Over 80 film workers slam Berlin festival’s silence on Israel’s Gaza war
Listen to this article Listen to this article | 4 mins info Dozens of actors and directors, including Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton, have condemned the Berlin International Film Festival for its “anti-Palestinian racism” and urged organisers to clearly state their opposition to “Israel’s genocide” in Gaza. In an open letter published in Variety on Tuesday, the 81 film workers also denounced comments by this year’s president of the awards jury, Wim Winders who – when asked about Gaza – said, “We should stay out of politics”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list They noted that the festival’s stance stands in direct contrast to its policy on Russia’s war on Ukraine and on the situation in Iran. All of the signatories are alumni of the festival, which is also known as the Berlinale, and include actors Cherien Dabis and Brian Cox, as well as directors Adam McKay, Mike Leigh, Lukas Dhont, Nan Goldin, and Avi Mograbi. In their letter, the film workers expressed dismay at the Berlinale’s “involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza” and the German government’s key role in enabling the atrocities. They said the festival has been policing filmmakers, and listed several examples from last year’s Berlinale. “Last year, filmmakers who spoke out for Palestinian life and liberty from the Berlinale stage reported being aggressively reprimanded by senior festival programmers. One filmmaker was reported to have been investigated by police, and Berlinale leadership falsely implied that the filmmaker’s moving speech – rooted in international law and solidarity – was ‘discriminatory’,’ they wrote. Advertisement “We stand with our colleagues in rejecting this institutional repression and anti-Palestinian racism,” they added. The film workers said they “fervently disagree” with Wenders’s statement that filmmaking is the “opposite of politics”, saying, “You cannot separate one from the other.” Their letter comes days after Indian author Arundhati Roy said she was withdrawing from this year’s festival after what she called “unconscionable statements” by jury members, including Wenders. This year’s festival runs from February 12 to 22. The film workers noted that the Berlinale’s actions come at a time when the world is learning “horrifying new details about the 2,842 Palestinians ‘evaporated’ by Israeli forces” in Gaza through thermobaric weapons made by the United States. An Al Jazeera investigation, published last week, documented how these weapons – which are capable of generating temperatures exceeding 3,500 degrees Celsius (6,332 degrees Fahrenheit) – leave behind no remains other than blood or small fragments of flesh. Germany, too, has been one of the biggest exporters of weapons to Israel despite the evidence of Israel’s atrocities. It has also introduced repressive measures to discourage people from speaking out in solidarity with Palestinians, including in the arts. In their letter, the Berlinale alumni noted that the international film world is increasingly taking a stance against Israel’s genocidal actions. Last year, major international film festivals – including the world’s largest documentary festival in Amsterdam – endorsed a cultural boycott of Israel, while more than 5,000 film workers have pledged to refuse work with Israeli film companies and institutions. Yet, the film works said, the Berlinale “has so far not even met the demands of its community to issue a statement that affirms the Palestinian right to life, dignity, and freedom”. This is the least it can and should do, they said. “Just as the festival has made clear statements in the past about atrocities carried out against people in Iran and Ukraine, we call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians, and completely end its involvement in shielding Israel from criticism and calls for accountability,” they added. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran’s Araghchi hails ‘good progress’ in nuclear talks with US
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi has said that “good progress” has been made in indirect nuclear talks with the United States, as Washington warned that military action remains an option if diplomacy fails. The talks, mediated by Oman in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday, were aimed at averting the possibility of US military intervention to curb Iran’s nuclear programme, weeks after a deadly Iranian crackdown on antigovernment protests. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “Ultimately, we were able to reach broad agreement on a set of guiding principles, based on which we will move forward and begin working on the text of a potential agreement,” Araghchi told state television after Tuesday’s talks. “Good progress” has been made, compared with the previous round in Oman earlier this month, he said, adding, “We now have a clear path ahead, which I think is positive.” Araghchi said that once both sides had come up with draft texts for an agreement, “the drafts would be exchanged and a date for a third round [of talks] would be set”. In Washington, DC, Vance also appeared to indicate that the US preferred diplomacy, but painted a more mixed picture. “In some ways, it went well; they agreed to meet afterwards,” Vance said in a Fox News interview. “But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through,” Vance told The Story with Martha MacCallum programme. “We’re going to keep on working it. But of course, the president reserves the ability to say when he thinks that diplomacy has reached its natural end,” Vance said. Stumbling blocks Iran has for years sought relief from sweeping sanctions imposed by the US, including a Washington-imposed ban on other countries buying its oil. Advertisement Tehran has said it wants the talks to focus on its uranium enrichment programme, insisting that any deal must deliver tangible economic benefit to Iran while maintaining its sovereignty and national security. Washington has demanded that Iran forgo uranium enrichment on its soil, and has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues, such as Tehran’s missile stockpile. Iran has said it will not accept zero uranium enrichment and that its missile capabilities are off the table. The talks come amid high tensions in the Gulf, with the US deploying two aircraft carriers to the region. The first – the USS Abraham Lincoln, with nearly 80 aircraft – was positioned about 700km (435 miles) from the Iranian coast as of Sunday, satellite images showed. Its location puts at least a dozen US F‑35s and F‑18 fighter jets within striking distance. A second carrier was dispatched over the weekend. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned on Tuesday that the country had the ability to sink a US warship. “A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the weapon capable of sinking it,” he said. Iran has also sought to display its military might, with its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) beginning a series of war games on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz to prepare for “potential security and military threats”. Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the waterway, a vital oil export route from Gulf Arab states, in retaliation for any attack. The move would choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher. Tehran has also threatened to strike US military bases in the region in the event of an attack, prompting concerns of a wider war. A previous attempt at diplomacy collapsed last year when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran in June, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb three nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan. Ali Vaez, the Crisis Group’s Iran project director, told Al Jazeera he believed there is a lot of space for agreement on the nuclear front, “simply because Iran’s nuclear programme has been degraded on the ground, and so, some of the cost of the compromise has already sunk in”. “It should be easier for the Iranians to accept zero enrichment for a period of time, because they have not spun a single centrifuge since the 12-day war back in June,” he said. “But when it gets to non-nuclear questions, like regional activities or their missile programme, I think, at best, the Iranians will be willing to do superficial concessions, not the kind of grand bargain capitulation that the US expect,” he said. Advertisement Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, reiterated in an interview published on Tuesday that Tehran was “absolutely not seeking nuclear weapons”. “If anyone wants to verify this, we are open to such verification to take place,” he said. “However, we do not accept that we should be prevented from using nuclear science and knowledge to address our illnesses and to advance our industry and agriculture,” he added. Adblock test (Why?)
Over 80 UN member states condemn Israel’s de-facto annexation of West Bank
UN warns that Israel’s plan will lead to widespread dispossession of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 4 mins info More than 80 United Nations member states have condemned Israel’s plan to expand control over the occupied West Bank and claim large tracts of Palestinian territory as Israeli “state property”. “We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel’s unlawful presence in the West Bank,” Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said on Tuesday, speaking on behalf of the coalition of 85 member states and several international organisations. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “Such decisions are contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed. We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation,” Mansour said. “We reiterate our rejection of all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem,” he said. “Such measures violate international law, undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region, run counter to the Comprehensive Plan and jeopardise the prospect of reaching a peace agreement ending the conflict”, he added. The Comprehensive Plan is a November agreement between Israel and Hamas to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which includes a halt to Israel’s illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. Signatories to the joint statement on Tuesday include Australia, Canada, China, France, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye , the United Arab Emirates, the European Union, the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The joint statement follows Israel’s decision to implement land registration in Section C of the West Bank for the first time since 1967, when Israel began its occupation of Palestinian territory. Advertisement Section C makes up about 60 percent of the West Bank’s territory, according to the illegal settlement monitoring organisation Peace Now. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, earlier this week, warned that Israel’s land registration plan could lead to the “dispossession of Palestinians of their property and risks expanding Israeli control over land in the area”. Guterres warned that the process could be both “destabilising” and unlawful, citing a landmark 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that stated Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is unlawful and must end. Israel’s “abuse of its status as the occupying power” renders its “presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful”, the ICJ said in its ruling. “Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” the court added. According to the ICJ, approximately 465,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, spread across some 300 settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law. Separately on Tuesday, a 13-year-old Palestinian child was killed, and two other children were seriously injured, in the occupied West Bank’s central Jordan Valley area by ammunition discarded by the Israeli military, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. The injured children, aged 12 and 14, are receiving treatment in hospital, Wafa said. Adblock test (Why?)
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta launches India’s first AI-driven comprehensive education model
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday inaugurated the CM Shri School at Sarojini Nagar. The foundation stones for 75 CM Shri School projects across the Capital were also laid.
Uttar Pradesh: New industrial hub to be developed in Kanpur’s Ghatampur with over Rs 14 crore investment
The Kanpur Development Authority (KDA) is also working on a master plan for 2031, which includes modernizing villages and designating land for residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial purposes.
Delhi teen’s father apologises over biker Sahil Dhaneshra’s death in Dwarka crash, admits ‘this is my son’s mistake’
23-year-old Sahil Dhaneshra was killed in a road accident in Delhi’s Dwarka on February 3 after a car allegedly driven by a juvenile without a licence collided with his motorcycle, police said.
PM Modi, Macron to attend AI Impact Summit 2026, Delhi traffic police issues advisory, check affected routes
Delhi Traffic Police has issued a traffic advisory for February 18 due to the AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam. Check details here.
Delhi-NCR Weather Update: National Capital sees light rain a day after recording hottest February day in 5 years, IMD issues ‘yellow’ alert
The weather bulletin from IMD indicates that the capital city is likely to experience a generally cloudy sky with intermittent spells of very light to light rain throughout the day.
Rick Perry says his political group will spend “whatever we need” to support John Cornyn in Senate primary
The former Texas governor chairs the Lone Star Freedom Project, a group that has already spent almost $18 million boosting Cornyn against Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt.
TribCast: The El Paso airspace fiasco
In this week’s episode, our host talks with Robert Moore, CEO of El Paso Matters, about the federal government briefly pausing air travel into El Paso. What does it say about the federal government, border security and the lives of El Pasoans?