Zelensky to meet European leaders in Berlin Monday: Germany

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz (2nd L) embraces Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (2nd R) and French President Emmanuel Macron (R) look on following their meeting at Number 10 Downing Street in central London on December 8, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 13 December 2025
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Zelensky to meet European leaders in Berlin Monday: Germany

BERLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to travel to Berlin on Monday and meet European leaders as well as the heads of the EU and NATO, German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said.
Zelensky will attend a German-Ukrainian business forum and discuss “the status of peace negotiations in Ukraine” with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Kornelius said on Friday.
“In the evening, numerous European heads of state and government, as well as the leaders of the EU and NATO, will join the talks,” he said in a statement.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be among the leaders attending the talks in Berlin, a UK government official said.
The meeting will be part of a flurry of diplomacy around a plan to end the conflict in Ukraine originally proposed by US President Donald Trump last month.
Ukrainian officials on Wednesday said they had sent Washington an updated version of the plan, building on Trump’s original 28-point proposal.
 


‘Solar sheep’ help rural Australia go green

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‘Solar sheep’ help rural Australia go green

  • The panels have had another surprising side effect: Because the grass is shielded from the elements, it’s of more consistent quality

DUBBO: Australian farmer Tom Warren’s solar panels look like any other — until you spot the dozens of sheep grazing and napping, helping the country transition to green energy and earning him a decent income while doing it.

More than 30,000 solar panels are deployed across approximately 50 hectares at Warren’s farm on the outskirts of Dubbo, around 400 kilometers west of Sydney.

The farmer and landowner has been working with renewables firm Neoen for more than a decade and said he was initially worried the panels would restrict his sheep’s grazing.

It quickly became clear those fears were unfounded.

“Normally they would seek out trees and camp under the trees, but you can see that the sheep are seeking out the shade of the panels,” he told AFP at the farm in Dubbo.

“So, it’s a much better environment for them as well.”

The farm produces about 20 megawatts of power, he said — a “substantial amount” of the energy needs of the local area.

While he can’t disclose how much he earns from the panels, he said he’s taking in much more than he would from just farming.

“The solar farm income is greater than I would ever get off agriculture in this area — regardless of whether I have sheep running under the panels or not,” he said.

The panels have had another surprising side effect: Because the grass is shielded from the elements, it’s of more consistent quality.

That, in turn, has improved the wool produced by the sheep.

“The wool is actually better and cleaner,” Warren said.

“All over, we’ve had about a 15 percent increase in the gross revenue coming from the sheep running under the solar farm.”

Fellow farmer Tony Inder, based around 50 kilometers south in the town of Wellington, agrees.

His flock is much larger — 6,000 sheep grazing on two plots of land covering 4,000 hectares.