The European Union could lose up to 1.3 million jobs across key industrial sectors this year due to a sharp rise in energy prices triggered by the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, according to European Commission officials cited by Reuters.

EU Labour Commissioner Roxana Minzatu warned that energy-intensive industries are under severe pressure as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to drive up global energy costs.

“Due to the war in the Middle East, up to 1.3 million jobs are at risk, particularly in energy-intensive industries,” Minzatu said during a press briefing.

According to Commission estimates, the automotive sector could be the hardest hit, with up to 600,000 jobs potentially affected. Other sectors at risk include construction, metals, chemicals, and transport, which could collectively lose around 56,000 jobs.

The report also highlights risks to emerging and green industries, with approximately 85,000 jobs in battery projects and nearly 58,852 jobs in solar manufacturing potentially affected. In the steel sector, an additional 4,500 jobs could be lost due to low-carbon transition measures.

The Commission further noted that low-income households may face increased financial pressure, with transport fuel costs potentially rising by an additional 1.4% of income.

The EU manufacturing sector currently employs around 30 million people, while services account for nearly 87 million jobs, underscoring the potential scale of economic impact.

The developments come amid heightened global concern over energy security and industrial stability as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue.

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation providing new aid to Ukraine and imposing tougher sanctions on Russia, in a move that highlights growing divisions within President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

The Ukraine Support Act passed by a vote of 226 to 195, with 18 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the measure after lawmakers used a rare procedural move to force it onto the House floor.

The legislation authorizes more than $1 billion in assistance for Ukraine, along with up to $8 billion in direct loans to support the country’s defence and reconstruction efforts. It also includes new sanctions targeting Russia’s financial sector, energy industry, mining operations and government officials.

The vote comes amid continued fighting between Russia and Ukraine, with peace negotiations remaining stalled and both sides continuing missile and drone attacks.

Reuters reported that the bill represents the latest challenge to Trump’s influence within his party. It follows another recent vote in which a group of Republicans joined Democrats to support efforts aimed at limiting U.S. military involvement in the conflict with Iran without congressional approval.

Despite its passage in the House, the future of the Ukraine Support Act remains uncertain. The measure must still be approved by the Senate, where Republican leaders have so far declined to bring similar Russia sanctions legislation to a vote, saying they are awaiting guidance from the White House.

Even if it clears the Senate, the bill is expected to face a presidential veto.

Support for Ukraine has become increasingly divisive in Washington since Trump returned to office in January 2025. While many lawmakers from both parties continue to back Kyiv, some senior Republicans have adopted a more cautious approach toward further U.S. involvement.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, welcomed the House vote, calling it an important step that demonstrates continued bipartisan support for Ukraine.

U.S. ​President Donald Trump acknowledged calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” in an expletive-filled phone exchange over fighting in Lebanon, while the ‌U.S. was trying to negotiate an end to hostilities with Iran.

In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Trump was asked whether he had called the longtime Israeli leader “effing crazy” and accused him of ingratitude, paraphrasing a report by Axios, according to Reuters.

“I did,” Trump told the “Pod Force One” podcast. “I wouldn’t say angry. I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with ​Lebanon, you know.”

Trump went on to say he and Netanyahu get along very well.

According to the Axios report, which cited an unidentified ​U.S. official, Trump said to Netanyahu in a call on Monday: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it ⁠weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”

Trump said in the interview: “At some point, I said, ​Bibi, we got to stop this. We got to stop it.”

NETANYAHU CITES COMMON GOALS

Netanyahu, asked about the Axios report, declined to offer details of the conversation ​but said his relationship with Trump had not changed.

“We have common goals. Sometimes we have, as in the best of families, you have these tactical disagreements,” he said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday.

“He’s been the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House, and he respects me; I respect him. We always find a ​way to work out our differences.”

Iran has said it will not agree to a deal with the United States to end the war that ​Trump and Netanyahu launched in late February unless a ceasefire also covers Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia that fired across the ‌border in ⁠support of Tehran.

Hostilities have continued despite a U.S.-mediated agreement announced on Monday that led Israel to step back from attacking the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Iran-backed group to halt cross-border strikes.

Israeli drone strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon and targeted a car south of Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said. Israel said it intercepted a hostile aircraft likely fired by Hezbollah.

Trump bristled when asked if Netanyahu “tricked” him into attacking Iran, saying ​his critics were “the enemy.”

“I mean, I’m ​the one that started it,” Trump ⁠said. “I started because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

“Now that pertains to Israel, because they probably would have been the first one to get hit. There would be no Israel. Tell you what, if there wasn’t ​me, there would be no Israel right now.”

Trump maintained that Israel would have been in a far worse position ​if he had ⁠not abandoned a 2015 accord reached by President Barack Obama and other world leaders with Iran, under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.

After Trump withdrew from that deal during his first White House term in 2018, Iran produced stockpiles of near-weapons-grade highly enriched uranium, which ⁠Trump now ​demands it relinquish. Trump’s critics say Iran is now closer to making a nuclear weapon, ​and it will be hard for Trump to negotiate a better deal.

Trump has used expletives about Israel in the past, including publicly saying last year that Israel and Iran “don’t know what the ​fuck they are doing.”