Flights

Exclusive: One Nation leader updates register after questions from the Guardian to include multiple flights courtesy of Rinehart’s companyFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne Nation senator Pauline Hanson has failed to properly declare more free flights gifted from mining billionaire Gina Rinehart – this time through her agricultural company S Kidman and Co.Senator Hanson updated her register on Tuesday to include multiple flights taken last year courtesy of Rinehart’s company following questions sent from the Guardian on Monday regarding a flight from Tamworth to Brisbane on 8 December last year. Continue reading...

Storm system dumps snow in midwest and threatens east coast with high winds and possible ‘long-track tornadoes’Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA late winter storm continued a destructive, elemental march across the eastern US, with thousands of flights canceled or delayed as powerful winds combined with a partial government shutdown delayed travelers passing through airport security scanners.Flight delays and cancellations mounted at some of the nation’s largest airports, including in New York, Chicago and Atlanta. Flight delays within, into, or out of the US totaled 9,112 by late afternoon, with cancellations standing at 4,763, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. Continue reading...

Trump warns Nato faces ‘very bad’ future if US allies fail to assist in opening the vital oil route; Israel says thousands of targets in Iran remain – follow it liveHow have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?Donald Trump is said to be working to build a coalition of countries that will attempt to reopen the strait of Hormuz.The US president hopes to unveil the list later this week, Axios reported, citing four unnamed sources.Donald Trump has warned that Nato faces a “very bad” future if US allies fail to assist in opening up the strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times has reported. He also said on Sunday that he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments as oil prices soar during the Iran war. The president declined to name the countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude that the administration is negotiating with to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth the world’s traded oil normally flows. Australia and Japan have declined to send their navies to the strait.Flights were temporarily suspended at Dubai’s airport, previously one of the world’s busiest, after a “drone-related incident” sparked a fire nearby, city authorities said on Monday. The incident impacted a fuel tank, the Gulf financial hub’s media office said, later adding authorities had extinguished the blaze that broke out. The office said no injuries had been reported.Israel said that its military remains focused on thousands of potential targets within Iran, even as Tehran issued a stern warning to neighbouring nations against further involvement in the rapidly expanding regional war.Oil prices have climbed again amid mounting supply fears after the US struck Iran’s vital Kharg Island oil hub and Trump demanded allies help reopen the strait of Hormuz. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.8% to $104.98 per barrel during early trading on Monday. Another weekend of violence across the Middle East compounded concerns over the conflict, and its ramifications for global energy markets.British prime minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the strait of Hormuz to end disruption to global shipping with Trump, a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Sunday. Starmer also spoke with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, with the leaders discussing the impact of the strait’s continued closure on international shipping, the spokeswoman told Reuters.Italy’s military said there had been a drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait hosting Italian and US forces, but said all its personnel were safe. “This morning, Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait was the target of a drone attack that hit a shelter housing a remotely piloted aircraft of the Italian Task Force Air (TFA), which was destroyed,” the chief of the defence general staff, Luciano Portolano, said in a statement.UN peacekeepers said they were fired upon “likely by non-state armed groups” in south Lebanon on Sunday, while a Hamas source said an Israeli strike killed an official from the Palestinian militant group.A rocket attack on Baghdad international airport in Iraq, which houses a US diplomatic facility, wounded five people, Iraqi authorities said. The Iraqi government’s security media cell said “five rockets targeted Baghdad International Airport and its surrounding area, injuring four airport employees and security personnel, and an engineer”.US energy secretary Chris Wright said that there was “a very good chance” gas prices could drop below $3 a gallon by summer, though that is contingent on the Iran conflict’s end. Wright told NBC’s Meet the Press that while US drivers “are feeling it right now” at the pump and “will feel it for a few more weeks”, once the Iran war is over “we’ll go to a world more abundant” and “more affordable” in energy.Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a brief video to mock viral social media rumours suggesting he had been killed. Taking a sip from a steaming cup at a cafe near Jerusalem, he jokingly posted to his official X account, “I’m dead for coffee,” utilizing a Hebrew slang term that equates being “dead” for something with loving it.The World Health Organisation said on Sunday it had released $2 m from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to support the health response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria amid the Middle East crisis. Continue reading...

Criminals exploiting Middle East crisis by targeting customers seeking help or refunds from affected carriersYour flight has been delayed as a result of the Middle East crisis and you want to find out what’s happening, so you go online for an answer. You find a social media account run by the airline you are booked with and post a question, and get a reply offering help.You’re asked to send a direct message with details, which seems reasonable. A conversation starts and you are told to give your phone number as you may be due compensation. This is where it all starts going wrong: instead of being given money, you have it taken. Although it looked official, the account that replied was a scam. Continue reading...