Deborah Cole
banner
deborahcole.bsky.social
Deborah Cole
@deborahcole.bsky.social
Berlin correspondent, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/deborah-cole
deborah.cole(at)theguardian.com
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...
‘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
www.theguardian.com
January 23, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Deborah Cole
‘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
‘Treated like shirkers’: German unions cry foul over Merz’s sick-note crackdown
Opponents say proposal to end sick notes issued over phone would fill up doctors’ waiting rooms unnecessarily
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Berlin, look up at the sky right now
January 19, 2026 at 9:49 PM
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
January 19, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Reposted by Deborah Cole
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
World’s oldest monastic brewery to be sold as German beer sales slide
Brewing tradition of nearly 1,000 years at Weltenburg Abbey in Bavaria to be bought up by Munich company Schneider Weisse
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Deborah Cole
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'
January 16, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Béla Tarr, the genius, infuriating Hungarian master who could bend time to his will, has passed www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
Béla Tarr, Hungarian director of Sátántangó and Werckmeister Harmonies, dies aged 70
The internationally acclaimed film-maker was renowned for beautifully shot cinematic epics
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:04 AM
"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...
Leftwing militants claim responsibility for arson attack on Berlin power grid
Protest over climate crisis and AI has cut power to tens of thousands of homes which may take days to fully restore
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 4:47 PM
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...
US attack on Venezuela raises fears of future Greenland takeover
Danish ambassador posts ‘friendly reminder’ about defence ties after provocative Maga post over territory
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 12:49 PM
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...
Cecilia Giménez’s botched Monkey Christ became a global meme. The real marvel was the humble, graceful woman behind it | Sam Jones
The restorer, who died on Monday, brought unwanted attention to herself – and her small Spanish town. Then, slowly, a small miracle took place, says Sam Jones, the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Instead of Kugelbomben, Berlin, can I suggest:
(organic no less)
December 31, 2025 at 2:51 PM
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...
Zum Tod von Brigitte Bardot: Chérie, jetzt wird es Rosen regnen
Brigitte Bardot und Gunter Sachs, das war nur ein kurzes Glück. Ihre Klatschspalten-Ehe aber trug zur deutsch-französischen Verständigung bei. Und schuf ihre eigenen Legenden.
www.sueddeutsche.de
December 29, 2025 at 9:24 AM
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
December 27, 2025 at 3:50 PM
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...
A Weekly Gathering for Those Who Fled the Nazis Ends After 82 Years
www.nytimes.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:58 PM
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...
Berlins fast vergessener Ballsaal: Wird hier bald eine Zahnklinik oder ein Schlafcontainerhotel einziehen?
Der wiederentdeckte Tanzsaal in Tegel sucht einen Käufer. Zwischen Hotelplänen und Kulturträumen zeigt sich, was in Berlin heute möglich ist – oder eben nicht.
www.tagesspiegel.de
December 18, 2025 at 8:16 PM
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...
Bavarian pensioner lays trap to catch phone fraudster who was after his gold
Second ‘exemplary’ success for 85-year-old who had already rumbled bogus police officer demanding €60,000
www.theguardian.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Deborah Cole
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.
December 15, 2025 at 3:51 AM
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...
Reporter:innenpreis 2025: DIE ZEIT erhält Auszeichnung für Datenprojekt zu Femiziden
Vier ZEIT-Journalistinnen wurden für eine Datensammlung über Femizide ausgezeichnet. Auch der Podcast "Irma. Das Kind aus Srebrenica" hat in seiner Kategorie gewonnen.
www.zeit.de
December 13, 2025 at 10:19 AM
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...
Germany drops promise to resettle hundreds of Afghans
Interior ministry will tell 640 people awaiting sanctuary ‘there is no longer any political interest in their being admitted’
www.theguardian.com
December 11, 2025 at 5:01 PM
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...
Il giro del mondo in 11 micro bar dove bere bene da Milano a New Orleans
Dall’Art Nouveau nel Marais allo speakeasy zodiacale, dalla lounge con vista sull’Old Course, al rum bar d’ispirazione Havana. Banconi da 2 a 8 posti, legni antichi, vetri d’autore e vini naturali. L’...
www.vogue.it
December 11, 2025 at 4:20 PM
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...
December 11, 2025 at 3:18 PM