Israel’s largest state-owned defence company, which is directly involved in the war on Gaza, has received millions of euros in EU defence funding, an investigation has revealed.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is participating in EU-funded projects through the Greek company Intracom Defense, which it acquired in May 2023.

According to a report published on Wednesday by Investigate Europe, the French newsroom Disclose and the Greek outlet Reporters United, Intracom Defense is currently involved in 15 European Defence Fund (EDF) projects worth at least €15m (around $17.5m).

American-style intensive livestock farms are spreading across Europe, with new data revealing more than 24,000 megafarms across the continent.

In the UK alone, there are now 1,824 industrial-scale pig and poultry farms, according to the data obtained by AGtivist that relates to 2023.

The countries with the largest number of intensive poultry farm units are France, UK, Germany, Italy and Poland in that order. For poultry farming alone, the UK ranks as having the second-highest number of intensive farms at 1,553, behind France with 2,342.

The top 10 countries for intensive pig and poultry farms combined are Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, UK, Denmark, Poland, Belgium and Hungary, according to information obtained from the European Commission, and country-specific regulatory agencies and colleges.

In February 2024, the European Commission’s president received an appeal from the governments of Ireland and Spain.

The joint letter referred to a preliminary International Court of Justice ruling from the previous month which deemed as plausible allegations made by South Africa that Israel had violated the Genocide Convention.

Ireland and Spain then sought an “urgent review” of whether Israel was upholding its obligations to respect human rights, as stipulated in the association agreement underpinning its relations with the European Union.

I recently submitted a freedom of information request asking for access to all briefing documents drawn up for von der Leyen on how the issues raised by Ireland and Spain should be addressed.

The European Commission has now confirmed that it has no records of any such material being compiled within the three months after the appeal by Ireland and Spain was made.

Only one conclusion can be drawn from that fact: Von der Leyen did not regard the call from Ireland and Spain as something which should prompt action on her part. She, therefore, neither asked her staff for advice about how to respond nor issued them any instructions.

Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (TK) has ruled that European Union energy and climate regulations are incompatible with the Polish constitution and breach national sovereignty in determining energy policy.

The Tribunal found that EU institutions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), had exceeded their competences by interpreting EU treaties in a way that significantly impacts Poland’s ability to choose its energy sources independently.

Interpretations of EU law “cannot mean that Poland loses control over the scope of its delegated competences, and thus that there are areas in which its sovereignty (here: energy) is not protected”, the court said in a statement announcing its decision.

However, the ruling is unlikely to have any real effect for now given that the current government, a coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, does not recognise the TK’s legitimacy due to it containing judges unlawfully appointed by the former Law and Justice (PiS) administration.

The case was brought by a group of opposition lawmakers led by Sebastian Kaleta, a PiS MP and former deputy justice minister. The motion challenged the compatibility of EU climate rules – including Directive 2003/87/EC, which created the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) – with the Polish constitution.

The MPs argued that, although Poland had transferred some powers to Brussels, it should retain sovereignty over critical energy decisions. They claimed that mandatory participation in the EU ETS restricts economic freedom and undermines the state’s ability to ensure energy security.

They also warned that EU decision-making processes, which do not require unanimity in the European Council on issues affecting Poland’s energy mix, might breach the limits of competence conferred on the EU and undermine the primacy of the Polish constitution.

In its ruling, the TK agreed with the motion’s core arguments. It held that the CJEU had extended the interpretation of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union beyond the conferred competences, infringing on national sovereignty.

“Competences not conferred on the European Union belong to the member states themselves, and the EU can only act on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, subject to the scrutiny of national parliaments at all times,” the court said.

Consequently, the TK found this interpretation of EU law to be incompatible with the Polish constitution, emphasising that Poland cannot lose control over the scope of delegated powers, especially in such a key area as energy sovereignty.

The TK, however, discontinued proceedings relating specifically to the ETS “due to the incomplete, from a formal point of view, definition of the object under verification”.

The TK concluded its statement by stating that it was now up to the Polish legislature and executive to take “appropriate public law measures” to implement the decision, which enters into force upon its publication.

However, it is the government that is responsible for publishing TK rulings, and it refuses to do so due to given that some of the tribunal’s judges were illegitimately appointed under PiS.

The ruling could still reverberate in Polish politics, however. The PiS-aligned president-elect, Karol Nawrocki, who takes office in August, said last month that the TK’s decision on this case could be a way to lower the electricity prices by 33% – one of his campaign promises.

He also pledged to hold a referendum on withdrawing from the EU’s Green Deal – a set of policies aimed at reaching climate neutrality by 2050 – and reaffirmed his support for coal, which remains Poland’s main source of electricity generation and is also widely used for heating homes.

PiS politicians welcomed the verdict, insisting that it means that Poland does not have to implement the Green Deal.

“The EU has not been given the competence to decide without the consent of Poland which energy sources we can use and what fiscal burdens may be imposed on individual sources,” Kaleta wrote on X. “This opens the path for a radical reduction in electricity and heating prices now.”

The former justice minister in the PiS government, Zbigniew Ziobro, meanwhile, challenged Tusk, asking if he would “break the law again and hide the verdict to drive Poles into poverty” or “will you behave as you should?”

The government has so far not commented on the TK’s ruling.

More than 300 Foreign Office staff have been told to consider resigning after they wrote a letter over fears the government had become complicit in Israel’s alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The letter, first reported by Novara Media, said: “In July 2024, staff expressed concern about Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law and potential UK government complicity.

The reply to the letter was sent by the permanent under-secretary, Oliver Robbins, and Nick Dyer, the second most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office. They told the signatories: “If your disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound, your ultimate recourse is to resign from the civil service. This is an honourable course.” The reply did not address the substantive complaints by staff.

Israel has already proven it’s the good guy by spraying the Madleen with an unknown chemical, ramming the vessel, boarding it and making the crew throw their mobile phones overboard.

Israeli commandos were so nice during the encounter that they agreed not to kill anyone as long as they showed total obedience. In fact, the commandos showed such restraint that they didn’t even strip anyone naked. Well, not that I know of…

Israel was temporarily nice to the crew of the Madleen so it could get a propaganda picture and then it took them ashore where it tried to make them watch footage of October 7. When the crew refused, it demanded they sign deportation papers accepting they had illegally entered Israel, even though they were in international waters and it was Israel who took them to Israel!

I understand some of the Madleen crew signed the deportation papers and were sent on their way, but disgracefully, Rima Hassan refused to be repatriated. Apparently, she wouldn’t confess to something she hadn’t done because she has “principles”. Israel says it therefore has no choice but to keep her as a hostage, I mean an, um, prisoner.

Obviously, prisoner is the only accurate word to describe someone who is being illegally detained, having committed no crime. Hassan can’t be a hostage because she smiled defiantly and ate a sandwich and no hostage would ever eat a sandwich. It disrespects all those who were captured on October 7 to call Hassan a hostage, just because she is being held against her will after being abducted by armed men.

I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but Hassan is Palestinian and it’s fine to treat Palestinians this way. It’s what Israel has always done x

Graz Mayor Elke Kahr has now said that 10 people have been killed in this morning's shooting. School students are among the dead and a number of people have been reported wounded.

Police say the suspected gunman probably took his own life after the attack on the Dreierschützengasse high school at about 10:00 (09:00 BST).

It is not clear at the moment if the gunman was a student or a former student at the school.

After Greta Thunberg made an appeal for pressure to be put on the Swedish government to release her and the other activists from the Israelis, the Foreign Ministry released a statement saying consular support could be offered to her and any other Swedes.

That’s how it stood for most of the day. But within the last hour, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard was interviewed outside the Swedish parliament.

She said the assessment of the situation is that the activists on the Madleen are not in any danger and, therefore, aren’t in need of consular support.

https://archive.ph/IftGV

French anti-terror authorities have opened two investigations into allegations of genocide-related crimes, following accusations that French-"Israeli" nationals participated in efforts to obstruct humanitarian aid destined for Gaza earlier this year.

According to France's national anti-terror prosecutor's office (PNAT), the probes are centered on possible "complicity in genocide," "incitement to genocide," and "complicity in crimes against humanity" between January and May 2024. These mark the first known French criminal inquiries into potential violations of international law linked to the war in Gaza.

Speaking at a Berlin press conference with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar, he said that "negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must be concluded" first, before the recognition of a Palestinian state.

He also stressed that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas and other enemies, and that "therefore Germany will of course continue to support Israel with arms deliveries, that was never in doubt".

Dutch universities are involved in at least 28 new technology and product development projects funded by European subsidies that could benefit the Israeli military, according to an investigation by Follow the Money.

Since 2007, Israel has allegedly received approximately 3 billion euros from Horizon Europe, the EU’s science and innovation funding program aimed at boosting the EU's global competitiveness. Since 2020, EU rules require all projects to serve exclusively civilian purposes, including those involving dual-use materials and technologies that could also be applied militarily.

The TU Delft is currently engaged in seven dual-use projects with Israeli partners, and TU Eindhoven in eight. A TU Eindhoven spokesperson acknowledged the difficulty in distinguishing civilian from military applications, stating, “The distinction between civilian and military applications is sometimes almost impossible to make.”

Half of Israel’s Horizon funding—about 1.5 billion euros over 20 years—went to Israeli universities, the other half to companies. One such company, Xtend Defence, received 50,000 euros for drone development. These drones were reportedly used in October 2024 to kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The European Commission does not monitor whether research results are eventually used militarily.

Industry committee of the European Parliament shows necessity and benefits of “open-source first” policy but report lacks concrete measures.

Former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a well-known Zionist cheerleader and warmonger, has been elected as the new president of the United Nations General Assembly (UNSC), raising eyebrows worldwide.

Her statements often emphasized the so-called Israeli "right to self-defense" while offering limited critique of its genocidal actions, particularly after the events of October 7, 2023. She legitimized Israeli attacks on civilians and on October 10, 2024, stated in the German Bundestag that "civilian sites in Gaza could lose their protected status if used by Hamas," which drew widespread backlash.

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, criticized Baerbock’s October 2024 speech, noting that while civilian sites can lose protected status under international law if used militarily, disproportionate harm to civilians remains illegal, a nuance Baerbock’s statements overlooked.

Left Party MP Cansin Köktürk was thrown out of a German parliament plenary chamber on Wednesday for wearing a t-shirt with the word "Palestine" printed on it, a move deemed a political statement by the parliamentary leadership.

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner intervened during the session, reminding MPs that political messages on clothing are not permitted in the chamber.

While the Bundestag does not have a detailed dress code, its rules require MPs and visitors to dress "in keeping with the prestige" of the institution. Enforcement of this standard is left to the discretion of the session chair.