Big moment in club history: Union Berlin make their women’s Bundesliga debut in front of a packed crowd. Also momentous for women’s football in the city - they’re the first side from Berlin proper to play in the top flight since 2010. This will be fun. #FCUnion #FCUFCN

Germany welcomed them with open arms. A decade later, migrants grapple with a rightward lurch @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germany-welc...

This is Stadio. youtu.be/XCw27DskYRw?...

Pumped to again appear on the great @spassbremse.bsky.social, where we discussed finance and sportswashing in football, the women’s Euros, and Berlin’s wildly unsuccessful branding as a ‘sport metropole’. Plus, of course, stadium bratwurst chat. Check it out!

An entire news crew working for Al Jazeera was killed by Israel as they sought to bring the world firsthand reporting from #Gaza. Among them was prominent journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who had been previously smeared and threatened by the IDF. #NotATarget Full statement: cpj.org/2025/08/isra...

Pumped to again appear on the great @spassbremse.bsky.social, where we discussed finance and sportswashing in football, the women’s Euros, and Berlin’s wildly unsuccessful branding as a ‘sport metropole’. Plus, of course, stadium bratwurst chat. Check it out!

Germany finally restricting weapons exports to Israel (at least those that ‘could be used in Gaza’). Great news, and pretty crazy that a Merz-led Groko is taking a stronger stance on Gaza than Scholz and the Greens did

Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz says it’s stopping exports of military equipment that could be used in Gaza (AP) #Gaza #Israel #Germany #warcrimes apnews.com/article/germ...

Sweden’s ‘soft hooligans’ supporters out in full force in Zürich before their final group stage match vs Germany. As someone intrigued by hooliganism but afraid of violence, legal trouble, physical exertion, and spiders (unrelated) I may see if the soft hooligans are taking new members #WEURO2025

I’m celebrating the 4th of July like any other proud American: by watching Germany take on Poland at the Euros in Switzerland. Will sadly have to replace the customary bud light and hot dogs with a stadium bratwurst. #WEURO2025

Walz announces that Rep. Melissa Hortman is dead as a result of a "politically motivated assassination"

The idea that this political violence is the consequence of people on both sides cheering it on seems like a sympathetic point but just doesn’t hold up to history. In my adult life, I’ve seen people on the right do everything from kill politicians to kill regular citizens, and it’s shrugged off.

Germany orchestrates plans to draw younger, more diverse crowds to opera @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germany-orch...

A good morning to read about birthright citizenship from the perspective of the great-grandson of Wong Kim Ark, the plaintiff whose case in 1898 affirmed that birthright citizenship is guaranteed to the children of undocumented migrants born in the U.S. wapo.st/3F9Djae

New Jersey Transit rail strike, first in four decades, begins as wage talks stall reut.rs/4jXEKYt

Germany marks 80 years since WWII’s end while struggling with rise of far right @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germany-mark...

Just galling on so many levels. US Vice President JD Vance Jokes About Deporting Tourists Attending the 2026 Men's World Cup www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-van...

I see the whole "returning to GroKo under Merz might not be perfect but at least it will bring the stability Germany needs right now" argument is working out splendidly

It's now official: Union Berlin’s women team is going up to the Bundesliga! Demolishing Gladbach in front of 14,000 fans secures Union’s first ever top flight season, and makes them Berlin’s first women’s Bundesliga club since TeBe back in 2010.

This graphic, from German publication Die Zeit, shows the rise in right-wing extremist incidents in German schools last year. “Most of these are offenses such as swastika graffiti and Hitler salutes, but also racist insults and even death threats against classmates with a migration background.”

I had a very good conversation with @braneck.bsky.social on the future of German and European defense policy. Some of it made it into this article, so why don't you give it a read ;-)

Germany’s massive military makeover still needs to win recruits @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germanys-mas...

Germany's Deutsche Welle (DW): “Housing costs all over the world are skyrocketing, and climate change-driven disasters are only making it worse. Could city planning and risk reduction help?” By @braneck.bsky.social

When I left the Washington Post in 2023, my colleagues and I were worried AI would hoover up our work and enable "zombies" to churn out stories based on our reporting and writing styles. Today WaPo announced a partnership with OpenAI. And here it is: Zombie Gillian Brockell. I DID NOT WRITE THIS.

I used to be a bit skeptical of AI’s societal value but now that I know it can be used to make pizza rat emojis I’m all in

this is a staggering amount of money to build camps—suggesting that building & running a gulag will be the primary function of the otherwise gutted Trump-state in last fiscal yr: "D.H.S. allocated about $3.4 billion for the entire custody operation overseen by ICE" www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/u...

It’s a literally blindingly nice day for football in Berlin 😊😊 #FCUWOB #fcunion

German politicians and media decry Trump's authoritarianism yet ignore Germany's own draconian response to pro-Palestine protest. I wrote for @jacobinmag.bsky.social about how Germany's political center has fueled repression while bleating incessantly about the threat of the authoritarian far right

German politicians and media decry Trump's authoritarianism yet ignore Germany's own draconian response to pro-Palestine protest. I wrote for @jacobinmag.bsky.social about how Germany's political center has fueled repression while bleating incessantly about the threat of the authoritarian far right

Say hello to a new subway map! 🗺️ Today, the MTA unveiled a new subway diagram that provides riders with essential travel information in an easily readable, bright, and orderly manner.

the worker’s president who understands the concerns of the common man

The SPD's decline has been almost impressively disastrous. I spoke to party members and outside experts about what happened, how the Social Democrats could win back their working class base and trust more broadly, and if that will even be possible if they are junior partners to Merz’s CDU:

Germany Turns to U.S. Playbook: Deportations Target Gaza War Protesters - my latest @theintercept.com theintercept.com/2025/03/31/g...

Guess who showed up to defend Tesla? The Proud Boys, armed militias, and at one event in Idaho, and a guy dressed as Hitler. More on the "Tesla Takedown" protests here:

Backed into a not-so-grand coalition, Germany’s oldest party licks wounds and looks for way forward @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/backed-into-...

it's been years upon years of labored "campus culture" op-eds from salaried writers hectoring students about free speech, and now the state is kidnapping students for their speech in broad daylight

Germans hope infrastructure spending spree can help fast-track economy @braneck.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/germans-hope...

incredibly eye-opening to see which of my ostensible peers have decided to treat hanania like he's anything other than the worst gutter bigot

Striking Berlin public transit workers know the same golden rule as all German football fans: everything is better with pyro

From high speed rail in the UK and CA to nuclear plants in France and India, many of the world's major projects are over budget and behind schedule. I made a short doc for Deutsche Welle about why we kind of suck at building stuff, and how we can fix it if we want to actually fight climate change:

Germany looks set to invest massively on its military and infrastructure. I wrote for @courthousenews.bsky.social about Germany's longstanding commitment to austerity, how this has shaped today's politics, and why even €1 trillion in spending might not be a total change in course.

Despite the excitement of die Linke’s late push and the FDP and BSW just missing out, this is the most German result ever: A country looking for change has… elected the old standby CDU, who will likely rule along with the SPD (as they did in 12 of 16 pre-Ampel years)

Preliminary thoughts on the German election results so far: 1) Chasing the far right vote by demagoguing on migration has brought the CDU/CSU it's second worst performance in history. It's in first place, but it's a weaker result than anything Merkel posted.

Massive repercussions if BSW do make it into the Bundestag: if Germany needs another awkward, three-way coalition it will only benefit the already surging AfD as new gov unlikely to coherently solve problems or bring stability and will add plenty of fuel for anti-mainstream sentiment

Still early but looks like die Linke co-chair Ines Schwerdtner is on track to win a direct mandate in Berlin’s Lichtenberg, coming out on top of a tight race against the AfD’s Beatrix von Storch (who happens to be the granddaughter of Hitler’s finance minister) Cherry on top of a fantastic campaign

Quick first read of results from the German elections for US followers: CDU/CSU come out on top, but it's still one of their weakest showings in postwar history. Somehow playing on the far right's turf seems to have (and I'd ask you to contain your shock) helped the far right!

With only a couple days to go until the German election, check out the @spassbremse.bsky.social election preview I did with Ingar Solty of the Rosa Luxembourg Stiftung: creators.spotify.com/pod/show/spa...

Die Linke long looked unlikely to make the Bundestag. Now it's surging prior to German elections. I wrote about the party's rebuild, unprecedented organizing campaign, and how its fate - and that of other smaller parties - could impact the next government:

Die Linke long looked unlikely to make the Bundestag. Now it's surging prior to German elections. I wrote about the party's rebuild, unprecedented organizing campaign, and how its fate - and that of other smaller parties - could impact the next government: