MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES

THE European Union recently agreed to extend its anti-human trafficking naval mission, known as Operation Sophia, for a further six months.
Though ostensibly a military mission, Operation Sophia is thought to have saved close to 50,000 lives in the Mediterranean since it began in 2015, following the outbreak of the so-called “migrant crisis.”
There was one very important caveat to the EU’s extension of Operation Sophia however. The EU agreed not to redeploy the search and rescue (SAR) ships it “temporarily” suspended in April after Italy’s government, then a populist and far-right coalition, threatened to veto the entire mission.

Fan group The 1873 issues scathing response to owners’ statement saying the club will not close

Israeli media awash with leaks and rumours of Netanyahu’s plans to seize Gaza. Meanwhile, the unrelenting siege of Gaza continues unabated

Mr Smalls and 13 other Freedom Flotilla Coalition activists who tried to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza aboard the Handala ship remain in detention and on hunger strike