European Union

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Here’s a nightmare scenario: Unable to recruit enough soldiers from the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin takes North Korean leader Kim Jong-un up on his recent offer to send 100,000 North Koreans to join the Russian president’s ill-fated attempt to seize Ukraine. Kim has also promised to send North Korean workers to […]

Climate Crisis

Germany to turbocharge Rooftop Solar by Slashing Taxes, Red Tape amid Ukraine War Energy Crisis

Clean Energy Wire

By Sören Amelang | – dpa / Süddeutsche Zeitung / Clean Energy Wire. ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The German government is introducing tax breaks for the operation of small-scale photovoltaic systems and removing other bureaucratic hurdles to speed up the rollout of renewables. Income from systems with a capacity of up to 30 […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Emergency’s Knock-on Effects: How Europe’s Drought is making Britain’s energy Crisis worse

The Conversation

Simon Waldman, University of Hull | – (The Conversation) – Along the River Elbe, in Germany and the Czech Republic, is a series of rocks that are submerged in all but the lowest water conditions. The locals call them “hunger stones” because they are warnings: if the stone is visible, then famine will follow. Carvings […]

Climate Crisis

Germany’s Economy and Climate Ministry to tender 1.5 Gigs of new Solar, and Unleash Rooftop Solar Potential

Benjamin Wehrmann

By Benjamin Wehrmann | – Tagesspiegel Background ( Clean Energy Wire) Germany’s government plans to rapidly accelerate the expansion of solar power capacity in the country with several legal changes, energy policy newsletter Tagesspiegel Background reports. A proposal by the economy and climate ministry (BMWK) of Green minister Robert Habeck includes so-called “special crisis tenders” […]

China

New Hawkish UK PM Liz Truss is Spoiling for Confrontations with Russia and China

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

London (Special to Informed Comment) – The United Kingdom has announced its third Prime Minister since Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016. Although former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was the man to guide Brexit, those who assisted in his post-Brexit vision could further Britain’s controversial path. On September 6, Liz Truss […]

Antisemitism

Unknown Holocaust photos – found in Attics and Archives – are helping Researchers recover lost Stories and providing a Tool against Denial

The Conversation

By Wolf Gruner, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences | – The summer of 2022 marked the 80th anniversary of the first Nazi deportation of Jewish families from Germany to Auschwitz. Although the Nazis deported hundreds of thousands of Jewish men and women, for many places where those tragic events happened, no images […]

Climate Crisis

Netherlands innovates with Floating Solar Panels in Sea, Locally-owned Wind Farm Cooperative

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Netherlands was long a laggard regarding the green energy revolution and combating the climate emergency, perhaps in part because it is a fossil gas-producing country. Even so, the Netherlands is now making strides toward an energy switch with some innovative approaches. It is still a little behind the European […]

Agriculture

Climate Emergency Hits German Farms as Harvests Remain Meager

Clean Energy Wire

By Edgar Meza | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The ongoing drought in Germany is expected to have dire effects on this year’s harvest, which is already estimated to be below the average of previous years, said the German Farmers’ Association (DBV). “The prolonged drought in many regions of the country shows once […]

Climate Crisis

“The Elbe River Gasps for Breath:” Rivers’ ecosystems across Germany threatened by low Water, O2 Levels and high Temperatures

Benjamin Wehrmann

Citing Hamburger Abendblatt / Süddeutsche Zeitung / Rheinische Post ( Clean Energy Wire ) – German rivers are suffering from extreme heat and drought, ringing the alarm for the stability of their ecosystems all over the country. Like many other parts of Europe, Germany has seen recurring heatwaves since late spring, which coupled with little […]