Cost

Our two England fans fly out of Heathrow on Monday, 15 June with return flights to JFK in New York costing just over £500 each – which is good value.

With the Three Lions’ final group game taking place in New Jersey, it is the most cost-effective way to travel to the US and back, with the first stop being Dallas.

After landing in the States, they pick up a flight to Dallas the same night – this costs £283 per person.

Four nights at the Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Market Center cost £624 (£156 a night) for a twin.

Double rooms, which are more available in all cities, come in cheaper at the Hilton Dallas Medical District at £560 (£140 a night).

Both properties have breakfast included, meaning Dallas – which also has free shuttle buses from stations to the stadium in Arlington – is an affordable start to the trip.

The England supporters fly to Boston on Friday, 19 June with the fare £378 each.

Boston is at the other end of the scale as one of the more expensive host cities for accommodation.

Our couple stay at the Hampton Inn & Suites Boston Crosstown Center, costing £1,650 (£330 a night), including breakfast, for five nights.

The cheapest twin-bed option in the city itself is £2,041 (£408 a night) without breakfast at the Courtyard Boston Downtown/North Station.

It is possible to book a hotel near the airport £500 cheaper but with five days in the city, it may not be worth the saving.

With England’s third game being in New Jersey, there is no need to take a flight. The supporters can hop on the Amtrak train to New York on Wednesday, 24 June with tickets £42 each.

Unlike in Boston, there are still lots of hotel options in New York with a five-night stay before the flight home on 29 June.

A double at the Truss Hotel Times Square costs £1,184 (£237 a night) while a twin at the AMTD Idea Tribeca Hotel is £1,275 (£255 a night).

This time, however, you will need to head out for breakfast.

But the last two games come with a sting – train tickets to the stadiums cost £59 per person from Boston and £114 from New York.

Just to get to the States and travel around, the estimated costs for two friends are £6,273 and for a couple £5,855.

And what of the family? It is going to cost £9,008 to get to the States, get around and put your heads down.

Costs are helped by some hotels offering free stays for children.

In Dallas, the Comfort Inn Dallas Medical-Market Center costs £627 (£156 a night).

The same Hampton Inn is used in Boston with a higher cost of £1,763 (£353 a night).

Over in New York, the Holiday Inn in Times Square costs £1,589 (£318 a night).

The world’s longest suspension bridge is currently in Turkey but a new record could be held if the government in Italy gets its way and the Messina Bridge project is completed by 2033 as planned

The world’s longest suspension bridge was given the green light last year – and it could be of serious interest to Brits. In 2025, the Italian government’s plans to build the longest suspension bridge in the world was approved. If it becomes a reality, it would connect the mainland region of Calabria to Sicily.

However, a lot has happened since then. The controversial Messina Bridge project, which would cost a staggering £11.7bn, faced a setback last November, meaning it was put on hold again.

If the bridge ever gets built along the Strait of Messina, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni still intends, it would be a hugely ambitious infrastructure challenge that has been talked about in Italy for decades.

Pietro Salini, chief executive of Webuild, the engineering group leading the project, said it would be “transformative for the whole country” and he promised that it would “stimulate growth, employment, and lawfulness across southern Italy”.

The colossal bridge, consisting of two towers stretching 400-metres (1,300 feet), would span an incredible 3.3km (2.05 miles). Three lanes of traffic would sit either side of two railway lines in the middle.

It would be particularly welcomed by Brits travelling in Italy, because it would cut their journey to Sicily to just ten minutes, compared to taking the ferry, which can take a lot longer than the 30 minutes crossing when you factor in the immense queuing at peak times.

Speaking last year, Meloni said: “It is not an easy task but we consider it an investment in Italy’s present and future, and we like difficult challenges when they make sense.”

Transport minister Matteo Salvini spoke in August that the goal was to have it built between 2032 and 2033. He also boasted that 120,000 jobs a year would be created, something he said would bring economic growth to the poor regions of Sicilia and Calabria, which is on the tip of Italy’s boot.

Rome was given the approval for the project in August after years of the plans being scrapped. One of the biggest reasons plans have been halted historically was concerns of mafia fraud, including worries about taxpayers’ money being siphoned off by the Sicilian and Calabrian gangsters.

Other concerns have repeatedly been raised about environmental damage, cost and safety, and given the region is one of the most seismically active areas in the Mediterranean, designers promised the Strait of Messina Bridge would be able to withstand earthquakes.

However, in November, yet another setback was reported, after an Italian court ruled the bridge would go against EU environmental and tender rules.

The Court of Auditors ruling concluded: “The assumptions regarding the various ‘reasons of public interest’ are not validated by technical bodies and are not supported by adequate documentation.”

But the Italian government is refusing to give up and has vowed to review the ruling carefully and continue with its ambitions of making the bridge a reality.

As well as still having to convince the Italian Court of Auditors and both national and EU environmental agencies, there would also be pushback from the 4,000 residents who live either side of the Strait.

Their homes would be at risk of demolition and this could mean legal challenges regarding having to abandon their properties.

As it stands, the current world’s longest suspension bridge is the 915 Canakkale Bridge in Turkey – which connects Asia to Europe and takes six minutes to cross.

Construction across the passage of water (Dardanelles Strait) started in 2017 and it only became open to the public three years ago. Journey times have been cut by up to 93%.

This means 90-minute ferry trips can be avoided by using the bridge that starts in Gelibolu, Turkey, which is based on the European side of the country, to the Asian town of Lapseki.

We should start by clarifying that it wasn’t entirely a shutdown. Reports still appeared on the website and on our social media pages regularly in April, but we were not working. They were produced in March and scheduled for April. 

In December last year, HumAngle announced an anti-burnout policy that allows the newsroom to go on a total break in April, August, and December. While journalists would still receive their complete pay, they would not be working during those months. It was an unprecedented and radical move that we felt was necessary to preserve the mental and physical health of the journalists who work unimaginably hard every day to bring hard truths about conflict to the fore. 

The truth is that the work we do as journalists is life-saving. Information must go out. People must know what is happening around them if they are to live safely and make informed decisions about their lives and futures. Information can quite literally be the distance between life and death, especially in an increasingly violent country. The news cycle does not stop because the human experience is a continuum. It can’t be boxed into Monday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Things just… happen. And this is where the complication lies.

Living like that has such a searing mental health toll, and because it is not physical, it often goes unnoticed and therefore untreated. Stressors are seen as ‘just part of the job’. The chaos is necessary to sustain the profession.

We realised that flipping that script on its head would make all the difference. Well-being is necessary to sustain the profession. It is necessary not just for the people who do the work, but even for the work itself. This idea is based on the simple assumption that humans are more likely to perform at their best when they feel their best. And yet, the news cycle demands that you keep working, even when deep down you know you have very little left to give. 

And so one of the questions we needed to ask ourselves as the policy came together was this: What would we do if a major conflict news demanded coverage during one of these rest months? The answer that we arrived at was simple yet profound: Nothing. The first lesson we learned this April, as we tried to put that answer into practice for the first time since the policy was announced, was that ‘nothing’ can sometimes be a very difficult thing to do. 

Reader, all hell seemed to break loose in April. Nearly all, if not all, states in Nigeria experienced some form of major insecurity event. Multiple airstrikes killed hundreds of people in Borno and Yobe. There were violent attacks in places like Erena in Niger State, as well as many abductions in Sokoto, Plateau, Cross River, Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, and Benue. 

At some point, inaction began to feel more difficult than the action we were trying to take a break from. 

What did reporters spend their rest month doing?

Two journalists said one of their best accomplishments was reading more. One said they read three books to completion and were on their fourth. The other said they read seven poetry books, three novels, and one non-fiction book. 

Someone else took a culinary class and learned to make new cuisines. They also went clubbing for the first time. 

Another said they went off the grid for a whole week and did not have to worry about missing any major news. Others travelled, explored their interests and passions, and engaged in other money-making activities. One person shared that they spent an entire night helping an older woman in their neighbourhood to smoke and fry some fish for sale. They worked from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. With the following morning being a Monday, they would not have done so if not for the break. The experience made them realise that the smoked fish business was exhausting. “I no go dey price fish anyhow again,” they joked.

Another person said they enjoyed stepping out of their home to the salon or gym without worrying about taking their laptop in case a work thing came up. 

Someone else said they authored two articles for a peer-reviewed journal, to which another person responded: “You are too serious about life.”

Someone else said they spent days indoors just watching movies, only taking breaks to eat. Another person tried to enter the real estate market and was swindled for their efforts (but not before successfully selling a plot of land). 

Someone else went into a goat-rearing and selling business. “Imagine on a Monday morning, when you’re supposed to be having an editorial meeting (where the managing editor is saying, “can you please use the pitching template I sent in the group?”) but you’re cruising from one remote village in Gwagwalada, buying goats to resell them for some pennies. If not for [the] anti-burnout policy, I no fit try am,” they joked.

The larger picture 

Studies have shown that journalism is one of the professions characterised by poor work-life balance, and these responses from our journalists have driven that point home more than anything else. Many of the things they spent time doing are ordinary daily activities that make life worth living, or sometimes even enjoyable. Yet, they were not entirely possible during the work season. It puts things in perspective. Burnout exists among journalists because there is no clear start and stop point in the profession, which can make personal and enjoyable activities difficult to accomplish. 

As the newsroom fully resumes next week, we will continue to do what we do best: tell important stories while still prioritising our wellbeing. In the next few weeks, you can expect to read deep dives about the conflicts that happened last month. We might be late to the gathering, but it was for a good reason.

The project has been delayed by a year.

After multiple setbacks and delays, the opening of the world’s largest wildlife bridge has finally been revealed. Spiralling costs and building delays pushed the project back by at least a year.

Work has been underway on the bridge for four and a half years. Now, it has been confirmed that the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, north of Los Angeles, will open on December 2.

The project leaders made the announcement on Earth Day. Managers said: “What a journey this has been! And we cannot wait to celebrate with you all.”

The main section of the bridge, which spans 10 lanes of the freeway, has largely been completed and landscaped. Work still left to do includes building over Agoura Road and connecting both ends of the bridge to the open space on either side.

It will eventually allow wildlife to safely pass through. California’s regional director for the National Wildlife Federation, Beth Pratt, has already seen some wildlife enjoying the bridge.

She told KNX News Radio: “I’ve recorded multiple species of butterflies up here. We’ve had, I think, eight species of birds.

“We’ve had red-tailed hawks and American kestrels fly by, so wildlife are already responding to it, even though it’s not connected to the landscape.”

The goal of the project is to reinvigorate the mountain lion population in the area. Animals that are frequently hit by cars on the freeway are also set to benefit, which include bears, bobcats, foxes, coyotes and deer.

The bridge has faced multiple delays and criticism. In 2022, the project broke ground with a $90million price tag (£66.5million) and was set to be completed by 2025.

However, reports today say the total has climbed to $114million (£84.5million), which has been paid for through private donations and public funds.

Project leaders have said near-record rainfall, which saturated the site in 2023 and 2024, delayed work. Project costs were also pushed higher due to inflation, labour shortages and the complexity of the project.

In a blog post, project leaders said: “The criticism often flattens a far more complicated reality. This is not a standard overpass. Engineers are effectively building a living ecosystem over 10 lanes of one of the busiest freeways in the country.”

It added: “Projects of this scale should be questioned, audited and debated—especially when it’s the public’s money being used.

“But they should also be judged on their purpose. In a region where wildlife populations face genetic isolation and frequent freeway deaths, doing nothing carries its own cost.

“The real question is not whether the crossing is ambitious—it clearly is. It’s whether Southern California is willing to invest in repairing the environmental missteps that made the project necessary in the first place.”

The longest sea crossing connects three major cities

Stretching 34 miles across the Pearl River Delta, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge holds the record as the longest sea crossing ever constructed, connecting the southern Chinese cities of Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau. The 55km structure took nine years to build at a cost of approximately £15bn.

It has dramatically cut journey times between the three cities, transforming what was once an hour-long ferry trip into a drive of roughly 40 minutes. The bridge forms part of a broader initiative to strengthen transport links across the Greater Bay Area, a region the Chinese government is nurturing into a major economic powerhouse.

By connecting Hong Kong and Macau more directly with cities in Guangdong province, the crossing is designed to boost trade and movement throughout the region. Its construction incorporates several key elements, including a series of long-span bridges, man-made islands and connecting roads.

The main section features three navigation channel bridges – Jiuzhou, Jianghai and Qingzhou.

This was constructed to permit large vessels to pass through one of China’s most heavily trafficked shipping zones.

Engineers were required to contend with challenging conditions, including regular typhoons and a demanding marine environment, reports the Express.

The bridge employs single-column piers embedded in the seabed to minimise disruption to water flow and reduce the impact on local wildlife, including the Chinese white dolphin.

The three principal bridges feature cable-supported structures, each boasting a distinctive tower design.

These were designed to provide the crossing with a uniform yet diverse aesthetic, especially considering its prominence from land, sea and air.

The Jiuzhou Bridge maintains its original sail-shaped towers after modifications during the detailed design stage.

Engineering consultancy Arup played a role in various aspects of the scheme, including preliminary design work, artificial island construction and significant road and tunnel connections on the Hong Kong and Macau sides.

Further infrastructure associated with the crossing encompasses boundary crossing facilities and links such as the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link, assisting in incorporating the bridge into the broader transport network.

Since its inauguration, the bridge has emerged as a vital route within the region’s transport infrastructure, demonstrating both the magnitude of China’s infrastructure objectives and the practical requirement for quicker links between its major urban centres.

After the big talk in the build-up, Ireland blew France away in the opening 40 minutes but, largely, were left unrewarded for their efforts.

Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald crossed for Ireland but had two efforts chalked off, while Brittany Hogan and Fiona Tuite were also denied first-half scores.

France, who are tipped to meet England in a Grand Slam decider on the final day of the Six Nations, showed a clinical edge and moved clear after the restart through Carla Arbez, Anais Grando and Lea Champon, while Ireland could not back up their first-half performance and fell short.

Under head coach Scott Bemand, Ireland have moved up to fifth in the world and stunned New Zealand and Australia in 2024, but the elusive Six Nations scalp goes on.

England had too much on the opening day, when a slow start was punished, and defeat by France shows there is still work to be done.

“In these kinds of Test matches the margins become finer, so we’re after finer margins than we were,” Bemand said.

“Nail your kick to touch and nail your exit – they are the type of things that don’t let France in.

“We will keep going after the finer margins and keep trying to get better. I’ve got a group who is up for that.”

What should I wear today?

Do I want to choose between my comfort or someone else’s comfort? If I buy this shirt, it will be a bargain for me, but it risks someone else’s life. Is that worth it? Those workers need work, so I am helping by creating demand for their products. Right?

As a college student, I want to fit in: same styles, same jewelry, same colors, same brands. However, I am also in search of a job and living off savings from my high school job. I have bought clothes from Shein as well as other questionable fast fashion brands. I justified my purchase for my bank account’s comfort and to make me feel like I fit in. I pretended to know about the environmental harm and the treatment of garment workers, but it was a selfish decision.

Fast fashion is not new.

It started in the late 1970s and rose to popularity in the 1990s as companies tried to keep up with trends (Kelleher, 2026). Companies started offering lower prices to encourage consumers to continue buying more clothes. The lower prices often came at the cost of garment workers as well as the toll on the environment. Companies like Shein, Amazon, Forever 21, H&M, Primark, Uniqlo, Fashion Nova, and many other brands worldwide are accused of working with suppliers who violate international human rights.

Gender in the garment industry.

The garment industry consists of almost 100 million people, with 75% of the workforce being employed in Asia. However, with high levels of informal employment, a true number is hard to estimate, but around 60 to 80% of the workforce is female (Amnesty International, 2025). For women, the garment industry is seen as a way to enter the workforce (Tahir, 2024). These women are predominantly young women who are internal migrants without family and support networks, making them more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation by companies (Amnesty International, 2025). Common violations are wage theft, harassment, inhumane working hours and conditions, and restrictions on speaking out (Business and Human Rights Centre, 2023).

They also face discrimination from male management, reporting a lack of access to childcare, maternity pay, and other benefits. Pregnant women are also a target because they are considered “unproductive.” When workers unionize, they face threats and retaliation from management and hostility from the government, making negotiating better conditions impossible (Amnesty International, 2025).

Who is responsible?

Big-name brands are the ones who are profiting, because they get cheap labor and fast production time, and they get to blame the suppliers for the inhumane conditions. Brands demand that suppliers respect human rights in the workplace but incentivize them to do the

opposite. In Pakistan, they force suppliers to use price-bidding systems to undercut other factories to win contracts, which leads to cutting corners in terms of safety conditions for workers (Kashyap, 2023). After brands foster these conditions, they avoid responsibility by citing lack of control over international suppliers.

While the International Labor Organization (ILO) sets out freedoms for workers, it is up to member countries to supervise, enforce, and report on the implementation of standards. Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan are all member states of the ILO and should be backing up workers’ rights, but these governments often lack capacity to address these issues (Helm, 2025). This is often seen as the government overlooking the abuses as the industry benefits economic development and growth (Amnesty International, 2025).

What can I do?

Not all consumers might have bought from companies like Shein, but you probably have bought from Amazon, Gap, Walmart, Target, IKEA, and other “higher quality” brands. You should not go to your closet and throw out all brands that are unethical; that would contribute to the environmental damage from the garment sector. Students can focus on creating a wardrobe of capsule essentials rather than today’s trendy clothes. By using articles like the Fashion Transparency Index and other credible sources to inform your consumption choices, you can support ethical practices and treatment of women in the garment industry. On an international level, you can follow and sign the accord by the Clean Clothes Campaign to ensure safety in the workplace and empower workers to speak up without fear (Clean Clothes Campaign, 2026).

Now, I stare at my closet, wondering what I should wear. My clothes help express my personality, keep me comfortable, and help my confidence, but is that really worth the cost of other women suffering? These trends will be over by the time my Amazon package arrives. The women making my clothes are more than just workers and should be treated first as humans. I know I vote with my dollars, so I will vote for the protection of workers’ rights over my own comfort.

WASHINGTON — Many of the groups that helped elect Donald Trump as president again are deeply unhappy with his performance, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

Trump’s return to the presidency was fueled by a wide-ranging coalition that built on his loyal base of supporters. Now that Trump has been in the White House for more than a year, the survey of more than 2,500 U.S. adults from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that many key groups — including Hispanic adults, younger adults and men — are increasingly dissatisfied with his presidency.

The poll was conducted from April 16 through Monday, as oil prices fluctuated and Americans spent more at the gas pump.

It’s a particularly bad moment for Trump, a Republican whose economic approval slumped over the past month as the Iran war drives prices higher. But AP-NORC polls show that discontent has been building among critical segments of the population over the past year.

Trump’s overall approval among Hispanic adults has fallen 16 percentage points since March 2025, and his support has declined by 9 percentage points among men.

And while Trump’s base is still largely behind him — most Republicans approve of his performance — there are signs that his second term may not be living up to their expectations.

Here’s what polling shows about Trump’s current status with four important groups:

Hispanic adults

Hispanic Americans have grown increasingly discontented with Trump over the past year.

About one-quarter of Hispanic adults approve of how he’s handling the presidency in the new poll, down from about 4 in 10 in March 2025.

That decline has been visible since late last year — suggesting that it’s not just the war in Iran or recent spikes in gas prices that are leaving this group unhappy.

Trump’s restrictive immigration approach may be playing a role. Only about one-quarter of Hispanics approve of his handling of immigration, down from 36% at the beginning of his term.

His immigration tactics appear to be particularly unpopular among younger Hispanics — a group with which he made gains in 2024. Only 18% of younger Hispanic adults approve of his performance on immigration, compared with 40% of Americans overall.

There is also broad discontent about the state of the U.S. economy among Hispanics. Only about one-quarter of Hispanic adults approve of how Trump is handling that issue, and about 2 in 10 say they approve of his approach to the cost of living. Few Hispanic adults, about 2 in 10, describe the nation’s economy as “good.”

Young adults

Trump’s overall approval with Americans under age 45 has slid over the past year, falling from 39% in March 2025 to 28% in the latest poll.

Younger women have a particularly dim view of Trump’s handling of the economy.

Only about 2 in 10 women under age 45 approve of how Trump is handling the economy, including only 7% of younger Hispanic women who approve of his economic approach. More young men, about 3 in 10, approve of him on this issue.

Trump’s struggles among young adults extend to other groups, too. Only about one-third of white adults under age 45 approve of his overall performance, compared with 45% of white adults age 45 or older.

A downtick among men

Trump made broad appeals to men throughout his 2024 campaign, and most male voters backed Trump in the presidential election over Democrat Kamala Harris. In particular, he made slight but significant gains with Black and Hispanic men, who were drawn by his vows to revitalize the economy.

Since he reentered office, though, American men have become slightly less likely to approve of his performance, declining from 47% at the start of his second term to 38% in the most recent poll.

There are signs that Black men, in particular, aren’t seeing Trump’s economic promises pan out. Black men are more likely than white or Hispanic men to disapprove of Trump’s approach to the presidency, as well as his approach to the economy, the cost of living and Iran. Only about 1 in 10 Black men say they approve of how Trump is handling the cost of living, and roughly 2 in 10 approve of how he’s handling the economy.

Hispanic men, too, have a relatively dim view of Trump’s overall performance. About 3 in 10 approve of how Trump is handling the presidency, regardless of their age. That support is stronger among white men, with about half approving of Trump.

While young Republicans are frustrated, MAGA still backs Trump

Trump has benefited from Republicans’ loyalty for years, but there are recent signs of frustration even within his base.

Roughly two-thirds of Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance. That is down slightly from 82% near the start of his second term and is generally in line with the GOP low point from his first term.

But only about half of Republicans overall approve of Trump’s approach to the cost of living, and a majority of Republicans under age 45 disapprove of him on that issue.

Trump is still buoyed by the support of his MAGA base, even as he faces backlash from conservative media figures on some of his recent actions in Iran.

About 9 in 10 MAGA Republicans — those who consider themselves supporters of the “Make America Great Again” movement — approve of Trump’s job performance, and a similar share approve of his handling of Iran.

It’s a good sign for Trump that his most robust supporters are still in his corner, but not all Republicans identify with MAGA. About half of Republicans, 54%, say they consider themselves MAGA supporters.

Among non-MAGA Republicans, Trump’s approval is much lower, at 44%.

Sanders and Thomson-Deveaux write for the Associated Press. The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

The global air travel crisis has spread further as Lufthansa and KLM became the latest airlines to announce flights axed to and from major destinations, including London Heathrow

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled by two major airlines amid warnings Europe has just a “few weeks” of jet fuel left.

Germany’s flag carrier airline Lufthansa is suspending its CityLine services from tomorrow, including flights to and from London, in response to rocketing kerosene costs and an ongoing trade union dispute. Netherlands’ KLM meanwhile confirmed it had cancelled 160 flights over the next month, as the industry grapples with an ‘unprecedented’ oil shock triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

It comes after the head of the world ’s energy watchdog has warned that Europe only has six weeks’ supply of jet fuel because of the Middle East conflict.

READ MORE: TUI update for passengers worried about risk of ‘fuel shortages’READ MORE: Jet2 issues Spain warning over four popular destinations

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), warned there could be flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain restricted by the war, with Iran and the US jostling for control for the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway.

Mr Birol said the conflict is causing “the largest energy crisis” the world has “ever faced”, with Asian nations such as Japan, India and China that rely on energy from the Middle East currently on “the front line”. But he warned that the impact would then “come to Europe and the Americas”, likely as soon as late May. Tourists are encouraged to continue to check before they travel.

Lufthansa’s CityLine services, which fly to a number of destinations across Europe including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Florence, Kraków, Stockholm and Copenhagen, will be cancelled from Saturday. Multiple daily services from Heathrow have already been pulled from the schedule.

A statement from Lufthansa last night said: “In view of significantly increased kerosene prices, which have more than doubled compared to the period before the Iran war, as well as rising additional burdens from labour disputes, the implementation of the corporate strategy is being partially accelerated.

“As a first, immediately effective step, starting the day after tomorrow, the 27 operational aircraft of Lufthansa Cityline will be permanently removed from the schedule to reduce further losses at the loss-making airline.”

Ongoing strikes by pilots and cabin crew belonging to German trade unions have already grounded approximately 90% of all Lufthansa Group flights on the worst days this week, with cancellations reported at Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle, and Glasgow.

KLM announced “a number of adjustments to its flight schedule for the coming month” on routes which are “no longer financially viable to operate”. The Dutch airline said this was due “rising kerosene costs”, adding: “There is no kerosene shortage.”

Meanwhile, schedule data published by AeroRoutes this week showed that Norse Airlines has cancelled bookings for its planned Los Angeles flights this summer from London Gatwick, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Rome Fiumicino.

Jet prices have more than doubled since the beginning of the Iran war on February 28, causing the largest wave of cancellations at many major international airports since the Covid pandemic.

WASHINGTON — An effort to ramp up U.S. weapons production and build more ships, planes and drones will require a massive upfront investment, President Trump’s budget director told a House committee Wednesday.

The testimony from Russell Vought jump-starts the White House’s push to increase defense spending to nearly $1.5 trillion in the next budget year, up from nearly $1 trillion this year, while cutting health research, heating assistance and scores of other domestic programs by about 10% overall. Such cuts do not cover mandatory spending, which includes such programs as Social Security and Medicare.

The debate over Trump’s proposal underscored the sharp divide that will shape some of the most significant policy debates going into a midterm election that will give voters the ultimate say on the direction of the country.

“For the industrial base to double or triple and build more facilities, not just add shifts, it requires multiyear agreements to purchase into the future,” Vought told lawmakers. “That cost has to be booked in this first year.”

The White House is calling for about $1.1 trillion for defense through the regular appropriations process, which typically requires support from both parties for approval. An additional $350 billion would come through a separate bill that Republicans can accomplish on their own, through party-line majority votes.

Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the ranking Democratic member of the committee, said he believes in a strong national defense. But he said the idea of increasing defense by more than 40% while cutting programs that people need shows that the Republican administration’s priorities are “out of whack.”

The committee chairman, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), predicted the hearing would be more “amped up” than usual, and that proved to be true, beginning with his opening statement focused on criticizing Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. Arrington said he did not know of any president in his lifetime who “inherited such a complete and utter mess as President Trump did in January of last year.”

Since then, Arrington said, Trump has secured the border, cut taxes and constrained nondefense spending.

It was the beginning of several back-and-forths at the hearing.

“You know how bad this economy is when we hear Joe Biden being invoked, we hear trans people being invoked. I was waiting for Jimmy Carter to be blamed next,” Boyle said in response to Arrington’s opening remarks.

Boyle said consumer confidence is plummeting under Trump and noted a gas station he passed in Philadelphia recently was selling gas at $4.11 a gallon versus less than $3 a gallon some six weeks ago because of Trump’s “war of choice in Iran.”

Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) called the proposed defense spending increase shocking.

“We’ve never in the history of this country seen spending like this, paid for by slashing healthcare, education and housing,” Balint said. “Mr. Vought, yes or no, is $350 billion for the war in Iran lowering costs for Americans?”

“It is certainly not defunding child care. We fully fund child care in this budget,” Vought said, not directly answering the question.

Balint went on to incorporate Trump’s “America first” mantra in her questioning.

She said that $350 billion could pay for an enhanced health insurance tax credit for 10 years and that her constituents are asking how the country can continue to spend money on wars and not find a solution to helping people afford healthcare.

Vought said the president has made clear he was not going to let Iran have nuclear weapons, missiles and a navy that affect U.S. national security.

“He is doing what is necessary to keep us safe, while at the same time trying to pursue diplomacy so that we can get out of wars and lower those costs over time,” Vought said.

Vought said it was unclear how much the administration would seek to fund the war during the current budget year, which ends Sept. 30. That money would be part of an emergency supplemental spending bill and would be on top of the funds the White House is seeking to boost defense spending next year.

“Would it be more than $50 billion?” asked Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas).

“We’re still working on it,” Vought said. “I don’t have a ballpark for you.”

Freking writes for the Associated Press.