Laura Pitel

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Cottbus is the base of the coal miner Leag, whose plans to expand renewables in eastern Germany won it praise © Patrick Pleul/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

EuropaUnión EuropeaEconomía, ,

There is a saying in the swath of eastern Germany known as the Lausitz that captures both the beauty of the region and the curse of its geology. “God created the Lausitz”, goes the expression. “But Satan put coal underneath”.

Local people did a deal with the devil over the past 100 years: they let mining machines carve chunks from the lush green forests, destroyed centuries-old villages to dig up millions of tonnes of the dirty lignite that lies under them and polluted the planet in the process. In exchange came thousands of jobs and the pride found in powering the German economic juggernaut.…  Seguir leyendo »

A factory worker in Taizhou, east China, prepares overseas orders. Since 2011, Beijing has invested 10 times more than Europe in new solar panel manufacturing capacity © CFOTO/Sipa USA/Reuters

EuropaUnión EuropeaEconomía

At the annual gathering of Europe’s solar power lobby in Brussels this month, industry executives celebrated the rapid rollout of panels across the region after the retreat from Russian gas.

Standing behind a DJ deck, Walburga Hemetsberger, SolarPower Europe’s chief executive, said that the night should be “the best party ever”, adding that the European industry had broken records on solar installations last year. But EU officials speaking at the same event had their minds on an even bigger challenge.

“Switching from fossil fuels to renewables should not mean replacing one dependency with another”, announced energy commissioner Kadri Simson, who has spent the past year marshalling the bloc’s efforts to wean itself off Russian gas.…  Seguir leyendo »

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed the promise of tanks — including the Leopard 2, pictured — but questioned the size of the commitment © FT montage: AFP/Getty Images/AP

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Ukrainian soldiers will face a steep learning curve when they clamber into a Leopard 2 tank for the first time next month. But the new tanks will be a serious upgrade from the Soviet-era models they have been fighting in over the past year.

“It’s like you have a car from the 1950s and then you sit in a Porsche”, says a person involved in organising training for Ukrainian troops.

The German government’s decision this week to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine — and allow other European capitals to do the same — will give the Ukrainian army vital new firepower as it sets out to liberate its country from Russian occupation.…  Seguir leyendo »

Syria: what is Turkey’s grand plan?

EuropaMundoOriente Próximo,

As evening draws in across Turkey’s frontier with Syria, the trickle of traffic passing through the Öncüpınar border checkpoint turns into a stream. Through one channel, dusty trucks, their loads long emptied, rumble northwards back into Turkey. Through another, Turkish civil servants and aid workers head home after a day’s labour in the war-devastated neighbouring country.

SUVs ferry weary traffic police and hardy looking bomb disposal experts. Minibuses deliver health workers and teachers who disembark to show their identity documents to immigration officials. Yet more vehicles carry customs and religious affairs officials. Virtually every arm of the Turkish state appears to be present during the commute back from northern Syria into Turkey’s Kilis province — even sports ministry staff.…  Seguir leyendo »