Day: April 24, 2023

Evgeniy Maloletka: I think that every platform is important to inform the world about the Russian-Ukrainian war and to show that war happens every day. Every day civilians and military are killed on the front lines and far beyond by missiles and air strikes.

Did this award come as a surprise to you?

Every photographer dreams of winning a World Press Photo Award in their career. It is an important award [honoring] iconic images that shape history.

In this case, the photos from Mariupol really shaped history and, I believe, changed the world. They show what the war looks like in a city that is burned down along with its inhabitants. I saw this with my own eyes, and with my colleague Mstyslav Chernov documented these terrible events. These horrific images stay with me. It is almost impossible to erase them.

We tried to convey with our works what was happening in the city and how people felt. And we’ve documented Russian war crimes against Ukrainians. It’s like in the Middle Ages: If a city can’t be conquered, it’s just incinerated along with its occupants.

The pregnant woman in the press photo of the year is Iryna Kalinina, who died with her unborn child after the bombing of a maternity clinic in Mariupol. How symbolic is it for you that this particular image was chosen?

I can’t count how many media outlets published this picture on their front pages on March 10, 2022, while reporting that Russia had bombed a maternity clinic in Mariupol and noted that Russian reports about the bombing were lies. [The image] is an important indication of how widely the Russian claims differ from what actually happened in Mariupol. The photo of Iryna became a symbol of this war and showed the whole world what was happening in Mariupol.

Sadly, two days later we learned of her death. Recently, I spoke with Iryna’s husband by phone. We had contact earlier and he is now in the UK.

On March 9, 2022, he had searched for Iryna at the maternity hospital, and at various other hospitals, but could not find her. The next day he was told to search among the dead. He was given access to a room where numerous corpses lay. At first he didn’t even believe it was her. She was a very outgoing woman who worked in a clothing store and loved her work. They couldn’t get pregnant for a long time, but eventually it worked out. Unfortunately, a Russian bomb put an end to that life.

When you took the photo of Iryna lying on a stretcher, did you manage to speak to her?

It was a very brief moment during the evacuation from the maternity hospital, and we had already seen Iryna being carried up the stairs and along the medical buildings to the ambulance.

At that point, we had just arrived and were documenting what had happened. It was impossible to know where she was. We spent the next few days trying to find out where they had taken her and the other women. At that time there was chaos, and debris was removed while searching for survivors.

How important is this award for Ukraine? How can attention on Ukraine be maintained?

I think that Ukraine in 2022 surprised the world, as well as Ukrainian journalists who continue to risk their lives to report what is happening in their country. It is not easy to maintain standards, and all these emotions, while telling the world what is happening. Because this is happening at home. It is very painful to explain it.

You said that the prize is the dream of every professional photographer. What else do you dream about?

Like all Ukrainians, I dream that Ukraine is victorious, and that the war will end as soon as possible.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Europeans are seeing more sunshine every year, a trend that contributed to 2022 being the continent’s second-warmest year on record. And while that means an increased risk of drought, wildfires and health-threatening heat stress, it has also opened up new prospects for renewable energy.

“We are really moving into uncharted territory,” director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service Carlo Buontempo told reporters on the release of the annual European State of the Climate report. He described 2022 as “another record-breaking year in terms of greenhouse gas concentration, temperature extremes, wildfires and precipitation, which have all had noticeable impact on both ecosystems and community all over the continent.”

The study, published this month, showed that solar radiation across Europe was at its highest level observed in 40 years, reflecting a steady increase in the hours of sunshine and decreasing cloud cover over the decades.

Last year, the continent recorded 130 more hours of sunshine than average — an increase mainly recorded between January and July when large parts of Europe were trapped under atmospheric high-pressure systems linked to climate change. This resulted in dry, sunny weather and prolonged drought. Efforts to reduce air pollution, which can contribute to cloud production, also played a role in reducing cloud cover and resulted in more sunny days.

Some regions in Europe — Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Estonia and parts of Southeast Europe — saw an even larger increase, putting those areas on par with the sunny weather typically seen in southern Spain. Conversely, Spain and Portugal saw below average sunshine in 2022, due in part to slightly higher cloud cover over the Iberian Peninsula.

‘Another record year for solar’

More sunshine meant that potential solar photovoltaic power generation, as calculated by Copernicus, was also noticeably higher than normal across most of Europe. That’s potentially good news for Europe’s solar power sector, which made up 7.3% of the EU’s electricity mix last year, up from 6% in 2021, according to climate think tank Ember.

“There is a clear trend in the observations which is at least partly reflected in the climate projections,” Buontempo told DW. “That said, the potential for Europe to become self-sufficient in terms of renewable energy depends much more on the installed capacity and its tendency over time than on climate.”

The data presented by Copernicus only reported on the changing climate conditions and did not take into account the growth in solar energy production across Europe. But a December report by industry group SolarPower Europe showed that the 27 EU member states added 41.4 gigawatts of new solar infrastructure to the grid in 2022, more than doubling what was installed just two years earlier.

“Last year was a yet another record year for solar,” said Dries Acke, policy director at SolarPower Europe, adding that the energy crisis also played a role. “We still have dominant countries like Spain, Germany, traditionally strong solar countries, but we’ve seen a real proliferation across Europe.”

Acke acknowledged that increased hours of sunshine would boost the solar industry, but told DW that the rapid growth was mostly due to other factors. “It’s much more driven by the efficiency of the technology and the cost reductions in general, and the increased awareness of the potential of solar and familiarization with the technology,” he said.

It also helped, Acke added, that countries which haven’t traditionally been major markets for solar energy were starting to see the potential, looking past the common perception that solar only makes sense in sunny, desert regions. He pointed to burgeoning markets in Denmark and Sweden, for example, which respectively added 1.5 and 1.1 gigawatts to the grid last year.

“That makes Sweden and Denmark top 10 countries [when it comes to] newly installed solar in Europe. And we see similar movement in the UK, in Ireland, Norway, Finland.”

Electricity grids, storage still lacking

Acke said while capacity had increased significantly in recent years, more support was needed to update and expand the electricity grid and storage across Europe. “It certainly is progressing. But I think we need an acceleration,” he said, adding that many solar panel companies were also starting to branch out into battery technology as a result.

“In the end, the biggest challenge that we have in the energy transition is inertia,” said Acke, stressing that people and system operators needed to be confident and open to new technologies.

That includes realizing all the side benefits of solar power generation, especially when it comes to farming. Acke highlighted how solar panels could be used to shade crops and protect them from extreme heat, and reduce evaporation from fields and reservoirs. In recent years, he said, farmers have begun to understand the economic advantages of switching to solar.

“Farmers can also sell that electricity,” said Acke. “The revenue they get from an acre of land increases, both from an agricultural yield as well as from an electricity point of view.”

Source: Deutsche Welle

Video captured from a helicopter shows police chasing a small boat carrying suspected drug traffickers heading towards a beach in Mallorca.

The suspects abandoned their boat after they made it to shore.

Police confirmed that three people were later arrested and 1,200kg of hashish were seized.

Source: BBC

Ukrainian troops have set up positions on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Kherson region, reports say.

The region is partially Russian-held and crossing the river could be significant in future offensives.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War says Russian military bloggers have posted “enough geolocated footage and text reports to confirm” the advance.

BBC Ukraine says its military sources have reported a “certain movement across [the] Dnipro” near Kherson city.

Ukraine’s military has not confirmed the movement, while Russia has denied the reports.

But if the reports that Ukraine has secured a bridgehead on the east bank are correct, it could be significant in helping Kyiv drive Russian troops back.

A Ukrainian advance in the area could, in the future, even cut the land corridor to Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.

However, military experts say any Ukrainian troop movements in the bridgehead area – which is crisscrossed by floodplains, irrigation canals and other water obstacles – would be a tough task.

And Ukrainian advances would be further complicated by Russia’s significant advantage in the air.

Ukraine’s military has for some time publicly spoken about preparations for a major counter-offensive, without specifying where and when it could be launched.

Until now, all of the Kherson region on the east bank of the Dnipro has been under Russian control, with the wide river serving as a natural barrier.

The regional capital – sitting on the west bank – was liberated by Ukrainian forces last November.

Celebrations as Ukraine takes back key city Kherson

Putin visits occupied Kherson region in Ukraine

In Sunday’s report, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said “geolocated footage published on 23 April indicates that Ukrainian forces are operating in areas north-west of Oleshky on the east” bank of Dnipro.

The ISW added there was not enough information to analyse the scale of the reported Ukrainian advance – or the further intentions of the Ukrainian military.

On Monday, Russia’s WarGonzo military blogger reported that Ukrainian troops were “trying to gain a foothold on Bolshoi Potemkin [Velykyi Potyomkin – Ukrainian] island”, which is located between the new and old channels of the Dnipro.

Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s South Command, neither confirmed nor denied reports that Ukrainian forces had secured a bridgehead on the east bank.

She told Ukraine’s TV channels that “difficult work is continuing”.

A military operation requires “informational silence until it is safe enough for our military”, the spokeswoman stressed.

Meanwhile, the Russian-installed head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said on Sunday “there were no bridgeheads on the left [east] bank near Oleshky, or any other places” on that side of the river.

In separate developments on Monday:

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport was closed for some time over reports of an identified drone in the area, Russian media said

Russia-installed officials in Sevastopol, Crimea, reported an unsuccessful Ukrainian naval drone attack – Kyiv has not commented

Ukraine’s military said “the fiercest battles” continued in Bakhmut and Mariinka – two key towns in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region

The frontlines in southern Ukraine, as they were last month

Source: BBC