News compact
Assad regime torturer sentenced to life imprisonment. The Syrian state under dictator Assad systematically tortured prisoners during the civil war. The Koblenz Higher Regional Court has now ruled that Anwar R. was significantly involved from 2011 to 2012. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity involving 27 murders and other offenses such as rape. R. had pleaded for acquittal. He came to Germany on a humanitarian visa in 2014 through contacts in the Syrian opposition and lived in Berlin until his arrest in 2019. Go to Article
Insolvency administrator is suing ex-Wirecard manager for 140 million euros in damages. The lawsuit is directed, among other things, against Jan Marsalek and Markus Braun, who went into hiding. Braun has been in custody for a year and a half because he is suspected of serious economic crimes in connection with the Wirecard scandal. Specifically, the compensation is about money from high loans that Wirecard has granted to the company Ocap. This should pre-finance commercial transactions. Instead, the money apparently seeped into dark channels. Like everyone else in connection with the Wirecard scandal, Braun also denies the allegations regarding Ocap. To the article (SZ Plus)
Biden wants to avoid sanctions over Nord Stream 2. Republicans in the US Senate are planning sanctions against everyone involved in the natural gas pipeline, including Germany. They see the Russian project as a geostrategic maneuver that needs to be stopped. President Biden and his party colleagues from the Democrats share the view. But in order not to strain relations with important partner Germany, the democratic senators have now formulated a weakened sanctions law. Go to Article
Director Herbert Achternbusch is dead. Anyone who met him strolling through Munich city center could look forward to a guaranteed curious conversation. Assuming Achternbusch was in a good mood. The director and writer was a genius in his fields and a lateral thinker – in a positive sense, as we know him from the times before the pandemic. To the article (SZ Plus)
Other important topics of the day:
The most important thing about the corona virus
Lauterbach appealed to the unvaccinated in the Bundestag. In a speech in the Bundestag, the Minister of Health once again promoted compulsory vaccination. He emphasizes the solidarity aspect of vaccination, that everyone can use it to protect others. Nevertheless, he warns against the attitude that the unvaccinated have forfeited their right to protection. This is unethical and endangers social cohesion. To the article (SZ Plus)
Questions and answers on the Stiko recommendation for the booster from the age of twelve. The Standing Vaccination Commission has advocated that children and young people between the ages of 12 and 17 receive a booster vaccination. The recommendation is final only after a so-called commenting procedure. So far, the countries can decide whether to release the booster for the age group. Go to Article
That interested a lot of people today
“We need a bulwark against Omicron.” Carsten Breuer heads the federal government’s Corona crisis team. A conversation about scarce test capacities, the strengths and weaknesses of German pandemic management and how he feels as a major general in the Chancellery. To the article (SZ Plus)
900 euros gross per bachelor thesis for the ghostwriter. She wrote university papers for other students to earn extra money. She never felt guilty about it. Go to Article
Death of a medical student. The 20-year-old Turk Enes Kara took his own life because he could no longer endure the daily indoctrination in a hostel run by an Islamic fundamentalist group. Now the country is experiencing an outcry against the powerful organizations. To the article (SZ Plus)
Last but not least
“Of course I can use the money very well.” Tina Ruland goes to the jungle camp for financial reasons, Heidi Klum believes in the power of her voice, and Mark Wahlberg challenges to a tequila fight. Go to Article