Ramadan begins - and civilians in Gaza are starving
The fasting month of Ramadan has begun for Muslims all over the world.
For many this year, however, a dark cloud hangs over this spiritual month: the war in Gaza: The people there do not voluntarily give up food - they are hungry.
There are horrific and credible reports of people, particularly in northern Gaza, having to bake bread from bird seed to survive.
There is no justification for these conditions, not even the Hamas massacre of October 7th.
Civilians are civilians, even in Gaza.
My colleague Juliane von Mittelstaedt explained in a fact check why the people in Gaza are starving: because Israel's government is not allowing enough aid into the area - something that Israel's closest allies are now criticizing more and more loudly.
The USA now wants to build a seaport off the coast of Gaza to bring aid into the country.
The hope that the warring parties would reach a ceasefire by the start of Ramadan has not been fulfilled.
Nevertheless, negotiations continue.
You can read the fact check here: How much aid Israel really allows into the Gaza Strip
Actually, no one is in a stronger position than US President Joe Biden to improve the desperate situation of civilians in Gaza: He is a long-time supporter of Israel, the USA is the most important arms supplier, and according to surveys, Biden is significantly more popular in Israel than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
And after the unconditional support of the first few months, Biden is currently clearly trying to put pressure on the Netanyahu government.
He clearly criticizes Netanyahu and reminds him that he would have to take civilians into account in the war against Hamas - which Israel's army hardly does.
At the weekend, the exchange of blows between the two men reached a new high point: the US President confirmed in a TV interview that he wanted a ceasefire.
There should not be another 30,000 dead Palestinians.
Netanyahu must “pay more attention to the innocent people who die as a result of his actions,” and the number of deaths in Gaza “contradicts what Israel stands for.”
And I think it's a big mistake."
And yet Biden appears increasingly powerless.
Biden even described a possible Israeli attack on the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million refugee Palestinians live, as a “red line.”
However, he did not say what he would do if that line were crossed.
In an interview with the "Bild" journalist Paul Ronzheimer, Netanyahu (who has long preferred to give interviews to foreign rather than Israeli journalists) replied: The attack on Rafah will take place and Israel is united behind him (the latter, however, holds in view of Netanyahu's unpopularity in his own country no fact check).
The problem for Biden is that his rhetoric has little influence on the actions of the Israeli army.
At the same time, it is hard to imagine that the USA would decide on real, painful consequences - such as stopping deliveries of ammunition to the Israeli army.
But the images from Gaza are increasingly becoming a problem for a possible re-election of the US President: The majority of democratic voters in the USA are horrified by the plight of civilians in Gaza.
More background here: Why Ramadan plays such a big role in the Gaza war
The Pope recommends Ukraine surrender
It's one of those things with Pope Francis - when he talks about world politics, things that are often unthought out often come out.
The most inglorious are his statements about the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which sometimes sound a little as if they came from Gerhard Schröder.
In an interview with the Italian-language Swiss TV station RSI, the Pope urged Ukraine to have the “courage of the white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
“Don’t be ashamed to negotiate before things get worse,” said the Pope.
The latest statement fits into the long line of Francis' quotes about Ukraine.
One constant from the beginning was that the Pope often called on the attacked Ukrainians to surrender, but turned to the Russian attackers much less often - and claimed that they had been "provoked".
In doing so, the Pope made the mistake of many pacifists: They fail to recognize how important the right to self-defense is in the face of an attacker who tortures and murders in the territories he occupies.
Negotiations and self-defense are not mutually exclusive - but the attacker has so far shown no desire to negotiate: Putin repeats again and again that the attacked country does not even exist: he wants to have the whole of Ukraine.
So when Ukraine raises the white flag, it agrees to its self-extinction.
It is to be hoped that the Pope would speak differently if he were aware of all this.
Because shouldn't the Catholic Church be on the side of those who are being attacked and are to be subjugated?
You can find more on the topic here: Ukraine criticizes Pope for calling for negotiations with Russia
Pistorius has to explain the Taurus leak
It won't be an easy appearance for Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius today.
In a special session, the Bundestag Defense Committee is dealing with the embarrassing story of the Taurus leak - with the conversation between Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz and three other high-ranking officers, which was intercepted and published by Russia, about the question: How could the Taurus cruise missiles be delivered to Ukraine let?
The focus in recent days has been that this leak is part of Russia's hybrid war against Germany.
And yet some unpleasant questions remain.
They are likely to be on the table today: How did the leak come about?
Did the officers commit a betrayal of secrets?
And: Did Chancellor Olaf Scholz tell an untruth when he claimed that the cruise missiles could only be operated by Bundeswehr soldiers?
Because that could be suggested by the conversation between the senior officers.
One thing is certain: Despite Scholz's many attempts to end it, the debate about the Taurus delivery is by no means over - not even within the coalition.
Most recently, Great Britain offered a kind of ring exchange: Germany should give Taurus cruise missiles to the British - London would then deliver further Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.
The whole story here: Pistorius under cross-examination
Read the current SPIEGEL editorial here
A Chancellor dwarfs himself:
Olaf Scholz didn't achieve much in domestic policy, but the Chancellor seemed to have found his role in foreign policy.
We now know that that was a misconception.
Click here for the current daily quiz
The starting question today: Who did the proverbial “walk to Canossa” lead to in 1077?
Winner of the day…
...is Sandra Hülser, the best actress in this country - even if she didn't win the Oscar for best actress.
Instead of the Germans, Emma Stone triumphed for her performance in “Poor Things.”
But either way, it's great that Hülser's skills received huge worldwide attention this year through her nomination.
The two Oscar-nominated films in which she played leading roles – “Anatomy of a Case” and “Zone of Interest” – depend largely on her performance.
The cold intensity of Hülser's acting as a writer suspected of murder in Justine Triet's "Anatomy of a Case" is one of the most breath-taking things that has been seen in the cinema in a long time; the film is a masterpiece.
For Hülser, who lives in Leipzig and began her career in the theater, Hollywood is certainly not the place that feels most natural.
But it has now arrived in world cinema.
All the winners in Los Angeles: The Oscars at a glance
The latest reports from the night
Europe is almost doubling arms imports,
the USA is significantly increasing exports: Global arms imports are declining, but some regions are arming themselves significantly, according to a current study.
A country is slipping in exports.
Baerbock calls Taurus ring exchange “an option”:
Ukraine definitely wants cruise missiles – but Germany doesn’t want to be drawn further into the war.
Possible way out: an exchange of rings, for example with the British.
Annalena Baerbock is open.
Possible manipulation - photo of Princess Kate and children withdrawn:
Princess Kate and her three children present themselves smiling in a new photo - officially published by the British royal family.
But now there is a stir about the recording.
I would particularly like to recommend this text to you today:
How a teacher is said to have secretly offered his students' works for sale:
An art teacher in Canada had high school students paint pictures of each other in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
He is then said to have secretly offered the works for sale online - printed on canvas, T-shirts, coffee cups and iPhone cases.
The student work should cost up to $151.
Now the parents are demanding millions in damages.
My colleague Dialika Neufeld wrote about the case.
I wish you a good start into the week.
Yours, Mathieu von Rohr, head of the SPIEGEL foreign department