BERLIN, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Germany’s government will take
note of domestic pressure to rule out bond buybacks by the euro
zone’s permanent rescue fund, signalling it could take a hard
line in crunch talks on the crisis next month.

MPs from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats
(CDU) and her coalition partners approved a motion on Tuesday,
seeking to ban buybacks by the European Stabilisation Mechanism
(ESM) when it replaces the temporary EFSF fund in 2013.

BERLIN, Feb 23 (Reuters) – German ruling coalition MPs are
pressing Chancellor Angela Merkel to rule out purchases of debt
by the euro zone’s permanent bailout fund, showing how little
political room for manoevre she may have in crunch talks on the
crisis next month.

Merkel has been dragging her heels on agreeing to boost the
scope and size of the bailout fund, and fears of further
election defeats has to pressure for her not to underwrite the
debts of the euro zone’s struggling periphery.

BERLIN (Reuters) – “If Not Us, Who”, a nuanced portrayal of the birth of the guerrilla Red Army Faction, sheds new light on a troubled period in Germany’s past and is a strong contender for the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

Andres Veiel’s first feature depicts the fiery and tragic relationship between writer Bernward Vesper and Gudrun Ensslin, who went on to become a key figure in the leftist group that carried out a campaign of kidnappings and murders in the 1970s.

BERLIN (Reuters) – In the Argentinian film “A Mysterious World,” which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday, plot takes a back seat as the main character stumbles from one random encounter to the next.

When his girlfriend asks for some time apart, Boris deals with his confusion and loneliness by simply going with the flow in downtown Buenos Aires. One encounter follows the other without any coherent link or sense of progression.

BERLIN (Reuters) – German filmmaker Wim Wenders took arthouse cinema to a new dimension on Sunday at the Berlin Film Festival with the premiere of his 3D dance film “Pina” about the work of avant-garde choreographer Pina Bausch.

The annual cinema showcase made Sunday its unofficial three dimension day, with 3D screenings also of “Tales of the Night” by French animator Michel Ocelot and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” by German veteran director Werner Herzog.

BERLIN (Reuters) – “Almanya,” a rare feel-good movie about Turkish immigrants in Germany which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival Saturday, defies recent political declarations that multiculturalism has failed in Europe.

Coming amid an anguished public debate about the place of foreigners in Germany, the debut movie by two Turkish-German sisters delighted filmgoers with its comic and optimistic depiction of immigrants’ efforts to integrate in an alien society.

By Sarah Marsh

BERLIN (Reuters Life!) – Berlin’s international film festival will feature three 3D movies this year, director Dieter Kosslick said, exploring the medium’s artistic potential after its recent triumph in Hollywood blockbusters.

The 61st Berlin film festival will be smaller but more daring than last year, he added, with the competition lineup featuring an animated film in 3D and five debut films.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe should focus on demonstrating its commitment to budget consolidation rather than on new rescue mechanisms in order to calm market fears over its debt woes, an adviser to the German government said on Thursday.

Christoph Schmidt, a member of Berlin’s panel of economic advisers or ‘wise men’, said many of new aid measures proposed would breach the European Union’s “no bailout” clause just as euro bonds would, even if politicians seek to disguise this.

BERLIN/BRUSSELS, Jan 26 (Reuters) – An adviser to the German
government and a member of the European Parliament called on
Wednesday for moves to reduce Greece’s debt burden, in signs
that the idea is gaining ground despite the denials of euro zone
policymakers.

As the bloc struggled to bridge differences over how to
tackle its debt crisis, a top European Central Bank official
urged wholesale reform of the region’s rescue fund and Germany
played down the need for change.

BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Germany says it will only agree
new measures to stabilise the euro zone if they come as part of
a comprehensive package to solve the bloc’s debt crisis that the
European Union wants to agree in March.

Europe’s paymaster is being cast as a bully for rejecting
proposals such as broadening the EFSF rescue fund set up after
the bailout of Greece in May to protect fiscally vulnerable euro
zone countries and defend the single currency.