Europe

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/24142332

archived (Wayback Machine)

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/24142922

archived (Wayback Machine)

Carbon credits have often been based on non-existent contracts with local people, or used for land-grabbing, or reforestation projects in which trees were not maintained and were soon cut down or eaten by cows, or otherwise fraudulent. In any case, letting humans take credit for photosynthesis is flawed emissions accounting, and the price of each credit is much lower than the social and environmental cost of the emissions that it offsets.

Outdoor working has been banned during the hottest parts of the day in more than half of Italy’s regions as an extreme heatwave that has smashed June temperature records in Spain and Portugal continues to grip large swathes of Europe.

The savage temperatures are believed to have claimed at least three lives, including that of a small boy who is thought to have died from heatstroke while in a car in Catalonia’s Tarragona province on Tuesday afternoon.

In Palermo, Sicily, a 53-year-old woman died on Monday after fainting while walking along a street. She had reportedly suffered from a heart condition.

A group of MPs have been accused of a “crystal clear breach of the rules” after taking money from a weapons firm owned by the Israeli government.

RUK Advanced Systems Ltd – which makes missiles for urban warfare – is part of Israel’s state-owned defence giant, Rafael.

Records showed that the company paid at least £1,499 to partner with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Defence Technology, which provides “opportunities to network with MPs”. The money was paid directly to the group’s secretariat.

RUK describes itself as a “UK company”. But official records show it was controlled by the Israeli government’s Ministry of Finance,** which is led by far-right politician Bezalel Smotrich** who is sanctioned by Britain for inciting “extremist violence” against Palestinians.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.07.01-111339/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-introduce-controls-borders-with-germany-lithuania-pm-says-2025-07-01/

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3362465

Archived version

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Dramatic cases involving Russian spies, like the group recently sentenced in Britain for plotting to kill investigative journalist Christo Grozev, or the occasional high-profile spy swap, often make headlines. But much of Russia’s intelligence work abroad is, by nature, less visible ... [Russian spies and collaborators] attend public events, gather contacts, and quietly assess potential recruits. Many are not trained agents, but rather trusted intermediaries, opportunists, or individuals who have been pressured, paid, or manipulated into cooperating.

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[In 2023, for example, at an event in] New York City ... prominent journalists spoke about Russia’s slide into authoritarianism. Several attendees - ordinary Americans by their appearance and accent - interrupted the speakers at different intervals, shouting identical lines about the United States being no better than Russia and invoking Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who fled to Russia and now also has a Russian passport. The hecklers were eventually escorted out, but it was clear they were acting on behalf of the Kremlin.

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Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s intelligence services - especially the GRU, its military intelligence agency - have carried out an increasingly aggressive campaign of sabotage and subversion across Europe. A February 2024 report from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in the United Kingdom warned of a mounting threat from the GRU, stating that it was building a covert network of operatives to conduct espionage and sabotage missions across the continent. ‘The GRU is restructuring how it manages the recruitment and training of special forces troops,’ the report noted, ‘and is rebuilding the support apparatus to be able to infiltrate them into European countries.’ Experts and officials say the recent wave of sabotage incidents exemplifies Russia’s strategy of ‘hybrid warfare’, which blends psychological, economic, and political tactics with covert or conventional military force to destabilize its adversaries.

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Recent attacks underscore this shift. In May 2024, a shopping center in Warsaw that housed around 1,400 shops and service points was almost completely burned down. Polish authorities later stated they had clear evidence linking the attack to Moscow ... Other arson attacks have targeted a warehouse in England, a paint factory in Poland, homes in Latvia, and an Ikea store in Lithuania. While these incidents may seem random, European security officials say they are part of a coordinated Russian effort to disrupt arms transfers to Kyiv.

In many of these cases, Russia uses local recruits to carry out attacks.

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Russia’s sabotage efforts extend to critical infrastructure across Europe, including transportation networks, railways, and energy systems. One specific tactic has involved sending incendiary devices disguised as commercial parcels via cargo services like DHL. These self-igniting packages are intended to catch fire during transit to targets in the EU and the U.K. Notably, such attacks have not occurred in countries seen as friendly to Moscow, such as Serbia and Hungary, raising the likelihood that they are being intentionally spared.

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Inside Ukraine, Russia has recruited locals, including teenagers, to carry out acts of sabotage. Among them is a 15-year-old boy from Kharkiv, identified to the press as V., who faces years in prison for planting a homemade explosive device near the city’s police department.

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Ukrainian investigators say Russia has recruited hundreds of minors for sabotage and terrorist acts since the full-scale invasion began, using platforms like TikTok, Telegram, and Discord to reach them. In response, Ukrainian authorities have launched a nationwide high school program to teach students how to avoid falling victim to such recruitment.

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Since 2022, suspected sabotage of undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea has targeted telecom, power, and gas lines connecting countries like Sweden, Finland, Germany, Latvia, and Estonia. At least six such incidents have been reported, and 11 undersea cables have been severed since 2023. These attacks take advantage of the vulnerability of shallow waters in the Baltic and Gulf of Finland, where cables can be damaged with something as simple as a ship’s anchor. In one case, a vessel dragged its anchor for 100 kilometers, cutting multiple lines.

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In addition to physical sabotage, Russia has intensified its cyber operations against Western companies supporting Ukraine. The state-linked hacking group known as Fancy Bear has expanded its focus to include logistics firms and technology companies involved in delivering aid, according to a cyber threat advisory released recently by the U.S. and ten allied countries. The advisory reports that a wide range of targets have come under attack, including defense contractors, transportation hubs, maritime companies, air traffic control systems, and IT service providers.

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Russia’s use of low-level operatives and hard-to-trace tactics makes its network difficult to detect but still highly disruptive. Most of this activity happens out of public view, but it puts pressure on security agencies and highlights deeper weaknesses in the system. In response, Western governments are starting to look past isolated incidents to better understand and counter the larger strategy behind them.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.06.30-042537/https://www.ft.com/content/2d155bde-5c99-4829-a2d2-1e8c289f083b

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.06.30-042739/https://www.ft.com/content/5cb5ebf9-bfb3-4a50-bc2f-79540baf8f87

https://archive.ph/uAKqz

Originally adopted by the Council of Europe thirty years earlier, the twelve golden stars on a blue background became the 'logo' for the EU and its predecessor in 1985. #EuropeNews

Germany is aiming to establish a joint German-Israeli cyber research centre and deepen collaboration between the two countries' intelligence and security agencies, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has said.

According to Bild, Dobrindt outlined a five-point plan aimed at establishing what he called a "Cyber Dome", as part of Germany's cyber defence strategy.

Earlier on Sunday, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder called for the acquisition of 2,000 interceptor missiles to equip Germany with an "Iron Dome" system similar to Israel's short-range missile defence technology.