Rising costs have continued to plague the company, now facing soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran
The White House is finalizing a financing package to help ailing US budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which could receive as much as $500m in loans as rising costs continue to plague the company.
News of the potential deal comes as Spirit and others struggle with soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran.
Continue reading...Conservatives and former provincial premiers among those PM names to advisory committee on economic relations
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, says his new advisory committee on economic relations with the United States will draw on the “best advice and the broadest perspectives” as the country braces for what many expect will be tense trade negotiations with its southern neighbour.
The 24-member advisory committee, announced on Tuesday, shows the prime minister’s eagerness to reach across the political spectrum to ensure Canada is “well positioned to advance its interests” at the looming trade talks.
Continue reading...The hearing marks a key hurdle Kevin Warsh must overcome in order to succeed Jerome Powell when his term ends on 15 May
While the long-delayed hearing is a necessary step for Kevin Warsh, it’s not clear when the committee may even be able to vote on his nomination.
The Justice Department is investigating Powell and the Fed over a building renovation, and senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, has said he would effectively block Warsh until the probe is dropped, AP reported.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Donald Trump’s labor secretary, resigned from her role with the administration. She said it was “an honor and a privilege to serve” to serve and that she would take on a job in the private sector. The departure came after she became entangled in a string of political and personal controversies. Democrats celebrated, writing “this administration is imploding”.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, called for Kash Patel’s immediate resignation following a report from the Atlantic detailing the FBI director’s alleged excessive drinking and absences. Patel has sued the magazine for defamation with his attorneys calling the article a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece”.
Donald Trump signed memorandums related to coal supply chains, natural gas and grid infrastructure on Monday. The president invoked the Defense Production Act in the energy-related memos, writing that increasing energy production is “essential to United States national defense”.
The crowded field of Democratic candidates in the California’s governor’s race appears to be narrowing as Betty Yee — a former state controller— announced Monday she planned to end her campaign. Meanwhile, the California Democratic party chair Rusty Hicks continued to urge candidates trailing in the polls to exit the race.
Continue reading...Vinegar, Tim Tams and baby rice are among the products to be scrutinised in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s case
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The consumer watchdog is back in court and taking on Australia’s largest supermarket chain, alleging Woolworths deliberately misled shoppers with fake discounts.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) case against Woolworths begins in the federal court in Sydney on Tuesday, almost two months after hearings wrapped up in its very similar case against Coles.
Continue reading...Meanwhile ACT independent David Pocock is calling for a 25% tax on gas exports to fund welfare and housing. Follow today’s news live
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Treasurer says capital gains changes and other tax reform still under consideration
Sticking with the budget, Chalmers said the government hasn’t made any decisions on capital gains tax reform.
We haven’t taken any decisions on those policies, whether the specific ones you mentioned [or others].
There’s more work to do on our options for tax reform in this budget.
The savings package won’t be exactly the same as what we would have been contemplating over the summer, but it will be a substantial savings package.
When we came to office the NDIS was out of control and it had strayed a long way from its original intended purpose.
It was growing around 22% when we got to office.
Continue reading...Retail analysts say breaking up food and fashion group would make sense in challenging business environment
Primark may break free from Kingsmill, Twinings and the sugar business this week when Associated British Foods announces plans on a mooted demerger.
The potential split comes at a tricky time for the group controlled by the billionaire Weston family, with its fashion and food arms facing tough competition and rising costs.
Continue reading...Chris Wright says ‘I don’t know’ when asked about lower cost of gas as average price soars to $4 a gallon in US
Chris Wright, the Trump administration’s energy secretary, acknowledged Sunday that it might not be until 2027 before US gas prices come back under $3 a gallon.
Asked by Jake Tapper, the CNN State of the Union host, when he thought “it’s realistic for Americans to expect the gas will go back to under $3 a gallon”, Wright replied: “I don’t know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen until next year.”
Continue reading...About 422 indie bookshops opened in 2025, up 31%, defying predictions of retail consolidation
For years now, we have heard that Amazon and the big chains are crushing small businesses, but independent bookstores are suddenly making a comeback.
About 422 new indie bookshops opened in 2025, according to the American Booksellers Association, a 31% rise from 2024. Countless independent restaurants, coffee shops, fitness centers, movie theaters, clothing stores and other small businesses also continue to thrive even in this era of ever-bigger retailers, fast-casual restaurants and massive e-commerce platforms.
Continue reading...Shopkeepers charged millions of pounds, including alleged £10,000 penalty for mistake that cost firm £7.08
Vodafone incentivised its security staff to increase “clawbacks” levied on its own franchisees, as part of a programme that led to the telecoms group fining its own shopkeepers millions of pounds for seemingly small administrative errors.
The policy – which included one alleged case of a £10,000 penalty for a franchisee whose mistake cost Vodafone £7.08 – involved setting “key performance indicators” (KPIs) for the telecoms group’s internal employees to collect total annual fines of £1.5m from the small business people running the FTSE 100 company’s high street stores.
Continue reading...Deputy leader ran shell companies that reportedly did not pay tax on profits from 2020 to 2022, during which time his firm donated £1.1m to party
Richard Tice allegedly failed to pay almost £100,000 in corporation tax to the benefit of his investment company, which in turn made donations to Reform UK, it has been reported.
In response to the report in the Sunday Times, the deputy leader of Reform UK posted a lengthy statement on X, in which he said: “A long career with multiple businesses is bound to feature some errors. Naturally I am always happy to put things right and if numbers need rechecking, of course I will pay what is owed – be that more or less.”
Continue reading...Filings suggest manufacturers’ lending arms have massively underestimated bill from FCA’s £9.1bn redress scheme
Carmakers are under pressure to drum up £3bn to cover payouts for motor finance scandal victims after failing to adequately prepare for a UK-wide compensation scheme that is due to begin this summer.
Company filings show the lending arms of big vehicle manufacturers including Ford, BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen may have massively underestimated the final costs of the financial regulator’s £9.1bn redress scheme.
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Defence Minister Richard Marles says the success of Australia’s alliance with the United States should not be measured against a single president or federal government in Canberra, insisting the longstanding ties will endure.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Australia for not assisting with the war in Iran, while federal Labor, including Marles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, say the White House has not made any specific request for assistance.
Continue reading...Spirit Airlines reportedly seeks emergency US government funding as war against Iran keeps aviation fuel costs high
Air Canada has announced a temporary suspension of flights from Toronto and Montreal to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, citing rising fuel prices.
The move comes amid growing concerns that airlines worldwide may scale back services as aviation fuel costs climb in the wake of the US and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, which entered a fragile ceasefire earlier in April. Although Iran announced on Friday that the strait of Hormuz had reopened, helping ease oil prices, fuel costs remain significantly elevated after weeks of disruption.
Continue reading...One insider estimates Australians pay A$10 in fees per ticket, with fans bearing the burden of monopolised music tour schedules and inflated artist values
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Australia is being urged to improve ticketing transparency after a US federal court found Live Nation Entertainment had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues.
This week, a New York jury found the global entertainment giant and its subsidiary Ticketmaster liable for systematically stifling competition to extract excessive profits from concertgoers. The jury identified a baseline overcharge of US$1.72 for every ticket sold by Live Nation since 2010 – totalling an additional US$595m in 2025 alone.
Continue reading...Adult video platform to sell minority stake to increase stability after death of its founder Leonid Radvinsky
OnlyFans, the UK adult video platform, is in talks to sell a minority stake to a US investor that will value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The London-based company is in advanced talks to sell a stake of less than 20% to the San Francisco-based investment firm Architect Capital, according to the Financial Times. Sources familiar with the process confirmed the talks to the Guardian.
Continue reading...EU economy commissioner says Iran war is feeding Russia’s war machine; Trump condemns massive strikes on Ukraine. What we know on day 1,513
The EU expects to start releasing a new €90bn loan to Ukraine in the second quarter, the bloc’s economy chief told AFP on Thursday. The EU’s economy commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, was speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s spring meetings, which brought finance ministers, central bankers and other leaders to Washington. “Our support for Ukraine, also continued pressure and sanctions against aggressor Russia was very much part of the agenda,” Dombrovskis said. He warned that Moscow was “emerging as a winner from this war in Iran, because it provides windfall profits to feed Russia’s war machine”.
Russia hammered civilian areas across Ukraine with drones and missiles on Thursday, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 100 others in the worst aerial attack in weeks, Ukrainian authorities said. Nearly 700 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles were used, as Ukrainian officials said vital stocks of advanced interceptors were running low.
Donald Trump on Thursday condemned a massive Russian drone and missile attack across Ukraine that ripped through apartment buildings in the capital, Kyiv. Asked by reporters at the White House for his reaction to the barrage, Trump said: “I think it’s terrible.”
It is not in the interest of the US that Russia is the winner of the Iran war, the German vice chancellor, Lars Klingbeil, said on Thursday in Washington. “It’s not in our interest and it cannot be in the interest of the United States,” he said in a joint statement with the finance ministers of Ukraine and Norway on the sidelines of the IMF spring meetings. Klingbeil said the Russian economy was growing thanks to the Middle East conflict and the country was profitting from the energy situation. As the conflict in the Middle East dominated the gathering of finance officials at the IMF in Washington, the ministers of Norway, Germany and Ukraine spoke about not forgetting to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia. “All the meetings here are about the question of what’s happening with the war in Iran, and I think it’s really important we show solidarity with our friends in Ukraine,” Klingbeil said.
The heads of the EU and Nato on Thursday discussed efforts to bolster Europe’s arms production, as Donald Trump threw doubt on Washington’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance. “We need to invest more, to produce more and to do both faster,” the European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, posted online after meeting Nato’s chief, Mark Rutte. European nations are scrambling to bolster their militaries in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine and pressure from Trump.
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Australia secures extra fertilizer and 100m extra litres of fuel, PM says
Albanese has also provided an update on Australia’s talks with its allies in Asia to shore up imports of fuel and other goods affected by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The advice that we have received today is that 80% of diesel production is continuing, 80% of aviation fuel is continuing, ongoing.
It has been slowed down just slightly because of the circumstances which are there, but 60% of petrol production [is] proceeding today as well.
Continue reading...‘Sustained outperformance’ merits pay rise, says company after it ups profit guidance to £1.2bn for year to January 2027
The Next chief executive, Simon Wolfson, took home more than £7m last year, his highest ever pay package, and could be handed up to £9.27m this year after the retailer announced plans to increase his basic salary and bonuses.
The listed company said it was increasing its pay deal for the long-term leader of the fashion and homewares retailer, which now controls a string of brands in the UK including Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Cath Kidston, Reiss and FatFace, as his remuneration was 30% below the average for FTSE 100 bosses.
Continue reading...Pedro Piscal pisco is latest Chilean brand to resemble a Hollywood name – and others have fought off the lawsuits
The actor Pedro Pascal is waging a legal battle against a Chilean pisco merchant who has chosen a cheeky name for his brand of the country’s national spirit: Pedro Piscal.
David Herrera registered the brand name with a Chilean commercial regulator in 2023 and began selling his pisco in off-licences and restaurants.
Continue reading...Guardian readers describe how their lives have been upended by cost hikes stemming from Trump’s Iran war
With the US and Israel’s war on Iran now in its seventh week, with a fragile ceasefire in place since earlier this month, Americans are continuing to feel the effects at the pump as global fuel prices rise.
For several readers who spoke to the Guardian, the impact has forced difficult trade-offs – from accessing essential medicines and groceries to facing the brink of homelessness amid an already rising cost of living.
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