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Vehicles were set ablaze outside multiple French prisons and one facility was hit by automatic weapon gunfire during a series of overnight attacks across the country. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin described the incidents as "intimidation attempts" and connected them to the government's intensifying efforts against drug trafficking operations. According to Le Parisien newspaper, seven prison facilities were targeted in the coordinated attacks: three in southern France (Toulon, Aix-En-Provence, and Marseille), two more in the south (Valence and Nîmes), and two near Paris (Villepinte and Nanterre). France's national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the incidents. Darmanin announced on social media platform X that he was traveling to support affected officers at Toulon prison, which suffered gunfire damage. While not directly assigning blame, he stated that the government was "facing up to the problem of drug trafficking" with measures […]

The CEO of WEEE Ireland, the national compliance scheme for e-waste recycling, has criticized European recycling targets for failing to recognize the actual impact of the circular economy. Leo Donovan explained that Ireland's ability to meet the EU's 65% recycling target is becoming increasingly difficult each year—not due to failure, but because the targets don't account for the extended lifespan of modern electronics or the growing emphasis on repair and reuse. "The EU's current linear weight-based targets do not consider the extended lifespans of modern electronics or the growing emphasis on repair and reuse, meaning Ireland's true environmental progress goes unrecognised," Donovan stated. He pointed out that repaired or refurbished mobile phones don't count toward Ireland's official environmental performance, despite keeping raw materials in circulation. Similarly, newer appliances like solar PV panels and heat pumps, which typically last 15-20 years, […]

Ireland is joining a European maritime intelligence-sharing alliance to enhance its surveillance capabilities in EU waters. Tánaiste and Defence Minister Simon Harris has authorized the Defence Forces to formally join the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), a voluntary, decentralized network for sharing maritime surveillance information among EU and EEA countries and agencies. CISE enables various authorities, including coast guards, naval services, and customs, to exchange data securely in real time. Military and civil agencies from ten other European nations, including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Norway, and Portugal, are already members of this recently operational alliance. The European Commission oversees the process while encouraging all EU countries to participate. Importantly, participants maintain control over their data and decide what information to share. Each member connects through a CISE "node" serving as a secure gateway for information exchange. Ireland's node will be […]