Kate Laycock

Freelance broadcast journalist based in Germany. Host of DW’s Inside Europe podcast.

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

“I’m hurt by my fellow journalists. They didn’t create pressure or raise their voices for my release. I was arrested because of my work. I hope every free journalist hears me.”

[Inès |Stories From Palestine 🇵🇸 @InesElHajj]

A harrowing account from imprisoned Palestianin journalist Farah Abu Ayyash has emerged: Her lawyer, Hassan Abadi, who recently visited her in Damon Prison, said that what she shared was not just a legal testimony, but a direct, personal description of the severe abuse she has suffered since her arrest. In the letter conveyed through her lawyer, Farah recounts: “I experienced so many horrific things.
They arrested me in the middle of the night with dozens of soldiers, two female recruits, and numerous jeeps and police vehicles. I never imagined I would be targeted. They took me to Karmeh Tzur, tied me to a chair outside, next to a pipe dripping filthy water onto me.”
She continues describing the torture: “The female soldiers tightened the white plastic restraints on my wrist so hard that my artery swelled. An officer eventually cut them off with pliers. Dogs tore at my pants. Then they put me in solitary—just a room filled with electrical boxes. They pretended not to know I was a journalist. They forced me to unlock my phone… I work with complete transparency.”

Farah describes her transfer to the Russian Compound: “It was like a horror film. They shoved me inside with handcuffs, leg shackles, and a heavy chain on my shoulders. Nahshon officers beat me. A female soldier grabbed my hair, slammed my head into the wall, and ordered me to kiss the Israeli flag. I refused. She kicked me. I was sick.”

Her voice, she says, was shaking as she added: “In Ramla, they put me in an abandoned room and turned off the light. I screamed. Then they placed me in an underground cell infested with cockroaches, insects, and bedbugs. I cried all night. Cockroaches covered my face and body. The marks are still there.”

She explains that she was later taken back to the Russian Compound, fainted multiple times from the cold, and that the transport conditions were “extremely harsh and terrifying.” After 55 days, she was moved to Damon Prison.

Expressing her disappointment in her peers, she says: “I’m hurt by my fellow journalists. They didn’t create pressure or raise their voices for my release. I was arrested because of my work. I hope every free journalist hears me.”

Farah also sends words to her family, especially her mother: “I miss you so much… I tell the girls about the ma’amoul you make. My most cherished memories are the poems you wrote for me and how I used to recite them on the radio.”

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

LNG: the last big sanctions loophole.

[Svitlana Romanko @SvitlanaRomanko]

🎙️ I had the honour of speaking with @dwnews @KateLaycock about #Germany importing EUR 19B of Russian gas since the invasion, with #SEFE among the top buyers of Yamal #LNG. Renewables are the key to true energy independence. 👉 Listen here: https://t.co/GNoRdT1Kpx

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

@DeutscheWelle 's Inside Europe's Grief: A Catalyst for Social Change? episode is up for a Signal Award in the category Thought Leadership. Featuring the ideas of Sarah Jaffe and features by Angelo van Shaik and @danielashby. Just 2 days left to vote! https://t.co/9IAXJ5zlp0

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

Anas Al-Sharif’s death was foretold, but it was not inevitable. We make our colleagues’ deaths inevitable when we fail to recognise them as such.

[UN Special Procedures @UN_SPExperts]

UN expert @Irenekhan denounces serious threats by #Israeli army against Anas Al-Sharif, the last surviving journalist of @AlJazeera in northern Gaza - a blatant attempt to endanger his life and silence his reporting on #GazaGenocide‌. @AJEnglish

https://t.co/ChW9mCBY1v

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

The village council reports 14 Palestinians have been arrested in Khirbet Umm al-Khair. One of them is Eid Hathaleen, an internationally recognised artist who exhibited alongside @aiww. Journos and internationals have been expelled. Background in link. https://t.co/86e2QScpQ9

[+972 Magazine @972mag]

Our colleague and longtime +972 Magazine contributor Awdah Hathaleen was shot dead in a settler attack on his village, Umm al-Khair, in Masafer Yatta.

Read Awdah's contributions to +972 Magazine through the link:

https://t.co/3NvV6bXj7a

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

War crimes and the responsibility of witnessing: featuring reporting from @guydelauney in Srebrenica and conversations with @hahauenstein on Gaza and @WayneJordash in Ukraine. https://t.co/HzpiyHW6kE

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

“Small sonic adventure”: I think this may be my favourite description of an Inside Europe story to date!

[Gianluca Costantini ★ @channeldraw]

British journalist Dany Mitzman visited my studio in #Ravenna. From scattered drawings and conversations, a new episode for @DeutscheWelle’s “Inside Europe” was born. Thanks to @KateLaycock for making this small sonic adventure possible.

🎧 Listen here:
https://t.co/i3qAfCnRgA

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

Last chance to put your questions to @terischultz !

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

NATO Summit: What would YOU ask? #InsideEurope #podcast https://t.co/w5Qr0Ah2dG via @YouTube

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

NATO Summit: What would YOU ask? #InsideEurope #podcast https://t.co/w5Qr0Ah2dG via @YouTube

[Tom Fletcher @UNReliefChief]

Open all of the crossings. Let in lifesaving aid at scale, from all directions. 

Lift restrictions on what & how much aid we can bring in. Ensure our convoys aren’t held up by delays and denials.

Release the hostages. Implement the ceasefire.

Let us work.

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

Azerbaijan: 12 years prison for explaining economics? https://t.co/pqaXQ4VMAd #FreeFarid Farid Mehralizada's case is a chilling reminder of the risks @RFERL journalists take. #FreeFarid

[DW Deutsche Welle @DeutscheWelle]

Join @KateLaycock on #InsideEurope as she delves into the new German chancellor's rocky start, Google's role in Turkey's media crackdown, the end of Malta's golden passports and a personal tour of Dutch synagogues. Plus, special guest @NathalieTocci.
🎙️ https://t.co/RwJU8twHOs

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

⁦@sarahljaffe⁩ is our guide for this special edition of Inside Europe, exploring grief as a catalyst for social transformation and what it might mean to look at current affairs through the lens of loss.
https://t.co/CU1WOfOnvK

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

The struggle for Turkish democracy isn’t abstract - it’s an urgent, physical thing and journalists are amongst those paying the highest price. This was a humbling show to produce.

[DW Deutsche Welle @DeutscheWelle]

This week on #InsideEurope: a focus on Turkey. DW's @KateLaycock investigates the struggle for Turkish democracy playing out on the streets of Istanbul and spoke to Can Dündar (@candundaradasi), one of Turkey's most renowned journalists in exile. https://t.co/AWxH70QlIS

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

Farid’s super power is that he can explain economics in ways that everyone can understand. Only in Azerbaijan, that’s a super power that can land you in prison. #FreeFarid

[RFE/RL Pressroom @RFERLPress]

@RFERL @AzadliqRadiosu @MukhtarNar @DeutscheWelle @KateLaycock @TheNatlInterest Supporters can #WriteToFarid and send uplifting messages as he continues to endure wrongful imprisonment. #FreeFarid

Learn more: https://t.co/9aveg8nTkZ

[RFE/RL Pressroom @RFERLPress]

@RFERL @AzadliqRadiosu @MukhtarNar @DeutscheWelle @KateLaycock @TheNatlInterest Supporters can #WriteToFarid and send uplifting messages as he continues to endure wrongful imprisonment. #FreeFarid

Learn more: https://t.co/9aveg8nTkZ

[Kate Laycock @KateLaycock]

Al Jazeera Journalist Hossam Shabat has been killed in an Israeli strike on his car. I will never forget the compassion of his reporting - the way he bent down to talk to children, his gentleness and his patience. He was 23.

[Dan Ashby @danielashby]

We've been speaking to some of the world's leading climate scientists, analysts + campaigners @niklashoehne @CarbonBrief @Greenpeace @ClientEarth @Global_Witness + more for our COP29 special on @dwnews with @KateLaycock. Lots to worry about. But I thought I'd flag some positives:

[Hans von der Burchard @vonderburchard]

Update: The German government coalition has now almost certainly collapsed.

No official announcement yet, leaders are still talking in the chancellery, but Finance Min Lindner has urged Scholz to pave the way for snap elections (likely in early March). First reported by Bild.