World
Donald Trump promises free IVF for women, criticises six-week abortion ban
Republican presidential candidate’s comments latest bid to present a moderate image on reproductive issues.
Donald Trump has pledged to make in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment free for all women and criticised a six-week abortion ban in Florida, the latest bid by the Republican to rebrand himself as a defender of reproductive rights.
Speaking at a campaign stop on Thursday, Trump said he would require the government or insurance companies to cover all costs for IVF if elected to a second term as president in November.
“Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely,” Trump told supporters in Potterville, Michigan, a key battleground state.
“But the IVF treatments are very expensive,” the Republican Party candidate added. “It’s very hard for many people to do it, and to get it. But I’ve been in favour of IVF right from the beginning.”
Trump did not elaborate on how he would fund the plans.
Trump also said he would allow new parents to deduct “major newborn expenses” from their taxes if re-elected.
In an interview with NBC News earlier on Thursday, Trump said that a six-week limit on abortion signed by the Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis is “too short” and there should be “more time”.
Trump also appeared to suggest that he would vote in favour of an upcoming ballot measure in Florida to guarantee a right to an abortion until foetal viability, although a campaign adviser later said the former president had not revealed whether he would support the measure.
Trump’s comments come as he seeks to moderate Republicans’ image on reproductive access, which has been cited as a drag on the party’s standing among women.
On Friday, Trump, who appointed three of the US Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, said in a post on his Truth Social platform that his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights”.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate, has repeatedly cast Trump as a threat to women’s rights, including access to abortion, birth control and fertility treatments.
Addressing supporters in the swing state of Georgia on Thursday, Harris reiterated her warning that Trump would sign a nationwide abortion ban in office.
“Why don’t they trust women? Well, we trust women! And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said.
Senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, on Saturday told NBC News that Trump would veto a national abortion ban if sent to his desk by Congress.
Opinion polls suggest that Trump has lost support among women voters since the vice president replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic contender.
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday, Harris led Trump by 13 percentage points among women, up from a nine-point lead in July.
While Trump’s effort to present a moderate image on reproductive issues could boost his appeal in some quarters, it risks alienating religious and anti-abortion voters, who make up a significant portion of the Republican base.
“It’s a problem for Trump that after the speech which he wanted to settle the issue, he is, week by week, making his position on abortion more liberal, pulling the floorboards out from under his pro-life supporters and making them feel like he won’t stop,” Michael Brendan Dougherty, a writer for the conservative National Review, said in a post on X on Thursday.
President Trump said Iran had agreed to the “highest level” inspections, hours after an Iranian official said there were “no detailed discussions on the nuclear issue,” as the two sides continued to present different narratives of their latest talks.
World
Turkey detains over 200 suspects, including alleged ISIS militants, in sweeping raid ahead of NATO summit
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Turkish authorities reportedly detained more than 200 people, including suspected ISIS-linked militants, in a sweeping Tuesday raid in capital Ankara ahead of a July 7-8 NATO summit.
The raid came after Turkish authorities issued detention orders for 241 suspects, 209 of whom were taken into custody, The Associated Press reported, citing a statement from the office of Turkey’s chief prosecutor.
Among the 209 detained, 56 were allegedly ISIS militants, according to the AP. This comes after Turkish authorities said they detained 125 ISIS members in December.
The detention operations occurred just two weeks before a planned NATO summit in Ankara on July 7 that President Donald Trump is expected to attend.
TURKEY’S NATO ROLE UNDER SCRUTINY AMID NEW REPORT ON HAMAS, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TIES
President Donald Trump greets Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 13, 2025, to support ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo/Pool)
Other militants scooped up were 35 alleged members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front, which a Turkish statement described as “a far‑left group known for armed attacks and assassinations in Turkey,” according to the AP.
The ISIS-combating operations demonstrate the terrorist group’s ongoing activity in the region, showing the group is still functioning despite the U.S. campaign during Trump’s first term to eliminate the group’s caliphate and its control of large swaths of territory in the Middle East.
Iraqi government forces celebrate while holding an Islamis Sate (IS) group flag after they claimed they have gained complete control of the Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, on January 26, 2015 near the town of Muqdadiyah. (YOUNIS AL-BAYATI/AFP via Getty Images)
In recent years, ISIS has spread into the African continent, prompting a strong response from the U.S. In May, Trump authorized a series of strikes in Nigeria to combat the group.
PENTAGON SLASHES NATO COMBAT COMMITMENTS AS TRUMP PUSHES EUROPE TO DEFEND ITSELF
A May 16 strike killed ISIS leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who was the group’s second-in-command globally.
U.S. and Nigerian forces conducted kinetic strikes against ISIS fighters in northeastern Nigeria on May 17, 2026, AFRICOM said. (X/U.S. Africa Command)
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“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social after the strike. “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”
The group’s renewed activity also includes a call to supporters to make attacks on U.S. soil during the World Cup.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Euronews with AFP
Published on
Two whales were killed off the coast of Iceland overnight Sunday, two days after commercial hunting resumed, local media and animal rights activists reported Monday.
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The kill ends a two-year pause and marks the first catches since 2023.
Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported that two fin whales were killed. The fin whale is the second largest animal on Earth after the blue whale.
Before the vessels set off on Friday, a protester had attached himself to one of the masts in the port of Reykjavik, but climbed down and was escorted away by police.
Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only three countries that still openly permit whaling, despite international condemnation from the public and animal welfare organisations.
Iceland cancelled its whale hunt over the past two years, partly because economic problems had cut demand and the industry was not deemed profitable enough.
“The first fin whale deaths in Iceland’s hunt this year are devastating,” said Joanna Swabe, European senior public affairs director for animal rights group Humane World for Animals.
“Iceland has killed more than 1,000 fin whales in the past two decades — not only the second largest animal on the planet but also a species classified as globally vulnerable to extinction,” Swabe said in a statement.
Iceland’s government has said it is planning to introduce a bill aimed at banning whaling this autumn.
The International Whaling Commission banned the commercial killing of whales in 1986 amid alarm at the declining stock of the marine mammals.
Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has recommended that no more than 150 fin whales are caught in the 2026 season.
That represents a 28-percent drop on the annual quota it recommended for the period 2018–2025, it said.
The institute has set an annual catch of 168 animals for the minke whale hunt this year, a 23-percent drop on 2018-2025.
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