Since 13 November 2022, the Israeli Airforce has 36 F-35s in service, including the testbed stationed at the Flight Test Center at Tel Nof Airbase, and operates three squadrons at Nevatim Airbase.
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Israeli procurement it’s a partnership between Israel and the United States of America.
Part of the plane are made in the UK in particular Northern Ireland.
15% of every F35 that Israel is using to bombard Gaza is made by British industry. CAAT estimates the value of the components UK industry supplies for Israeli F35s to be worth at least £336m since 2016.
In Northern Ireland there are three locations parts are made :
The EU is a political and economic union that have common institutions and an EU parliament. The member states of the EU share common interests and common values.
The main purpose is to uphold peace, promote economic and social solidarity and bring the European people together.
The first European Union was formed by six countries in 1958 although it was not called ‘European Union’ (2009) then.
The six founding countries are Germany, France, Italy and the three Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg).
Since 2013, the EU has 28 members, but this will change after 31 January 2020. While several countries such as Albania, Serbia or Turkey are still waiting to be accepted to become a member of the EU, one member country will leave the EU on 31 January 2020. Then there will be a transition period
Member countries
Motto “united in diversity “
European flag has a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background which symbolise unity, solidarity and harmony among the European member countries.
The EU is home to 513 million inhabitants in total living in the member countries. Thus the EU is the third largest population after China and India.
Biggest by land mass France 🇫🇷
Smallest Malta 🇲🇹
Biggest by population Berlin 3,4 m
Paris Charles de Gaulle in France
EU is the largest trade block in world 🌎
The richest country by gdp Luxembourg 🇱🇺
Poorest Bulgaria 🇧🇬
The EU capital city is Brussels,
• Brussels in Belgium (EU headquarters)
The chamber
• Strasbourg in France (European Parliament)
• Frankfurt/Main in Germany (European Central Bank)
EU central bank
• Luxembourg City in Luxembourg (seat of the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice)
Luxembourg
The presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates every six months. The Council of the EU represents the governments of the member states and the presidency is held by the national government’s head of state. Germany 🇩🇪 take over from Croatia 🇭🇷 in July 2020.
It’s run by 3 bodies
•
• The EU Parliament that consists of directly elected members who represent the people of their member country.
• The EU Council that consists of the heads of state of the member countries who make the decision for and support the decision made prior in their country.
• The EU Commission represents the interests of the European Union member states and the proposes new laws that the parliament and the council then discuss and can then adopt.
Therefore there are three leaders of the European Union:
Eu Commission President, Ursula Van Der Leyen German
EU Counsel President Charles Michel Belgium
EU Parliament President David Sassoli Italian
Money: The European Central Bank was founded in 1998 and the European currency was introduced in 2002. The European currency is the EURO for 19 countries of the EU
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain
Leopardstown racecourse it’s just spitting Distance from my house. Wednesday evening in the summer for the flat season is Good entertainmentwhat band is playing after the racing.
I was totally surprised to see such crowds as of the new bank holiday weekend ( Saint Brigid day ).
From the racing post
“ The Dublin Racing Festival was even more popular with British racegoers this year after early figures suggested they made up around 38 per cent of the 36,020 spectators at Leopardstown’s prestigious meeting at the weekend.
Leopardstown stand
The number of British spectators was a massive increase on the 2023 meeting, when an estimated 27 per cent made the journey among a total crowd of 34,591.
Last year’s overall attendance was an increase of 40 per cent compared to 2022 and the track has maintained its upward curve, with 1,429 more attending this year’s two-day festival in a four per cent increase. Saturday attracted 20,017 spectators, while Sunday saw 16,003 people come through the gates.”
Banter From Martin 