What is important today
EXCLUSIVE Low wage earners and parents will benefit most from the new government’s plans. The Center for European Economic Research has calculated the financial impact of the traffic light coalition contract that is due to be signed today. Households with an annual income of less than EUR 20,000 can therefore achieve an increase of up to six percent. Couples with children can expect an average of 3000 euros more annually, single parents 2300. Singles and childless couples get significantly less. If the Federal Constitutional Court should overturn the solidarity surcharge, however, the results would change – then higher earners would benefit more. Go to Article (SZ Plus)
USA wants to boycott the winter games diplomatically. Athletes are allowed to take part in the competitions, but no member of the government will travel to Beijing to attend the Games, the White House announced. The reason for this is “the ongoing genocide and human rights violations in Xinjiang, as well as other human rights violations,” said Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for US President Biden. China threatens countermeasures. Go to Article
Putin and Biden talk about Ukraine. The presidents of the USA and Russia want to talk about the situation on the border with Ukraine in a video slot this Tuesday evening. The crisis is coming to a head there. Washington has been warning of a possible Russian attack on the neighboring country for weeks, and the Russian Defense Ministry is deploying additional troops. Both sides are now building up pressure. Go to Article
Volcanic eruption on Java: number of dead rises to at least 22. After the eruption of the 3700 meter high Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java, 27 people are still missing, according to the civil protection. Many victims are burned beyond recognition. So far only 13 dead have been identified. Go to Article
Other important topics of the day:
The most important thing about the corona virus
Vaccinations only protect children from quarantine to a limited extent. Vaccinations for five to eleven year olds should start before Christmas. Many parents hope that the eternally threatening quarantine will then be over. But that’s probably not the case. Vaccinated children are excluded from the corona tests in school; however, their vaccination status is often irrelevant when deciding whether to quarantine an outbreak in the classroom. Here, the school and the health department decide on a case-by-case basis. To the article (SZ Plus)
Conductors check 3 Gs on the trains. From Wednesday on, passengers without evidence of a test, vaccination or recovery will be asked “discreetly and politely” to get off at the next hub station, the railway announced. In case of doubt, the federal police will be called in. The social association VdK demands from the designated health minister Lauterbach to organize the booster vaccinations better. To the corona reports from Germany
Why space is running out in intensive care units. Germany’s intensive care physicians expect more than 6,000 Covid patients on their wards by Christmas, another 1,000 more than currently. There are currently 22,000 operable intensive care beds in Germany; their number has fallen by 8,000 in the past year and a half. One of the greatest concerns of almost all clinics is the massive shortage of nurses, which is becoming increasingly acute. To the article (SZ Plus)
Best things
The glitter of Mont Blanc. A few years ago a climber found a box of jewels on a glacier. Now the honest finder can keep half: 150,000 euros. Go to Article