I loved talking to Shahrbanoo Sadat about the movie she fought for, made and stars in, Afghanistan's first romcom, which is opening the Berlin film festival today. On finding joy and connection against the odds and how hard it is to be a good man #Berlinale www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

Press centers I have known

Word.

The Qataris rolled out the red carpet for Merz this week, to the extent that the national Philharmonic Orchestra struck up German classics including „Still Loving You“ (Scorpions), „You’re My Heart, You’re My Soul“ (Modern Talking) and „Für mich soll’s rote Rosen regnen“ (die Knef), Politico reports

Dozens of messages contained in the latest tranche of Epstein files lay bare the attempts by Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon to tap Jeffrey Epstein for support and funding to bolster European far-right parties www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Making light of one of the darkest horrors of the 20th century is a risky business – but a new generation is taking ownership of family histories by making space for human foibles, says award-winning graphic novelist Astrid Goldsmith www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

If you've got state-sanctioned violence and community-organized resistance on your mind, my beloved Arte is streaming Steve McQueen's brilliant Small Axe series, incl Ep. 1 feature film about the Mangrove Nine in London's Notting Hill www.arte.tv/de/videos/12...

A fun tale, so well told by Angela Giuffrida: Venetians were an otherwise pragmatic bunch, and usually unswayed by superstition, Busato said, “but they do like to amaze people, especially those who come from the outside”. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

‘Repatriate the gold’: German economists advise withdrawal from US vaults

Bovino “stands out from this thuggish mob, just as an elegant SS officer stands out from the rowdy SA mob. The dashing undercut is also spot on; all that’s missing for the perfect cosplay is a monocle.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

An Israeli-Palestinian restaurant in Berlin conceived as an “island of peace”, Kanaan, will close in the spring, but its Jewish and Arab owners say their dream will live on in a television series based on their unlikely partnership. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

‘Treated like shirkers’: a German proposal to end the right to get short-term sick leave from a doctor over the telephone as a means of cracking down on skiving has met with outcry from unions & the medical profession www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j... via @theguardian.com @deborahcole.bsky.social

Berlin, look up at the sky right now

If you needed 1 more thing to be bereft about in January 2026, Berlin's Oderquelle, a perfect Prenzlauer Berg institution since 1990, is closing its doors for good this Sunday

The world’s oldest monastic brewery is to be sold as German beer sales slide. A brewing tradition of nearly 1,000 years at Weltenburg Abbey in Bavaria is to be bought up by Munich company Schneider Weiße. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j... via @theguardian.com @deborahcole.bsky.social

On the show today: Male engagement rings; Political profanity; @deborahcole.bsky.social on the Slime Jesus; The merits of the Handkerchief; Showbiz news; Sancere; Reviews of '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple' & 'Rental family'

It’s time for the EU to get disruptive on Greenland, argue Robert Habeck and Andreas Raspotnik www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Béla Tarr, the genius, infuriating Hungarian master who could bend time to his will, has passed www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...

"Cut the juice to the ruling class”: German leftwing militants purporting to protest over the climate crisis and AI have claimed responsibility for an arson attack that cut power to tens of thousands of homes in Berlin. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

The US bombardment of Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro, have renewed fears of a takeover of Greenland, as members of Donald Trump’s Maga movement gleefully set their sights on the Danish territory after the attack in South America www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

An absolutely lovely tribute to the remarkable woman behind 'Monkey Christ' and her unexpected contributions to her Spanish hometown @swajones.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Instead of Kugelbomben, Berlin, can I suggest: (organic no less)

Germany’s far-right AfD invited to join Munich Security Conference 2026

Lovely little time capsule about what the love story of BB & Gunter Sachs did for Franco-German relations in the 60s www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/brigi...

Total highlight of the between-the-years emptiness in Berlin is hitting a new-to-me museum. Today: Medical History at Charité & the ruins of the Pathology Lecture Hall

MPs question UK Palantir contracts after investigation reveals security concerns

The “stammtisch” — a weekly meeting in Manhattan founded in 1943 by artists exiled by the Nazis -- has ended after the last of the original members died www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/n...

Merz has had a rocky week www.spiegel.de/politik/deut...

You had me at 125-year-old art nouveau dance hall in Berlin discovered at former discount supermarket (video embedded in the article) www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/berli...

A little light in this week full of sorrows. Added bonus: subs’ inclusion of “rumbled” - 1 of the very best British words www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

The cultural impact of Rob Reiner cannot be understated. Legend isn't big enough a word. It goes to 11. You can't handle the truth. As you wish. I'll have what she's having. I'm your number one fan. You guys wanna see a dead body? The very idea of a bucket list. The West Wing. All from his movies.

Wonderful to watch the team from @diezeit.bsky.social last Monday in Berlin pick up the Deutsche Reporter:innen-Preis for data journalism for their project documenting every femicide in Germany. The jury said its "deliberate sobriety is painful – and is meant to be" www.zeit.de/gesellschaft...

Germany's interior ministry will tell 640 Afghans who had been promised sanctuary to protect them from the Taliban that ‘there is no longer any political interest in their being admitted’ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Vogue Italia has collected the world's best tiny bars and holy moly feast your eyes (h/t Christoph Amend) www.vogue.it/article/mini...

Despite a rich tool box, the German language doesn't have a great word for appeasement. Now @spiegel.de is warning against it - when it comes to Trump's America. With this cover: Two Rogues, One Goal www.spiegel.de/ausland/dona...

Syrians who have rebuilt their lives abroad face uncertainty over their futures amid hardening of attitudes 1 year after Assad’s fall www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Meanwhile: Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers are making a comedy about Berghain ra.co/news/84164

I ask you: is there a better room in Berlin?

The AfD has been flatlining at a high level for months nationally despite the Merz govt’s unpopularity - @diezeit.bsky.social asks whether it has tapped out its voter potential

The German parliament approved a new model for military service as thousands of school pupils demonstrated across the country against the plans. Meanwhile MPs signed off on pension hikes the young will bear the brunt of @kateconnolly.bsky.social @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

As an avid Smithsonian magazine reader, appreciate the pickup of this story (with increasingly rare full attribution) www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a...

Macron reportedly warned Zelenskyy US may ‘betray Ukraine on territory’

I miss Pocket. Anyone have a good alternative to having 17,000 tabs open?

Hope they found an identical pair in the next size

Viola Fletcher, Oldest Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Dies at 111 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...

Congratulations, Malak! Richly deserved www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Traffic stress, like most fraught political issues, is in the eye of the beholder. Berlin's been struggling to strike the right balance & critics say the pendulum has swung too far back toward cars & their drivers. On transport, culture wars & the climate crisis www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Check out this gorgeously presented multimedia interview with Lynsey Addario on the 5 stories that shaped her career www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

The Nord Stream riddle: echoes of mistrust ripple through Europe

In case you were wondering: the German noun could be Entprinzung www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...