Here you will find the most important news of the day, the most popular stories of SPIEGEL + and tips for your end of workday.

The theme of the day: the ditch between East and West

November marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. But the economic differences between East and West Germany are still serious just under three decades after this historic break. This is shown by a study published by experts from the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Halle (IWH). Accordingly, the economic output and the level of wages in eastern Germany in 2017 were well below the level of the West. Even the Saarland, in last place in West Germany, is doing better than the East.

The differences have several reasons, as my colleague Michael Kröger writes. This implies that in the east a smaller proportion lives in the cities than in the west. So where the growth opportunities are greatest. Government subsidies also reduce productivity. Because they are usually tied to the condition of receiving or creating jobs. There is also a shortage of foreign skilled workers. To change that, the East must become less xenophobic and cosmopolitan, the researchers write.

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Dresden old town

Not only economically gaping between East and West, also culturally. That's what jazz singer Uschi Brüning says. "According to my observation, everything develops rather than apart," she describes it in an interview with my colleague Janko Tietz. From Brüning's point of view, people in the West are not interested in those from the East. What the East can actually learn from the West was described by my colleague Stefan Berg at the end of last year.

The number of the day : 45.3

So many years, the mean age in my circle Unna in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2017. Thus, this value has risen since 1995 by almost six years, so much more than in the same time in the Confederation as a whole (a good four years). And what about your home? This shows an interactive graphic. My colleague Florian Diekmann analyzed the results.

Getty Images / Westend61

Mannheim

News: What you need to know today

  • May offers financial support to pro-Brexit communities: The UK's head of government plans economic aid , especially where EU Brexit approval is highest. The opposition suspects "Brexit-bribery".
  • Storm depression "Bennet" slows Rosenmontagszüge: The weather is causing trouble for all carnival fans. Removals were canceled, interrupted or restricted.

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carnival in Cologne

  • Algeria is rehearsing the uprising: In Africa's largest country, Abdelaziz Bouteflika again runs for president despite enormous health problems. That leads to the most violent protests in decades.
  • Lesbians and gays in the Union demand apology from Kramp-Karrenbauer: In doing so, they are reacting to a carnival joke of CDU chairpersons about toilets for intersex people.
  • 23 deaths from hurricanes in the USA: In the southeast of the US, violent cyclones have raged and caused great destruction.

AFP / JUSTIN MERRITT / INSTAGRAM

Tornado in Dothan, Alabama

  • Keith Flint is dead: The frontman of The Prodigy was found lifeless in his house at the age of 49 years.

Opinion: The most discussed comments, interviews, essays

Living in the capital: In Berlin, rents are becoming increasingly expensive. Now an initiative wants to expropriate large owners. Why this is a nice idea, but brings little, writes Stefan Kuzmany in his column.

About Klowitze: Did Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer make a carnival joke about toilets for intersex people? A humor review by Harald Schmidt.

THE MIRROR

Harald Schmidt

Stories: The most read texts at SPIEGEL +

AfD employees spread fear and terror in the government district: The arrival of the AfD has also changed the climate among the members of parliament's staff. Workers from other factions complain about threats - and demand more control.

How to Travel to 52 Places Around the World in One Year: Jada Yuan Traveled for the New York Times for a Year. How she did that and what she learned, she tells in an interview.

Jada Yuan / The New York Times

The billions dilemma: German arms exports bring about five billion euros per year. How should the government handle the business: morally or pragmatically?

My evening: the recommendations for your end of workday

What you can see: TV for fools. If you have not had enough of the carnival or have had no time during the day, then the public service broadcaster likes to help. From 8:15 pm on the ARD you can watch the Rose Monday in Cologne. And if that's still not colorful enough for you, here are the best pictures of the carnival in Rio.

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Carnival in Rio de Janeiro

I wish you a nice finishing time.

warmly

Andreas Evelt from the Daily Team

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