1. A landmark disappears
It's a horror scenario for all road users: you drive on a bridge and it collapses. In Baltimore, United States of America, this scenario has become a reality for many drivers.
On Tuesday night, a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was rammed by a ship. The more than 2.5 kilometer long four-lane highway bridge over the Patapsco River and the port of the metropolis in Maryland partially collapsed. It is not yet clear why the ship rammed one of the bridge's foundations.
There is currently “absolutely no evidence” that the ship intentionally rammed the bridge, said the Baltimore police chief. There was also nothing to indicate a terrorist background. The FBI nevertheless started investigating.
The fire department rescued at least two people from the water. One person was taken to hospital in serious condition and the search is still ongoing for 20 other people. The number of missing people is preliminary and could rise, it said.
Unlike Genoa, where a highway bridge collapsed in 2018, killing 43 people, the Francis Scott Key Bridge was not dilapidated or poorly maintained. The accident appears to be due to human error. And that happens again and again.
According to the dpa, in February 2024, five people died in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong after a freighter rammed a car bridge and caused it to partially collapse. In Brazil, a nearly 900-meter-long road bridge over the Moju River collapsed in April 2019 after a ferry rammed one of the massive pillars. In January 2012, a ship loaded with rocket parts for the US Air Force and the NASA space agency tore a gap more than 90 meters long in a road bridge in the US state of Kentucky. The captain had taken the wrong route under the bridge, which was only designated for water sports enthusiasts and not for heavy ships.
Read the full story here: Two people rescued after bridge collapse in Baltimore - up to 20 missing
2. Surprising decision in the Assange case
Three weeks. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks activist and whistleblower Julian Assange has received a reprieve in his request not to be extradited directly to the USA. The US government and the British Home Secretary must have given appropriate guarantees within three weeks at the latest.
The question is whether Assange can invoke the right to freedom of expression in a trial in the USA and whether he enjoys the same rights as US citizens. That he would not be prejudged because of his citizenship and that the death penalty would not be imposed.
The London High Court decided today to extend the deadline, according to which the Australian's application to appeal against a decision by Great Britain to extradite him to the USA could possibly be granted - even though it was rejected today on six out of nine points.
A final decision will be made on May 20th. If the court had immediately rejected the appeal in its entirety, Assange could have been flown directly to the USA.
According to his supporters, Assange faces up to 175 years in prison. Washington accuses him of stealing and publishing secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, thereby endangering the lives of US informants. Assange, however, faces criminal prosecution for his journalistic activities.
Assange has been in London's Belmarsh maximum security prison for almost five years. Before his arrest in April 2019, he had evaded law enforcement authorities for several years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
To me, the way Assange has been treated so far seems unworthy of a democracy. In this respect, today's decision is indeed "astonishing," as Stella Assange, Julian Assange's wife and lawyer, put it today.
Read more here: Julian Assange is allowed to appeal against the verdict
3. Weselsky's last fight
Enlarge image
Trains in Berlin Central Station: “Those who work more earn more”
Photo: Hannes P. Albert / dpa
If you want to take the train to visit your relatives at Easter, there is no longer a perm standing in your way, at least not one from the train drivers' union GDL. They recently called their strikes wave strikes - planned for an indefinite period of time. At least until an agreement is reached in the collective bargaining dispute with the railway.
This compromise has now been found. Deutsche Bahn has accommodated the GDL and its chairman Claus Weselsky with a new working time regulation. The core element is an option model with which employees in shift work can decide for themselves about their weekly working hours in the future. The corridor will be 35 to 40 hours by 2029. “The performance principle applies: those who work more earn more,” explained railway board member Martin Seiler. This would make railway jobs more attractive. "We emphasized from the beginning that a blunt reduction in working hours that is forced upon everyone is absolutely not in keeping with the times."
Weselsky naturally emphasized the reduction in working hours as a success. For employees in shift work in the GDL scope, the reference working hours will fall from 38 to 37 hours in 2026 and in three further steps to 35 hours by 2029. The salary will not be reduced proportionately.
Oh yes, it was also about money: The employees will receive a wage increase of 420 euros in two steps: 210 euros more per month on August 1st and another 210 euros on April 1st, 2025. An inflation compensation bonus of 2,850 euros is to be paid out in two stages from March . Weselsky said that a collective agreement had been reached, but emphasized: "The dispute with DB AG is far from over."
The fact that the result was announced in two separate press conferences shows how toxic the climate between the opponents must be. As a rule, the collective bargaining parties almost always appear together after an agreement has been concluded. At least Weselsky won't fight the next fight. He's retiring in September. Maybe in the future rail customers won't have to suffer quite so badly just because two alpha males hate each other profoundly.
Read the whole story here: GDL is implementing a 35-hour week at Deutsche Bahn – from 2029
What else is important today?
Manuela Schwesig now has the final say on the cannabis law:
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is on vacation, Manuela Schwesig represents him as acting President of the Federal Council - and is now faced with a delicate task.
Traffic light argues about how to deal with the pandemic:
After the publication of the RKI protocols, traffic light is divided about how to deal with the pandemic crisis management. The FDP is pushing, the SPD is opposing a study commission in the Bundestag.
In Germany, one in five children lives in poverty:
According to a study, more and more people in Germany are considered to be low-income. Around half of those affected are pensioners or employed. This reveals major regional differences.
A number of transport companies ban e-scooters on buses and trains:
Many commuters take their e-scooters on the train and then only use them to travel the last few meters to work. Many cities want to stop this practice. The batteries are therefore a risk factor.
Meteorologists want to predict dryness and wetness more accurately:
The German Weather Service is introducing an early warning system for soil moisture. Farmers and disaster control should be able to better prepare for extreme events. The balance sheet for 2023 shows how necessary this is.
My favorite story today: Old as a tree
I must have been seven or eight years old when my parents took me to a Puhdys concert at the fairground in Freiberg in Saxony. That was a great experience back then, the Puhdys were the most famous band in the GDR. I never became a fan, but I enjoyed reading the interview that my colleague Alex Gernandt conducted with frontman Dieter Birr. Especially the passage in which Birr tells how the song “If a Person Lives” made it into the cult film “The Legend of Paul and Paula.”
Read the whole story here: "After the fall of the Wall, Eastern rock was dead"
What we recommend today at SPIEGEL+
"If they cut off the ear of a terrorist suspect, you have to be prepared for anything":
From would-be democracy to belligerent dictatorship: Journalist Vladimir Esipov explains how Vladimir Putin has changed the country - and how the attack in Moscow is helping him.
That's how dangerous the terrorist group ISPK is for Germany:
The "Islamic State" in Central Asia is said to be behind the attack near Moscow. In Germany, investigators have already thwarted the group's terrorist plans several times. How big is the threat to the European Football Championship?
How the world view of an artificial intelligence is created:
What images does an AI use to learn, where do they come from? Who decides whether they are suitable? Researchers have examined one of the largest training datasets. We make your findings understandable.
Well dismissed, how's that?
Sophia von Rundstedt, 51, advises companies when they have to get rid of employees. Here she explains what mistakes bosses make and what is behind the current wave of layoffs.
The DFB team shows a clear edge:
Germany's national soccer players have enough on their plate. So they consistently banned all artists from their ranks. The new squad cut looks like this: short on top, shaved on the sides and back.
Which is less important today
Enlarge image
Photo: Alain Jocard / AFP
Design object
: The Paris apartment of the fashion designer
Karl Lagerfeld
, who died five years ago , was auctioned today. The starting bid was 5.3 million, and an anonymous buyer ultimately paid 10 million euros. Although the property is located on Quai Voltaire in the central Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin district in an old building opposite the Seine and the Louvre, the inside is anything but classic. Lagerfeld has created a kind of futuristic spaceship here. "It's a place to sleep, take a bath and work," Lagerfeld said of his apartment.
Mini concave mirror
You can find the entire concave mirror here.
Cartoon of the day
And tonight?
Enlarge image
Pianist Joachim Kühn
Photo: Silvio Magaglio
A few days ago the pianist Joachim Kühn turned 80 years old. He is probably Germany's most internationally respected jazz musician. He was born in Leipzig. Participation in a piano competition helped him escape from the GDR in 1966. He later moved to France and finally to the USA. He now lives in Ibiza most of the time. Stylistically, Kühn oscillates between free, jazz rock, world jazz and classical crossover. The documentary filmmaker Stephan Lamby dedicated the film “Brothers Kühn – Two Musicians Play Free” to him and his brother Rolf (here is the trailer for the film). On April 12th, Joachim Kühn received the Federal Cross of Merit. You could listen to Kühn's interpretation of the Bill Evans classic "Peace Piece" . The piece is always a revelation, especially in these times.
A lovely evening. Heartfelt
Yours, Janko Tietz, Head of Germany/Panorama Department