the data himself;
that he pretended to be a police officer and tricked those who were talking to police stations and residents' registration offices by telephone.
"The court worked very carefully, dug amazingly deep into the technical details of how computers work, and convincingly argued that Alexander M.
was most likely the author of all the threatening letters that the trial was about," says my colleague Matthias Bartsch, who was in the courtroom for SPIEGEL.
"But the court was unable to clarify whether he was the sole perpetrator or at least had one or more willing helpers in obtaining information about his victims."
For the police, however, the matter is crystal clear.
"There are no right-wing networks within the Hessian police force," said state chairman Jens Mohrherr.
It is clear that police officers in Hesse did not write and send the threatening emails.
The police had been prejudiced and placed under general suspicion.
Affected people see things a little differently.
Even after extensive evidence was taken, the role of at least one police officer and one female police officer from the 1st Frankfurt police station was unclear, some of them wrote in an open letter.
It is "a scandal" that the public prosecutor's office has committed itself to the alleged individual perpetrator and is thus trying to "keep out of the proceedings" the role of Hessian police officers and a "solid group" of right-wing police officers.
It would be desirable if this matter was investigated further.
But after today's verdict, I'm afraid that won't happen either.
Read more here: "NSU 2.0" process - threatening letter writer sentenced to around six years in prison
2. How tired is "Hardcore" Elon?
Between my working day yesterday and today I slept about seven hours.
Sufficient, actually, but still not enough for my taste.
If you believe Elon Musk, that's about his workload for a week.
How else can weekly working hours of up to 120 hours come together that the Tesla founder is fabulating about?
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Court drawing of the witness Musk in court in Wilmington, Delaware: Maybe change the routines?
Photo: Elizabeth Williams/AP
He did the same in court.
Before the Court of Chancery in Delaware, America's most important corporate court, Musk stood not as a defendant but as a witness.
It was about a lawsuit filed by a Tesla shareholder.
He wants to know whether Musk, as head of the company, is really worth a fee of 56 billion euros (no, that's not a translation error that often occurs with millions and billions).
The plaintiff's name is Richard Tornetta, he owns nine Tesla shares currently worth just under $1,700, and otherwise earns his money by installing car stereos.
Musk stated that he works extremely hard - what else?
“Go to sleep, I wake up, work, go to sleep, work, seven days a week,” he described his rhythm of life as the new Twitter owner.
He now wants to transfer his lifestyle to his new serfs... uh, employees.
Yesterday he sent an email to the remaining Twitter workers asking if they wanted to stay.
"If you're sure you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes below."
However, Twitter must be “extremely hardcore”.
Musk understands hardcore as “extraordinary achievements”, according to Bloomberg he expects 80-hour weeks and a “manic sense of urgency” at work.
According to my colleague Ines Zöttl, the court in Wilmington, Delaware, was not able to finally clarify what income is now appropriate.
She attended the trial and describes a tired manager Musk, who at least admits that he's not really hardcore today.
"Maybe I'm a bit slow." In general: he couldn't really understand why people here deal with such petty questions.
The multi-billion remuneration only serves one goal anyway: to finance the colonization of Mars.
"If I spend too much time on Tesla, I'm not sure it's for the greater good."
Perhaps the greater good would be better served if Musk reversed his routine some weeks and slept 120 hours instead of working.
Good night!
Read more here: $56 billion stock options - Is Elon Musk even worth the money?
3. Rested recommendation
It has become pretty quiet around the Standing Vaccination Committee (Stiko), one almost forgot that they have been checking for four weeks whether the corona vaccine approved for children should actually be administered - and above all, to whom.
Gone are the days when everyone put pressure on the working group to get down to business.
Gone is the malice even from Health Minister Lauterbach (does he actually work 120 hours?) In the direction of Stiko boss Thomas Mertens.
"I think we have to think about how we can get more dynamics into the work of the Stiko." Lauterbach himself as boss is said to be not entirely unproblematic.
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The Stiko recommendation for corona vaccinations for small children is there: "Many have worked on the honorary commission."
Photo: Daniel Reinhardt / dpa
Stiko member Martin Terhardt, who is responsible for children, has now communicated the result of the committee in a completely undynamic but accurate manner.
It recommends the corona vaccination for children from six months to four years only with certain previous illnesses.
The recommendation also applies to children up to their second birthday who were born prematurely.
The aim is to prevent severe courses of Covid-19, hospital treatment and deaths.
According to Terhardt, risk factors include being particularly overweight, congenital immunodeficiency, heart defects, chronic severe lung or chronic kidney diseases, neurological diseases and tumors.
About ten percent of the age group are affected.
For healthy children of the age mentioned without previous illnesses, the Stiko currently expressly does not recommend a corona vaccination, “because severe courses are very rare in this age group and the vast majority of infections in healthy children are mild or asymptomatic”.
"Many worked hard on the honorary commission," says my colleague Julian Aé from the health team in SPIEGEL's "Life" department.
"As in previous recommendations, a rested and sensible solution has been found." In contrast to the decisions that Stiko had to make at the height of the pandemic, the pressure from public and politics seemed much less this time.
According to Julian, you can feel that there will probably not be much interest in vaccinations for small children anyway.
So far, only about one in five children aged five to eleven has been vaccinated.
Most young children have already gone through the condition and most parents would probably choose not to have it at this point anyway.
Even if the approval for children who are particularly at risk is a blessing, it will probably remain a side note for most people in the general Corona fatigue, Julian sums up.
Read more here: Rules for small children - Stiko only recommends corona vaccination for small children in exceptional cases
News and background to the war in Ukraine:
»The tire caught fire and was thrown at us«:
Fatal legacies: Maryna Tsiuskina's husband and son were seriously injured by a booby trap near Cherson.
Why clearing the treacherous mines is so dangerous and why it will take years.
"We were like in prison":
Putin's soldiers are said to have arbitrarily detained people, checked mobile phones and stolen ambulances: A resident of Cherson reports how she experienced the more than eight months under Russian occupation.
Where Russia is entrenched:
Ukrainian troops have recaptured the important regional capital of Cherson.
Satellite images show how Moscow's troops retreated - and where Russian soldiers have long since dug in again.
Find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine here: The News Update
What else is important today
Republicans win majority in the US House of Representatives:
It's close, but the majority is in place: The US Republicans will have more seats in the House of Representatives than the Democrats in the future.
This makes governing much more difficult for President Joe Biden.
The British central bank blames Brexit for the bad economic situation:
The British government has financial worries – and probably wants to raise taxes for it.
Shortly before presenting the budget plan, the central bank is now blaming Brexit for the poor economic situation.
Volkswagen boss apparently no longer wants to build a new plant for electric cars:
A new plant is to be built in Wolfsburg specifically for the production of the Trinity electric car.
Manager magazin is now reporting that CEO Blume wants to cash in on the plans.
Court sentences three pro-Russian separatists for downing MH17:
Eight years ago, a rocket flew into the MH17 passenger plane, killing 298 people.
Four pro-Russian separatists were charged with murder - now a court in the Netherlands has convicted three of the men.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
40 seconds of emotional outburst:
At the G20 summit, China's head of state Xi Jinping complained to Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - and threatened him in front of the camera.
A Moment of Truth.
Why trams are having such a hard time in Germany:
Trams are a global trend for green, livable cities.
In Germany, on the other hand, projects fail in droves.
Kiel is now daring – a role model for other German cities?
New documents in the diesel scandal incriminate Bosch:
The automotive supplier Bosch could be much more deeply involved in the scandal surrounding manipulated diesel vehicles.
This is suggested by newly emerged documents that are available to SPIEGEL and Bayerischer Rundfunk.
Which is less important today
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Mick Schumacher bent: "I learned a lot."
Photo: IMAGO/nordphoto GmbH / Bratic / IMAGO/Nordphoto
Formula 0:
The son of multiple German Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, Mick, was slowed down.
Not from competitors on the track, but from his own racing team.
"The Haas team and
Mick Schumacher
will go their separate ways at the end of the season," said team boss Günther Steiner in a statement.
Then the usual: Thank you, we have grown, all the best for the rest of your life.
Schumacher sees this as confirmation of his performance.
"I've learned a lot and I know for sure that I deserve a place in Formula 1," said the racing driver on Twitter.
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "That just doesn't happen very much now, seven days before the first World Cup game against the Japanese."
Cartoon of the Day:
Sand
And tonight?
Martin Scorsese turns 80 this Thursday.
The great film producer and director from New York City is regarded as the discoverer and sponsor of many actors who have become an integral part of the cinema screen: Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Judie Foster, Alec Baldwin.
Film buffs can recite most of his films in their sleep: Taxi Driver, Good Fellas, Casino, Aviator, Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street.
You could, of course, watch one of those films tonight.
But it is also exciting to find out who this Scorsese actually is, who has created so many masterpieces.
Who shaped him?
What drives him?
How did he deal with defeat?
In the early days in particular, he was often ridiculed by critics, his films flopped commercially,
Scorsese (2nd from right) with Kristen Stewart (left), Cate Blanchet and Lea Seydoux (right) in Cannes 2018: insight into his inner life
Photo: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/ AFP
The fabulous Netflix series »Stories Of A Generation« allows a little insight into his biography and his inner life.
The concept: people under the age of 30 survey people over the age of 70.
In the first episode, which is entitled »Love«, Pope Francis, Jane Goodall and Martin Scorsese, among others, tell stories.
In the film, he is questioned by his own daughter, Francesca.
Also to the marriage between her parents.
Scorsese has been married five times and has been with his wife Helen Morris since 1999. She is seriously ill, and the film shows an intimate connection between the two of them, affection, traces of life.
So if you want to experience Scorsese in person - if that's even possible with a production like this - then »Stories Of A Generation« comes very close.
I wish you a nice evening.
Yours sincerely,
Janko Tietz