Competition undertakings ‘ineffective’ in regional media

The British media executive has been hoovering up Irish titles

ontheditch.com

Pentagon drafting a new U.S. nuclear strategy in case of regional war with China or Russia, sources say

The classified strategy informs nuclear options for the commander in chief during crises.

nbcnews.com

AI committee FF TD has stock in IDF-vet-founded AI company

It was co-founded by a man who “conducted classified intelligence work” for the Israel Defense Forces.

ontheditch.com

ESB boss gets 29% pay rise | BreakingNews

The rise of just under €92,000 will bring the annual salary of chief executive Paddy Hayes to €410,000

breakingnews.ie

BBC censored film on British army killing child

Downing Street persuaded Panorama to cut an exposé on the shooting of an unarmed boy in Derry in 1972

declassifieduk.org

The Door They Will Not Shut

A sequel to No Form To Hold It, beginning with a correction to it.

forlouth.medium.com

Why did Ceuta migrant mayhem chill already frosty Israel-Spain relations?

What caused more than 50,000 migrants to storm a Spanish enclave in Africa, and did Israel have anything to do with it?

aje.news

Ryanair announces plans to fly tourists into occupied country against government in exile’s wishes - Dublin Inquirer

The move supports Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara, and will help finance its “illegal occupation” of the territory, a Polisario Front representative says.

dublininquirer.com

Ceuta is not a migration incident – it is a front in the war for the straits

The chaotic rush of tens of thousands of people into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta at the end of July was not an isolated border incident. It belongs to a wider, accelerating contest for control of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints – a contest that already looks like one of the defining theatres of what some now call World War III. Russia has effectively secured the Sea of Azov. Iran dominates the Strait of Hormuz. Through its proxies, Tehran is pressing hard for influence over the Bab el-Mandeb. Each of these waterways is a strategic artery of global trade and energy. The pattern is clear: great-power and regional actors are seeking to hold or deny the narrow passages that decide who moves freely and who is constrained. Ceuta sits at the western end of this chain. Together with Melilla, the Spanish cities on the North African coast give Spain – and therefore the European Union – decisive weight over the territorial waters of the Strait of Gibraltar. Thanks to these enclaves, the bulk of the waters around the strait fall under Spanish, and thus European, jurisdiction. Lose them, and Europe’s geopolitical footprint at one of the planet’s most important maritime gateways shrinks overnight. The strait would no longer be an EU-controlled hinge between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; it would become a contested zone in which European influence is markedly weaker. In virtually every major “migration” incident of recent years a hybrid-attack pattern can be detected. The most obvious cases were the organised push across the Russian border into Finland and the continuing pressure via Belarusian territory against the Baltic states and Poland, where migrants from distant regions of the world were deliberately transported and then dumped at the frontier. A deeper forensic look at the 2015 crisis would almost certainly reveal similar careful preparations: the sudden appearance of large numbers of oversized rubber boats whose production and import chains have never been fully explained, and the coordinated role played by certain networks and NGOs that facilitated uncontrolled arrivals on a scale that overwhelmed national systems. What looks like spontaneous humanitarian movement is too often the result of deliberate logistics, financing and political timing. It is therefore unsurprising that observers in Kyiv have already pointed to Russian efforts to instrumentalise the Ceuta crisis as a means of putting pressure on Europe. A divided or distracted European Union that fails to defend the territorial integrity of one of its member states is an easier target on every other front. We have detected an intensive Russian propaganda campaign across Europe using pictures from Ceuta to sow destabilization. There have been more than 1,500 publications on outlets identified by analysts as a pro-Russian network, led by Pravda and RT. Pravda Spanish has posted… pic.twitter.com/lpy2GLPBXU — Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) July 31, 2026 The Spanish government may not share the same political outlook as many of its EU partners. That is irrelevant. The sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla is not a Spanish domestic matter; it is a European strategic interest. If the Union cannot demonstrate clear, practical solidarity with Spain when its territory and its control of a vital strait are challenged, the message to every other actor watching the world’s chokepoints will be unmistakable: Europe is divided, and divided it will fail. The drama in Ceuta was a warning. The question is whether Europe still has the cohesion to treat it as such. Caption: Young men who returned from Spain gather at the Bab Sebta border crossing near Fnideq, Morocco, 31 July 2026. The unrest erupted as thousands gathered near the border, some attempted to cross into Ceuta and clashed with Moroccan security forces. EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI

eualive.net

Germany has lost its moral compass, as it shields Israel from sanctions and legal scrutiny

Germany has betrayed its post-war moral and legal foundations by shielding Israel from accountability for alleged violations of international law, writes former EU envoy Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff.

euobserver.com

Exclusive: EU Commission still seeking controversial police agreement with Israel, despite warnings - Statewatch

The EU Commission has broken the law pursuing a police cooperation agreement with Israel that may itself breach international law.

statewatch.org

The Fake ‘Invasion’ of Spain: What You Need to Know

9 things you should know about the so-called ‘crisis’ of Moroccan migrants forcing their way into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta – and the hysterical response from the right in the U.S., UK, and EU.

zeteo.com

RAF deal: rough deal for truth - Village Magazine

Coveney and Martin lied to the Dáil on a fundamental matter of state

villagemagazine.ie

‘Action is needed’: EPA warns many private water supplies are not being monitored

The EPA warned many small private supplies are not registered and not monitored by local authorities, which creates a ‘risk to public health’.

jrnl.ie

Judicial reviews are a fundamental part of democracy — not a dig at the Government by greedy lawyers

A judicial review is any case taken against any public body that may have broken the law — it's the separation of powers working as intended, writes Cathal Malone

irishexaminer.com

The 10 greatest controversies of Winston Churchill's career

The UK is marking the 50th anniversary of of Winston Churchill's death. Many regard him as the greatest Briton, but for some he remains intensely controversial.

bbc.com

Data down the drain: We're told to cut our showers short, but data centres face no such pressure

As the hosepipe ban stays in effect around the country, it is becoming increasingly clear that data centres have a transparency problem no one wants to solve.

jrnl.ie

Romania shuts nuclear reactor as Danube runs dangerously low

Romania has shut down one reactor at its Cernavodă nuclear power plant after the Danube’s water level fell to a critical threshold, highlighting the growing impact of extreme weather on Europe’s energy security and raising the prospect of further disruptions if drought conditions worsen. Romania’s state-owned nuclear operator Nuclearelectrica has taken Unit 1 at the Cernavodă nuclear power plant offline as a precaution after prolonged drought reduced the Danube’s flow, while warning that Unit 2 could also be shut down should conditions deteriorate further. “The measures are preventive and are intended to guarantee nuclear safety and the reliability of the installations,” the company said. Unit 1 will be reconnected to the national grid once operating conditions allow its safe restart. Nuclearelectrica said it will announce the timetable for reconnecting the reactor in due course. On Monday evening, caretaker Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, who is also serving as interim energy minister, convened an emergency meeting at the National Energy Dispatcher to assess the situation in Romania’s electricity system. According to the Energy Ministry, the Danube’s flow has dropped to around 1,630 cubic metres per second, prompting the decision to shut down Unit 1 in order to protect the plant’s three cooling pumps. “The measure is preventive and necessary to protect the equipment associated with the three cooling pumps. Damage to even one of the pumps would require complex repairs lasting several months and potentially up to a year,” the ministry said. The government stressed that the decision was taken solely as a precaution to preserve nuclear safety and avoid prolonged outages caused by damage to critical equipment. Romania expects electricity demand to peak at around 7,300 MW this week, while domestic generation is forecast to range between 4,000 MW and 4,300 MW. The shortfall will be covered through electricity imports. The Energy Ministry nevertheless insisted there is no risk to security of supply. “For this week, peak consumption is estimated at around 7,300 MW, approximately 700 MW lower than in previous weeks because of the holiday period. The difference between domestic production and demand will be covered through commercial imports without posing risks to the electricity system,” the ministry said. Before Unit 1 was disconnected on Tuesday morning, Romania was generating around 6,700 MW of electricity, supported by strong renewable output, including more than 2,000 MW from solar power and around 900 MW from wind, while demand stood at just over 5,000 MW. The ministry also sought to reassure households that retail electricity prices would remain unchanged, noting that residential consumers are protected by fixed-price annual supply contracts.  Romania is bringing additional generating capacity online. The Energy Ministry said 324 MW of new capacity is expected to receive regulatory approval for commercial operation, including 176 MW of battery storage and 148 MW of new solar and wind generation. A further 990 MW of projects are at various stages of the approval process, with the energy regulator holding validation meetings twice a week to accelerate commissioning. Romanian authorities said they continue to monitor market conditions and electricity production closely and are prepared to take additional measures to maintain the stability of the national power system should hydrological conditions deteriorate further. Cernavodă is Romania’s only nuclear power plant and one of the country’s most important strategic energy assets, typically supplying around one-fifth of national electricity demand through two Canadian-designed CANDU 6 reactors. Unit 1 entered commercial operation in 1996, followed by Unit 2 in 2007. Bucharest is simultaneously pursuing a major refurbishment of Unit 1 to extend its operating life by another 30 years, while advancing plans to complete Units 3 and 4 with Western partners as part of its long-term strategy to strengthen low-carbon baseload generation and reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports. Sources: Digi24, Hotnews.ro, CursDeGuvernare Caption: An aerial photo taken with a drone shows the tip of Szentendre Island on the River Danube during low water levels near Nagymaros, Hungary, 14 July 2026. Due to a lack of precipitation and drought, the river’s water level is extremely low. EPA/ZOLTAN MATHE

eualive.net