Criminal negative trend
When Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser presents the crime statistics for the past year together with BKA boss Holger Münch this morning, she has no good news to announce. This is shown by the figures that became known before the official date.
Violence, murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual abuse of children, home break-ins - an increase was recorded everywhere compared to the previous year, and for some crimes the increase is shockingly significant. Overall, according to “Welt am Sonntag”, the number of registered crimes has increased by 5.5 percent to almost 6 million offenses – the last time this level was high was in 2016.
And because just over 40 percent of the suspects do not have a German passport (that is also a significant increase), calls are expected to quickly grow that, above all, immigration must be limited in order to improve public safety.
A political debate about possible connections between migration and crime is by no means objectionable. It is important and right not to leave this field to the AfD. But this debate should be conducted in a differentiated manner, without clumsy propaganda and black sheriff rhetoric. In any case, placing people under general suspicion does not solve the problem of rising crime.
Interview with NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul and migration expert Souad Lamroubal about foreign suspects: "It is reprehensible to increase these fears" - "I did not invent the statistics"
Father is not father
The case sounds special, but is highly emotional - and could now lead to a fundamental ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court.
In short: The biological, unmarried parents of a child separate shortly after the child is born. With the mother's consent, her new partner can be registered as the child's legal father - before the biological father can do so - and the three of them have lived together as a family ever since. The biological father, on the other hand, is only allowed to see his now three-year-old son every two weeks. But he wants to take on more responsibility and also become a legal father. But courts say: According to the law, the paternity of the mother's new partner cannot be challenged because there is already a socio-familial relationship between the child and the legal father.
The biological father from Saxony-Anhalt has filed a constitutional complaint against this, which the Karlsruhe judges will decide on today.
The traffic light government will also study the ruling closely. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann is planning a reform of parentage law anyway, which, among other things, should strengthen the legal position of biological fathers. The draft laws are expected to be available in the coming months.
The new regulations might have saved the plaintiff from Karlsruhe a lot. He recently told the dpa news agency: "The change is exactly what I would have needed years ago."
A psychologist on the role of fathers in raising children: “Learning to deal with stress through play is important, and fathers are especially good for that.”
Boom on the balcony
With a few hundred euros you can initiate your personal energy transition (and save on electricity costs) at the hardware store. Set it up, plug it in, and the balcony power plant is ready.
Plug-in solar systems are currently booming in Germany. In the first quarter alone, more than 50,000 new power plants were officially registered with the Federal Network Agency, and the total is now more than 400,000. In the middle of last year there were only 230,000.
It's not just the early arrival of summer that could increase demand. At the beginning of the month, a few bureaucratic hurdles during registration were eliminated. And with the so-called solar package, the traffic light government wants to make the operation of balcony power plants even easier and more attractive. However, the law has been stuck in parliament for weeks.
If you are unsure whether such a mini solar system is something for you, colleague Matthias Kaufmann from the economics department has written down what you need to pay attention to.
Here is the background: Summer of balcony power plants – what applies now
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Today's starting question: What is the capital of Ecuador called?
Loser of the day...
... is Thomas Tuchel. In the evening, the current FC Bayern coach has to take on Arsenal with his team in the Champions League. And let's be honest: no matter how the quarter-final first leg turns out, Tuchel can no longer win.
If Bayern lose, it's because of Tuchel anyway. If Bayern win brilliantly, no one will say that the coach has drawn the right conclusions from their recent league defeats. Then it is interpreted as the team's reaction. “We’ll see this through to the end,” Tuchel said before the game. We will see.
More about the state of FC Bayern: Before the most important game – perplexed, willless, soulless
The latest reports from the night
Defeat for Trump in court - no postponement in the hush money trial:
The Stormy Daniels trial against Donald Trump is scheduled to start on April 15th - and the ex-US President is trying everything to delay the start. However, his most recent attempt failed.
Former Kaufhof owner Baker is to take over Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof:
The Canadian multimillionaire Richard Baker was the owner of Kaufhof through his department store company - until it was sold to René Benko. According to Handelsblatt, he is now taking over the insolvent Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof chain.
According to investigators, Alec Baldwin had "absolutely not under control" on the set:
shouting and cursing were the order of the day: According to investigators, there was a heated climate on the set of the western "Rust" - with actor Alec Baldwin as the trigger. Then the fatal shot was fired.
I would particularly like to recommend this text to you today:
Almost 750 aircraft, around 100,000 employees, 300 holdings and subsidiaries, including 13 airlines:
Lufthansa is a giant. But the once proud company with the crane in its logo has become a national nuisance, with poor service and too few staff. Why is your CEO Carsten Spohr still more successful than his predecessors? My colleagues Alexander Kühn and Michael A. Müller accompanied the man
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Have a good start to the day.
Heartfelt,
Yours, Philipp Wittrock, head of duty in Los Angeles