Ultra-processed food firms ‘hindering effort to tackle obesity crisis by suing countries’ (Guardian)

Claire Mitchell, one of the 'happy lundies', today at Féile 1pm. "But I do know that, for me, participating in conversations about Irish unity has been a deep act of political and personal reconciliation."

Something for an alternative Twelfth www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

The Ghost Limb - RTÉ Radio 1

Northern Ireland Protestant author, Claire Mitchell, frustrated at having no place to call home, embarks on a historical and magical journey, to heal what she calls her Ghost Limb.

rte.ie

"In a contemporary political wasteland dominated by billionaires, war criminals, mega-corporations, AI and arms salesmen, the greater happiness of ordinary folk barely computes." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The immorality of world leaders is contagious. Thank heavens for the pope | Simon Tisdall

In a political wasteland dominated by billionaires, war criminals and mega-corporations, the head of the Catholic church is a rare figure of moral leadership, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator...

theguardian.com

"Ifac anticipates that the fines for not meeting our targets in 2030 would be paid in 2032 and that they will range from €6.8 billion to as high as €26 billion." (Ir Times front page)

If Data Centers Are So Great, Why Are They Being Built in Secret? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres

In 1993, she squeezed a $333m settlement from a Californian energy company in a scandal over contaminated water. Three decades later, she has a new target in her sights – and it’s global

theguardian.com

Pat Leahy not impressed by Simon Harris's unity "blueprint" by November. Or any unity plan for that matter - it's just all "very hard".

Barbados’s prime minister, Mia Mottley, has announced a new manifesto from Caribbean leaders asserting the “moral, ethical and legal case” for reparations over damage caused by hundreds of years of enslavement.

Some background on the Simon Harris pitch for unity: So far there is nothing to indicate whether the promised November document will lay out a long list of options, or set down the price that comes with the choices that those wanting unity will have to face.

Democracy 😬 "Of 10 fund managers asked by the FT in May which leading contender to replace Starmer would be worst for the UK government bond market, six picked Burnham."

The time to prepare for Irish Unity is now. Today Mary Lou McDonald is introducing a Bill in the Dáil that would begin structured and responsible planning for Irish Unity and constitutional change. The future of Ireland should be shaped democratically by the Irish People. 🇮🇪💚

"It is in Ireland that Revolut has had the greatest success in seizing market share from rivals old and new. Here it has 3.4mn customers, more than 80 per cent of the country’s adult population."

"The most recent survey evidence shows that many people are joining the march towards Irish unity. It is Prof Shirlow’s case for maintenance of the union that rests on an outdated picture." Mike Burke

Geraldine Finucane: "I believe this inquiry can be a watershed moment in the difficult subject of legacy on this island."

Academic lines up with those British military types arguing for a new naval base in Derry and RAF expansion at Aldergrove: "As geopolitics shifts, the argument that the place [N Ireland] has no strategic value is exposed"

“The conversation is now centre stage and more and more people are talking about constitutional change.” from Irish News double-page spread on Colin Harvey.

"Parents see grammar schools as the solution to our education problems, when in reality grammar schools are part of the problem."

"This is a failure premium: the recurring surcharge that the Irish State pays because it never built the institutions to fix the underlying problems." Sinead O'Sullivan.

"Delays, high capital costs and overruns mean new reactors such as Hinkley Point C will generate some of the most expensive electricity in the world when they finally come on stream."

O'Sullivan: Irish govt policy based on short-termism and is transfixed by the interests of foreign-owned multinational companies... the government will continue to fail in housing as long as there is no state institution that buys land and builds houses.

Amsterdam is the world's first capital city to ban public advertisements for both meat and fossil fuel products. "Since 1 May, adverts for burgers, petrol cars and airlines have been stripped from billboards, tram shelters, and metro stations." www.aol.com/amsterdam-ba...

Amsterdam bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels - AOL

Local politicians say the move is in line with the Dutch capital's environmental targets.

aol.com

The pace and scale of Chinese freight electrification is eye-opening: 29 per cent of all new heavy trucks sold in China last year were fully electric. But Ireland is nowhere.

EU sentiment poll indicated that "if a referendum were held today on a united Ireland in the EU, 59% in Ireland would vote in favour and 22% against, with 63% voting in favour in Northern Ireland and 29% against." (Irish News)

"the need for better coordination between statistical authorities [in Ireland N and S] to produce timely, comparable metrics, particularly for income, health, housing, poverty and education, so that future debates and policy decisions are grounded in robust evidence." muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...

Looks like an Taoiseach has been bitten by the small modular nuclear reactor bug.

"When, in 2028, the retirement age rises to 67, the average person will be in poor health more than six years before they are due to stop work. The researchers state that the decline cannot be put down to the pandemic. Northern Ireland was excluded due to a lack of data." Guardian editorial

"Trump has a particular animosity towards wind farms."

"Israel’s mass detention of political prisoners lies at the heart of its system of control over Palestinians, and is modelled in part after the British military court system set up in 1937 under its Mandate of Palestine."

Crimes against nature: Near-zero protections for the Mournes argues Chris Hazzard MP

Proposed Ennis data centre will emit 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases – more carbon than 50,000 people would produce – every year. This one data centre will consume 21 per cent of the carbon budget for the electricity sector by 2030.