Know every morning
what is important.
* Data protection notice
You can cancel the newsletter via the clickable link “Unsubscribe from newsletter” in the email you received. You can also object to the use of your data for advertising purposes at any time and / or revoke your consent given to Ströer Digital Publishing GmbH (Platz der Einheit 1, 60327 Frankfurt) at any time with effect for the future without incurring any special costs (e.g. by e-mail Mail to [email protected]).
–
–
Editor-in-chief Florian Harms’ newsletter
–
–
–
Good morning, dear readers,
Today I represent Florian Harms at this point and provide you with the commented overview of the topics of the day. It’s about the corona situation in major German cities and a murder trial in Berlin that could have enormous political consequences.
WAS WAR?
The measures in the Corona crisis are becoming stricter again – now Frankfurt am Main and Berlin have tightened their rules again. The two large cities are close to the agreed upper limit of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days. The trend is clearly increasing. Put both on a curfew with a ban on alcohol and nighttime contact restrictions.
The fact that the new restrictions mainly affect nightlife shows who, in the opinion of the experts, is responsible for the recent increase in corona. Young people tired of the restrictions of the pandemic and breaking the rules in place. Or as Berlin’s Governing Mayor Michael Müller put it: “The partying people”. In the pandemic, they are particularly suffering from city life – many have little living space and no garden of their own. They rarely have to fear a severe course of the disease after a corona infection. With this supposed certainty, they plunge into alternative nightlife away from the discos, hundreds of parties, for example in parks or in private settings.
A bar in Berlin: the capital has imposed a curfew for the coming weeks. (Source: Seeliger / imago images)
This is how the corona crisis turns into a generation conflict. The coming weeks will be a test of the younger generation’s collective sense of responsibility, especially in the cities. Restricting yourself more for the common good – that is the task. For each. From now on. March and April showed that we can do this.
In any case, the message from the mayors and experts yesterday was clear: Only if this succeeds can further steps towards lockdown in the cities be prevented. Frankfurt and Berlin may have particularly high numbers right now, but Cologne, Duisburg, Essen, Bremen and Mannheim are not far away.
Understandable when all the frustration of the past months has to be put out. But we only have to look to Madrid or Paris. Then we see how a few super-spreading events in cities can quickly turn into an uncontrollable conflagration.
Against this background, the tightening in Berlin and Frankfurt are still rather mild measures. We have to make sure that is enough.
_____
WHAT’S UP?
It is August 23, 2019: A Georgian, who has been living as an asylum seeker in Germany since 2016, strolls through the Kleiner Tiergarten, a park in Berlin. A second man approaches on a mountain bike. He pulls out a Glock 26 pistol with a silencer and shoots his victim first in the side and then twice in the head – and flees. Because witnesses watch the alleged perpetrator sink a wig and the murder weapon in the Spree, the police arrested him a little later.
It was a cold-blooded murder, there is no doubt about it. But when the alleged shooter is brought to trial from this Wednesday at 9 a.m., it is not just about the terrible act and a possible life imprisonment. It’s also about Germany’s relations with Russia – or what’s left of it after the scandals of recent years.
The defendant is the 55-year-old Russian Vadim K. He is said to have entered under a false name and disguised as a tourist via Paris and Warsaw. His tattoos are said to indicate that he previously served in a special unit of the Russian military. In 2013 he allegedly committed a similar murder in Russia. The manhunt was discontinued a short time later for unexplained reasons.
The suspect, “Vadim Sokolov”: He traveled under a false identity and is said to have carried out the contract killing in Berlin for the Russian government. (Source: Reuters / Berlin Police)
Givess victim had been classified as a terrorist by Russian authorities. He fought against Russia as the leader of a militia in the second Chechnya war from 2000 to 2004.
Even if Vadim K. is silent and possible accomplices are suspected – the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office considers the act to be a contract killing by the Russian government. The power apparatus of President Putin is imaginary in the dock at the trial.
The Chancellor has already made it clear: If the court also comes to this assessment, there will be consequences. How else could it be? A contract killing carried out in the heart of the German capital must result in a tough political reaction. Also because the list of Russian crimes is getting longer and longer. As a reminder: In 2015, Russian hackers attacked the Bundestag. The poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was by no means an isolated incident. Again and again, Putin’s opponents are victims of mysterious accidents or brutal violent crimes, at home and abroad. Instead of enlightening, Russia reacts with lies.
Anger is probably the first thing that comes to mind in the face of this behavior. At least that’s how I feel. Coupled with a feeling of great powerlessness. Yes, there could be new sanctions that hit Russia and those behind the crime hard. Other diplomats may be expelled. But does that really impress Putin’s power clique? My colleague Jonas Mueller-Töwe put this question to one of the leading experts of the German Society for Foreign Policy, Stefan Meister. He states: “Russia is no longer a partner” – and proposes a new strategy.
The trial of the Tiergarten murder could be a decisive turning point in dealing with Russia. Jonas Mueller-Töwe, who has dealt intensively with the case in recent months, will report for you today from the criminal court in Berlin-Moabit. The hearing was moved there because of the immense security measures.
___
It may also be about Russia, though Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will answer questions in the Bundestag today. The focus is definitely on the crises in Nagorno Karabakh, Libya and the eastern Mediterranean.
___
The news hit the headlines: The Greens want to stop the construction of highways and federal highways for the time being and review all projects in terms of environmental protection. The Bundestag is discussing it today.
____
Reinhard Genzel celebrates with employees of his institute in Munich: The German physicist has been awarded the Nobel Prize. (Source: Andreas Gebert / Reuters)
Yesterday, the German astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics together with two colleagues. Today it continues with the award for chemistry. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm will announce the winner at 11:45 a.m. at the earliest.
____
The German national soccer team will play three games in the next seven days to make up for failed games in the Corona crisis. It starts tonight in Cologne (8.45 p.m.) against Turkey with a friendly game.
The appearance of a tennis professional is much more important in terms of sport Laura Siegemund in Paris. She was the only German to make it into the quarter-finals of the French Open, the largest clay court tournament in the world. From 12 noon she meets the Czech Petra Kvitova.
READ WHAT
Trump’s medical team before a press conference: how much truth can they reveal? (Source: Evan Vucci / AP / dpa)
More than half a dozen white coats outside the prestigious Walter Reed Military Hospital. This image has determined the news about Donald Trump’s corona disease in the past few days. You can trust these gentlemen, should the pictures indicate. Especially her boss: Trump’s personal doctor Sean Conley. But what he then said about the state of health of the US President was often only half the truth, sometimes even none at all. It’s not Conley’s fault alone as our reporter Johannes Bebermeier writes. But it is highly problematic.
____
While doctors all over the world are fighting for the lives of seriously ill corona patients, a team of doctors in a London clinic is targeting people with the virus. What sounds creepy could be a reality in a few months. There is an ambitious goal behind this: With so-called human challenge trials, an effective corona vaccine should be found more quickly. My colleague Melanie Weiner explains the background to this controversial procedure.
Some federal states have strict rules with quarantine and testing requirements for people arriving from risk areas within Germany. However, the new measures have some pitfalls, as my colleague Sandra Simonsen wrote.
___
Instagram is considered the carefree place among social networks: nice photos, happy videos, more fun than the serious discussions over on Facebook and Twitter. But now an analysis by the Correctiv research center has shaken this picture. It shows how right-wing extremists and right-wing extremists use Instagram, to slowly draw young people into their circles.
WHAT AMUSES ME?
Corona? Donald Trump found the solution …
(Source: Mario Lars)
Tomorrow my colleague Daniel Fersch will write for you at this point. I wish you a great start to the day.
you
Luis tear
Boss on duty t-online
E-mail: [email protected]
Twitter: @reiss_luis
With material from dpa.
Florian Harms’ daily newsletter subscribe here.
You can find all the daybreak issues here.
You can read all the news here.
– .
