1. Where is the spy?
Journalists like to claim that the best stories are written by life itself. Some stories are so twisted and crazy that you would have to be John Le Carré to imagine them - but even from such a grandmaster you would hardly buy a plot in which "MiG -Fighter jets were flown and rocket-propelled grenades were fired in Syria, champagne parties were celebrated on the Côte d'Azur and mercenary armies were built in Libya.
A story in which "agents, nude models, mercenaries, politicians, psychopaths and murderers" make an appearance, as well as an Orthodox priest whose identity the villain has apparently appropriated.
“Unmasked” is the title of the new SPIEGEL.
You can get the issue digitally here and at the kiosk from Saturday.
The villain in this piece is Jan Marsalek and has been one of the most wanted people in the world for four years.
Since then, it has been as if the former Wirecard board member and suspected driving force behind one of the biggest frauds in German economic history had been swallowed up by the earth.
In joint research with ZDF, the Austrian "Standard" and the Russian investigative platform "The Insider", SPIEGEL has now succeeded in meticulously following Marsalek's adventurous path into an even more adventurous underground - and uncovering who helped him along the way.
“What surprised me most,” says my colleague Jörg Diehl, “was how wrongly we have perceived Jan Marsalek in Germany so far.
He is not just a windy manager and suspected fraudster, but a spy, cynical and dangerous, who has been moving around and claiming to be among very brutal types for many years."
The story of the research itself is just as exciting as the research.
It is particularly recommended for reading by Jan Marsalek.
Read the new SPIEGEL cover story here: The double life of ex-Wirecard manager Marsalek
Watch a video for research here: "We were electrified when we suddenly saw Jan Marsalek's photo"
Background to the Wirecard case: The story of a billion-dollar scandal
2. Who is the neighbor?
My friend Martin looks like Burkhard Garweg.
He doesn't look "remotely" or "at first glance" similar to him.
Martin is a spitting image of him - at least the face that can be seen on the wanted posters of Burkhard Garweg, Ernst-Volker Staub and Daniela Klette.
Sometimes I jokingly threaten to blow his cover as a serious architect.
I think he might find this a little funnier.
I know that Martin is not Burkhard Garweg.
Although… I know?
And just to be on the safe side, would I give the police a discreet tip?
Daniela Klette as a young woman in a mugshot
Photo:
LKA Lower Saxony
In a very readable piece, a nine-person SPIEGEL team investigated the question of how "the nice Ms. Ivone" was able to live an almost completely normal life in the middle of Berlin for so long, undisturbed, appear openly on the Internet and maintain social contacts, without being considered a former terrorist to be recognized.
By the way, I almost wrote a humorous comment about "former terrorists" and about the fact that, fortunately, the state doesn't just seem to be blind in the right eye, and that the poor older lady with a penchant for left-wing opinions and Brazilian dancing is no longer a danger represents the general public.
That was before news of the impressive arsenal of weapons found in her apartment.
So you should stay vigilant.
I'll ask Martin soon if I can see his Kalashnikov.
Read the whole story here: The nice Mrs. Ivone
Comment: The consolation of the RAF
3. What does the video show?
On Thursday, numerous people - Hamas says 104 - died in Gaza while distributing aid to the suffering population.
What do you call what happened there?
A “massacre” because Israeli soldiers are said to have fired into the crowd from a nearby checkpoint?
A “bloodbath” because that sounds a bit worse than “massacre”?
Was it perhaps an “accident” because the civilian truck drivers ran over several people in the general mass panic?
A “misfortune” followed by a “massacre”?
Or could the “massacre” itself have been a “misfortune” because soldiers can sometimes panic?
Enlarge image
This photo, taken from an Israel Defense Forces video, purports to show people in Gaza City gathering around trucks carrying aid supplies on February 29.
Dozens of people are said to have been shot dead when soldiers fired into the crowd.
Now a video of the incident released by the Israeli army shows... yes, what actually?
In the top view from a drone you can see crowds sometimes scattered and sometimes clustered around trucks.
Individual points sometimes move towards the scene of the event, sometimes quickly move away from it - sometimes they no longer move at all.
Every point is a person.
The video shows a catastrophe.
It doesn't show what actually happened and who is responsible for it.
Again, it's statement against statement, and none of them can be "independently verified."
The Israelis are now being called all the more vehemently for an immediate ceasefire - as if they were the only accessible adults in this misery.
Well, maybe they are.
See more here: Video purports to show incident with aid convoy in Gaza Strip
Dozens of victims during aid delivery in the Gaza Strip: Killed while hunting for flour
What else is important today?
Thousands of Russians say goodbye to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Moscow:
Two weeks after his death in a prison camp, Alexei Navalny was buried in Moscow.
The Kremlin deployed a large police force, but thousands still came.
And showed their displeasure with ruler Putin.
Macron defends his statement about ground troops:
France's president recently brought up the use of Western soldiers in Ukraine.
The statement led to massive criticism.
Nevertheless, Macron is sticking to it - and speaks of prudent words.
Bundeswehr soldier is said to have shot four people in Lower Saxony:
Four people were found dead after shots were fired in the Lower Saxony communities of Scheeßel and Bothel.
The alleged perpetrator turned himself in, the Verden public prosecutor's office and the police said.
A heart for Wüst – NRW Prime Minister puzzles over love symbol:
Who was that?
North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst discovered an apparently romantically intended anonymous message in the state parliament in Düsseldorf.
He already suspects someone.
My favorite story today...
...is already a few days old, but over time it becomes more and more worth reading and is recommended to anyone who likes to read the "wonderfully laconic" books by Ferdinand von Schirach.
My colleague Xaver von Cranach reviews how the lawyer became a writer, the writer became a great writer, the great writer became a social critic, the social critic became a TV event and finally a man who goes from town hall to town hall to give no other piece on stage than: “Ferdinand von Schirach”.
Xaver attends a performance, is allowed to talk to Schirach afterwards, but is not allowed to quote from the conversation, and manages to maintain a precarious balance between recognition of his work and critical assessment of his methods.
Anyone who has felt a vague sense of unease with Ferdinand von Schirach's "wonderfully laconic" books and the hype and his person will know where that comes from after "The Last Herald of the Old World."
Read the full story here: The Last Herald of the Old World
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
From turnaround to peace chancellor - what's behind Scholz's new strategy:
No Taurus weapon.
And certainly no ground troops: Olaf Scholz is the peace chancellor who keeps Germany out of the war in Ukraine.
But the real reason for this is explosive.
The man who stood up to Trump:
The Dutchman Mark Rutte is to become the new NATO Secretary General.
But he has powerful opponents.
"The people are no longer willing to play along":
This weekend, Iran will elect a council of experts that will probably decide on the successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Expert Sanam Vakil explains why many will still stay away from the election.
We think you're doing a great job today:
reading this article is a really good decision.
Here you will find out how important compliments are, why men and women deal with praise differently and when positive feedback becomes too much.
Which is less important today
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Alec Baldwin on the set of the film “Rust”
Photo: Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office/dpa
Alec Baldwin
, 65, can be a little relieved.
After he fired a fatal shot at camerawoman Halyna Hutchins with a film weapon on the set of the western "Rust", gun master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is now on trial in Santa Fee.
Their lawyer, among other things, accuses Baldwin of gross errors - most recently, an expert expressed doubts about the actor's version that the shot was fired without pulling the trigger.
Assistant director David Hall has now tearfully testified that he did not adequately check the prop in question.
Hall was responsible for security on the set, has already received a suspended sentence for this and at least partially exonerates Alec Baldwin with his statement.
It is still unclear what exactly happened and how live ammunition could come into play.
In July, Alec Baldwin himself will have to stand trial again for involuntary manslaughter.
Mini concave mirror
You can find the entire concave mirror here.
Cartoon of the day
And on the weekend?
I would officially claim to be the most fanatical fan that the Belgian-Rwandan musician Stromae has had in Germany for years.
It makes me all the more upset that I only heard about Zaho de Sagazan after she was recognized as the winner of all classes at the recent "Victoires de la Musique" (the Grammys of the Francophone world) - for her album "La symphonie des éclairs" , which was published in 2023.
You can quickly see why on YouTube.
The 24-year-old combines the chanson with electronics and can perform her compositions solo on the piano or in Cinemascope.
I was impressed by her performance of “Aspiration,” but especially “Tristesse,” where I don’t know what I like better – the violent and exhilarating beats or her facial expressions.
Anyway, I'm in love with it.
I could listen to their version of “99 Luftballons” to wind down, but there’s still time for that.
Maybe tomorrow.
We wish you a pleasant evening
Yours, Arno Frank, author