Update in the evening: Little contemplation in the run-up to Christmas

Christmas is slowly approaching, a quiet, contemplative time. Well, at least outside of German politics. Because there is little sense of contemplation – both at the federal and state level.

This year's Christmas to-do list could look a little different than usual because of the turbulent past few weeks: buy presents, bake cookies – and maybe already make a voting decision?

There is still a little time left for the big political questions in the new year, but the first step towards new elections has been taken: Chancellor Olaf Scholz requested a vote of confidence today. Parliament will vote on it on Monday.

After the state elections in the east, forming a government in several federal states has become complicated – who can and wants to form a coalition with whom, will it even work?

The work has been completed in Brandenburg: the SPD politician Dietmar Woidke has been re-elected as Prime Minister by the state parliament. And the new ministers have now also been sworn in; the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) is participating in a state government for the first time.

However, Woidke was only elected in the second round after missing an absolute majority in the first. You can find out what this is all about here:

A man is shot dead in the middle of the street in New York – and numerous people on the Internet briefly cheer about it. The alleged murderer of the head of the health insurance company UnitedHealthcare is celebrated by numerous people online as a “hero” or “Robin Hood”. How does this happen? My colleague Anna Kleiser took a closer look at the case:

Israel is now targeting more and more strategic targets – for example through air strikes on weapons depots. Terrorism expert Peter Neumann and Middle East expert Daniel Gerlach spoke in various ZDF programs about, among other things, the stability of the situation in Syria and Israel's interests in the country. More about this in these articles:

There are likely to be several countries in which football fever will reign in 2030 and 2034, especially Saudi Arabia. Despite all the criticism, the 2034 World Cup will be held there in 2034. My colleague Nils Kaben doesn't like this decision, as he writes in this comment:

The FIFA Congress awarded the 2030 final tournament to Spain, Morocco and Portugal and one opening game each to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Source: Imago

Sudan, the Palestinian territories and Myanmar are among the countries where the humanitarian situation is expected to deteriorate the most in the coming year. This is reported by the aid organization IRC.

Deepfake porn – especially of well-known women – is becoming more and more widespread. They look extremely real and are hardly recognizable as fake. Some leading German politicians, top athletes, presenters and other women in public life are now speaking publicly about it and calling for better protection.

Source: iStock

Annika Heffter and the entire ZDFheute team