A long-running dispute over peat extraction in Ireland has reached a new flashpoint, with the European Commission hauling the State before Europe’s highest court over what it says is a failure to properly police the industry. After years of tensions between Dublin and Brussels, the EU executive said today it is referring Ireland to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), arguing the State has not met its obligations under EU rules governing environmental impact assessments. In a statement, the Commission said Ireland had…

In a significant move, Afghanistan's Taliban-led morality ministry has vowed to enforce a law that restricts news outlets from showcasing images of all living creatures. Journalists have been informed that this regulation will be rolled out gradually. According to Saiful Islam Khyber, the spokesman for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, “This decree encompasses all of Afghanistan... it will be enacted progressively.” He emphasized that officials plan to convince the public that depicting…