Patrick Donahue

Exclusive: Germany's governing coalition agreed to scale back subsides worth about €3 billion ($3.5 billion) to create fiscal space for tax relief for lower-income households, we're told bloomberg.com/news/articles/… @KowalczeKamil

Finding a way out of the slump: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition broke a deadlock on energy legislation and resolved to push through broader reform measures bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz drew shouts and jeers at a labor union conference as he made a pitch for ambitious reforms, underscoring the difficulty he’ll face as he seeks to reverse his beleaguered government’s fortunes. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Exclusive: Germany’s vice chancellor @larsklingbeil called for closer cooperation between the EU and allies including Canada and the UK to guard against the whims of major powers like the US bloomberg.com/news/articles/… @KowalczeKamil

Exclusive: Germany’s top diplomat said the tension between Trump and Merz was a misunderstanding — and that Berlin supports the US aim to ensure Iran can’t obtain nuclear weapons bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Tehran’s negotiators are proceeding “very skilfully — or indeed very skilfully not negotiating,” Merz said. The result is that an “entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, particularly by these so-called Revolutionary Guards.” bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Exclusive: Chancellor Merz is dispatching his economy minister, Katherina Reiche, to China next month as officials in Berlin grow increasingly concerned over a widening trade deficit bloomberg.com/news/articles/… @jendeben @petrasorge

In Bulgaria, eighth time’s a charm

Merz's new ordoliberal standard-bearer is becoming a problem. The chancellor is struggling to balance a party base aligned with Economy Minister Katherina Reiche's brand of business-friendly conservatism with the demands of his left-leaning coalition partner bloomberg.com/news/articles/… @petrasorge @ArneDelfs @KowalczeKamil

Huge hometown news: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which had been set to shut down in May, will keep publishing after all. A nonprofit journalism organization has stepped up to acquire the newspaper, which has survived for more than two centuries. nytimes.com/2026/04/14/bus…

Exclusive: President Zelenskiy's new top aide oversaw some of Ukraine's most daring wartime missions. Power brokers in Kyiv wonder how far up the political ladder he might ascend... bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Reports from inside Iran: Airstrikes are hitting residential areas and industrial facilities. The country's Red Crescent Society, part of the international humanitarian network, said on March 30 that US-Israeli airstrikes had damaged or destroyed more than 90,000 homes, about half of them in Tehran. bloomberg.com/news/articles/… @golnarM

Some *personal news* on April 1 (though not a joke!). From this month I’ll be moving into a new role as Germany editor for @business's economy and government team. It’s a return to Berlin (of sorts – I haven’t physically left) after more than four years of helping to coordinate coverage in central and eastern Europe, above all the war in Ukraine. I’m looking forward to working with our team here to bring the cut and thrust of political Berlin to a global readership.

🚨Jetzt bestellen: Das große Investigativbuch zur Nord-Stream-Sprengung. »Ein echter Pageturner« – Peter Frankopan, Autor von Licht aus dem Osten Basierend auf langjähriger Recherche und dem Zugang zu den Saboteuren, deren Vorgesetzten sowie hochrangigen Geheimdienstvertretern wie den Chefs von @CIA & BND rekonstruiert der preisgekrönte @WSJ-Autor erstmals die gesamte Operation. »Absolut faszinierend, fesselnd wie ein Spionagethriller« – Simon Sebag Montefiore, Historiker & Autor von Stalin. Am Hof des roten Zaren »So gewagt und fesselnd wie die Sabotage selbst« – Ivan Krastev, Politologe »Eine Geschichte, die man nicht aus der Hand legen will« – Fiona Hill, ehemalige Russlandberaterin im Weißen Haus »Nicht nur brillanter Journalismus, sondern liest sich wie ein internationaler Bestseller-Thriller« – Adm. James Stavridis, ehemaliger @NATO Befehlshaber harpercollins.de/products/die-n…

Big tech, AI investment, drug ingredients, vast holdings of US securities. Officials in Berlin have started mapping vulnerabilities in US supply chains to identify points where Germany and its EU partners could apply pressure, sources say bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

CDU victory in Rhineland-Palatinate is quickly becoming Pyrrhic. Merz’s effort to reboot Germany’s economy hits a fresh challenge after SPD suffers a stinging defeat... bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Lose-lose? Merz will have another go at winning a regional vote in Rhineland-Palatinate this weekend after a stinging loss in Baden-Wuerttemberg two weeks ago. But a loss for the SPD could be even worse for his coalition in Berlin. bloomberg.com/news/articles/… @ArneDelfs

“You don’t get a letter that you’re on a terrorist watch list.” Filmmaker Laura Poitras talks about her new Netflix documentary, Snowden’s secrets and life under surveillance bloomberg.com/features/2026-… via @business

Slovakia's Fico is offering an olive branch to EU partners amid speculation that his Trump allegiance has taken a turn... bloomberg.com/news/articles/… @Dan_Hornak

The number of Russian soldiers killed in action in the war on Ukraine has jumped in recent weeks, a dynamic that — if sustained — could make it hard for the Kremlin to replace troops ⁦@mseputyte⁩ ⁦@alexwickham⁩ ⁦@DarynaKrasno⁩ bloomberg.com/news/articles/…