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The visit of European Commission president Von Der Leyen to India is her first to the country. The aim is to strengthen European Union's ties with India. The EU would like to take the cooperation between the two sides to the next level.

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The symbolism of the Ramstein Air Force Base is unique as US Defense Secretary Austin says this months meeting of Blinken and Austin at Ramstein with their European counterparts will be followed by monthly meetings. Lloyd Austin sees this as a monthly group on Ukraine self-defense. Ramstein Air Force base is the headquarters of the US Air Force in Europe, and of NATO Allied Air Command. For the first time the invasion of a free people and country in the middle of Europe is being taken seriously in Europe and the US.  In Germany Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck of the Greens have joined with Mr. Lindner of the Free Democrats to express the same views in the coalition government with the Social Democrats, making it clear that the German people are with the Americans and European leaders gathered at Ramstein base. The earlier symbolism of Merkel and Steinmeier and a German position of a bystander in the changes happening in the world in China and in Europe are now seen as having emboldened the Russian invasion of Ukraine. India and most Asian and Latin American countries and the UN Secretary General have called for an immediate end to the invasion.  ...

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Leonid Kravchuk is a Soviet era official who joined with Boris Yeltsin to support dissolution of the Soviet Union. He died at the age of 88 in May 2022. He is remembered for leading Ukraine to independence in 1991 with support of nationalists in western Ukraine and pro-Russian supporters in eastern Ukraine. Another reason he is remembered is for peaceful transition of power to his prime minister Mr. Kruchma in the 1994 election. He also dismantled Ukraine's large nuclear arsenal under pressure from Russia and the US. His failings were in letting corruption grow including the bankruptcy of the Black Sea Shipping Company, says DW.com. Ukraine had no experience in the democratic process. It has close ties with Poland which in the 17th and 18th century had some form of democratic process. Lviv is a short distance from Poland. Kravchuk was from a part of Ukraine that was once part of Poland. With a population of 52 million Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe. Its transition from the Soviet Union to a independent state was painful says DW.com with millions of people finding themselves living in poverty and the period being remembered as "kravchuchka." Since that period Ukraine has grown and was setting up new foundations for entry into the European Union.  ...

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Annalena Baerbock returns Benin Bronzes to Argentina is the lead story in Germany's national channel DW.com. She was speaking in Abuja- "We are here to right a wrong." Baerbock quoted a Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie- "Art informs who we are. It shapes how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive the world. We have learned from you: what we are returning is a part of your history, a part of who you are." Annalena is the rarest- who could speak in Abuja, in Africa, or Asia, like that, in a way that touches the African, or Asian people, like that? The warm words and action touched many in Abuja and around the world. 

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More of Nepal's women take on the work of mountain guides in the high mountains of the Himalayas in this story in the DW.com.

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Ancient grains are a way out of the shortage of supplies of wheat from Ukraine and Russia. Ancient grains are also healthy grains providing good nutrition in their own right and should be promoted for their health benefits. These grains are millet, einkorn, emmer, and a new perennial grain called Kernza from Kansas. DW.com looks at how this can be done.

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Germany is seeing more demographic changes as its population gets older. Only 10% of its 83 million population is in the younger age group of 15-24, according to Federal Statistical Office Destatis. Only 8.3 million are in the young age group 15-24 years. Compare this to 1983 when it was 17%. It also makes Germany a more conservative oriented country politically. And accelerates the shortage of young workers as the economy expands.

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Climate Reset Berlin, a coalition of climate change action groups, has introduced a referendum that brings forward climate change action goals put off till 2045. The referendum makes 2030 the new target date for 95% reduction in carbon emissions consistent with the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. Berlin is 80% dependent on fossil fuels for energy needs in 2023. Proponents say there is great potential for wind and solar energy. Opponents say that it is too costly and will take up funds now allocated for childcare and education. The outgoing Greens SPD government of Berlin opposes it, as does the new expected CDU government. The Green senator for Berlin supports it, as do other private groups. Buildings need to be renovated and private transport curbed which would cost billions of dollars. Opponents say this would bankrupt Berlin. Supporters say not enough is being done. If approved it goes into effect immediately. Supporters include the Sustainability Group at Humboldt University, Germany's national cyclists association. They say Berlin has 52 acres of available land in Brandenburg that could be used for wind energy. ...