'Grave ramifications' for civilians: Israel 'hampering' Gaza aid organisations, ability to respond
08:22
20/06/2025
Iran strike hospital could be a 'game-changer'
Middle East
19/06/2025
Iran has just finished losing a war and is not in a position to dictate terms, analyst says
Middle East
19/06/2025
If Iran truly wanted nuclear weapons they would have pursued them already, analyst says
Middle East
19/06/2025
'This changes everything' - Israeli officials react to hospital attack
Middle East
19/06/2025
Iran air defences 'confront hostile targets' over Tehran: state media
Middle East
19/06/2025
'Aid being deliberately engineered' to displace Palestinians, NGO says
Middle East
19/06/2025
As US considers joining operation against Iran, 'region reaching tension levels not seen in decades'
Middle East
19/06/2025
In Tel Aviv, residents flock to overnight bunkers to avoid missile strikes
Middle East
19/06/2025
Israeli government in 'full bore' campaign to persuade Trump to join Iran war
Middle East
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Euronews
6 minutes ago
- Euronews
Economic and health barriers holding back parenthood, UNFPA claims
Millions of people are unable to have the number of children they want due to barriers related to economic and health factors, according to a new United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report. The study reveals that a lack of choice, not desire, is what is stopping people from having the families they want, defying claims of people rejecting parenthood. "Reproductive agency is more than just freedom from coercion or improved access to services, it is the full range of conditions that enable people to exercise their reproductive rights and ensure true choice, including gender equality, economic stability, decent health and confidence in the future," said Natalia Kanem, executive director at UNFPA. UNFPA and YouGov conducted an online survey of more than 14,000 adults, both men and women, across 14 countries that together are home to over 37% of the global population. The majority of both men and women in the four EU member states - Italy, Hungary, Germany and Sweden - analysed in the study indicated that two children is their ideal number. Among these four EU countries analysed in the study, factors such as infertility and difficulty conceiving, as well as poor general health or chronic illnesses, impact Italy the most, with 15% and 13% respectively. Germany and Sweden also reported similar issues. Financial limitations are also one of the main issues keeping these countries from having more children, with Hungary reporting the highest rate at 34%. Germany and Sweden have also pointed out financial limitations as a primary concern regarding their desired number of children. Meanwhile, Italian respondents struggled the most with unemployment or job insecurity at 30%. Concerns regarding the current political or social landscape were noted as a barrier by 19% of respondents in Italy. Italian, Swedish, and Hungarian respondents were also concerned by the lack of a suitable partner, at 17%. Only 15% of those surveyed in Germany shared this concern. Police in the United Kingdom are searching for suspects and the military is reviewing its security procedures after pro-Palestinian activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire and damaged two planes with red paint, officials said on Friday. The group Palestine Action said two members entered RAF Brize Norton, some 110 kilometres west of London, on Wednesday and used electric scooters to approach the Voyager jets, which are used for air-to-air refuelling. The duo sprayed red paint into the planes' turbine engines with repurposed fire extinguishers. They caused further damage with crowbars, according to the group, which released video footage appearing to show an individual approach a jet and spray paint into the engine. The activists left the base without being detained, Palestine Action said. The group said in a statement that "despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets." The Ministry of Defence confirmed the incident, saying: "We strongly condemn this vandalism of Royal Air Force assets." UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the vandalism "disgraceful" in a post on X. Thames Valley Police said in a statement that it had "received a report of people gaining access to RAF Brize Norton and causing criminal damage." Officers were working with staff at the base and military police to arrest the perpetrators, the force said. The government said two planes were being checked for damage and that the vandalism had not stopped any planned aircraft movements or operations. "A full security review is underway at Brize Norton," Starmer's office said. "We are reviewing security across the whole defence estate." Planes from RAF Brize Norton regularly fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Britain's main air base for operations in the Middle East. The UK has sent more Typhoon fighter jets and Voyager tankers to Cyprus since the Israel-Iran conflict started a week ago for what Starmer called "contingency support." Iran has threatened to attack US, French and British bases in the region if those countries help Israel fend off Iranian strikes.
Euronews
42 minutes ago
- Euronews
UK police searching for pro-Palestinian activists over RAF jet damage
Police in the United Kingdom are searching for suspects and the military is reviewing its security procedures after pro-Palestinian activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire and damaged two planes with red paint, officials said on Friday. The group Palestine Action said two members entered RAF Brize Norton, some 110 kilometres west of London, on Wednesday and used electric scooters to approach the Voyager jets, which are used for air-to-air refuelling. The duo sprayed red paint into the planes' turbine engines with repurposed fire extinguishers. They caused further damage with crowbars, according to the group, which released video footage appearing to show an individual approach a jet and spray paint into the engine. The activists left the base without being detained, Palestine Action said. The group said in a statement that "despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets." The Ministry of Defence confirmed the incident, saying: "We strongly condemn this vandalism of Royal Air Force assets." UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the vandalism "disgraceful" in a post on X. Thames Valley Police said in a statement that it had "received a report of people gaining access to RAF Brize Norton and causing criminal damage." Officers were working with staff at the base and military police to arrest the perpetrators, the force said. The government said two planes were being checked for damage and that the vandalism had not stopped any planned aircraft movements or operations. "A full security review is underway at Brize Norton," Starmer's office said. "We are reviewing security across the whole defence estate." Planes from RAF Brize Norton regularly fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Britain's main air base for operations in the Middle East. The UK has sent more Typhoon fighter jets and Voyager tankers to Cyprus since the Israel-Iran conflict started a week ago for what Starmer called "contingency support." Iran has threatened to attack US, French and British bases in the region if those countries help Israel fend off Iranian strikes. Despite recent efforts to boost European defence production, the bloc remains 'highly vulnerable' and heavily reliant on the United States—particularly for major, high-end defence equipment—according to a new analysis by the Brussels-based economic think tank Bruegel. Trade statistics show that the value of weapons imported to Europe increased from approximately $3.4 billion for the period 2019–2021 to $8.5 billion for 2022–2024 across the 27 member states, with the US leading this increase despite concerns over its capabilities. 'Europe has the industrial production capacities to increase production of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles,' said Guntramm Wolff, Bruegel's senior fellow, during the launch of the report Fit for war by 2030? on Friday morning.* 'What is more concerning is the more modern weapons systems, where we have limited capabilities,' he added. Bruegel and Kiel Institute for the World Economy researchers have detected that the reliance on the US for certain defence and security domains is very high, including hypersonic missiles, next generation jets, AI integrated systems and intelligence services. 'There has been some increase in various systems—artillery in particular has grown substantially—but these increases are still relatively small compared to the overall demand,' Wolff said. For example, the report notes that Europe held 1,627 main battle tanks in 2023, while projections suggest 2,359 to 2,920 will be needed in the coming years, depending on the scenario. As for air defence systems such as the Patriot and SAMP/T, stock levels in 2024 stood at 35 units—far below the 89 required. 'Major investments in research and development will be essential,' the authors advise EU policymakers and national governments, especially given Europe's lagging defence R&D compared to global competitors. In 2023, Europe invested €13 billion in military R&D. By contrast, China invested €21 billion, while the US allocated a staggering $145 billion. In March, the European Commission unveiled its rearmament initiative—now called Defence Readiness 2030—with a target of mobilising up to €800 billion to address the bloc's most critical defence shortfalls. Meanwhile, NATO is expected to call on its 32 members to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2032—or potentially by 2035—a target Spain has already criticised as 'unreasonable'. But simply increasing budgets won't solve the problem, the report warns. 'More military spending will not automatically and immediately translate into military capabilities, especially if the defence industrial base is already under strain,' the researchers argue. The real challenge, they stress, lies in converting funding into tangible capabilities through a coherent, forward-looking strategic and operational plan. With the European defence market still highly fragmented, greater integration would improve cost-effectiveness. But alongside procurement reform, military planning must also be strengthened. 'This is really about rebuilding the ability to understand war through the lens of peer conflict—and that is just as much of a challenge as disbursing the money,' said Dr. Alexandr Burilkov, assistant director for research at the GLOBSEC GeoTech Center. According to the researchers' estimates, even the proposed €800 billion may fall short—insufficient to cover the development of missile capabilities, procurement of tanks, artillery, and infantry fighting vehicles, modernisation of forces, and investment in air defence systems.
France 24
44 minutes ago
- France 24
Netanyahu's other battle: swinging Trump and US behind Iran war
In his daily calls and public statements, Israel's longest-serving prime minister has mixed praise and deference for the US leader, while also arguing that the strikes on Iran benefit Americans. "Do you want these people to have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to you?" he asked during an interview on Fox News last Sunday. "Today, it's Tel Aviv. Tomorrow, it's New York," he told ABC News a day later, arguing that Iran was working on longer-range missiles that would be able to reach US shores in the future. His media blitz came after intensive and not always harmonious exchanges between Netanyahu and Trump this year, with the Israeli leader welcomed twice to the White House since the Republican's return to power in January. The New York Times, citing unnamed US administration sources, reported Tuesday that Netanyahu had asked Trump for US-made bunker-busting bombs capable of reaching Iran's underground Iranian nuclear facilities in an April meeting -- but had been refused. Having been elected in opposition to US entanglements overseas and supposed "war-mongers" in the Democratic party, Trump was seen as reluctant to commit Washington to another unpopular war in the Middle East. Much of his right-wing Make America Great Again (MAGA) coalition is staunchly anti-interventionist, including Vice President JD Vance, his head of national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, and influential media figures such as Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson. But speaking Wednesday, the former tycoon stated clearly that he was considering joining the Israeli campaign directly, raising the possibility of the bunker-busting GBU-57 bombs being deployed against Iran's main underground uranium stockpile facility in Fordo. "I may do it, I may not do it," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he had decided on US air strikes. His final decision will come "within the next two weeks", he said Thursday. Influence Yossi Mekelberg, a Middle East expert at the London-based Chatham House think-tank, said Netanyahu had been clever in his dealings with Trump, appealing to his "vanity" with charm as well "using his weaknesses". Once he had received an "amber light" in private from the US leader to launch the attacks last Friday, "he knew Trump's personality and knew that Trump might come on board if there was a chance of claiming glory in some way or claiming some sort of credit," he told AFP. Trump has openly praised the success of the Israeli military campaign which has combined targeted assassinations of key military personnel, destruction of Iran's air defences and repeated strikes on nuclear sites. Eliot A. Cohen, a veteran former US State Department advisor and international relations expert at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, cautioned against overstating Netanyahu's personal influence, however. "I suspect this is much less about Netanyahu's influence than Trump's own view of the Iranian nuclear programme, his memory of the assassination plot against him in 2024 by Iranian agents and the success of the initial Israeli operations," he told AFP. An Iranian man has been charged in connection with an alleged plot to kill Trump before his election last November. Cohen said Netanyahu's lobbying could succeed for several reasons. "They are not asking for anything other than the bombing of Fordo," he said, referring to the deeply buried underground uranium enrichment facility. "Nobody is talking about an invasion or anything like that." "Many if not most Americans understand that a nuclear Iran is particularly dangerous, and that the regime is deeply hostile to the US," he added. Public opinion A poll by the survey group YouGov for The Economist magazine conducted last weekend found half of Americans viewed Iran as an "enemy" and another quarter said it was "unfriendly." But it found that only 16 percent of Americans "think the US military should get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran". It found that majorities of Democrats (65 percent), independents (61 percent) and Republicans (53 percent) opposed military intervention. Speaking on his War Room podcast Wednesday, former Trump strategist Bannon seethed that Netanyahu had "lectured" America and started a war he couldn't end on his own.
