ABOLISH SCOTUS
Supreme Court rules officers can't be sued for Miranda rights violation
By Simon Druker


Police officers who fail to advise suspects of their rights upon arrest, cannot later be sued by that defendant, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI |

June 23 (UPI) -- Police officers who fail to advise suspects of their rights upon arrest can't later be sued by that defendant, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 split decision means police officers will not be subject to a lawsuit based on violating a person's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Police typically issue Miranda warnings to suspects upon arrest, advising them of their rights to remain silent.

The court ruled in 1966's Miranda vs. Arizona that suspects in custody have to be advised they have the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer before questioning.

RELATED Supreme Court sides with Georgia prisoner seeking execution by firing squad

At issue was not whether defendants must be read their rights, but whether they can sue for damages if they aren't given a Miranda warning.

The vote fell along party lines, with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan dissenting.

"In sum, a violation of Miranda does not necessarily constitute a violation of the Constitution, and therefore such a violation does not constitute 'the deprivation of [a] right ... secured by the Constitution," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court's majority opinion.

"Because a violation of Miranda is not itself a violation of the Fifth Amendment, and because we see no justification for expanding Miranda to confer a right to sue under §1983, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed."

Section 1983 that Alito refers to allows lawsuits for damages against a government official for violating constitutional rights.

The case itself involved California hospital worker Terence Tekoh, who was accused of sexually assaulting an immobilized female patient in 2014.

He was questioned by a deputy who failed to read Tekoh his rights. Tekoh was later acquitted in a criminal trial, despite having confessed.

He then sued Los Angeles County sheriff deputy Carlos Vega for violating his constitutional right.

Dozens of turtles, dolphins found dead in Guatemala, probe launched

PUBLISHED : 24 JUN 2022 
WRITER: AFP

A handout picture released by Guatemala's National Council for Protected Areas on June 23 shows a dead dolphin recently found on the country's Pacific coast

GUATEMALA CITY - Dozens of turtles, dolphins and other marine species have been found dead on Guatemala's Pacific coast, prompting an official investigation, authorities said Thursday.

As many as 65 turtles, most of them of the Olive Ridley variety, and 14 dolphins were discovered dead earlier this week, Guatemala's National Council of Protected Areas told AFP.

The agency didn't say where exactly the dead animals were found.

Officials at the agency believe the deaths could have been caused by heavy rains in recent days, which could have carried some toxic materials from the mainland into the sea.

Investigators are also looking into whether industrial fishing being developed offshore could have played a role.

Experts in this Central American nation will now study the animals' remains to determine what caused the deaths.

Local officials together with volunteers were also looking to see if more dead species were to be found.

HINDU NATIONALISM IS FASCISM

India: 'Mosque vetting' by Hindu groups draws criticism

Hindu nationalist groups in India claim that many mosques and Islamic monuments from the Mughal era were built on sacred Hindu sites. Muslims fear more marginalization as a result of these measures.



Indian Muslims say they are being systematically targeted by the ruling BJP party

Three decades after Hindu mobs demolished a historic mosque in Ayodhya, in northern Uttar Pradesh state, triggering a wave of communal violence that saw thousands killed, right-wing Hindu outfits are eyeing other Muslim sites.

There is currently a debate about the centuries-old Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, one of Hinduism's holiest cities, stoking fresh tensions between India's two largest religious communities.

Hindu groups say the mosque, located in the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was built after a temple at the site was demolished by Muslim rulers in the 17th century.

After five women sought permission to perform Hindu rituals in a part of the mosque, a local court ordered authorities to do a video-recorded survey of the premises.

Last month, reports claimed the survey had discovered a shivalinga, a stone shaft that is a representation of the Hindu god Shiva, at the site, a claim that has been rejected by the mosque authorities.

The court then banned large Muslim gatherings at the mosque, but India's Supreme Court later overturned the ruling.

Muslims in India now fear that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists could lay similar claims to other mosques and forts that were allegedly built on temple sites in other parts of the country.
A long list of holy sites

Last month, S Eshwarappa, a former deputy chief minister of Karnataka state, claimed that at least 36,000 temples were destroyed to build mosques during the time when Muslim emperors ruled India. He said that they would all be reclaimed legally.

Right-wing Hindu groups are demanding that the authorities carry out surveys of several mosques to determine whether they were built on temple sites.

Last month, members of the Hindu Narendra Modi Vichar Manch forum sought permission from the BJP government in Karnataka to pray at the 200-year-old Jamia Masjid in Srirangapatna, which they claim was sitting atop the ruins of a temple.

Another radical Hindu outfit claimed that 27 Hindu temples were demolished to build the Qutub Minar, the famous 13th-century minaret in Delhi and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

"There is no doubt that these temples were demolished in the past. They must be rebuilt, and Hindus should be allowed to offer prayers there," Vinod Bansal, a spokesman for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad organization, told DW.

"For how long can we tolerate this injustice?" Bansal added.

Other Muslim sites that Hindu groups lay claim to include the Akbar Fort in Prayagraj (formerly known as Allahabad), the Bhojshala in the Madhya Pradesh state and Adina Mosque in the West Bengal state.

Amid this controversy, historian Sita Ram Goel's book Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them, which was published in 1990, has become popular in India. According to Goel, over 1,800 Muslim structures in the country were either constructed on temples or were built with materials from destroyed temples.
A threat to Indian secularism

Communal tensions have spiked in India since Modi came to power in 2014. Many Muslims see the attempts by Hindu extremist groups to "reclaim temples" as a part of the BJP's anti-minority policies.

"We won't allow them [right-wing Hindu groups] to hurt us anymore. It's our responsibility to protect our mosques," Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen organization, told DW.

Owaisi said any place of worship that existed on August 15, 1947, India's Independence Day, could not be changed according to the Places of Worship Act, passed by the South Asian nation's Parliament in 1991. He said the law was passed to preserve India's secular character and prevent communal conflicts.

"In their aggressive pursuit of Hindu supremacy, they [Hindu groups] are bringing up one issue after another. Laying claim to 3,000 mosques is one of them," Zafarul Islam Khan, the editor of The Milli Gazette and the former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission, told DW, adding that these attempts are a threat to India's secular and democratic social fabric.

Edited by: Shamil Shams

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India's forgotten stray animals suffer under record heatwaves

Millions of street animals are struggling to escape blistering temperatures and dehydration. The heatwaves have already caused widespread damage across India.

The tough life of a street dog is made even harder by rising city temperatures

India's extreme summer months are not only hitting humans hard but have taken a toll on the dogs, cats and other animals living on the nation's streets.

While dogs and cats have long lived side by side with humans and depended on them for food, they have never really been considered as valued members of the country.

Part of that exclusion stems from people's perceptions — that street dogs are dangerous and a nuisance, according to a study published by a group of biologists who track the behavior of street dogs.

People's aversion to stray dogs stems from their tendency to fight with each other over food and the fact that they can carry rabies, a disease that is still a major health concern in India.

Around two in every 100,000 people are affected by the virus each year, according to the study. However, the researchers found that street dogs on the whole showed little sign of aggression.

Nevertheless, the people who care for dogs and cats, providing them with food and water, are often harassed.

New Delhi's dog days of summer

India repeatedly hit record temperatures in April and May, with the capital city New Delhi enduring temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in early June.

While the early arrival of the dry summer months in the northern and central parts of the country was partly the result of an oceanic phenomenon called La Nina, Avikal Somvanshi, an urbanologist at the Centre for Science and Environment, said climate change has also played a major role.

Raj Mariwala, an animal behaviorist who lives in Mumbai, explained that extreme heat puts all animals at risk of dehydration and heat stroke.

The high temperatures and lack of water can cause a variety of ailments in cats

Mukesh Verma, a veterinarian at Friendicoes, an animal sanctuary just outside New Delhi, said animals can also suffer an array of problems from lethargy to stomach problems. The vet looks after almost 1,700 stray animals at the shelter.

Verma explained that horses, often used for weddings during summer, are barely taken care of and may not get their required intake of drinking water.

Too weak to fly

Nadeem Shehzad and his brother, the founders of Wildlife Rescue, a bird rescue NGO in Delhi, explained that they have already treated up to 700 birds, mostly kites, this summer.

Delhi's slaughterhouses and meat processing plants have attracted a large population of predatory birds like kites. But a lack of water can keep them grounded as they are too weak to fly, leaving them even more vulnerable.

"When the heat was unbearable this summer, we saw 50% in the number of baby kites that needed treatment," Shehzad said. A large number of them were dehydrated.

Cities offer little refuge from sweltering heat

Experts maintained that besides the risk of dehydration, it was becoming almost impossible for animals to cool themselves down in urban centers.

Not only is there a lack of sheltered spaces for them, but cities are also getting hotter than their surrounding areas, a phenomenon known as Urban Heat Island effect, explained Somvanshi, who is also an architect.

The evaporation of water from the soil and plant leaves helps to cool the air in rural areas, but that effect is lost in cities because of their lack of green spaces.

Frendicoes has treated hundreds of stray dogs suffering from the summer heat

A rise in "nighttime temperatures is particularly problematic" and puts people and animals at greater risk, Somvanshi added.

In addition, cities also dump waste heat — from cars or air conditioners — directly into the outside air.

Animal cruelty goes largely unpunished

Even though there are several laws against animal cruelty in India, they do little in terms of punishing offenders.

India's animals are protected by three broad laws — Sections 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code, where killing or maiming animals is considered a serious crime and can result in arrest, the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

The last one criminalizes cruelty to animals — which covers everything from torture to not providing them with adequate food and shelter.

But the associated punishments are not exactly harsh — first-time offenders are fined between 10 rupees ($0.13) and 50 rupees. Repeat offenders can be imprisoned for up to 3 months.

"No one takes the laws seriously and people constantly harass us if we feed dogs," explained Mariwala.

Similar animal cruelty crimes in the UK, for example, can result in a lifetime ban from owning pets or a fine of up to £20,000.

Communities organizing to protect our furry friends

There are no official figures for the number of stray dogs or animals in India, though Mariwala and other experts estimate that there are around 35 million street dogs.

Cats and dogs aren't the only animals left to struggle with the heat in India's cities

A lot of neighborhood organizations often use different ways of marking dogs to keep track — like having them wear collars.

Sudhir Kudalkar, a police officer in Mumbai, established an animal welfare group in December 2020 that carries out different missions — some teams provide food for stray animals while another team takes care of complaints from feeders and tackles other civil issues.

Kudalkar told DW that he is especially proud to have led a legal team to tackle animal cruelty.

As a further possible sign of changing perceptions, earlier in June the eastern Indian state of Odisha also launched an animal helpline as well as a telephone veterinary service for the protection of stray and abandoned animals.

Edited by: Alex Berry

How can Germany realistically replace gas?

Without Russian natural gas, Germany will be facing an energy crisis. Coal, nuclear, fracking or renewable energy — what are the most realistic and climate-friendly options?

The end of Russian gas supply to Germany could be in sight

As Germany scrambles to find a way to lower its reliance on Russian natural gas, the country has announced  a move to the second phase — "alarm" level — of its three-stage emergency gas plan, possibly leading to higher prices for consumers. The third phase could involve gas rationing.

And the energy crisis could have even more severe consequences for industry and consumers come the fall months. 

Possible solutions include purchasing from other sources, including liquefied gas; more frugal consumption and utilizing coal to a greater degree. At the same time, the neoliberal Free Democrats — the smallest party in Germany's ruling coalition government — are calling for German nuclear power plants to run longer and for the ban on natural gas extraction through the process known as fracking to be lifted. 

But which of these measures will actually help prevent an impending energy crisis — and what would the consequences be for the climate and the environment?

Should German nuclear power plants run longer?

Currently, only three nuclear power plants are still connected to the grid in Germany. As things stand, they will be shut down by the end of 2022 as part of the country's complete withdrawal from the controversial energy source.

"Germany has been working toward the phaseout for a long time, and accordingly the nuclear power plant operators have reduced their staff and also stopped ordering new fuel rods," explained Bruno Burger of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany.

The Nuclear Energy Industry Association considers the procurement of new fuel rods to be feasible — but not until fall 2023 at the earliest.

"Over the coming winter, the nuclear power plants could just about run, in other words with a limited output," according to association spokesman Nicolas Wendler.

Germany only has three nuclear power plants still in operation

But there is a further problem: Burger pointed out that Germany obtains 20% of its uranium from Russia, and another 20% from Kazakhstan, which is also in Russia's sphere of influence. That means alternative sources would need to be found. Additionally, it would take decades to build new nuclear power plants. 

What's more, the existing power plants generated a total of some 34.5 terawatt hours (TWh) — or 34.5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) — of electricity in 2021. By comparison, wind power generated 113 TWh, three times as much.

Though no CO2 is released when using nuclear power, uranium mining leads to radioactive waste. So far, Germany has no long-term storage facility for this dangerous waste.

And as the climate crisis makes Germany hotter, nuclear power plants increasingly have to be closed down for days or even weeks. This is because higher temperatures mean river water is too warm to be used for cooling purposes.

Could Germany start fracking?

Around 5% of Germany's natural gas requirements are produced domestically by drilling in sandstone deposits. According to the German Federal Association of Natural Gas, Petroleum and Geoenergy (BVEG), there are currently still secured reserves of 32 billion cubic meters, the equivalent of about 320 TWh of energy.

The German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources estimates that about 450 billion cubic meters (4500 TWh) of natural gas are held in coal seams and another 2,300 billion cubic meters (23,000 TWh) in shale rock. Extraction would only be possible through fracking.

But the process is banned in Germany on the basis that the chemicals used in fracking pollute the environment and groundwater. And even if the ban were lifted, German fracked gas would still not be available this winter — or even next.

"Even if we were to open up to the use of fracking technology now, it would probably take up to four or five years before production could begin," said Ludwig Möhring, BVEG's chief executive. Because of the opposition in both political and civil society, the BVEG does not see much room for maneuver. Ultimately, the strategic decision lies solely with the German government, Möhring added. 

And there is also another major environmental concern.

"During production, between 3% and 5% of gas can be lost and end up in the atmosphere. That's devastating, because methane is even more damaging to the climate than CO2," said energy scientist Burger. Natural gas is mainly composed of methane.

Are wind and solar a short-term solution?

In April, the German government introduced an ambitious package of new rules for the expansion of renewable energies — but they are not yet formally in place.

Currently, wind energy projects totaling about 10,000 megawatts are in the approval process, according to Frank Grüneisen of the German Wind Energy Association. But on average, the procedures take six years per wind turbine. So there will be nowhere near enough new wind turbines by the fall.

Can wind energy be a solution to Germany's energy crisis?

The situation is similar for solar energy. Although photovoltaic and solar thermal systems can be produced and put into operation relatively quickly, Carsten Körnig, managing firector of the German Solar Industry Association, said the industry is still suffering from interrupted supply chains as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

He said a more rapid expansion hinges on having fewer bureaucratic hurdles and greater financial incentives and planning security.

Körnig estimates that more than a thousand plants installed on commercial sites are currently not allowed to feed electricity into the grid because the conditions for doing so were changed two years ago. 

"That's several million kilowatt hours that aren't going into the grid," he said.

Andrea Horbelt, spokesperson for the German Biogas Association, said biogas plants could quickly ramp up their production from 95 TWh to 120 TWh per year. But such a move is currently prevented by the old Renewable Energy Sources Act, under which output is throttled at 95%. Under the right conditions, it would be possible to reach more than 230 TWh annually by 2030. "That corresponds to 42% of current natural gas supplies from Russia," said Horbelt.

More coal power and less energy consumption in the short term?

According to the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Russian energy supplies can be replaced in the short term through the use of more coal. This would require the lignite and hard coal-fired power plants currently in operation to generate more electricity.

In addition, power plants that have been shut down but are still held in reserve for the grid would have to be restarted. The German Economic Affairs and Climate Action Ministry has already called on power plant operators to be prepared to make their plants operational as soon as possible.

Germany's plan to stop domestic coal extraction could be scuppered

Depending on how much energy can be saved, the DIW calculates that 41 to 73 TWh of coal-fired power will be needed in 2023. Nevertheless, Germany could stick to both the coal phaseout planned for 2030 and the nuclear phaseout, the DIW said. But this will only work if renewable energies are actually expanded as broadly as planned by the federal government. In that case, coal-fired power generation could drop significantly again as early as 2024.

According to Bruno Burger of the Fraunhofer Institute ISE, the combustion of coal releases on average twice as much CO2 as that of natural gas, and for lignite the figure is two and a half times as much. However, due to the loss of methane during extraction and transport, natural gas is not a climate-friendly option either.

One more solution: Reduce consumption

Whatever path Germany takes, the DIW, the scientific research center Forschungszentrum Jülich and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) all agree that a loss of Russian natural gas cannot be entirely replaced by other energy sources. They say less energy must be consumed overall.

For example, BDEW sees "short-term savings potential" in space heating more than anything. Here, the trade, commerce and services sector could save up to 10% on previous consumption, while private households could save up to 15%.

In order to reduce energy demand, "energy-saving campaigns are needed as quickly as possible," wrote the DIW. In addition, measures must be implemented very quickly to increase energy efficiency and facilitate the switch to renewable heat, in conjunction with heat pumps.

This article was originally published in German.

Russia's blockade on Ukrainian grain 'is a disaster'

US historian Timothy Snyder has compared Russia's blockade of grain supplies from Ukraine with Stalin's terror of hunger. At the Global Media Forum, he called for more independent reporting from on the ground in Ukraine.

"This is a disaster," said US historian Timothy Snyder of the situation in Ukraine. Speaking at DW's Global Media Forum, the contemporary historian and expert on Eastern Europe referred to Russia's grain blockade in the Black Sea as a policy resembling the Soviet period of Stalinism in the early 1930s.

He drew parallels to Stalin's terror of starvation in Ukraine, which claimed millions of lives. But at that time, Snyder said, there were no journalists drawing international attention to the famine. Russia's war of aggression will now lead to a new famine that will last for two years, Snyder warned.

Looking back in history

At the time, Stalin's terror regime also had an impact on Germany's Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who invaded Soviet Ukraine during World War II.

"The famine in 1933 and 1932 was also an inspiration to Adolf Hitler, whose main goal was to control the fertile agricultural territory of Ukraine," Snyder said at the conference.

Alternative export hub are sought for Ukrainian grain, as this corn on a ship

 in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania

Timothy Snyder's book "Bloodlands: Europe between Stalin and Hitler" is the first comprehensive contemporary historical analysis of the people in eastern Europe who suffered most at the hands of Germany and Russia during World War II. In Belarus and Ukraine alone, 14 million people fell victim first to the German campaign of extermination in the east, and then to Stalinism until the dictator died in 1953.

Knowledge of the basic facts in Ukrainian history, said historian Snyder, will make the current situation much easier to understand.

African journalists reporting from Kyiv

Snyder gave his keynote address at the closing event of the media conference, calling on western nations to engage more with the war-torn country and naming independent media reporting as a vital factor.

DW's Global Media Forum takes place in Bonn, Germany

"Rather than letting Moscow tell the story, it is very important to make sure that everyone has a voice," Snyder said. He urged reporters from Africa to go to Kyiv to report on the situation, as their countries would be affected by the worldwide famine caused by this war.

Snyder made a strong plea for active intervention in Ukraine. After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, he said, the big mistake was believing that liberal democracies would prevail.

In response to a question from a participant in Africa about how he could even get to Ukraine to report on the situation there, Snyder responded: "I am pleading for someone to organize it."

He added that it must be made clear who is responsible for a worldwide famine: the Russian Black Sea Fleet and its blockade.

Remembering killed journalists

At a panel discussion earlier on Wednesday, Paul Ronzheimer, deputy editor-in-chief of the German tabloid Bild, spoke of his reporting assignment in eastern Ukraine where the Ukrainian army is under fierce Russian artillery attacks. Ronzheimer remembered the journalists who lost their lives while covering this war. He recalled having a conversation with US cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski just before he went on an assignment with TV producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, during which both were killed in a Russian attack north of Kyiv earlier this year.

Pierre Zakrzewski, a cameraman for Fox News, was killed while working in Ukraine

 

He stressed that international journalists are still in a privileged position, as they are able to leave the war zone at their own free will — unlike the many Ukrainian employees of major news organizations. Ronzheimer called for local staff to be given special protection.

At the same panel discussion, Dmitri Dubov, the editor-in-chief of Russian-language Channel 9 in Israel, said that the safety of employees and critical examination of news sources must always take precedence over speed and exclusivity. Dubrov said he expects his reporters in conflict areas to focus on individuals and tell emotional stories, while editors in the newsroom back home focus on the necessary fact-checking.

"This also helps combat disinformation because we are reporting on the fate of individual people who are experiencing the conflict at that very moment," he explained.

Dmytro Khilchenko, representing the public broadcaster UA:PBC in Ukraine, noted how important it is to check sources on both sides of any conflict, especially in Russia's war against Ukraine.

"This war is happening online: On the messenger services Whatsapp and Telegram," he said. "There, videos are uploaded directly from the frontlines — dead soldiers, destroyed war equipment. You can follow everything almost live."

He questioned making sense despite many sources: "How do we understand who we can trust or not? " This, he said, requires intensive work in the newsrooms. But sometimes mistakes are made there, too.

Fighting stereotypes and prejudice

While the war in Ukraine was the overarching topic of this year's Global Media Forum, diversity issues took center stage, too. In the panel discussion "The Power of Stereotypes," participants spoke out against the extent to which Western media coverage of poverty and hunger determines the way the African continent is perceived in the world.

Constructive approaches to reporting on life in Africa have to take a back seat when coverage focuses on the displacement of people as a possible consequence of the food crisis in the wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine.

Journalists should focus on constructive approaches and showing daily life in Africa

According to Nigerian TV presenter Moky Makura, journalists reporting on Africa should always seek to tell stories that are "completely different." Makura, who has lived in London and Johannesburg and runs the online news portal Africa No Filter, said it is important to show real life in African countries. She believes in constructive reporting as a principle for news organizations working around the world. It is also her way to combat racism and prejudice in the West.

This article was originally written in German.

Explained: Why is Kaliningrad so important to Russia?

Russia and Lithuania have become embroiled in a row after the EU state barred transport of some Kaliningrad-bound goods through its territory. But where is Kaliningrad, why is it part of Russia and what makes it so key?

Kaliningrad city is along the Baltic Sea coast

Lithuania on Monday began blocking goods banned under EU anti-Russia sanctions from being transported through its territory to Russian's Kaliningrad exclave. Prohibited items include coal, metals and construction materials. Over the weekend, video footage showed some panic buying at construction supply stores.

Russia's foreign ministry blasted the ban as "openly hostile" and demanded that transit through the region be restored immediately. Russian TASS news agency reporting that the transport of food has also been blocked. Moscow warned that Lithuania may face measures of "serious negative impact" in response. Lithuania, however, said it was merely fulfilling its responsibilities as an EU member by implementing sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

What is Kaliningrad?

Kaliningrad is Russia's westernmost region, or oblast. It is an exclave, meaning it shares no borders with mainland Russia. Kaliningrad has a strip of Baltic Sea coast in its west, while bordering on Lithuania in the north and east, and Poland in the south. It spans an area of 15,000 square kilometers (5,830 square miles, about the size of East Timor), and has a population of roughly a million. Its capital is the eponymous city of Kaliningrad, where about half of that population lives.

Why does Kaliningrad belong to Russia?

The area of present-day Kaliningrad used to be part of the Kingdom of Prussia, and had a mixed Polish, Lithuanian and German-speaking population. After the defeat of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, the territory was ceded to Soviet Russia. Its main city, known in German times as Königsberg, was renamed Kaliningrad — the same name given to the entire area.

After the collapse and disintegration of the Soviet Union, Kaliningrad became part of Russia.

Why is Kaliningrad important to Russia?

Kaliningrad's geographic location is strategically and militarily advantageous to Russia. It is Russia's only port on the Baltic Sea that is ice-free year-round, and the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet is based there.

Russia also holds nuclear missiles in Kaliningrad, placing them within close striking range of major European capitals. Neighboring countries Lithuania and Poland are EU and NATO states.

What else in Kaliningrad known for?

Philosopher Immanuel Kant was born in Königsberg, today's city of Kaliningrad, in 1724. He spent most of his life in the Prussian city and lies buried there. Kant is famous for trying to synthesize scientific and moral progress.

Fossilised tree resin, commonly known as amber, is highly sought after for use in jewelry

Kaliningrad also happens to be the center of the world's amber trade. Some 90 percent of the world's amber reserves are found there.

Edited by: Sonya Diehn

Why Did Ukraine Give Up Its Nukes? 

(Short Animated Documentary)

  

History Matters

In 1991, Ukraine had the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world and by 1996, it had completely disarmed. Given the clout that comes with nuclear weapons, why did Ukraine decide to scrap them? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

Will Germany return to nuclear power?

As Germany moves to wean itself off Russian energy, politicians are debating a pause to the country's planned nuclear phaseout. Experts warn, however, that it may not be so easy.

Germany still has three nuclear power plants in operation, including one near Landshut in Bavaria

Germany is heading into an energy crisis as Russia cuts gas supplies in retaliation for sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner warned this week that the country was on the brink of a "very serious economic crisis," and the government needed to explore all avenues to plug the gaps in the nation's energy supply.

To that end, Linder's business-focused Free Democrats (FDP), the smallest party in Berlin's governing coalition alongside the Green Party and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), have called to postpone Germany's nuclear energy phaseout. After several shutdowns in 2021, Germany currently still has three nuclear power stations running to provide 11% of the country's electricity. They are all set to be switched off by the end of the year.

Anti-nuclear protesters celebrated their victory in December when the Grohnde plant was shut down

Germany's opposition to nuclear power

The use of nuclear energy as a "green" alternative to fossil fuels is controversial in Germany. The Green Party has argued for decades that the environmental hazards of disposing of nuclear waste vastly outnumbered the benefits.

When they came to power in a coalition government under SPD Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in 1998, they pushed successfully for the phaseout of nuclear energy. The subsequent conservative government under the center-right Christian Democrat Chancellor Angela Merkel first rolled back the timeline, but the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan turned the tide again and Merkel pushed her party toward the phaseout after all.

The CDU is now Germany's largest opposition party, and has been demanding that the nuclear phaseout be called off. "It is technically and legally possible" for the three remaining reactors to keep on operating beyond the end of this year, said CDU chairman Friedrich Merz on Tuesday.

He was contradicting Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD, who had argued it would be too hard to source the necessary nuclear fuel rods in time. Scholz said that "no one has provided me with a feasible plan" to quickly increase the output of Germany's three remaining nuclear plants — which as of now provide only 11% of the country's electricity.

The Branchenverband Kernenergie, an umbrella organization for nuclear energy businesses in Germany, told the Müncher Merkur newspaper that an extension was indeed possible, but called for quick decision-making. "The power plants are in the process of shutting down. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to start them up again," it said.

According to Christian von Hirschhausen, an expert in energy and infrastructure at the German Institute for Economic Research, Scholz has the most scientifically sound grasp of the situation.

Bringing nuclear energy back online was technically and legally "impossible," von Hirschhausen told DW. There was no way to revert the decommissioning process over the next 18 months, he said, due to the time it takes to order, deliver and install equipment as well as enriched uranium.

"They would also need to implement a new set of safety standards and checks," von Hirschhausen added, to replace those that have not been carried out in years due to the phaseout, and new laws to govern the power plants' use.

Gas crunch

As it was winding down its use of nuclear power over the past decade, Germany's reliance on Russian energy sources was ratcheted up. Almost all of the country's heavy industry is reliant on natural gas, as are about half of German homes for their source of heating.

Early this year, around 65% of natural gas in Germany came from Russia. Now, that has dropped to below 40%. In 2021, about 53% of Germany's coal needed for power and industrial production was imported from Russia, which is to be reduced to zero after an EU-wide ban takes effect in August.

In order to head off an energy crisis, Berlin is looking to fill up its gas reserves from the current 60% to at least 80% by October, and to total capacity before the winter.

This plan has left politicians scrambling to secure new import partners for oil and gas and speed up the expansion of solar and wind energy. They have also reluctantly extended the lifespan of the country's coal plants, despite promises to phase out coal entirely by 2030.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner (left) backs nuclear energy, while 

Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens is opposed

Many worry, however, that all this may not be enough, and they have been looking even further afield for new sources of energy. FDP lawmaker Torsten Herbst and Bavaria's center-right state premier, Markus Söder, were among the first to suggest Berlin lift its ban on fracking, a method of extracting shale gas that is popular in the United States but highly controversial for the amount of methane it leaks into the groundwater.

Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck, of the Green Party, remains opposed to nuclear energy and fracking, and finds it hard to advocate for something as destructive to the climate as coal.

But increasing the use of coal, von Hirschhausen said, "is just a temporary measure. It makes sense if we want to build up reserves...so that there aren't major shortages in the energy supply."

In an interview with public broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday, Habeck vowed that the government's ambitious plan to completely exit coal in the next eight years was still on track.

The coalition is set to debate ways to avert a potentially disastrous lack of energy supply in the next two weeks, with an eye to presenting a new plan at the beginning of July.

Edited by: Rina Goldenber