Deborah Cole

A lone battle: Why is Pedro Sánchez the only European leader to take on Trump? As the Spanish PM decries the war in Iran, other politicians are unable – or unwilling – to speak against the US president

Why have other European leaders not joined Sánchez in standing up to Trump on Iran? It's complicated www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Germany moves to legalise wolf hunting in response to livestock ‘bloodlust’ Lower house votes in favour of polarising law after rapid increase in population and attack on grazing farm animals

Germany moves to legalise wolf hunting after a rapid increase in population and attacks on grazing farm animals www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m... via @theguardian.com @deborahcole.bsky.social

Berlin film festival head to keep job after Gaza free speech row The German government convened a crisis meeting after several prize winners at this year’s event condemned Israel’s actions against Palestinians

The Berlinale chief will keep her job. But the pro-Palestinian symbols and statements mentioned in the criticism of the festival are protected under German law, meaning the announced compromise will be complex to implement www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ma...

Thank you. There was a brief window in which Merz seemed to be among those offering best practice when it came to dealing with Trump but it's a slippery perch

Will Trump’s Middle East war also engulf Friedrich Merz? The war will have incalculable implications for Europe – and yet, the chancellor has held back from publicly challenging an increasingly erratic Donald Trump

The Iran war will have incalculable implications for Europe – and yet, the chancellor has held back from publicly challenging an increasingly erratic Donald Trump. Grateful for feedback on my This is Europe newsletter debut www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Trump says he fears Iran’s next leader could be ‘as bad as the previous person’ US president suggests worst-case result of ayatollah’s assassination would be regime change that fails to relieve Iran’s repression

Our Guardian readout of the Trump-Merz talks www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Thanks for reading. You can disagree with formulations in a 1,000-word editorial criticizing the German govt's actions here or our news coverage. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find another foreign outlet that's provided more extensive and nuanced coverage of the issue. Hardly "playing down".

If the Berlin film festival ousts its director, there may be no way back Hosting an audience-friendly festival in a highly political capital city has always been a challenge. If Berlinale’s organisers push out Tricia Tuttle over the latest Gaza row, they may as well give u...

Hosting an audience-friendly festival in a highly political capital city has always been a challenge. If Berlinale’s organisers push out Tricia Tuttle over the latest Gaza row, they may as well give up trying www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

Hundreds of film-makers back Berlinale director in row over winners’ Gaza comments Tilda Swinton among those to sign petition supporting Tricia Tuttle, who reportedly faces sack after pro-Palestine speeches at gala

Prominent directors and actors have rallied in support of the American head of the Berlin film festival in response to reports she could be sacked over comments by award-winners criticising the war in Gaza and the German government’s support for Israel. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

Hi Dieter, sure you read the article but: the govt says no, we lay out the arguments of the critics & the facts as they stand re availability & cost of biofuels, state of play on heat pumps, ideology & history of the campaign against the original law…

Germany accused of ditching climate targets as it scraps renewables mandate Coalition government agrees to remove parts of controversial law and allow homes to rely on fossil fuels

Germany’s coalition government has been accused of abandoning its climate targets after agreeing to scrap parts of a contentious heating law mandating the use of renewables in favour of a draft law allowing homeowners to rely on fossil fuels
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Berlin film festival organisers to hold crisis talks amid Gaza rows Emergency meeting called to discuss festival’s ‘future direction’ after series of controversies

Emergency meeting called to discuss festival’s ‘future direction’ after series of controversies over Gaza
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Laurie Wright - My Rock & Roll (Official Video) YouTube video by Laurie Wright

If anyone out there has a channel to Laurie Wright, please let him know that Berlin radio just broadcast an absolute love letter to him for his intimate show last night at Kantine am Berghain www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC52...

Yellow Letters wins Berlin Golden Bear at film festival overshadowed by Gaza row Wim Wenders said German director İlker Çatak’s Turkey-set film tackling creeping authoritarianism gave jury ‘chills’

Yellow Letters, a drama set in Turkey about creeping authoritarianism, has won the Golden Bear top prize at the Berlin film festival, after a 10-day event overshadowed by a row over the Gaza war and politics in cinema. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

‘It’s a protest movement behind windows’: tribute to the Iranians risking their lives to film dissent Inspired by the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising that gripped Iran in 2022, two film students created a documentary, Memories of a Window, about onlookers who anonymously record footage as proof of state...

Inspired by the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising that gripped Iran in 2022, two film students created a documentary, Memories of a Window, premiering at #Berlinale about onlookers who anonymously record footage as proof of state violence www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

I’m pretty sure I disagree with whatever their purported politics

Koležnik: "I would expect this from the people we are voting against, but not from the people who should be on our side.”

Far-right character’s monologue prompts violent scenes at German theatre Actor shouted down and pelted with fruit during Catarina, or the Beauty of Killing Fascists

"I was astonished by the stupidity, really. I never ever thought – nobody did – that somebody from the audience would jump on stage and try to hit the actor," the play's Slovenian director Mateja Koležnik told me. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

‘A love letter to all the good men I know’: Shahrbanoo Sadat on making Afghanistan’s first romcom Opening the Berlin film festival, No Good Men blends romance and rebellion, capturing love, humour and female agency in Kabul on the eve of the Taliban’s return

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...

Truly a wondrous pup xx

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

Epstein files shed more light on Steve Bannon’s efforts to influence European politics Donald Trump’s former adviser told Epstein in 2019 that he was ‘focused on raising money for Le Pen and Salvini’ before European elections

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...

Tantrums, rancid meatloaf and family silver stuffed into underpants: the delicate art of the Holocaust comedy 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 an award-winni...

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...

Small Axe (1/5) - Mangrove - Serie streamen | ARTE "Small Axe" handelt von den Bürgerrechtskämpfen der schwarzen Community in London von den 1960er Jahren bis in die 1980er Jahre. In fünf eigenständigen Teilen erzählt Steve McQueen eine Geschichte übe...

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...

Nine bedrooms, seven untimely deaths: can ‘cursed’ Venice palace finally attract a buyer? Ca’ Dario, empty for years, has failed to find a new owner, with local legends suggesting it is jinxed

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 Shift in relations and unpredictability of Donald Trump make it ‘risky to store so much gold in the US’, say experts Germany is facing calls to withdraw its billions of euros’ worth of gold from US vaults, spurred on by the shift in transatlantic relations and the unpredictability of Donald Trump. Germany holds the world’s second biggest national gold reserves after the US, of which approximately €164bn (£122bn) worth – 1,236 tonnes – is stored in New York. Continue reading...

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

German media likens US border patrol official’s coat to ‘Nazi look’ Gregory Bovino’s outwear choice prompts German commentators to compare it to fascist aesthetic

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...

‘Island of peace’: Israeli-Palestinian restaurant in Berlin to close – but live on as TV series Kanaan, a symbol of dining across religious and political divides, will shut its doors ‘probably in March’, say owners

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...