across the region. they re venting their anger over soaring fuel and fertilizer costs, low prices for their produce, and increasingly restrictive eu regulations. demonstrations by farmers are planned in poland, hungary and italy today. italy s government has promised tax breaks to ease hardship for farmers after hundreds began gathering with their tractors this week, on motorways outside rome and turin. this was the scene on thursday. and in cyprus, farmers blocked the entrance to the european union s offices in nicosia, on thursday. there were also demonstrations in bulgaria. and more tractor protests across spain for the third day in a row, with farmers disrupting traffic in barcelona, and in smaller cities all over the country. they say eu rules to protect the environment make them less competitive. they have also had to compete with imports from ukraine after brussels waived duties and quotas after the russian invasion. this and renewed eu talks on a south america trade d
But why the flare up now . All of these things are interconnected, and thats why its really dangerous right now. So the big question now is, could this Red Sea Conflict become the next war in The Middle East . First of all, lets start by looking at what has actually been happening In The Red Sea. In mid november, 2023, the houthis, an iranian backed rebel group in yemen, began targeting commercial shipping off their coast. So, who exactly are the houthis and what is it motivating them . The houthis, who are a so called rebel group in yemen, they hail from the north west of yemen. They have been very active in this area for about a decade. Its only now that were noticing because our global trade is being impacted. They hijacked this ship called the Galaxy Leader and they fired missiles and drones at others. Us and british warships went to their defence. The houthis vowed revenge. The world economy, every economy will suffer if ships keep coming under attack in this illegal and unaccepta
an official investigation said the shots were fired in breach of the army s rules of engagement. prime minister benjamin netanyahu said the hostage deaths broke his heart but that military pressure is still necessary. mr netanyahu has said his country is in a war for its existence which it would continue, despite what he called the heavy price paid by israel. our correspondent hugo bachega reports on the fallout in israel to the hostage deaths and growing pressure to rescue the others still held in gaza. for the families of the hostages who remain in gaza, it s an agonising wait made worse by a tragic mistake. the israeli military has given new details of how three israeli captives were shot dead by its own soldiers. yotam haim, alon shamriz and samer talalka emerged shirtless from a building, carrying a makeshift white flag. one of the soldiers misidentified them as a threat and opened fire. two were killed instantly. a third, injured, returned to the building and was la
of solidarity for hamas. as a result, some of the world s biggest shipping firms have suspended services through the world s most important route for oil and fuel shipments. with more context, here s our business reporter david waddell. let s have a look at the geography of the situation. right here is the bab al mandab strait. it s right next to yemen, from where those houthi attacks originated. it s at the southern end of the red sea. at the northern end is the suez canal. now, ships cannot pass through the suez canal from the south without first passing through this choke point. a couple of days ago, the maersk shipping container company and hapag lloyd both announced they wouldn t be making that transit. they ve since been joined by other shipping companies. now, if you re a ship master trying to get your vessel from the indian ocean to the atlantic ocean and you cannot or will not traverse through suez, you need to pass by the cape of good hope. that adds an extra 3,000
business reporter david waddell. let s have a look at the geography of the situation. right here is the bab al mandab strait. it s right next to yemen, from where those houthi attacks originated. it s at the southern end of the red sea. at the northern end is the suez canal. now, ships cannot pass through the suez canal from the south without first passing through this choke point. a couple of days ago, the maersk shipping container company and hapag lloyd both announced they wouldn t be making that transit. they ve since been joined by other shipping companies. now, if you re a ship master trying to get your vessel from the indian ocean to the atlantic ocean and you cannot or will not traverse through suez, you need to pass by the cape of good hope. that adds an extra 3,000 nautical miles to thejourney. and there are other issues for ships trying to traverse from the atlantic to the pacific ocean through here. the panama canal is accepting many fewer ships right now because