Trip to big Chinese brother
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is still waiting for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko will be a guest in China for four days from today.
Among other things, according to Lukashenko's official website, the two presidents would "hold talks in a narrow and expanded format".
The two countries had already "taken their relationship to a new level" beforehand, as if after lengthy couple therapy.
In fact, Belarus is not that important for China – what is important is what Russia is doing and what is happening in Russia;
that President Vladimir Putin remains stable in the great systemic struggle with the West.
Nobody expects that the four days of Lukashenko's stay will involve major strategic decisions.
From a Belarusian perspective, the journey should feel a lot bigger.
Again and again there is speculation about the independence of the dictatorship - does Russia want to incorporate the country?
Apparently there are indications.
The Russian attack on Ukraine a year ago came partly from Belarusian territory.
Perhaps Lukashenko is simply looking for ways to "diversify his dependency on dictators," which is how my colleague Ann-Dorit Boy interprets the Belarusian dictator's journey.
Sounds plausible.
After all, you shouldn't put all your eggs in the same basket.
Ukraine's military exercises:
will the Russians attack again from the north?
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
The latest developments:
In the embattled Bakhmut, the Ukrainian units are in danger of being surrounded.
Moscow sets conditions for return to nuclear deal.
And: the USA are clearly moving in the direction of China.
The overview.
"It's so shameful, we're so helpless":
Eight years ago, opposition figure Boris Nemtsov was shot dead.
He had repeatedly warned against Putin's campaign against Ukraine.
Observations from Moscow after more than a year of war.
This is Putin's valuable spy machine:
a Russian reconnaissance plane is said to have been destroyed in Belarus.
Moscow has few copies of this machine.
How important are they to the war?
Turkey and Sweden – is something moving there?
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine,
NATO
, a defense alliance once spurned as "brain dead," has experienced an unparalleled
revival
.
Finland and Sweden are keen to join the club – if it weren't for Turkey.
And Hungary.
Both are opposed, especially the Turks.
All 30 NATO members must agree.
Without the Go from Ankara there is no membership.
Today and tomorrow there are two important, albeit only formal, dates: the Finnish parliament should approve its own membership in NATO, and the Hungarian parliament should ratify the accession of the aspirants.
The Turks are particularly bothered by the Swedes
- the country does not take clear enough action against the banned "Kurdish Workers' Party" PKK and its Syrian offshoot.
Turkey recently canceled a trilateral meeting with Sweden and Finland.
But now things could be moving – through »earthquake diplomacy«.
Regardless of the Turkish veto (or probably because of it), the Swedes sent search parties to the crisis region and provided 13 million euros in aid.
"The Turkish ambassador in Stockholm surprisingly received some of the Swedish rescue workers and thanked them for their work in Turkey," observed my colleague Anna-Sophie Schneider, who follows political developments in Scandinavia for us.
In addition, the Swedes have apparently stopped another round of protests against the burning of the Koran.
And Swedish intelligence has publicly indicated that the PKK appears to be supporting acts of terrorism from Sweden.
The Turkish foreign minister has already announced a new date for a tripartite summit with his Swedish counterpart and Finnish counterpart in the next few days.
Dispute over NATO's northern expansion:
election campaign help for Erdoğan
Israel becomes a problem for Germany
In Israel, the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and right-wing extremist religious fundamentalists quickly set about dismantling the "only democracy" in the Middle East with judicial reform.
Radical settlers in the town of Huwara in the West Bank quickly resorted to lynch law.
They set fire to dozens of Palestinian homes and cars.
A man was killed.
The riots followed the murder of two young Israeli settlers
by an extreme Palestinian.
A member of parliament from the party of far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the vigilantism "deterrence" - and concluded: "We need burning villages and an end to restraint in collective punishment."
The right-wing coalition has only been in office for two months. Germany in particular faces a problem with this Israeli government
: here the historical responsibility for the country because of the Shoah.
Because an Israel that is currently in parts governed by Jewish racists and extremists.
Will the events in Huwara be discussed at today's meeting between Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Israeli colleague?
The sociologist Eva Illouz is hoping for pressure from friends: "That would probably be the only thing that could save Israel from itself now," she said recently in an interview with my colleague Amalia Heyer.
But the demonstrations by Israelis, who do not want their democracy to be destroyed, also increased quickly.
You're fighting a prime minister who doesn't even seem to care about the warnings of his "start-up nation"'s top economists.
There is a lawsuit against "Bibi" for infidelity, fraud and bribery, he needs the Ultras to stay in power and avoid conviction.
Netanyahu is sacrificing the miracle of Israel to save himself.
Resistance to planned judicial reform in Israel:
"They are stealing our country and destroying our democracy"
Here's the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: What is »Point Nemo«?
The worldwide…
Winner of the day...
… are
the fans of the Istanbul football club Beşiktaş.
They rained down toys and stuffed animals in the encounter with Antalyaspor on Sunday.
They should go to the children in the earthquake area.
May the children laugh and not cry.
The latest news from the night
Rupert Murdoch admits his moderators' election nonsense:
After Donald Trump's election defeat in 2020, Fox News aggressively spread his lies about alleged manipulation.
Media mogul Murdoch has now commented on this under oath – meekly.
TikTok must be gone from all US service devices in 30 days:
the service is now banned in Canada for fear of Chinese espionage.
The bodies of a woman and a small child found in See in Berlin-Pankow:
According to the police, the circumstances of her death are still unclear.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
Die Zank AG:
Lufthansa has overcome the crisis.
But CEO Carsten Spohr can't get rid of the biggest weakness: the mentality problem.
Interview with an overnight money expert:
“The overnight money interest rates have reached a ten-year high”
.
With two percent interest and more, banks and online brokers attract new customers.
Financial expert Sebastian Schick reveals what to look out for with such offers.
"Why does sport make it so difficult for those affected, Ms. Dobler?":
Handball players report psychological terror, and the case makes waves.
Nadine Dobler from the independent contact point for victims of violence complains about the poor training of trainers.
"Salary often serves as a projection screen for one's own self-esteem":
Are you paid fairly?
want all.
But what does that actually mean?
The financial psychologist Monika Müller is convinced that a really just solution can only be approximated.
I wish you a good start into the day.
Yours sincerely, Özlem Topçu, Deputy Head of Department Abroad