1. AfD Party....locally in Berlin-City.....have set up a party headquarters in a structure on Köllnischer Park 1. So the neighbors? Well....a German language school for non-Germans, a sex-fetish 'club', and a college alternate site.
Yeah....odd mix of folks renting in the same structure area.
2. Some belief that the SPD Party meeting in early January....will reset the leadership of the party....with Klingbeil unlikely to still be party-'boss' (he will still be Finance Minister).
Party needs a 'reboot'....lingering around 13-to-14 percent in national polls. If you go back 30-to-40 years...the SPD were the party of the working-class union-guy/gal. You can't really ID them as such today.
3. With the new increase on the smokes tax....you can figure a pack of 20....at twelve Euro in cost ($13, single pack). So if you were a pack a day smoker....you'd need 360 Euro ($400) a month for the habit. At some point, a massive drop in smokers will occur, and the tax folks will be in shock...missing funds.
I worked with a German in 1978....who smoked through 1.5 packs a day. Doubt if he could finance his habit today.
4. Within VW....the ID E-car group....is preparing a recall for the vehicle....concerning the batteries. What apparently exists...under certain rare conditions....the battery can catch on fire.
5. WELT piece: Some school in Berlin had to go to court....ordering students not to engage in prayer....mostly because it was a 'risk' to school peace/safety. Judge apparently agrees....it sets some people (juveniles) off.
6. This France-chatter over softening EU car CO₂ emission rules?
For the Germans....it's basically relaxation of CO2 targets for cars. For the French....it's a win because Germany now has to accept a carefully written definition of “Made in Europe.”
7. Federal Minister of Construction (SPD).....announcing some serious control/limits on expropriation (where you use legal methods to seize property/buildings and later pay for 'acquisition').
8. Term 'd-you' refers to the new digital 'wallet' that the German gov't has approved....where you'd have your national ID card....digitally placed.
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