published by Sigrid Arteaga
Contributor: Imogen Goodman and Ulrich Kraus
Bild: Health insurers double additional contributions | Kassen verdoppeln die Zusatzbeiträge
FAZ: Kretschmer elected prime minister in second ballot | Kretschmer im zweiten Wahlgang zum Ministerpräsidenten gewählt
Funke: Berlin’s House of Representatives greenlights record cuts | Berlins Abgeordnetenhaus beschließt Rekord-Kürzungen
Handelsblatt: Unicredit angers the federal government | Unicredit erzürnt den Bund
RND: How the SBU secret service became Kiev’s sharpest sword | Wie der Geheimdienst SBU zu Kiews schärfstem Schwert wurde
SZ: Kretschmer re-elected head of government | Kretschmer erneut Regierungschef
Tagesspiegel: Minority government in Saxony: Leftists help Kretschmer into office | Minderheitsregierung in Sachsen: Linke hilft Kretschmer ins Amt
taz: Merci (Gisèle Pelicot) | Merci (Gisèle Pelicot)
Welt: BSW and Linke help Michael Kretschmer into office | BSW und Linke helfen Michael Kretschmer ins Amt
Top-News
Budget committee approves billion-euro projects:
Cabinet decisions:
RTL/ntv Trendbarometer by Forsa: CDU/CSU 30 percent (-1), SPD 17 percent, Greens 13 percent, FDP 4 percent, AfD 19 percent (+1), Left Party 3 percent, BSW 4 percent, others 10 percent. n-tv.de
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock calls for the participation of all segments of the population in Syria in the renewal process: Baerbock explicitly referred to the Kurds in the north of the country during a general debate in the Bundestag. Like Germany, they are part of the coalition against the extremist Islamic State. She would also make this clear during a visit to Turkey on Friday. For a peaceful transition, the rights of all ethnic and religious communities must be taken into account. During the debate, Development Minister Svenja Schulze warned against a premature discussion about the return of Syrian refugees; the security situation in the country is still completely unclear. welt.de
Israel denies reports of deaths in attacks in the Gaza Strip: The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health reported that at least ten people were killed in attacks; residential buildings and the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia were fired upon. The intensive care unit of the hospital was hit; miraculously, patients were able to be saved. The situation is catastrophic. The Israeli army has denied the report, saying that there were no attacks in the area in question either during the night or in the morning. br.de
Informal NATO meeting on support for Ukraine in Brussels: Secretary General Mark Rutte criticized the debate on possible ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia as unhelpful. If they are now discussing among themselves what such an agreement could look like, they are simply making it easy for the Russians. Rather, they must now focus on ensuring that Ukraine achieves a position of strength. Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the EU should not get ahead of itself. n-tv.de
Prime ministers of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony call for support for the German automotive industry: In a letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Markus Söder, Winfried Kretschmann and Stephan Weil call for the domestic automotive industry to be strengthened. Specifically, they warn against the EU regulation on so-called CO2 fleet targets. Starting next year, stricter exhaust emission limits will apply, along with fines. These should be suspended for the time being. ndr.de, heise.de, handelsblatt.com
Arms exports in 2023 at ten-year high: According to the arms export report, Germany delivered more weapons of war to countries outside NATO and the EU last year than at any time in the past ten years. The total value of these arms exports amounted to almost 2.5 billion euros. Around 1.3 billion euros of this was accounted for by South Korea, Singapore and Ukraine. A new record was also set for so-called export licenses, which amounted to around 12 billion euros. These licenses relate to future rather than current exports. spiegel.de, n-tv.de
FDP and BSW present key points of their election program:
Chinese citizen investigated in Schleswig-Holstein on suspicion of espionage: The man is said to have gained access to the naval base in Kiel at the beginning of December and taken photos there. According to a WDR report, the man’s cell phone is being analyzed and he is in custody. The Military Counterintelligence Service is also involved in the investigation. ndr.de, tagesschau.de
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer re-elected: In the second round of voting, 69 members of parliament voted in favor of Kretschmer, giving him a clear majority. Free Voters candidate Matthias Berger received 39 votes, AfD candidate Jörg Urban received one vote. In the first ballot, Kretschmer had failed to achieve the required absolute majority. The Left Party had signaled in advance that it would support Kretschmer in the election to prevent a prime minister from the far-right. Kretschmer is confident that cooperation with the opposition will work as planned. He told MDR radio that in view of the balance of power in the state parliament, this was the only chance they had. n-tv.de, tagesschau.de
More Regional:
French parliament passes emergency budget bill: The French parliament passed an emergency budget bill on Wednesday that will allow the government to continue collecting taxes and borrowing money until a new budget is passed early next year. The bill was necessary because former Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s center-right government fell in early December, failing to win a majority for its budget bills. stuttgarter-zeitung.de
EU and Western Balkan countries discuss rapprochement: EU Council President Antonio Costa described an expansion as the most important geopolitical investment in peace, security and prosperity. In a joint declaration by the 27 EU states with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, the parties said they wanted to cooperate more closely in the area of defense. The EU would help protect the region from cyber threats or foreign interference, for example with regard to Russian disinformation campaigns. EU membership was promised to the Western Balkan states more than 20 years ago. Meanwhile, Russia and China are increasingly vying for influence in the region.
The number of asylum seekers in Europe is falling: In the first ten months of the year, there were around 860,000 applications, and by the end of the year, around one million will have been reached, said EU Asylum Agency boss Nina Gregori to the Funke newspapers. Last year, there were around 1.1 million. The main destination country within the EU continues to be Germany, with about a quarter of all applications. The main countries of origin continue to be Syria, followed by Afghanistan and Turkey. morgenpost.de
Iran criticizes warnings about nuclear program: „The E3 and the United States are trying to advance a political agenda to undermine constructive engagement for a diplomatic solution,“ said Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Irawani. The E3 countries are Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Iran is cooperating constructively with the International Atomic Energy Agency and there is no justification for such warnings. In a joint statement, the E3, as the remaining partners of the 2015 nuclear deal, called on Iran to reverse the „nuclear escalation“. swissinfo.ch
South Korea’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, refuses to cooperate with the judiciary: The country’s anti-corruption agency said that Yoon had once again failed to appear for a hearing. He was supposed to be there to answer charges of sedition and abuse of office. Yoon had unexpectedly declared martial law at the beginning of December and repealed it just hours later after massive resistance. The parliament voted in favor of an impeachment procedure. This must be reviewed by the South Korean Supreme Court within six months. spiegel.de
Supreme Court considers possible ban of Tiktok in America: A hearing is scheduled for January 10. The Chinese parent company Bytedance is fighting a US law that requires Tiktok’s US business to be sold to a non-Chinese company by January 19 at the latest. According to Tiktok, the law violates the freedom of speech guaranteed by the US Constitution. A majority of parliamentarians, on the other hand, see the Chinese-run video portal as a threat to national security. handelsblatt.com
More News:
Business
80,000 Syrians work in so-called bottleneck occupations in Germany: These include automotive engineering, childcare and parenting, as well as the medical and nursing fields, according to a study by the employer-affiliated German Economic Institute. Syrian employees are therefore important for the German labor market. They make a significant contribution to cushioning the shortage of skilled workers in Germany. Politicians are therefore called upon to offer these working people a secure right of residence. zdf.de
The number of people in need of care is rising significantly. At the end of 2023, it was just under 5.7 million, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Within two years, this is an increase of 730,000. Almost 90 percent of those affected are cared for at home. The increase is not least due to the introduction of a broader concept of care a few years ago. tagesschau.de
Many young people leave school early or drop out of training: According to an EU report, the percentage of young people in Germany who attend school for no more than ten years is just under 13 percent. This is significantly higher than the EU average of 9.5 percent. The situation is only worse in Spain and Romania. handelsblatt.com
Rents in many German cities have risen significantly this year as well: on average, there was an increase of around four percent, according to an analysis by the German Institute for Economic Research. Purchase prices, on the other hand, continued to fall. Building plots, owner-occupied homes and condominiums were on average five percent cheaper than in 2023. zdf.de
record demand for coal: The International Energy Agency put global demand at 8.77 billion tons, a slight increase compared to 2023. At the same time, the construction of nuclear power plants and the expansion of renewable energies, for example in China, should help to limit the increase in coal consumption by 2027. spiegel.de
US Federal Reserve lowers key interest rate by a further 0.25 percentage points: It had initiated the interest rate turnaround in September, followed up in November, and now, for the third time this year, monetary policy is being relaxed. However, it signaled that it would lower interest rates more slowly in the future, as the punitive tariffs on imports announced by US President-elect Trump could fuel inflation. sueddeutsche.de, n-tv.de
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Young man on „Hart aber fair“: „Actually, I wanted to go to ‘Maischberger’„. sueddeutsche.de