A quick look at Berlin, where politically everything is connected to everything else. The black-red coalition committee meets in the evening. After the election results in Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the partners of the CDU, CSU and SPD are faced with the question: “Is there still a business basis for governing together?”, as my colleague Paul-Anton Krüger puts it. Will Merz, Söder and Klingbeil find a way to keep the store together?
Whether they succeed could indirectly have something to do with another meeting that took place in Berlin today: the Left, the Greens and the SPD met for a third so-called preliminary discussion to discuss whether they should start exploratory talks and then enter into negotiations in order to then create a coalition in the Berlin House of Representatives. Conversations to prepare for conversations that could prepare for conversations.
The Chancellor today strongly warned the SPD, his coalition partner in the federal government, against such a coalition in Berlin. And the SPD is angry because CDU people in Saxony-Anhalt may have voted together with the AfD yesterday. One thing is certain: there is mistrust in the coalition. But who governs Germany?
The former head of the foreign secret service has to be in custody because he is said to have spied for another power. No matter whether you're watching the Tagesschau, the aktuell-journal or RTL aktuell this evening, you might get the impression that you accidentally landed on "Slow Horses", the Apple TV series about a shambles of failed agents. The case of former BND chief August Hanning, 80, who was brought before the investigating judge today is so crazy.
Yesterday investigators arrested the former top official and his former office manager. Since then, new details continue to emerge. The investigators accuse Hanning of skimming BND intelligence from his ex-employee and using it for his consulting work. In one case, he is said to have used secret information to prepare an analysis for an employee of a foreign intelligence security apparatus - Azerbaijan. Hanning's lawyer said this today: "My client is being unfairly persecuted." The ex-BND chief did have confidential documents. "However, the accusation that he passed on the information contained therein to the detriment of the Federal Republic of Germany - let alone for a fee - is incorrect."
Things get a special twist through Hanning's role in the Block kidnapping case. He worked for Christina Block for months as a “security expert,” as “Bild” once called it. In September 2025, police officers searched offices and also worked their way through Hanning's private home in Münsterland. “One of the craziest details of this story, which is full of crazy details, is that they found documents that gave rise to new suspicions,” reports my colleague Christopher Piltz. Such finds are called bycatch in the jargon of the services. “It wasn’t as harmless as it sounds,” says Christopher. "During this raid, the investigators came across the explosive BND data that could be Hanning's downfall, including numerous classified information." The new episode of "Slow Horses" can hardly be more exciting than reality.
The railway not only wants to transport commuters, but also commuting itself: it significantly limits the options for working from home, as my colleague David Böcking reports: "There should be a compulsory attendance of three days a week again."
But according to David, the resistance is great. In an internal survey, 87 percent of the employees surveyed rated the attendance requirement as negative. It is not known whether they have to go to work by train, car or bike.
How do you feel about working from home? Do you prefer to work at home or in the office? Debate here at SPIEGEL Debate.
