US government sues California over egg prices
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, argues that the federal Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970 pre-empts state laws related to eggs.
The federal law authorises the US Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to regulate eggs in order to protect consumers' health and welfare, and it also requires "national uniformity" in egg safety standards, according to the Trump administration's lawsuit.
The California attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since the federal law's enactment, California has passed several laws to regulate eggs and chicken farms, including voter initiatives passed in 2008 and 2018 that prevent farmers from packing chickens together so tightly that a hen is unable to "lie down, stand up, fully extend its limbs, and turn around freely."
Those state laws aimed to reduce both animal cruelty and the risk of foodborne illness, but the US government said in its lawsuit that only the federal government can regulate egg safety.
California can regulate chicken farms within the state, but it cannot impose additional requirements on eggs from other states that are sold within California, according to the lawsuit.
The California voter initiatives have survived previous challenges from farmers and other states.
Six states – Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky and Iowa – sued California over its egg regulations in 2014.
The states who sued also argued that the federal law preempted California's laws, and they lost in both a federal district court and the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
The US Supreme Court in 2023 preserved one of the California voter initiatives, which was challenged in a lawsuit by pig farmers.
The pig farmers had argued that California's 2018 ballot measure, which creates minimum space requirements for pigs and cows as well as chickens, impermissibly regulated out-of-state farmers.
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The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
UK is ‘number 1 target for Russian cyberattacks' as Vlad wreaks revenge for Ukraine backing and avoids offending Trump
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Read more on World UK spy chiefs confirmed that Vlad's objective is to create "mayhem on British" and European streets – targeting key infrastructure and attempting to cause havoc with the economy. Last year, minister Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, warned Britain and its allies "not underestimate" the threat posed by He warned an attack of this kind could turn the lights off for millions of people by shutting down power grids. Most read in The Sun The cyber attack plans would be an attempt to dilute He slammed the Kremlin as "exceptionally" aggressive and "reckless" in this area, adding that a number of attacks had already been foiled both publicly and behind the scenes. According to Richard Horne, the head of GCHQ's national Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) the UK is dangerously unprepared for this surge in cyber attacks. Speaking at the launch of the NCSC annual review last year, which lay bare the alarming rise in cyber threats facing the UK, he urged UK leaders to increase the pace they're working at to "keep ahead" of Putin. Putin warns Trump he 'will have to respond' to Ukraine's daring drone attack in hour-long phone call with president He said that the NCSC received 1,957 reports of cyber attacks in 2024, 430 of which needed support from the centre's incident management team - up from 371 the previous year. Of these incidents, 89 were nationally significant. PREPARING FOR WAR Just a couple of months ago, reports emerged of g overnment officials racing to update decades-old contingency plans to protect the country and prepare for any potential combat. The classified "home defence plan" would lay out how Downing Street will respond if Vladimir Putin declares war on the UK, including moving the Royal Family into bunkers. Ministers worry Britain could be outfought by Russia on the battlefield, but also poorly defended at home as things stand. Experts have warned that the country's national infrastructure is vulnerable ahead of the release of Labour's Strategic Defence Review - an examination of the Armed Forces. As military warfare has evolved in the past two decades, fears are that Putin could launch a combination of attacks, including conventional ballistic missile strikes, sabotage and the latest tactic in the Russian playbook - cyber warfare. But Britain - which is just beginning to review and revise its security and contingency plans for the first time in more than 20 years - is feared to not be fully prepared to go to war against the Russians. Former Nato commander Colonel Hamish De Bretton-Gordon told The Sun: "Britain is very much in the sights of Putin's derision, and we are the ones likely to be attacked first. "Britain really has got to dust off its contingency plans. Over 20 years of neglect, and we understand that's exactly what this report is about at the moment." 5 Britain is just starting to review and revise its security and contingency plans for the first time in more than 20 years Credit: Getty 5 Fears are that Putin could launch a combination of attacks Credit: Reuters Retired military officer Colonel Richard Kemp, who was working in the Cabinet Office when the contingency plans were last updated, told The Sun: "Contingency plans like this should be updated frequently. Twenty years is far too long, especially given the radically changed threat picture. "Putin has said Britain is in his crosshairs since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "Even before then, he proved he was willing to attack this country, including with a nerve agent attack in Salisbury in 2018. We should take him seriously." The classified plan by the Cabinet Office's Resilience Directorate - which was last updated in 2005 - would set out war strategies in the event of a catastrophic attack by the Russians, which could well involve tactical and strategic nuclear weapons. The plan is based on the War Book, a Cold War dossier of instructions for government response to nuclear attacks. Under such plans, Britain could be divided into 12 zones, each governed by Cabinet ministers, and food rationed. The plans will include scenarios like widespread sabotage and crippling cyber warfare, which were seen as a limited threat back when the document was last updated. It will also direct the PM on how to run a wartime government, as well as strategies for travel networks, courts and the postal system, reports the Daily Telegraph. Although the highly-classified document is expected to never be revealed in the public domain, military experts suggest what could be changed to prepare us for a potential war against the Russians. Colonel Bretton-Gordon said that cyber attacks will be given a major chunk of attention in the latest round of updates. He believes the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) would be given additional funding to improve the existing measures against cyber attackers.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Dorcha Lee: Israel lets Trump take charge in Gaza talks
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During the recent Nato Summit, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte's sycophantic reference to Trump as 'Daddy', was a bit weird, but, in a strange way, appropriate. The reality is that the former real estate man in the White House, is not just 'primus inter pares', in Washington DC, he is also first among equals everywhere, as the Americans say, period. Things are moving fast. As before, the US cleared the latest revised text of the ceasefire agreement proposals with the Israelis, which was passed on to Hamas. Hamas basically accepted the proposals with three reservations. First, they want a guarantee that Israel would not delay the negotiations as an excuse to resume the war. Secondly, they want the UN back in the role of humanitarian aid without the flow of aid being controlled by Israel. Thirdly, they want the IDF to withdraw to the positions they held before the ceasefire ended in March. Fresh from receiving the 2024 Tipperary Peace Award, in Ballykisteen, Co Tipperary, Sheik Mohammed Al Thani, prime minister of Qatar, is now back in Doha, in charge of the Israel-Hamas peace process. The Qataris signalled last Tuesday that they will need more time to bridge the gaps between both sides on the US proposals. On Friday, they proposed this Sunday as the deadline to conclude the agreement. The objective is to get the framework for the agreement agreed this week, so that proximity talks on the truce can begin next week. Proximity talks are where the belligerents do not meet face-to-face but where a third party passes messages between them. One technical point that remains unclear is whether US special envoy Steve Witkoff's proposals are considered to be a fresh start in the talks, or the continuation of the ceasefire suspended in March. These 13-point proposals were outlined in the Examiner's previous analysis, on June 19. Before going further on the ceasefire agreement, an update on the military situation will help to understand the context. The IDF has an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 personnel committed to the Gaza operation. The IDF main formations are three to five mixed armour/mechanised infantry divisions, reinforced with specialist units, including combat engineering companies able to fight underground. They are mostly regulars and comprise the main fighting units of the regular army. This commitment would limit any additional extended operation by Israel, in Lebanon or Syria, at least for the time being. The IDF ground offensive, which began with the objective of reoccupying 75% of Gaza, has reached the 65% target. Unlike previous ground operations, they are systematically neutralising selected sections of the tunnels' system. Probably for the first time in the war, the IDF is manoeuvring underground in synchronisation with the above ground offensive. However, the tunnels are turning out to be far more extensive and deeper than previously estimated. To destroy them all is now estimated to take many years. Air support is being directed at Hamas fighters who appear on the surface, but also at suspect concentrations of civilians close to the IDF advance. The IDF action is mainly in Central and South Gaza, up to about the week before last, when they advanced into the North at Jabalia. On Monday, the ultraorthodox Yehuda Battalion lost 5 KIA (killed in action)+ 14 WIA (wounded inaction) by a roadside bomb in Northern Gaza. Last week, a Hamas fighter managed to open the back door of an IDF armoured personnel carrier, throw in an explosive device, and close the door. Seven IDF soldiers were killed. The door was secured only by a rope, which seriously questions the issue of the maintenance of Israeli fighting vehicles. In late January, before he left the Middle East, yesterday's man, former US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, made a seemingly casual observation, which contradicted IDF claims that Hamas was effectively degraded. Blinken said that Hamas had already replaced almost all their casualties. During the subsequent ceasefire (Phase 1), Hamas had ample opportunity to restore their losses. This means that they are probably back up to a strength estimated at 25,000. US president Donald Trump with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in April. Picture: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Hamas fighters are unable to move about as easily in the tunnels systems as heretofore. They must be short of ammunition although they can decant explosive material from the numerous unexploded shells lying about. The simplest roadside bomb consists of an unexploded shell and a detonator. The Israeli objective in breaking the ceasefire in March was to degrade Hamas's military capabilities and disrupt their ability to govern the enclave. The combination of the disruption of communications ,and the reoccupying of urban areas of Gaza by the IDF, will effectively remove Hamas's ability to govern Gaza, but they can still fight on in small but uncoordinated units. However, while Israeli officials are negotiating in Doha, the hawks back in Jerusalem are talking about Israel governing Gaza for the immediate future. This means that the IDF's presence in Gaza will be prolonged indefinitely. By yesterday morning, the two main issues unresolved are: who will organise the humanitarian aid distribution, and, to what extent will the IDF withdraw from Gaza? The gap between both sides on these issues is wide and may stall the talks for some more days. US Envoy Witkoff's return to Doha has been delayed. When the gap has narrowed, the plan is for Witkoff to return and bring the agreement across the line. American diplomacy takes a leaf from those Western movies, where, just when the cowboys are about to be massacred by the Indians, the US Cavalry (Witkoff, Trump's representative on Earth) comes to the rescue. But who will supervise the ceasefire and the 60-day truce? Governance of Gaza by Israel will lead to martial law implemented by the IDF. With over 57,800 dead, of which 85% to 90% are innocent civilians, are we now to witness another Srebrenica as the 25,000 Hamas fighters emerge from the catacombs into the daylight? Up to now the Israelis have never agreed to a peacekeeping mission for Gaza, but Trump could persuade them, especially if US troops participate. Watch this space. Dorcha Lee is a retired army colonel and defence analyst, with extensive experience of UN peacekeeping in the Middle East.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
European trade ministers gather in Brussels to plan response to Trump's latest tariff warning
European trade ministers will gather in Brussels on Monday to try to formulate a response to Donald Trump's imposition of a 30% tariff on the EU, which threatens to spark a trade war. Negotiations on tariffs were upended on Saturday when US president Donald Trump warned that if a deal is not struck by the August 1 deadline, the rate on goods coming from the EU would be 30%. Across Europe, there is some difference about how to respond to Mr Trump's weekend letter, with French president Emmanuel Macron urging the EU to 'defend European interests resolutely', be ready for a trade war, and to stand up to the US president. Leaders in Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany called for calm. Irish leaders have appealed for calm with three weeks to go until the latest deadline. On Sunday, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she would seek a negotiated settlement. "We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case and we will use the time that we have now until August 1,' said Ms von der Leyen. Ms von der Leyen added that a suite of retaliatory EU measures due to kick in on Monday would be delayed pending the outcome of talks with the US. Those measures would hit US goods to the tune of €21bn. At the National Day of Commemoration in Dublin, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Mr Trump's letter had been "worrying" and that a trade war would have damaging effects. "Clearly, 30% is not sustainable or tenable," he said. However, he said it is important that Europe not "overreact to every statement" and that Europe has countermeasures available should it choose to use them. He said that scenario would not be bad for consumers and businesses. It would damage everybody, and the world would suffer because of the enormous trading relationship between the EU and US. So, it would be a very significant deterioration. Speaking at the same event, Tánaiste and minister for trade Simon Harris said that the letter sent by Mr Trump was "unhelpful, because it's escalatory, but I think it also doesn't change anything in the here and now". He said the deadline was always August 1 and "remains the first of August and looks to me like a negotiating tactic by Donald Trump". "We prefer to do our negotiations around the table. He tends to do his negotiations on Truth Social and he can do it however he wishes, [but] from a European perspective and an Irish perspective, we're continuing to intensively engage. "I was in contact overnight with the EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič speaking to him on a very regular basis," Mr Harris said. Mr Harris said that the Government had not yet released models on the impact of a 30% tariff but that the 10% scenario, which he said was now "baked in", saw a 25,000 fewer jobs created than the 100,000 added in a no-tariff scenario and the rate of economic growth slowing.
