The situation in the evening: citizen income, LGBT in Russia, World Cup in Qatar

1. Citizens' income is intended to replace Hartz IV - but it only brings about a culture change in small details

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Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) in the job center in Berlin-Lichtenberg

Photo: Annette Riedl / dpa

Yesterday, the mediation committee in Berlin agreed on the citizen's income, tomorrow the law on the successor regulation for Hartz IV is to be passed - and as one can almost expect in political business, there is at least one interest group that regards the citizen's income as a "bad joke". dismisses

I just wanted to check today who condemned the Hartz IV introduced in 2005 with similar formulations.

While researching the net, I came across a large number of heartily bad jokes about the past support of unemployed people.

A real scary joke goes like this: "You're so stupid, you scratch trees according to Hartz IV."

My colleague Cornelia Schmergal is analyzing today what the basic income will really achieve apart from the renaming, which will hopefully protect against such jokes - and will start with the most controversial issue: the sanctions.

The traffic light coalition would have given the impression that future penalties against beneficiaries who violate their obligations could become an exception, at least during the so-called trust period of the first six months of support.

Only those who repeatedly did not show up for the agreed appointment should have expected the job center to cut benefits.

"A look at the statistics shows that the effect would have been limited in practice," writes my SPIEGEL colleague.

"The plans of the federal government - they were little more than a plan from the start."

Is the Union right to celebrate today for having overturned the "time of trust" in the conciliation procedure?

Rather not.

In other ways, the coalition has ensured that the threat of punishment is only used as a last resort.

"Two worldviews collided in the mediation process," says Cornelia.

For the political left, benefit cuts for Hartz IV recipients who miss appointments or turn down job offers have become symbols of a welfare state that enslaves the weakest.

For the more conservative camp, which also extends into the SPD, they are the basis of a social contract that expects participation at least from those who still have the strength to do so themselves.

My colleague believes that the new law will only bring about a real cultural change in the case of small reward models for further training and professional qualifications.

»Economists argue that in times of a shortage of skilled workers, it can no longer be about forcing people without the right qualifications into any job.

Long-term prospects are required.

In the future, the job centers will also provide more support for normal training.«

• Read the whole story here: The traffic light has to be twisted – and Merz has overlooked something 

2. Russia criminalizes »LGBT propaganda« – and this will also damage the work of many cultural workers

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Drag queen in a travesty show in Moscow: banned soon?

Photo: Alexander Nemenov / AFP

Vladimir Putin is not only waging a disastrous war in Ukraine, in which many soldiers and – in Ukraine – civilians die every day on both sides of the front.

Putin's government is also wreaking havoc within its own country.

Thousands upon thousands of more or less democratically minded and in some cases highly educated people have fled Russia in recent months, including many artists.

Today, the State Duma in Moscow passed a new law that further curtailed the already severely restricted rights of homosexual and queer people – with a ban on »LGBT propaganda«.

This should have bad consequences, especially for cultural workers.

The new law makes any positive depiction of lesbian and gay love, for example, a punishable offence.

Apparently it applies to posts in social networks as well as to the content of books, films, media and advertising.

An earlier ban, passed in 2013, had already criminalized pro-queer statements and performances made in the presence of minors.

In the future, no information about gender reassignment may be given to minors that could encourage them to take such a step.

Violations of the new regulations are subject to fines – citizens up to 200,000 rubles (almost 3,200 euros), companies and organizations up to five million rubles (almost 80,000 euros).

Theatrical films are to be denied a distribution license if, from the point of view of the Russian judiciary, they "promote non-traditional sexual relations".

"Putin is destroying the Russian cultural nation," wrote the Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin, whose wild book "The Day of the Oprichnik" I read years ago, in a contribution to the debate for SPIEGEL in April.

So far, the 21st century has brought precious little to Russian culture.

"The 22 years of Putinism have proved devastating, not only for Russian politics, economy and public morale, but also for culture," Sorokin said.

"Riots against art exhibitions and the persecution of theater directors, writers, poets, rappers and bloggers are part of the regime's routine."

There is the historically rather difficult to prove theory that totalitarian times are not so bad for cultural production - because great literature, film art and music often arise underground.

Sorokin thinks that's nonsense.

Writing novels for the drawer is "a rather joyless occupation".

He expressed understanding for those artists and cultural workers who had remained in Russia, had a critical attitude and nevertheless continued to work.

The new law will now cause new, additional uncertainty among them.

• Read the whole story here: Duma tightens ban on »LGBT propaganda« with new law

News and background to the war in Ukraine:

• »Everything depends on the electricity«:

  The most recent Russian air raids have hit Kiev hard.

  Large parts of the power supply have failed – and with them water and heating.

  SPIEGEL correspondent Christian Esch reports from the capital.

• Kiev 80 percent without electricity and water, Selenskyj calls for steps against Russia:

  The latest Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure are causing horror.

  Kyiv wants to use hand-powered sirens.

  And: defiant reaction from Moscow.

  The most important developments.

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

3. The World Cup also has nice moments – but Fifa spoiled the fun of chatting

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Breel Embolo did without a boisterous goal celebration

Photo:

MARKO DJURICA / REUTERS

Today, Switzerland narrowly won against Cameroon in the World Cup.

The decisive goal in the 48th minute was scored by Swiss player Breel Embolo.

Embolo was born in Cameroon but plays for Switzerland.

After scoring the opening win, the striker refrained from celebrating.

Of course, that's one of the little stories that sports enthusiasts like me love football for.

My colleague Felix Dachsel writes today in »Qatar compact«, his mini column on the World Cup, about the nostalgic memories of earlier World Cup tournaments:

When will it be nice again?

Mysteriously, when I graduated from high school, I saw this man on TV.

He looked like a teacher you can trust.

Jürgen Klopp.

It was the 2006 World Cup and it was nice and warm and this cheerful expert drew circles and arrows on the field.

Zigzag.

Into the interface!

Stand high, stand low.

Arne Friedrich would like to play a short game, Bernd Schneider offers a long game.

Now we stop again, stop!

I didn't understand anything, I loved it.

Soccer is a safe space for the clueless.

You can say sentences like "The double six has to be moved much better" in the pub with impunity, or introduce words like "diagonal pass" into the discussion, someone always nods.

This sport is inclusive.

Come in, talk nonsense, you're one of us.

The Fifa criminals have taken away the ease of babble.

It is now, of necessity, about the big characters.

When will it be like before?

When you dissect the 4-4-2, the »flat four«, tired and a bit mumbling, and someone nods.

It used to be nice.

• Read more here: Swiss Embolo scores to win against native Cameroon

And here is more news and background information about the World Cup:

• Flick's defeat:

  Germany was superior to Japan for a long time in the opening game of the World Cup.

  Then national coach Hansi Flick changed the two best players.

  Now his team faces the early tournament exit.

• "I don't know whether maturity is missing or the quality."

  Germany is again threatened with being out of the preliminary round at a World Cup.

  İlkay Gündoğan addressed his teammates with unusually harsh words.

  Has the team spirit in the DFB squad already broken after the first group game?

• Comment - Small gesture, big double standards:

  As a rebellion against Fifa, the players of the national team put their hands on their mouths: an important sign.

  Nevertheless, there is criticism.

  That's cheap.

  But the DFB has to blame itself for that.

• World Cup live ticker:

  journalist praises Van Gaal and gets a "big cuddle" for it

What else is important today

• NRW wants to clear Lützerath with a large-scale operation:

  "In the end, Lützerath must be empty": North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul is planning a large-scale operation to clear the village at the Garzweiler opencast mine in a single day.

  The houses and trees should also go.

• The Federal Network Agency warns of alleged energy-saving devices:

  Simply plug the device into the socket - and the power consumption will drop, the providers promise.

  In fact, according to the authority, these are often incorrectly assembled devices without a seal of approval.

• Poverty has increased significantly over the past ten years:

  Even without a crisis, poverty in Germany severely restricts the participation of those affected, according to the distribution report by the Hans Böckler Foundation.

  The distance to democracy is getting bigger.

• Investor 777 Partners wants to take over Windhorst shares in Hertha BSC:

  Hertha investor Lars Windhorst wants to sell his shares in the Bundesliga club to Miami.

  The company 777 Partners has already made investments in football.

My favorite story today: British Royal in the jungle camp - the rustic robbery being

My colleague Anja Rützel writes about an unusual member of the British royal family who can currently be admired in the television jungle camp.

In the British version of »I'm a celebrity, get me out of here«, it's called »I'm a celebrity... get me out of here!«, Mike Tindall, Princess Anne's son-in-law, reveals all sorts of delicacies about the farm .

King Charles III's nephew-in-law.

still made it into the last six candidates.

Among other things, he reported on the show how his suit pants burst when he was dancing with Princess Anne.

Thanks to his pants bursting, Anne got a clear view of his underpants, which had the suggestive suggestion "Nibble my nuts" printed on them.

"I'd rather not," Anne would have answered like a princess.

"As a creaky royal observer, one can find such revelations unseemly," writes Anja.

"But in my eyes, Tindall's bush adventures are the best PR the royal family has had in a long time."

• Read the full story here: The Rustic Robbery 

• Here are Anja's columns about the royals

What we recommend at SPIEGEL+ today

• "The feeling was very clear: you're done politically."

  After 16 years at the top, she thought: "Someone new has to step in." But Angela Merkel's term in office is far from over.

  Does she feel guilty?

  And what is she up to now?

  The SPIEGEL cover story. 

• The neglected generation Free daycare:

  The care system for small children is in permanent crisis.

  Decreasing fees may put parents mildly.

  But the real price is paid by the children.

  Wouldn't it be better for us to take care of them at home?

• Would you have survived 35 years in prison, Ms. Manning?

  Their leaks were published in 2010 in the SPIEGEL, among others, and got the US government into trouble.

  Here Chelsea Manning talks about her solitary confinement in the cage, her life after - and the storm of lies on the internet.

What is less important today: wrongly disowned Roman counter-emperor

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Researcher with Sponsianus coin

Photo: Picture Unit / University of Glasgow

• Sponsianus, a ruler who presumably caused a riot in the reign of the Roman Emperor Philippus Arabs around the year 240, probably actually lived, contrary to other scholarly opinions.

  The only portrait of the Roman Sponsianus, who as a »usurper« himself claims the title of emperor, was discovered on a gold coin in Transylvania in 1713 – and was long considered a forgery.

  A research team from London University College now seems to have dispelled the doubts of the experts about its existence.

  The coin is undoubtedly a genuine specimen from antiquity.

Typo of the day

, now corrected: Lauterbach promised a more relaxed corona situation for spring - provided that the winter wool is well mastered.

Cartoon of the Day:

Qatar Hangover

And tonight?

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»Neuland« scene with Mina Tander (left): California on the Elbe

Photo: Georges Pauly / ZDF

Could you take a look at the »Neuland« series in the ZDF media library.

My colleague Christian Buß writes that the small-town dramas about four highly interesting women and their children's school in a wealthy Elbe suburb are a bit stolen from the US series hit "Big Little Lies" - but still very entertaining.

The heroines at the center of the story reach "an unexpected tragic depth with all their airy goings-on between a glass-fronted office, a cute café and a musty school auditorium," says Christian about the main characters, played by Mina Tander, among others.

»In front of a decorative small town backdrop, desperation and anger suddenly become apparent, but love, solidarity and criminal energy also appear where you least expected it.«

I wish you a nice evening.

Heartfelt

Your Wolfgang Hoebel