Today the German secret services are to be given more powers. The Bundestag is voting on a corresponding bill from the black-red coalition. An update seems urgently needed at a time when the news increasingly reads like a spy novel. Suspected Russian saboteurs narrowly failed to detonate an explosive drone at Leipzig Airport. In supermarkets, remote-controlled refrigeration systems mysteriously fail. And yesterday evening the news broke that the internal update server of a German drone manufacturer had been infected with malware by unknown parties (more on this here). No doubt: Germany is under attack.
And how do we defend ourselves against it? Elsewhere, secret services are seen as clandestine all-rounders and invisible shields for the nation. In our country, intelligence officers are often ridiculed as wimps. Whenever the BND or the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is mentioned in the news, it is hardly about spectacular successes, but almost always about mishaps and scandals (more on that here). Important insights regularly come from friendly partner services.
Help from outside will continue to be welcome, but now the German services should be able to do more and be allowed to do more: hack into foreign systems - within limits and intervene directly if danger imminent, store reconnaissance data for longer and mislead opponents (more on this here).
Now that he has not been able to get through with a reduction in electricity tax for everyone, some members of parliament have only biting ridicule left for Merz (more on that here). The fact that he also allowed himself to be influenced by Markus Söder during Ilse Aigner's candidacy for the federal presidency reinforces the impression of political incompetence.
"If you wanted to set up a scale of political negotiating skills in Germany, then Merz's performance would be a good way to calibrate the zero line," my colleagues Paul-Anton Krüger and Gerald Traufetter quote a frustrated member of the party's leadership circle. The coalition committee will meet next week. There, Merz would have another opportunity to achieve a successful negotiation and thus appease his party friends. However, that is not very likely.
Anyone who is superstitious is afraid today, Friday the 13th, stays at home and pulls the covers over their heads. But anyone who believes that with commitment something can still be done for the better in this world is taking to the streets today. “Fridays for Future” protests are planned in around 70 places in Germany this afternoon. They are intended to show the negotiators at the climate conference in Antalya (more on that here) and also the Chancellor, who is staying at home, that climate protection is not a fashionable topic of yesterday, but a task necessary for humanity's survival.
A video clip of former climate figurehead Greta Thunberg is causing irritation. In it she appears to be making fun of a climate demonstration in Berlin: “Really? “They’re still doing that?” asks Thunberg, barely able to stop himself from laughing. However, the clip, which is just a few seconds long, is taken from a 90-minute documentary and is therefore taken out of context.
Luisa Neubauer, probably the best-known German climate activist, is calm: You don't have to agree on everything when it comes to forms of protest and narratives. And Thunberg doesn't seem to have given up climate demonstrations either, although she is now more visible as a pro-Palestinian activist. Just yesterday she demonstrated in Antalya at the climate conference.
The whole story here: Is Greta Thunberg laughing at Fridays for Future? X users discuss their stance
Live discussion: How much power does Trump have?
If you are (or want to be) in Hamburg next Wednesday, November 18th, I have an interesting event tip for you: From 8 p.m. on the stage of the Thalia Theater, FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann and USA expert Christian Lammert will discuss the consequences of the midterm results in the USA. The discussion will be moderated by SPIEGEL editor-in-chief Dirk Kurbjuweit. Tickets are available here.
... today we are all, all of humanity - at least if we manage to get through today. Because today, November 13, 2026, the world may end, at least according to a forecast by three scientists from 1960. According to their calculations, the world population would be infinitely large today and would wipe itself out. I have already covered the end of the world predicted by the Maya on December 21, 2012 as a journalist (more on that here) and therefore consider myself an expert. As such, I am sure that nothing will happen today either. If I'm wrong, please send me your complaint tomorrow.
The whole story here: Today the world is ending. Says a calculation from 1960
I wish you a good start to the day.
Yours, Stefan Kuzmany, author of the editor-in-chief
