1. Pope Benedict XVI, who retired in 2013.
is “very ill” – only a few have seen the 95-year-old in the Vatican recently
I left the Catholic Church as a young person, to Pope Benedict XVI.
I still had fun sometimes.
For example, when the cabaret artist Gerhard Polt embodied the Bavarian Pope on stage, as in this excerpt from a show by Polt and the musicians of the Biermösl Blosn.
Even in his own public appearances, the churchman, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in Marktl, Bavaria, who was archbishop of Munich and Freising for a long time, sometimes showed amazing comic talent.
Therefore, after many other important awards, he rightly received the Munich Karl-Valentin-Order in 1989.
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Pope Francis with his predecessor Benedict at a meeting in 2018
Photo: Vatican Media / dpa
That Benedict XVI, who was elected Pope in 2005 and resigned in 2013,
possesses wit and wit, not even his strictest critics doubt.
Because of the concealment of cases of abuse in the Catholic Church during his tenure as Archbishop of Munich, Benedict has been heavily incriminated in recent years, among other things, by an expert opinion.
Today it became known that the health of the German Pope Emeritus has apparently deteriorated significantly.
His successor, Pope Francis, has called on believers to pray for his predecessor.
Benedict was "very ill," said Francis at the end of his general audience in the morning.
Francis later also visited his brother in faith.
Benedict lives in seclusion.
"I used to have a big mouth, now it doesn't work anymore," he said in a documentary film - which is also proof of his humor.
My colleague Frank Hornig, our correspondent in Rome, says: »When I have had talks about Benedict XVI in the Vatican over the past two or three years.
In the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, his retirement home in the Vatican Gardens above St. Peter's Basilica, one could smell the aroma of Bavarian roast meat at lunchtime.
"But no trace of the old pope."
Only a few have seen the 95-year-old Ratzinger in recent months.
Rare photos show a collapsed old man with frozen facial features.
»Professor Papst«, as SPIEGEL once called the author of a 14,963-page complete work, can hardly make himself understood.
Decrepit, but with a clear board - that's how the "Papa Emerito" was last described by his private secretary Georg Gänswein.
When Pope Francis called for prayer for his predecessor today, according to my colleague Frank, “the surprise was great”.
Read more here: Pope Benedict XVI.
is »very ill«
2. In Serbia and Kosovo, border crossings will be closed at short notice - it remains unclear how an escalation can be avoided
In the conflict in the Western Balkans, Kosovo today closed the main border crossing to Serbia after protesters in Serbia earlier blocked access to the Merdare crossing on the other side of the border.
Two other border crossings have been closed since December 10th.
The fear of a worsening of the conflict seems to be great.
The blockade of Merdare has had particularly serious consequences for Kosovo.
Thousands of Kosovars working abroad who wanted to use the holidays to visit their homeland are now being forced to take detours.
In addition, Merdare is the most important border crossing for trucks.
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Kosovan police officers
Photo: Florion Goga / REUTERS
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has meanwhile visited an army barracks in the town of Raška near the border.
On Wednesday night he published a photo on his Instagram page showing him with the Serbian Chief of Staff Milan Mojsilović.
He thanks all members of the security forces who would do everything to protect the Serbs in Kosovo, wrote Vučić.
Most recently, the government had put its army on increased alert.
Almost three weeks ago, militant Serbs erected barricades in the predominantly Serb-inhabited north of Kosovo, blocking the roads to the border crossings to Serbia in particular.
They are protesting against the arrest of a former Kosovo police officer of Serbian origin.
The militants are supported and sometimes even instructed by the government in Belgrade.
Kosovo, which is now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, used to belong to Serbia and has been independent since 2008.
In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia after Serbian security forces killed and expelled Albanian civilians.
Until 2008, the UN mission Unmik had administered Kosovo.
Serbia does not accept independence and claims the country's territory for itself.
Is there now a risk of escalation?
My colleague Walter Mayr was in Pristina and Mitrovica again shortly before Christmas.
"During my meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti, it seemed to me that two trains were going towards each other and neither in Brussels nor in Washington could anyone find the lever with the emergency brake," he says.
In one train sits a man of conviction (Kurti), in the other a coolly calculating cynic (Vučić).
"The next few days and weeks will show," says my colleague, "whether and, if so, how a violent escalation can be avoided."
Read more here: Kosovo closes largest border crossing to Serbia
3. The expansion of Hamburg's main train station will cost several billion euros - and it definitely makes sense
Like many other Germans, I think the excitement about expensive infrastructure projects is a great topic for small talk.
Every citizen should have understood long ago that airports, motorways, railway tunnels or train stations cost a lot of money that comes from tax revenues.
Nevertheless, it reliably causes outrage when new, apparently surprisingly increased cost calculations become public for an S-Bahn tunnel in Munich or a train station in Stuttgart.
It has been reported that the controversial Stuttgart 21 rail project is now likely to cost at least €9.15 billion.
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Passengers at Hamburg Central Station
Photo: Jürgen Ritter / IMAGO
I'm by no means surprised that it was announced today that the expansion of Hamburg's main train station would also cost billions.
As experts have been saying for a long time, the station is far too small – which is why many trains are already delayed when they depart, sometimes just minutes, sometimes half an hour.
Which I get annoyed about from time to time.
According to a report by Die Zeit, the expansion of the main station, which is scheduled to begin in 2028, will cost "several billion euros", including all connecting routes and tunnels.
As is usual in such cases, the financing of the major project has not yet been fully clarified.
There is widespread hope among Hamburg's politicians that the federal government will assume a large part of the costs.
I think the expenses for the modernization of the station, no matter how high they will be, make perfect sense.
Even more sensible than spending on highways and airports.
With currently 550,000 passengers a day, Hamburg Central Station is considered to be heavily congested. By 2040, the number of daily users will probably rise to 750,000 passengers.
Even before that, namely at the end of the 1930s, the rebuilders want to be finished.
Read more here: Expansion of Hamburg Central Station costs several billion euros
News and background to the war in Ukraine:
A German-Russian-Ukrainian encounter in the midst of horror:
I thought Trostianets, the first liberated Ukrainian city, was a dump.
A mistake.
In addition to a state-of-the-art chocolate factory, she also had other surprises in store.
Kirill doesn't want to kill:
around 300,000 Russians have been officially drafted into the Ukraine war so far.
In Germany, I'm often asked why hardly anyone resists: in Saint Petersburg I met a young man who dared.
The floating pipeline replacement:
Test operations at the LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven are underway.
From January, it will replace up to 10 percent of the gas flow that once came via Nord Stream 1.
However, Habeck does not expect gas prices to fall any time soon.
How I learned a new word for Western arrogance:
Shortly after the Russian attack on Ukraine, I went to Poland and spoke to intellectuals like the writer Szczepan Twardoch, who is popular in Germany.
Why Germany is like an oil tanker.
Find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine here: The News Update
What else is important today
Western intelligence service helped unmask BND agent:
According to SPIEGEL information, a tip from a partner service led the Germans to the suspected Russian spy.
Investigations are also ongoing against a second person in the ranks of the BND.
Economy calls for higher inheritance tax:
Whoever inherits a house or a company has an advantage, says Monika Schnitzer.
The chairwoman of the Economic Wise Men advocates a reform to make inheritance tax fairer.
China's state media report a rush to travel portals:
China is relaxing the quarantine rules for travelers.
Many Chinese are now looking forward to foreign flights again.
Countries like the USA or Japan are skeptical - and are considering restrictions.
97-year-old concentration camp secretary contests conviction:
Shortly before Christmas, an elderly woman was found guilty of aiding and abetting the murder of thousands of prisoners in the Stutthof concentration camp.
Your defense lawyers appeal – and point to the precedent character of the case.
Learner drivers increasingly inattentive - 40 percent fail:
The driving instructors' association struggles with the performance of learner drivers.
There is a lack of a "natural affinity for traffic" - with consequences for the theoretical and practical tests.
My favorite story today: Sagittarius brings!
A picture story about football pitches in an exceptionally beautiful location – that warms my heart, which has been badly battered by the World Cup in Qatar but is fundamentally enthusiastic.
In Greenland, in the town of Qeqertarsuaq, icebergs swim past behind the gate.
In Henningsvær, Norway, the ball sometimes flies into the sea.
But the most beautiful soccer field for me is that of FC Gspon in Switzerland.
The club plays 2000 meters above sea level on Europe's highest soccer field, which can be reached by ski lift.
Those who make it up will be rewarded with a magnificent Alpine panorama.
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
“Please do not self-diagnose and do not self-treat”:
In Germany, the number of infections with group A streptococci, which can cause scarlet fever, for example, is increasing.
The child infectiologist Tobias Tenenbaum talks about the causes and possible warning signs.
Greens and SPD sharply criticize Lindner's position paper:
Pro nuclear power and fracking: In an unofficial policy paper, Christian Lindner's Federal Ministry of Finance interferes with the responsibilities of other departments - much to the annoyance of the coalition partners.
"Erdoğan is trying to get rid of his competitors":
Six months before the presidential election, Ekrem Imamoğlu is sentenced to imprisonment.
Afraid he might run for office?
Here he shares how his appeal process might affect a candidacy.
What couples have been doing wrong for decades:
Christa Schulte has been helping men and women as a therapist for almost 40 years - now she is retiring and looking back: How have our relationships changed?
Which is less important today
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Photo:
Mauricio Santana/Getty Images
Silence in solidarity: Miley Cyrus
, 30, US singer and actress, wants to have her voice removed from an album by fellow musician Morrissey, 63, who is sometimes very smelly.
She apparently asked record label Capitol Records to remove her contribution from the recordings for the unreleased song 'I Am Veronica' after the British artist previously fell out with the company.
A photo of Morrissey and Cyrus together appeared on the former The Smiths singer's official website - and a thank you post to the singer with the caption "Miley is a Punk Rocker".
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "At Tottenham, the freshly cut Argentine world champion Cristian Romero was not in the squad."
Cartoon of the day:
house search!
And tonight?
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Jeff Bridges in The Old Man
Photo:
Disney+
Could you watch The Old Man series on the Disney+ streaming channel?
It stars Jeff Bridges, to me a lonely, unmatched, absolutely loveable titan of Hollywood acting.
Bridges stars as former CIA agent Dan Chase.
Chase is actually retired, but his past is catching up with him.
Because he wants to survive and save his daughter, he must return to the battlefield.
The seven episodes are, as my colleague Oliver Kaever writes in his urgent recommendation to watch the series this year, "as slow as liquid lava".
He calls the whole work "a poignant meditation on old age, regret, and the mistakes that shape people."
I wish you a nice evening,
Yours sincerely, Wolfgang Höbel
