Trump had been demanding the prize for himself all year long, and his pushiness culminated in the statement that not awarding it to him would be an "insult to the USA." After it was not he but the Venezuelan opposition activist Maria Corina Machado who was awarded the prize, his spokesman immediately spoke up: The Nobel Committee had placed politics above peace (more on that here). In January, Trump had the medal given to him by the actual winner, Machado, and it may now be hanging on the wall somewhere in the White House.
A few days later, an insulted message from Trump to the Norwegian Prime Minister became known, in which he announced that since he had been refused the prize, he no longer saw himself as solely committed to peace (more here). After all, he stuck to this announcement (more on that here).
We still have to live with the US president for a good two years, but the rule of a similarly unpleasant contemporary could soon be over: Yesterday, the leaders of the European football association Uefa met in Berlin to discuss how they can get rid of Fifa boss Gianni Infantino (more on that here). They want to replace him with a candidate of their choice at the FIFA Congress next March at the latest. Who that would be wasn't revealed yesterday, but my colleague Peter Ahrens knows about planned upheavals that go far beyond personnel.
In the future, according to Uefa's ideas, the Fifa president should act more representatively; the new center of power would be a body called the Fifa Council. UEFA now has until November 18th to nominate an opposing candidate. Peter has learned that it should be someone with charisma for football. One that is known and valued not only in Europe but also elsewhere in the world. It sounds like UEFA is looking for a real shining light.
My colleague Philipp Wittrock reports on the agreement between the three potential partners - and also knows the obstacles that continue to face a joint government. First of all, there is the situation in the Berlin left, which made the joint declaration against anti-Semitism and contacts with organized criminals necessary (more on that here). "It remains to be seen whether those circles on the left that have expressed themselves particularly loudly and radically against Israel in the past will be impressed by the 'Berlin Agreement'," says Philipp. And the question is also how serious the left leadership is when it threatens exclusion from the parliamentary group and party in the event of violations. So far these consequences are only announcements.
And then there is the ailing federal coalition. Voices can be heard from the Union that a red-green-red alliance in Berlin would be a vote of no confidence by the SPD against the black-red coalition. There is also a fear that cooperation between the Social Democrats and the Left would be used by interested parties in the Union as an opportunity to justify cooperation with the AfD.
The election winner Elif Eralp was missing from the presentation of the agreement. She is on sick leave. In this matter, one cannot deny the left's closeness to the people, because that's how many people feel right now. From here: get well soon!
The whole story here: This is causing trouble - on the left and in the Chancellor's crisis coalition
...is the BND. As if the affair surrounding ex-secret service chief August Hanning wasn't bizarre enough. Now my colleagues from our investigative team are also reporting that Hanning's former office manager, who presumably provided him with secret documents for years, had the BND approve his part-time work for Hanning. And that makes me wonder what the man's superiors thought Hanning's job might consist of. You can hardly have allowed him to aid in the trafficking of state secrets. Did they think he ironed Hanning's shirts?
The whole story here: BND approved secondary employment for Hanning's alleged accomplice
