Animals farmed: MEPs vote to ban cages, meat firm pays ransom – and anyone for crickets?

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MEPs have voted in favour of a resolution calling for a ban on the use of cages across the EU for farmed animals by 2027. They also called on the EU Commission to ban the force-feeding of ducks and geese for the production of foie gras. Campaigners estimate that more than 300 million animals in the EU spend all or part of their lives in cages, pens or stalls.

JBS, the world's biggest meat producer, has paid an $11m (7.8m) ransom after a cyber-attack shut down operations, including abattoirs in the US, Australia and Canada. The ransomware attack disrupted production at beef and lamb processing plants and sent meat prices rising. JBS, which supplies more than a fifth of all beef in the US, said all of its American beef plants had been forced offline.