Good morning dear readers,
it is probably one of the most spectacular criminal cases of the 21st century: It is about the conflict of world powers, the energy supply of a continent and the search for truth in times of modern war. Who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines? A question on which the history of a whole decade could hang. Now there are new insights.
As the “New York Times” reported last night, the US probably assumes that the pipeline was destroyed by pro-Ukrainian saboteurs. The information was confirmed to the Handelsblatt. The reconstruction of the events reads like a thriller. Referring to investigators, “Zeit” described how the alleged perpetrators set off from Rostock in a yacht with divers and explosives on board.
So far there is no evidence that the government in Kiev itself was involved in the act of sabotage. A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied his country’s involvement in the attack. Nevertheless, the news is politically explosive. Because Russia, which was at times suspected of being responsible for the attack, is likely to use the revelations for its own rhetoric. In addition, the alleged involvement of Ukrainian actors could result in a rift in the pro-Ukrainian alliance.
At the same time, it has not yet been ruled out that it could have been a so-called false flag operation. A false flag attack, in other words, to blame Ukraine for the crime. The last chapter in the Nord Stream cause, it has not yet been written.
(Photo: AP)
To burn or not to burn? The entire automotive industry is currently asking this question. The manufacturers had actually renounced the combustion engine and wanted to start into a future of pure electromobility. But this is obviously a very big “actually”. BMW, for example, plans according to insiders for a very long time with the established types of drive. The off-road vehicles of the X series will probably also be built with petrol and diesel engines well into the coming decade. Mercedes also keeps the combustion engine option open.
This automaker nostalgia is a risky bet. Because the EU is actually planning a sales ban from 2035. But the German Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing (FDP), did not want to agree to a negotiated agreement on the subject. With other countries like Bulgaria and Italy also opposed to the ban, it could end up failing. Many a car manufacturer would probably not be too sad about that.
Even if some of you will think “Stiens is annoying you again with her feminism”, we have to talk about equality again today, on International Women’s Day. As noted in previous morning briefings, the proportion of women in executive positions is very small. In addition, there are still huge gender pay gaps.
Women, so the argument goes, often choose poorly paid jobs in the social or health sector. Men for the better paid in industry or business. A trend that is currently intensifying, as a look at the sectors showing the strongest female growth shows. Health, teaching and education lead the ranking, followed by humanities, culture and media. But the real questions are:
Do women choose poorly paid jobs? Or are jobs performed by women paid less?
Why should caring and raising children be precarious jobs while machine builders and bankers earn well?
With that I dismiss you from the feminist introductory seminar for today and give you a reading tip on the astonishing proportion of women in the pharmaceutical industry.
Currently, it is becoming increasingly clear that some new rifts are opening up in the global economy. One of them is currently deepening between Europe and China. There is, for example, the “chip war” between Beijing and Washington, in which Europe is becoming ever more deeply involved. Last fall, the USA imposed comprehensive restrictions on the transfer of semiconductor technology to China. The Netherlands have already joined.
In addition, the German federal government now bans Chinese components in critical areas of the local mobile network. And when it comes to renewable energies, too, Europe increasingly wants to free itself from its dependency on the Chinese market.
(Photo: Siemens)
The private sector is also orienting itself more towards the West again. Siemens, for example, wants to build passenger trains for the USA on the American east coast and is planning an investment of 220 million dollars.
The investment decision is also a sign that the American market is gaining in importance for the group compared to the Chinese. Siemens boss Roland Busch also sees great growth potential in the USA because of the subsidies as part of the “Inflation Reduction Act”. His China euphoria, on the other hand, has been significantly dampened due to the geopolitical tensions.
To wrap up this briefing, let’s all make ourselves pretty again. This is really easy these days with a new selfie filter from the TikTok app. Anyone who chooses “Bold Glamour” there not only appears on the screen with perfect make-up, but also with the facial features of a young goddess. Even Olaf Scholz and Markus Söder look perfectly styled and newly hatched with the help of the application – the online portal “Watson” tried it out.
I remember quoting the recently deceased fashion designer Vivienne Westwood: “This beauty business is getting more and more intolerable. People should try harder to be less stupid.” To my knowledge, however, TikTok doesn’t have an intelligence filter for particularly stupid posts.
I wish you a great day full of natural beauty and intelligence.
It greets you cordially
Her
Teresa Stiens
Editor of the Handelsblatt
PS: Tomorrow, March 9, Suse CEOs Melissa Di Donato, Adidas Saori Dubourg (formerly BASF) and Amanda Rajkumar will discuss labor shortages, decarbonization and geopolitical shifts at the Female Allstar Boardroom Session. Register free of charge at www.femaleallstarboard.de to participate in the session via live stream.
