Good morning,
And yet even President Putin cannot answer all the questions. The entrances have been categorized by topic using an AI program for days. Someone behind the high Kremlin walls then chooses. Most people want to know when the war will be over. Followed by the question of when there will finally be more money. Third place goes to the wish that interest rates on loans should please fall – the key interest rate is currently at a historic 21 percent. And so it remains to be seen how many unpleasant questions the Kremlin allows to be raised. Last year it was quite manageable.
Because journalists also have a lot of questions and are somehow also citizens, the president's annual press conference has been combined with the virtual citizens' consultation hour for several years. The Kremlin also hand-picked invitations to Western correspondents. ZDF is not one of them. We will still report – because we don't want to withhold the Putin show from you.
We wish you a good start to the day
Armin Coerper, head of the ZDF Moscow studio
Situation in the Middle East conflict
Rocket intercepted coming from Yemen: The Israeli military says it has intercepted a rocket coming from Yemen for the second time this week. The air force “intercepted a missile fired from Yemen” before it could reach “Israeli territory,” the army said.
What is still important today
Verdict expected in Avignon rape trial: The trial of dozens of rape cases in Avignon, southern France, was coming to an end. The court is expected to announce its decision regarding the years-long abuse of Gisèle Pelicot from 9:30 a.m. Pelicot's ex-husband had repeatedly drugged his then-wife for almost ten years, sexually assaulted her and offered her to dozens of strangers for rape. This happens in the process. He faces 20 years in prison.
EU summit discusses with Zelensky: The heads of state and government of the EU states are meeting for their last regular summit this year. The main topic of the discussions in Brussels will be the question of how Ukraine can be put in a better starting position for possible peace negotiations with Russia. This includes, among other things, further military support and help to stabilize the energy supply. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is expected to be there at the beginning of the discussions and report on current needs. He is invited to the summit as a guest.
The summit will be chaired for the first time by the new EU Council President, the Portuguese António Costa, who took over the post from Charles Michel on December 1st.
Source: AP
Said
Surrounded faithfully and quietly by good powers, protected and comforted wonderfully, I want to live these days with you and go into a new year with you.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian and Nazi resistance fighter
This is how the famous poem “Wonderfully Protected by Good Powers” by the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) begins. The seven-stanza piece was often set to music, and it has become an integral part of the Protestant Church's hymn books in particular. Bonhoeffer wrote the poem on December 19, 1944 in a letter from the cellar prison of the Reich Security Main Office in Berlin to his fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer. He was murdered on April 9, 1945 in the Flossenbürg concentration camp due to resistance activities against National Socialism.
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The news in the video
Short news on ZDF – always up to date12/18/2024 | 1:44 mins
This is what the weather will be like today
On Thursday the sun may initially appear longer in the southeast. Otherwise there will be a predominance of clouds and frequent rain; thunderstorms are possible in some places. From the afternoon onwards there may be snow again in the low mountain ranges. The wind blows briskly from southwest to northwest, with squalls especially in the mountains and by the sea. The maximum values are between 8 and 14 degrees.
Source: ZDF
Compiled by the ZDFheute editorial team.
