Connect with us
DAPA Banner

NewsBeat

Venezuela frees several jailed opponents while under political pressure

Published

on

Venezuela frees several jailed opponents while under political pressure

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government on Sunday released from prison several prominent opposition members, including one of the closest allies of Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, after lengthy politically motivated detentions.

Their releases come as the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez faces mounting pressure to free hundreds of people whose detentions months or years ago have been linked to their political activities. They also follow a visit to Venezuela of representatives of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president after the Jan. 3 capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military. Her government began releasing prisoners days later.

Some of those freed Sunday joined families waiting outside prisons for their loved ones to be released. They chanted “We are not afraid! We are not afraid!” and marched a short distance.

Advertisement

“I am convinced that our country has completely changed,” Juan Pablo Guanipa, a Machado ally and former governor, told reporters hours after his release. “I am convinced that it is now up to all of us to focus on building a free and democratic country.”

Guanipa spent more than eight months in custody.

Venezuelan-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal confirmed the release of at least 30 people Sunday.

Advertisement

In addition to Guanipa, Machado’s political organization said several of its members were among the released, including María Oropeza, who livestreamed her arrest by military intelligence officers as they broke into her home with a crowbar. Machado’s attorney, Perkins Rocha, was also freed.

“Let’s go for the freedom of Venezuela!” Machado posted on X.

Guanipa was detained in late May and accused by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello of participating in an alleged “terrorist group” plotting to boycott that month’s legislative election. Guanipa’s brother Tomás rejected the accusation, and said the arrest was meant to crack down on dissent.

“Thinking differently cannot be criminalized in Venezuela, and today, Juan Pablo Guanipa is a prisoner of conscience of this regime,” Tomás Guanipa said after the arrest.

Advertisement

Rodríguez’s government announced Jan. 8 it would free a significant number of prisoners — a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States — but families and rights watchdogs have criticized authorities for the slow pace of the releases.

The ruling party-controlled National Assembly this week began debating an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners. The opposition and nongovernmental organizations have reacted with cautious optimism as well as with suggestions and demands for more information on the contents of the proposal.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez on Friday posted a video on Instagram showing him outside a detention center in Caracas and saying that “everyone” would be released no later than next week, once the amnesty bill is approved.

Delcy Rodríguez and Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke by phone in late January. His spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, in a statement said he “offered our support to help Venezuela work on a roadmap for dialogue and reconciliation in which human rights should be at the centre” and then “deployed a team” to the South American country.

Advertisement

Machado remains in exile after leaving Venezuela in December. After she was briefly detained in January 2025, she had not been seen in public for 11 months when she appeared in Norway after the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

Juan Pablo Guanipa on Sunday said Machado “exercises undeniable leadership” and is needed in Venezuela along with other exiled political leaders to move the country forward. He, Oropeza and others who were released within hours of each other visited detention centers in Caracas, where they called for the release of all prisoners detained for political reasons.

“It is a bittersweet happiness because I know that many are still imprisoned,” Oropeza said outside Helicoide, the notorious prison where she was held after her August 2024 detention. “And I want to tell you that one of the reasons we were unjustly imprisoned for more than a year in that place is the same reason we walked out today: To fight for the liberation of our beloved Venezuela and for the liberation of all political prisoners.

“Because there are no bars that can silence us.”

Advertisement

___

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

NewsBeat

Dapper Laughs breaks silence after Katie Price fumes over vile Harvey ‘joke’

Published

on

Daily Mirror

Comedian Dapper Laughs spoke out for the first time after being called out by Katie Price, over a ‘joke’ he made about her eldest son, Harvey.

Dapper Laughs has broken his silence after being called out by Katie Price, over a joke he reportedly made about her eldest son.

The mum-of-five was left raging after the comedian seemingly took aim at Harvey Price while on stage at a recent gig, before telling the crowd to “pretend he didn’t say anything” about the 23-year-old – who was diagnosed with genetic disorder Prader-Willi syndrome.

The content creator, 41, ignored the brewing controversy and instead posted a new video on social media, urging fans to change up their mentality. He said: “Happy Monday! It’s a brand new fresh week – don’t start with the same mentality you ended last week on. Shift it, f**k it, let it go. Whoever is getting you down, f**k them,” he instructed.

Advertisement

“Switch it up, change your perspective. Whatever it is you’re thinking about and worrying about, f**king shift it out the way and focus on the positive things in your life.

READ MORE: Adam Thomas issues shocking statement on I’m A Celeb saying ‘David broke me’READ MORE: Newlyweds Jack Whitehall and Roxy Horner kiss in unseen snaps from £250k wedding weekend

“I’m thinking about all of the beautiful things in my life today and I’m like, “Today, I’m going to take a f**king day off worrying”. Why don’t you do the same thing?”

He followed this up with a screenshot of his lock screen, which has the quote: “Don’t worry about calming the storm. Calm yourself, the storm will pass”.

“Please try to ket it go… Put yourself first [sic],” he added, before clarifying that “ket” was a typo in another post.

Katie is known for being fiercely protective of her family and previously voiced concerns she has over her firstborn child, who was also diagnosed with autism and septo-optic dysplasia.

Advertisement

Over the weekend, she called out Daniel over a remark he reportedly made on stage, fuming: “So I hear last night @dappersinstagram made a joke about my son Harvey AGAIN then said ‘pretend I didn’t say anything or I’ll get cancelled again’. He does charity football games for children and sure he has his own kids.

“Having to use my son with complex needs and can’t defend himself for a joke, makes this man a disgusting human being, so I prey he gets cancelled for EVERYTHING [sic].”

Advertisement

In another post, she begged fans to report the comedian for “bullying” her son and demanded an apology for “his horrible words to others”.

Katie’s husband, Lee Andrews, also made his feelings known over the matter and called for Daniel to meet him in the boxing ring.

Uploading a picture of the Celebrity Big Brother star’s Instagram page, he added: “Daniel, I’ll fight you in Miss-fits in June. I won’t ever train for it so I can knock your fat t**t all over like the stodgy little round punching bag you (are) son.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Mint full cast list for new crime-drama series on the BBC

Published

on

Mint full cast list for new crime-drama series on the BBC

Written and directed by Charlotte Regan, the show follows Shannon (Laird), the daughter of her area’s dominant crime family, who is desperately searching for romance in the shadow of her father, Dylan.

She ends up falling hard for Arran (Coyle-Larner), a member of a rival crime family who has newly arrived in town.

A synopsis for the show adds: “While Shannon and Arran are navigating their forbidden romance, elsewhere, things are imploding for Shannon’s family.

Advertisement

“Early in our series, Dylan (Sam Riley) decides to step down as the head of the family for mysterious reasons.

“Sam (Neil Leiper), Dylan’s second in command, steps up to take over, though his diverging tactics start to raise alarm”.

Despite the crime family aspects of the story, it is secondary to the romantic plotline.

Advertisement

Explaining why she wanted to make the programme, Charlotte Regan shared: “I’ve always loved gangster shows, gangster films, and I’d wanted them to centre around the women in the families.

“I think I always thought they were like the backbones of those kinds of families when you read about them and watch them.

“So, it came from that, really, it started with Ollie (Lindsay Duncan), the grandma – she was one of the first characters and it just went from there.”

Meanwhile, Emma Laird shared that Regan’s previous work encouraged her to take on a role in Mint.

She said: “I was a big fan of her film Scrapper and thought she was great.

Advertisement

“I was mid-shoot on another project and was flying to Venice Film Festival the next day but I went in to read [for the part] – I was so terrible at the Scottish accent, despite my dad being Scottish!

“I met Charli and from that first meeting, it was just super collaborative.

“It gave me a taste for what it would be like to be on set with her.

“And it has been the most beautiful collaboration; it’s exceeded my expectations.”

Advertisement

Mint full cast list for BBC series

  • Emma Laird as Shannon
  • Benjamin Coyle-Larner as Arran
  • Sam Riley as Dylan
  • Laura Fraser as Cat
  • Lindsay Duncan as Ollie
  • Lewis Gribben as Luke
  • Neil Leiper as Sam
  • Lucy Howard as Young Shannon
  • Gordon Brown as Eddie
  • Thierry Mabonga as Spencer
  • Murray Fraser as Jasper
  • Russ Bain as Ben
  • Connor Newall as Liangelo
  • Tav MacDougall as Colin
  • Lucas Green as Young Liangelo
  • Joseph Ogbu as Young Arran
  • Emma Hartley-Miller as Nadia
  • Hannah Collins as Jackie
  • Clive Russell as Andy
  • David Carlyle as Tom

Recommended reading:


When will Mint be on TV?

The first episode of Mint will air at 9pm on BBC One on Monday, April 20, with the second episode following immediately afterwards at 9.30pm.

The remaining six episodes will air in the same timeslots over the next few weeks.

Alternatively, all eight episodes will be available to watch from 6am on Monday, April 20, on BBC iPlayer.

Will you be watching Mint on BBC One? Let us know in the comments.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Canada has banned employers from ghosting job candidates

Published

on

Canada has banned employers from ghosting job candidates

A new law requires employers to respond to interviewees in a move that could reshape hiring practices

After three job interviews in London, Laura Gemma Bond travelled back to Cambridge and waited for the call that never came. Despite paying for train fares and preparing for each meeting, the marketing professional with 12 years’ experience received no response at all.

“It’s rude, it is unprofessional, it is not acceptable,” said Bond, who documented her job search on TikTok, where her posts have reached 2.3m views.

Advertisement

Being “ghosted” by employers after interviews has become a familiar frustration for jobseekers across many countries. A 2025 report from hiring platform Greenhouse found that 63% of candidates in the UK and Ireland say they have experienced it.

Advertisement

Now one part of Canada has decided to legislate against the practice. Under changes to the Employment Standards Act in Ontario, companies with more than 25 employees must notify candidates within 45 days of their final interview whether they have been successful. Employers who fail to respond can face fines of up to CA $100,000, roughly £50,000, after the law came into force in January.

“As an HR professional I cannot believe we have to legislate basic good behaviour,” said Allison Venditti, the Toronto-based founder of the Moms at Work network, who campaigned for the legislation. “If someone applies for a job, gets an interview and spends all that time on it, companies should let them know what is going on.”

Ontario’s law also requires employers to disclose salary ranges in job adverts, another measure campaigners say could help rebuild trust in recruitment. Danielle McConville, vice president for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific at Greenhouse, said that ghosting erodes confidence in employers while also damaging their reputation.

Advertisement

Allison Venditti, founder of Moms at Work network, campaigned for the change

“While anti-ghosting regulations like those in Canada could help establish a baseline standard, the real solution is a human-centric approach that ensures fair, respectful and structured hiring practices,” she said.

Some employer groups, however, warn that legislating communication in recruitment could add administrative burdens, particularly for companies running large hiring rounds with hundreds of applicants. Critics also say the rule may simply encourage automated rejection emails rather than improving the quality of feedback candidates receive. Recruiters note that ghosting can run both ways, with some candidates also dropping out of recruitment processes without notice.

Advertisement

The debate is emerging at a moment when job markets are tightening. In the UK, recent figures show unemployment nearing a five-year high as wage growth slows. At the same time, some graduates say they are submitting hundreds of applications before securing work, with reports of candidates applying for as many as 600 roles before receiving an offer.

Against that backdrop, campaigners are beginning to ask whether legislation like Ontario’s could catch on elsewhere. A petition on the UK government and parliament website calling for a legal requirement for employers to respond to interviewees has been launched, though it had gathered only 98 signatures at the time of writing.

“Once accountability measures are introduced in one jurisdiction, they quickly influence practice elsewhere,” said Jessica Ciccozzi, founder of the Australian executive advisory from East Executive.

Main image: Marten Bjork

Advertisement

Be part of the solution

At Positive News, we’re not chasing clicks or profits for media moguls – we’re here to serve you and have a positive social impact. We can’t do this unless enough people like you choose to support our journalism.

Give once from just £1, or join 1,800+ others who contribute an average of £3 or more per month. Together, we can build a healthier form of media – one that focuses on solutions, progress and possibilities, and empowers people to create positive change.

Support Positive News

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Young GAA fan hurt during pitch invasion before hurling legend comes to his aid

Published

on

Belfast Live

Cork beat Tipperary in Munster Championship opener at Semple Stadium, but celebrations turned sour for one young fan who was accidentally struck

It was a day of jubilation for Cork hurlers – but proceedings concluded on a rather unfortunate note for one young Rebel follower in Thurles.

Advertisement

Ben O’Connor’s side mounted an impressive comeback, rattling off eight consecutive points in the second period to overcome reigning All-Ireland champions Tipperary in their Munster Championship curtain-raiser at Semple Stadium.

Having suffered defeat to Tipperary in last year’s All-Ireland final, victory tasted particularly satisfying for Cork and their supporters. The hosts managed just a solitary point from open play in the second half, which didn’t arrive until the 65th minute.

The final whistle triggered scenes of celebration, with predominantly young Cork supporters flooding onto the pitch to acclaim their heroes.

Yet matters took an unexpected turn for one enthusiastic youngster who rushed forward hoping to meet Darragh Fitzgibbon, only to inadvertently take a hurley to the face, reports the Irish Mirror.

Advertisement
Content cannot be displayed without consent

The three-time All-Star was locked in an embrace with a team-mate and remained completely oblivious to the young supporter positioned on the opposite side of the duo.

The youngster crumpled to the turf clutching his face, going unnoticed by the celebrating Cork players.

What followed demonstrated genuine class from Tipperary stalwart Noel McGrath, who spotted the injured child. He approached immediately to assess the boy’s condition and made certain he received appropriate attention from ground stewards.

Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the latest sports news, headlines and top stories

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Rebel Wilson’s claims against actress are ‘malicious concoctions’, Australian court hears

Published

on

Rebel Wilson's claims against actress are 'malicious concoctions', Australian court hears

MacInnes, who graduated from a Western Australian acting academy in 2021, plays one of the two lead characters in The Deb, a musical comedy set in the Australian outback, having starred in a theatre production of the play in 2022. The movie was released in Australia this month.

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

US seizes Iranian vessel as doubts rise over new talks

Published

on

US seizes Iranian vessel as doubts rise over new talks

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan moved ahead Monday with preparations for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions about whether the meeting would take place.

Over the weekend, the U.S. attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond, and its Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told his Pakistani counterpart that American threats to Iranian ships and ports were “clear signs” of Washington’s disingenuousness ahead of the planned talks, Iran state media reported.

With tensions flaring and the ceasefire due to expire midweek, Pakistan has intensified diplomatic contacts with both Washington and Tehran over the past 24 hours with the goal of resuming the talks on Tuesday as planned, according to two Pakistani officials involved in the preparations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said American negotiators would head to the Pakistani capital on Monday, but it was not immediately clear whether those plans would now change.

Advertisement

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that there were no plans yet to attend the talks with the U.S. But at the same time, he did not rule it out.

“We have no plans for the next round of negotiations and no decision has been made in this regard,” Baghaei said.

Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States but suggested a wide gap remained between the sides. It was unclear whether either side had shifted stances on issues that derailed the last round of negotiations, including Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran throttled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war. The U.S. has also instituted a blockade of Iranian ports.

Advertisement

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait, along with critical supplies of fertilizer for the world’s farmers, natural gas and humanitarian supplies for places in dire need like Afghanistan and Sudan.

Iran says more than 3,000 have been killed in country so far

Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization. He did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under.

More than 2,290 people have also been killed in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

Oil prices on the rise again after renewed conflict in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has also sent oil prices skyrocketing and given rise to one of the worst global energy crises in decades.

Oil prices recovered slightly following Iran’s announcement that the strait was being reopened a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday.

But then Trump said the U.S. blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the U.S. and on Sunday the military seized the Iranian cargo ship, the first interception since the blockade began last week.

Advertisement

Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said, and vowed to again enforce restrictions imposed early in the war. Already on Saturday, Iran fired at ships trying to transit.

Oil prices were up again in early trading on Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, at about $95 a barrel — up more than 30% from the day the war started.

Iran early Monday warned it could keep up the global economic pain as ships remained unable to transit the strait, with hundreds of vessels waiting at each end for clearance.

Security of the strait is not free and “the choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president of Iran, said in a social media post calling for a lasting end to military and economic pressure on Tehran.

Advertisement

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Rising from Bangkok.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Amy Winehouse’s father loses High Court row with singer’s friends over auctions

Published

on

Amy Winehouse’s father loses High Court row with singer’s friends over auctions

Deputy High Court judge Sarah Clarke KC said in a judgment on Monday: “I find that neither Ms Parry nor Ms Gourlay deliberately concealed any of their disputed items from the claimant and even if I am wrong about that, Mr Winehouse could have discovered what disputed items the defendants had with reasonable diligence.”

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Timeline of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London as counter-terror police investigate possible Iran link

Published

on

All the recent arson attacks in London as counter-terror police probe spate of incidents

Counter-terror police are leading probes into recent multiple arson and attempted arson attacks in north-west London .

The deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Matt Jukes said premises “linked to Britain’s Jewish community and to those who oppose the Iranian regime have been targeted”.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Over 60 nations gather in Brussels for talks with Palestinian PM on stability in Gaza, West Bank

Published

on

Over 60 nations gather in Brussels for talks with Palestinian PM on stability in Gaza, West Bank

BRUSSELS (AP) — More than 60 nations are sending representatives to Brussels to discuss with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa stability, security and long-term peace in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as global attention largely remains focused in the Middle East on the ongoing crises in Iran and Lebanon.

Ongoing attacks in the West Bank and continued devastation in Gaza dims the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot ahead of the meeting Monday. He is co-hosting the meeting with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

“We observe without naivety that the two-state solution is being made more difficult by the day,” Prévot said. “But Belgium and many European and Arab partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the entire region.”

The 27-nation European Union is the largest single donor to the Palestinian Authority, with its 90-year-old president Mahmoud Abbas ruling from Ramallah for two decades. And while the EU has avoided directly joining the Board of Peace created by United States President Donald Trump, preferring the multilateralism of the United Nations and global legal norms, the bloc is eager to not be sidelined in diplomacy in a volatile region just across the Mediterranean.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Outrage in Europe over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza drove many EU leaders to condemn Israel’s war conduct and to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. With the recent ouster of long-serving Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Netanyahu, there might now be enough political support within the bloc for stronger actions like targeted sanctions on Israeli settlers or even the suspension of some ties to Israel.

Palestinians in the West Bank say that Israel has used the cover of the Iran war to tighten its grip over the territory, as settler attacks surge and the military imposes additional wartime restrictions on movement, citing security.

Gaza requires “one state, one government, one law and one goal,” Mustafa said on Monday in Brussels.

Advertisement

“Our common objective of achieving one security structure under the legitimate authority should guide the effective coordination between the International Stabilization Force, the Palestinian Authority, security institutions and other international actors. Security must not be fragmented,” he said.

He also called for “the gradual and responsible collection of arms from all armed groups and also the full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.”

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

What the Iran War fuel crisis actually means for your holiday prices

Published

on

Daily Mirror

Sparked by the Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, oil is no longer flowing out of the Middle East as it did earlier this year, which is having a major impact on the aviation industry

Holidaymakers face soaring flight prices and more expensive package breaks even if they’ve already booked because of the looming shortage of jet fuel.

Sparked by the Iran War and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, oil is no longer flowing out of the Middle East as it did earlier this year. Supplies of jet fuel built up by European countries have been severely depleted.

In general, some European countries hold several months’ worth of jet fuel inventory at a time, according to an IEA report released last week. “Every passing day that the Strait of Hormuz remains shut, Europe is edging closer to supply shortages,” said Amaar Khan, head of European jet fuel pricing at Argus Media. “The Strait accounts for around 40% of Europe’s jet fuel imports, but no jet fuel has passed the Strait since the war broke out.”

Advertisement

There are four main ways that the jet fuel shortage could impact British holidaymakers: rising flight prices, extra fees, cancelled flights and package break surcharges. We’ve explained each one below.

READ MORE: easyJet Spain and Portugal flights fuel supply ‘four weeks’ updateREAD MORE: ‘Jet fuel shortage’ update as Government ‘monitoring fuel supplies and pricing’

Rising flight prices

Jet fuel — a refined kerosene-based oil product — is airlines’ biggest cost, making up about 30% of overall expenses, according to the International Air Transport Association. And jet fuel prices have roughly doubled since the war began. Shortages could start next.

Advertisement

Already, a number of airlines have started bumping up the cost of tickets.

Just last week, it emerged that Virgin Atlantic had increased some flight costs with an extra £50 fuel surcharge on economy-class tickets, while premium economy fares are climbing by £180 and business class by £360.

Air France and KLM fares are also going up. They are likely to cost an additional €50, bringing the fuel surcharge to €100 (£86.98) on top of the standard fare. Meanwhile, flights to the United States, Canada and Mexico could increase by €70 (£60.89), and an economy round trip could cost an extra €10 (£8.70).

If you’ve already got your flights booked, you don’t need to worry. You are not going to be asked retrospectively to pay extra on your air fare. Once you have paid, the airline will not come after you for any more cash – unless the government hikes aviation fees, which they don’t appear poised to do.

Advertisement

Extra fees

Many passengers will have booked their flights months in advance, before the US and Israel attacked Iran and fuel prices started rising. Because airlines can’t bump up fares that’re already booked but for which they’re now making less money, they have started looking for other ways to make a bit of extra cash.

American Airlines has said it would hike checked baggage fees by $10 (£7.40) each for the first and second checked bags and by $150 (£111) for the third checked bag on domestic and short-haul international flights. Southwest Airlines has said it will hike checked baggage fees by $10 for the first and second bags, raising costs to $45 (£33) for the first bag and $55 (£40) for the second.

As passengers often add extra luggage just before they fly, these rises could impact passengers who booked flights before the invasion.

No major European airlines have made similar changes.

Advertisement

Cancelled flights

Last week, International Energy Agency Director Fatih Birol said Europe has “maybe six weeks” of remaining jet fuel supplies and said the global economy faces its “largest energy crisis.”

Many major airlines have already cancelled flights because of the fuel price rises and falling demand, and more are likely to do so.

Swedish flag carrier SAS has said it would cancel 1,000 flights in April because of high oil and jet fuel prices, after cancelling a “couple hundred” flights in March. United Airlines said that five per cent of flights would be cancelled in the second and third quarters of 2026, while Dutch airline KLM has cancelled 160 flights for the coming month.

Advertisement

Other airlines, such as BA, have suspended whole routes to parts of the Middle East due to the conflict, while Virgin Atlantic announced earlier this month that it would be permanently scrapping its London flight to Riyadh from April.

Under UK law, if your flight is cancelled more than 14 days before it is due to depart, you are not entitled to compensation. However, your airline does have to offer you a full refund or help you find an alternative flight.

In the latter case, it’s up to you whether to fly as soon as possible after the cancelled flight, or at a later date that suits you. Although most airlines will book you onto another of their flights to the same destination, if an alternative airline is flying there significantly sooner or other suitable modes of transport are available, then you may have the right to be booked onto that alternative transport instead. You can discuss this with your airline.

Given that airfares may be significantly higher than when you booked, opting for an alternative flight rather than taking a refund may work out in your favour.

Advertisement

Extra package break costs

A largely overlooked clause in package holiday terms and conditions could result in the price of a package holiday increasing by hundreds of pounds – even after you’ve already made your booking and payment.

An article by Which? drew attention to the obscure clause found within Package Travel Regulations. It reveals that UK holiday companies can impose an additional charge of up to 8% on a package holiday price, without being required to provide a free cancellation option, under three specific circumstances.

These circumstances include: a destination introducing additional taxes or other charges, a significant shift in currency exchange rates, or a rise in the price of fuel or power. Given the ongoing Middle East conflict, fuel costs have been rising noticeably, which means there’s potential for package holiday operators to invoke this rule for Brits who’ve already booked their holidays should these expenses continue climbing.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025