The cost of flights from France will rise next month when the government more than doubles its “solidarity tax” on tickets. The French government has said the increases are fair on ecological and fiscal grounds but critics say it will hit France’s ability to compete globally. Airlines are expected to pass the cost of the…

The department store chain Beales is to close its last remaining shop, in Poole, for the second time as it blamed rising costs linked to Rachel Reeves’s budget for a failed rescue attempt. The 144-year-old retail institution, which first opened its doors in Bournemouth in 1881, collapsed into administration in January 2020, leading to the…

Pressing ahead with steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico risks exacerbating the US housing crisis and threatening the broader economy, dozens of congressional Democrats have warned Donald Trump. The US president, after threatening to hit imports from the US’s two biggest trading partners with a 25% tax, is weighing how to proceed after approving a…

A Sydney Harbour’s worth of extra water will be needed each year by the Coalition’s proposed nuclear reactors, according to federal government analysis that opens a new front in the political fight over Peter Dutton’s signature energy policy. After focusing most of their attacks on the economic arguments against nuclear, Labor will pivot on Thursday…

Ursula von der Leyen (CDU, r), President of the European Commission, stands in the plenary chamber of the European Parliament. Philipp von Ditfurth | Picture Alliance | Getty Images The European Union plans to retaliate against the United States for new steel and aluminum tariffs, adding another element to rising global trade tensions. “Unjustified tariffs…

Children in England experience huge variations in having their special educational needs identified depending on school type, background and levels of absence, according to research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI). Parents have long known that access to support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) is a lottery, but the EPI report…

Donald Trump has warned that if all the Israeli hostages held in Gaza are not returned by Saturday at noon he would propose canceling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and letting “all hell break loose”. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump also said he might withhold aid to Jordan and Egypt if those…

Tech companies are putting pressure on the UK government to encourage an AI datacentre boom in remote areas of Great Britain by offering some of the cheapest electricity prices in Europe. A report paid for by the tech companies Amazon and OpenAI has called on ministers to overhaul the UK’s electricity market by splitting it…

Flood-hit communities may be isolated for more than a week in northern Australia after more rain was forecast for an already sodden region. Heavy rainfall that has lashed the north Queensland coast for days has spread west, cutting off towns near the Gulf of Carpentaria. At least six communities have been isolated by flood waters…