Nearly every county in England has at least one industrial-scale livestock farm, with close to 800 US-style mega farms operating across the UK, new research reveals. The increase in mega farms – which critics describe as “cruel and unnecessary” – is part of a 26% rise in intensive factory farming in six years, a shift that is transforming the British countryside.

Only 12 counties in the UK now host no pig or poultry farms classified as intensive by the Environment Agency. To be classed as intensive, a farm must have warehouses with more than 40,000 birds, 2,000 pigs or 750 breeding sows. Herefordshire has more than 16 million factory-farmed animals, mainly poultry – which means the county has 88 times more factory-farmed animals than it does humans. Shropshire and Norfolk follow closely, with more than 15 million and 12 million animals respectively. Nearly every county in England and Northern Ireland has at least one mega farm, and they are also scattered across Scotland and Wales.(theguardian)…[+]

Qatar has accused its Gulf neighbours of breaking international law by hacking government websites and planting false information that helped cause a continuing diplomatic rift in the region. According to the Washington Post, US officials discovered last week that ministers from the United Arab Emirates held a meeting on 23 May to discuss plans to hack Qatari government news and social media sites and post incendiary false quotes attributed to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani.

The alleged hack, which involved disparaging remarks purportedly by the emir about Donald Trump, praise for Hamas and support for Iran as an “Islamic power”, took place the following day. It preceded the current split in the Gulf between Qatar and a coalition of four states – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain – that are maintaining an economic and diplomatic boycott against it. The group imposed sanctions on Qatar on 5 June, cutting diplomatic and transport ties with the tiny Gulf monarchy after accusing it of financing militant groups and allying with their regional foe Iran. Doha denies the accusations and says Thani never made the remarks.(theguardian)…[+]

Dutch nationals who take British citizenship to avoid having to leave the UK after Brexit will be stripped of their Netherlands passports due to existing limits on dual nationality, the Dutch prime minister has said. About 100,000 Dutch nationals living in Britain face an uncertain future after March 2019. The UK and EU are yet to reconcile their differences on the citizens’ rights issue, with Brussels describing the British government’s initial offer as vague and inadequate.Mark Rutte told Dutch citizens in the UK who have considered becoming British to avoid residency problems once Britain leaves the EU that applying for dual nationality was not an option.

“Countering dual nationality remains one of this cabinet’s policies,” the prime minister said on Monday, in response to a petition with 22,000 signatures calling for a government rethink. “This is because having a nationality is always associated with an actual link to a certain country. If at some point there is a question of a connection to the Netherlands or if the link to another country has become stronger than that with the Netherlands, Dutch nationality will end.”(Theguardian)…[+]