Update in the morning: About the tinkering and its consequences

https://ui-avatars.com/api/[email protected]&background=64&color=fff&font-size=0.5&rounded=false&format=pngby — December 20, 2024 in twitter

Good morning,

Sometimes they still exist, the honest, genuine moments in politics. Monday was such a day when Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz revealed what they thought of each other in today's journal. One confirmed that the opposition leader (“Fritze Merz”) liked to talk about “nonsense”, while the other forbade the Chancellor to “describe and attack him personally in this way”.
Our new political barometer shows that the Germans do not like schoolyard brawls in politics. While in October a grand coalition was the only coalition variant that met with more approval than rejection, the rating now regularly plummeted. Only a minority believed that the Union and the SPD would be a good coalition model. Other coalition variants have suffered even worse.
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Source: ZDF

When it comes to reputation, the grand coalition and the black-green coalition are no longer far apart. This also applies to the projection: The Greens are catching up again and are now in the race for third place with the SPD. The FDP remains below the five percent threshold, the BSW is also worried about entering the Bundestag at five percent. The CDU and CSU still cannot benefit from the traffic lights being turned off, but the AfD can.
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Source: ZDF

If you give the Germans all the candidates for chancellor to choose from, Friedrich Merz and Robert Habeck lead the field, who can rely on the backing of their respective supporters. Olaf Scholz is a little behind because a surprising number of SPD supporters refuse to support him – greetings from Boris Pistorius.
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Source: ZDF

When narrowed down to two-way pairings, Scholz and Merz are roughly on a par, and in the Merz/Habeck duel, the Union's candidate for chancellor is leading the race.

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Source: ZDF

And the political barometer reveals another finding: Germans are less susceptible to populism than some in the political establishment speculate. When asked what the fall of Assad would mean for Syrian refugees living in Germany, a large majority advocated waiting to see how the situation develops. Very few people support the appeals that the Syrians must now return as quickly as possible.

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Source: ZDF

In the last political barometer of the year, we also asked what Germans personally expect from 2025. A small minority just think the New Year will be worse for them. Everyone else assumes that it will be the same or better than 2024. Someone else say that we are a nation of doom-mongers.

Happy holidays to all of you from the Politbarometer team!

Stefan Leifert, head of today's journal and presenter of the ZDF political barometer

What happened in the Ukraine war

Europe's search for: answers It is the last EU summit before Donald Trump takes office – with Ukrainian President Zelensky as a guest. Europe is trying to prepare and is discussing defense, but it can't happen without America.

Scholz after Trump phone call: Killing in Ukraine must end After his telephone conversation with the future US President, the Chancellor clearly showed that Europe and the USA will continue to pull together in their support of Ukraine. “But of course with a clear perspective that there is a fair peace for Ukraine, which can defend its sovereignty, and that the killing ends,” Scholz added to the EU summit.

ZDFheute live on the situation in Ukraine:

Military expert Nico Lange is pictured in front of a map of Ukraine showing the front line.

12/19/2024 | 30:30 mins

What is still important today

What next in Syria? Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is traveling to Turkey to discuss further action in Syria with the government. A meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is planned in Ankara.

Bundestag decides on Germany ticket: The Bundestag is expected to commit to financing the Deutschlandticket for 2025 today. The majority is considered safe due to the Union's announced approval. Parliament should also change the gas storage levy.

Federal Council meets for the last time: In its last meeting of the year, the Federal Council dealt with dozens of draft laws and initiatives from the states. On the agenda, for example, are relief from income tax for citizens and an increase in child benefit.

number of the day

The Bundestag has decided that child benefit will increase by five euros from the beginning of the year – to 255 euros. The child benefit supplement for families with low incomes is also to increase by five euros to 25 euros per month. In addition, the child allowance will be increased by 60 euros to 6,672 euros. According to the Greens' calculations, a family with two children and an income of 60,000 euros will be relieved of 306 euros in the coming year. However, the Federal Council still has to give its consent today.

A ray of hope

London: Photographer shows London's scene

12/19/2024 | 2:17 mins

The German Horst Friedrichs has lived in his new home of Great Britain for 25 years. Through the lens of his camera he stages London's pubs, artists and trendsetters in new art.

Said

An atomic nucleus is a very small thing and we know very little about it. But I believe that if we knew more about the core, we would find that it is a pretty simple thing.

Ernest Rutherford, experimental physicist

On December 20, 1910, Ernest Rutherford discovered during an experiment that atoms have nuclei. This allows the researcher and Nobel Prize winner to design a new model of the atom that consists of a core and a shell. The so-called “Rutherford atom model” is a sensation for modern physics.

More headlines

The news in the video

today Xpress

Short news on ZDF – always up to date12/19/2024 | 1:46 mins

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This is what the weather will be like today

This Friday there will be a mix of sun and numerous clouds with showers, above about 400 meters of snow. With a brisk westerly wind, temperatures reach zero to seven degrees.

The weather on Friday December 20th, 2024

Source: ZDF

Compiled by Nicola Frowein

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