1. Habeck's state secretary Graichen gives way because of another mistake – and probably also to give the minister some breathing space
The cynically gifted entertainer Harald Schmidt once advised anyone who wants to succeed in politics to "always have enough people to resign for you". Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck announced today that his State Secretary Patrick Graichen, who has been controversial for some time, will be put into temporary retirement.
About newly known inconsistencies in a project approved by Graichen, he said: "The mistakes do not stand alone and can be seen in the overall picture."
Photo: TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP
Overall, Minister Habeck's long-standing excellent reputation has also been tarnished. He did not cut a really good figure in the affair of private ties in the Ministry of Economics and Graichen, whose best man Michael Schäfer had initially been guided to the top post of the German Energy Agency, which is subordinate to the ministry, without disclosing his private relationship.
On Wednesday of last week, Habeck had held on to Graichen after questioning by two committees. Among other things, the Union had brought a committee of inquiry into play.
The reason for today's decision is apparently another violation of compliance rules that has now become known. Graichen is said to have approved several project outlines for the national climate protection initiative in November 2022 – including a project submitted by the Berlin regional association of BUND (Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland). There, Graichen's sister was a member of the board.
"The process, because of which Graichen has now had to resign, is serious and left Habeck no other choice," says my colleague Gerald Traufetter. The minister had previously always excused the family network of relationships by saying that appropriate compliance precautions had been taken. "This is exactly what Graichen violated by signing a project application for the BUND, where his sister works." For the Greens, this means maximum damage. "Because the party had always sold itself as the more morally decent party, the guardian and enlightener in many committees of inquiry," says Gerald. "This nimbus is now threatened."
Read more here: Energy loss
2. The El Niño phenomenon is changing ocean and air currents – and is likely to cause more extreme weather and rising global temperatures
The World Meteorological Organization, an organization with the abbreviation WMO, has once again issued an unpleasant forecast today. It expects global temperature records in the next five years. It is very likely that one of the years 2023 to 2027 will be the hottest on record. A natural effect will probably exacerbate the man-made climate crisis, the perennial weather phenomenon of the "Southern Oscillation", called El Niño.
The ocean and air currents in and over the South Pacific are changing. It has an impact worldwide with extreme weather of various kinds and causes temperatures to rise overall.
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Extreme weather: A man walks through an almost dried-up riverbed on the outskirts of Kolkata
Photo: Sudipta Das / NurPhoto / Getty Images
What I, and probably most of you, didn't know: The past, unfortunately also very warm three years were characterized by the opposite circulation La Niña, which has a rather cooling effect. In 2022, the Earth's surface was on average 1.15 degrees Celsius warmer than in the period before large-scale industrialization that began in the 19th century. One of the coming years will probably exceed the 1.5 degree mark for the first time in this comparison, according to the WMO report. The 1.5-degree target agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement would not be torn at such a moment – this refers to the long-term average over a 30-year period. But of course, every time the threshold is crossed, the world comes a little closer to the set limit.
"El Niño is not a phenomenon of climate change, but one that has an additional impact on human-induced global warming," says my science colleague Kurt Stukenberg. Over the past three years, La Niña's cooling effect has ensured "that we have not even felt the full effect of CO2 emissions". This will be reversed this year or next. "The probability that new global temperature records will be set then increases significantly," says Kurt. "Of course, these would not be records in a positive sense – but new worrying temperature highs that once again make it clear how little time remains to comply with the temperature limits of the Paris Agreement."
Read more here: Now also El Niño – the next five years will be hot
3. The fact that so many Germans fail the driving test is due to lousy traffic education, but probably also to the more difficult test material
When I had to be tested for my motorcycle driver's license a long time ago, I turned right instead of left out of sheer nervousness at the main intersection of my small hometown in the Allgäu, of all places, contrary to commands – the examiner reacted with the classic, still colossally funny driving instructor saying "The other left!" and gave me the driver's license anyway in the end. Apparently, driving tests will be even stricter in 2023. My colleague Alexander Preker reports today that almost one in four and one in four of those tested fails.
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Novice driver on the road
Photo: Felix Jason / IMAGO
At around 3.6 million, the number of driving licence tests – practical and theoretical together – is higher than ever before, but so is the number of failed tests. Almost 40 percent of learner drivers recently failed on average nationwide, and the figure has been rising since the beginning of the decade. The reasons for this? "Systematic traffic education beyond primary school hardly takes place in schools," complains a TÜV spokesman. Parents who transport their children by parents' taxi and do not even delegate the responsibility for short distances such as the way to school to the pampered little ones are probably also partly responsible.
There is a lack of instructors in driving schools, and sometimes the quality of teaching is apparently poor. It happens that applicants who have previously failed are presented up to ten times for the driving test, Alexander learned during his research. The training of driving schools is more demanding than it was 20 years ago, new types of vehicles such as e-scooters are causing more stress in the road traffic social system, and even the theoretical exam is more demanding today than it used to be.
However, Alexander mentions another possible reason for the high failure rate: a more widespread environmental awareness. "Some environmentally-minded city dwellers, even if they still get a driver's license today, are not as important as they might have been in the past. That can lower motivation.«
Read the full story here: Class B only
News and background information on the war in Ukraine:
How Kharkiv defies Putin's bomb terror: Grenades, missiles, drones: the fear of Russian shelling is omnipresent in Ukraine. Large events are hardly possible. Nevertheless, there was a boxing tournament in Kharkiv. Underground.
Council of Europe sets up damage register for Ukraine: By the end of 2022, Russia's attacks on Ukraine have destroyed 35,000 objects. The Council of Europe is planning a register in which damage will be documented. For example, Russia is supposed to be legally and financially responsible for it.
British intelligence calls Ukrainian successes against Kinschal missiles "embarrassing" for Moscow: Vladimir Putin has called the Kinschal hypersonic missile invincible. London is now saying that their reported destruction by Ukraine is tantamount to an embarrassment for the Kremlin chief.
Here you will find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine: The news update
What else is important today
Esken wants to prevent sharp rent increases after heating system replacement: From 2024, no new oil and gas heating systems will be installed. According to SPD party leader Saskia Esken, however, a necessary replacement should not be passed on to tenants. However, cost protection is not intended to apply to everyone.
Man invades the house of Biden's national security adviser – Secret Service notices nothing: The intruder seemed drunk and confused: In Washington, a man ran into the home of Jake Sullivan, the US president's security adviser. Now the Secret Service has to explain itself.
Unknown people beat up relatives of Brigitte Macron: France's president speaks of an "unacceptable and unspeakable" attack: His wife's great-nephew was apparently targeted on the sidelines of a demonstration. The police arrested eight people.
My favorite story today: A man, lots of minced meat, seafood and two milk frothers
It is an amusing and, of course, instructive piece of morals from Hamburg's local politics, which my colleague Julia Jüttner wrote down on the occasion of a trial. Michael Osterburg, once chairman of the Green Party in Hamburg-Mitte, has now been sentenced to a suspended sentence for embezzlement, fraud and forgery of documents. Osterburg's former partner, Anna Gallina, is now Hamburg's Senator for Justice. "For many years, Osterburg maintained a good relationship with the press, did not shy away from a camera, liked to talk about his work," writes Julia. "Osterburg's frauds had caused a nationwide sensation" – because he also submitted the costs for a trip to Malta: In May 2017, he and Gallina, then still the incumbent Hamburg state leader of the Greens, flew to the island to rescue migrants with the help of the "Sea Eye". Osterburg provided a restaurant receipt with the note: "Refugee rescue Mediterranean" – 230 euros, including lobster. Gallina later apologized, saying she understood if such a meal caused "irritation and indignation." She herself did not eat lobster.
Read the full story here: Verdict in embezzlement trial against Green politician
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
"Then Tokyo would also be hit by Chinese missiles": Japanese economist Kiyoyuki Seguchi doesn't think China will invade Taiwan anytime soon. At the same time, he warns of the possible consequences of the conflict – and says what else Germany could learn from Japan.
The three worlds of Xinjiang: China has put hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs in re-education camps since 2017. Today, the repression is less obvious. In the tourist wonderland of Xinjiang, the Uyghur culture is partly only a backdrop.
"Russia has won and lost democracy": The Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe have met for the fourth time in 74 years. The group already had its sights set on the end of the war, when it brought Volodymyr Zelensky back to reality.
What is less important today
Enlarge imagePhoto: Jeff Spicer/ Getty Images
Hollywood's mind-body philosopher: Tom Hanks, a 66-year-old US actor, has thought aloud about the possibilities of artificial intelligence in the film business and also talked about legal issues. If he wanted to, he could make films today in which he looks like he did at the age of 32, he said. On the mind-body problem, the question of the relationship between body and mind, which has been discussed in philosophy for thousands of years, Hanks expressed the opinion "that my face and my voice and that of everyone else are our intellectual property".
Mini concave mirror
Here you will find the whole concave mirror.
Cartoon of the Day
And tonight?
Could you delve a little bit into the art of dance and with the one and only Josephine Baker – and watch, for example, this what I think is an irresistible clip from the 1934 film "Zouzou" starring Jean Gabin, in which she sings and dances and plays alongside Jean Gabin.
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Baker around 1940
Photograph:
adoc-photos / bpk
My colleague Ulrike Knöfel writes about two Baker exhibitions that are now running in Bonn and soon in Berlin; and she praises the dancer as a heroine with superpowers, who also showed great political courage.
"For the Resistance, she smuggled secrets across borders written down in special ink and, if necessary, piloted airplanes," writes Ulrike. Even when she was invited by Martin Luther King in 1963 to speak at his legendary protest event "March on Washington", she was thrilled – "and significantly, appeared in French uniform and with the French medals she had been awarded".
Have a nice evening. Heartily
Yours, Wolfgang Höbel, Author in the Culture Department