said last week<\/a> it would be reducing flights between the island and London City airport between mid-April and early June. <\/p>\nThe airline is also adding a temporary fuel adjustment surcharge of \u00a32 on all bookings made from March 20 onwards.<\/p>\n
“With no immediate end to the regional conflict in the Middle East in sight, aviation fuel prices have also increased considerably and show continued extreme daily fluctuations,” a spokesperson for Aurigny said.<\/p>\n
Cooper chairing global Strait of Hormuz discussion<\/p>\n
In a video call with counterparts and representatives from more than 40 countries on Thursday, the Foreign Secretary said: “In today\u2019s meeting, we are focusing on the diplomatic and international planning measures, including collective mobilisation of our full range of diplomatic and economic tools and pressures, reassurance work with industry, insurers and energy markets, and also action to guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers, and effective coordination that we need across the world to enable a safe and sustained opening of the strait.”<\/p>\n
She hit out at Tehran after “over 25 attacks on vessels in the strait, and there are some 20,000 trapped seafarers on some 2,000 trapped ships”.<\/p>\n
She said: “Iranian recklessness towards countries who were never involved in this conflict\u2026 is not just hitting mortgage rates and petrol prices and the cost of living here in the UK and in many different countries across the world, it is hitting our global economic security.”<\/p>\n
Countries like the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have all signed a statement demanding Iran stop its attempts to block the strait.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, during a visit to South Korea, French President Emmanuel Macron said France considers it \u201cunrealistic\u201d to reopen the Strait of Hormuz through a military operation \u2013 “a position that has at times been expressed by the United States”.<\/p>\n
Macron told reporters a military operation \u201cwould take an infinite amount of time and would expose anyone passing through the strait to coastal threats from (Iran\u2019s) Revolutionary Guard”.<\/p>\n
The reopening of the Strait \u201ccan only be done in coordination with Iran,\u201d through negotiations that would follow a potential ceasefire, Macron said.<\/p>\n
Ongoing attacks<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Iran’s armed forces said on Thursday the war would continue until the enemy’s “surrender and permanent regret”, according to regime’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.<\/p>\n
Israel said it had intercepted Iranian missiles early on Thursday morning, while Iraq warned US citizens not to travel to the country and to leave if already there. <\/p>\n
An estimated 15% of Lebanon’s population have been displaced by Israeli attacks and evacuation orders, humanitarian agencies have said, describing it as “unprecedented”. <\/p>\n
Iran’s foreign ministry denied Trump’s claims that a ceasefire was requested Credit: AP<\/p>\n
Trump’s primetime address sees oil prices spike<\/p>\n
The US president made his first primetime address since the war began on Wednesday evening – and notably did not repeat his claims that negotiations with Iran are underway.<\/p>\n
“America, as it has been for five years under my presidency, is winning, and now winning bigger than ever before,” the Trump said, adding that the military would “finish the job” and finish it “very fast”. <\/p>\n
The president didn\u2019t mention the possibility of sending US ground troops into Iran, and also did not reference Nato, the trans-Atlantic alliance he has railed against for not joining in efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
He threatened Iran’s electric generating plants if a deal between the countries is not made. <\/p>\n
“We are going to hit (Iran) extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We\u2019re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” Trump said.<\/p>\n
The comments were later repeated by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who wrote on X: “Back to the Stone Age.”<\/p>\n
Oil prices were sharply higher after Trump’s remarks, with Brent crude oil soaring above $106 (\u00a380.28) a barrel. <\/p>\n
Since the speech, Trump’s Stone Age comments have been heavily criticised, with the Council on American\u2013Islamic Relations (CAIR) describing them as “anti-Muslim, racist, and dehumanising”.<\/p>\n
Displaced boys who fled southern Lebanon make a bonfire next to their tent in Beirut Credit: AP<\/p>\n
Iran denies talks of a ceasefire<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces said on Thursday the war will continue until the “enemy’s surrender and permanent regret” following Trump’s speech. <\/p>\n
They also warned of further “destructive actions” against the US in a statement published via state news. <\/p>\n
Before Trump’s address, Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would endure US aggression, noting that the countries had a choice between “confrontation and engagement”. <\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the world stands at crossroads. Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before,” Pezeshkian wrote in an open letter on X. <\/p>\n
“The choice between confrontation and engagement is both real and consequential; its outcome will shape the future for generations to come. Throughout its millennia of proud history, Iran has outlasted many aggressors. <\/p>\n
“All that remains of them are tarnished names in history, while Iran endures – resilient, dignified, and proud.”<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that “Iran\u2019s new regime president” had asked the US for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman denied the claim, calling Trump\u2019s comments “false and baseless\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that Islamabad is ready to host talks between the United States and Iran to help end the regional conflict, although no dates have been finalised. <\/p>\n
In a news conference, ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said it is up to Washington and Tehran to determine when they are ready to come to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth Iran and the U.S. have expressed their confidence in Pakistan to facilitate these talks,\u201d Andrabi said, adding that Pakistan remains optimistic about a peaceful settlement of the conflict. <\/p>\n
US embassy warns of imminent attacks in Baghdad<\/p>\n
The US Embassy in Baghdad warned citizens Thursday that Iran-linked militias in Iraq \u201cmay intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours\u201d.<\/p>\n
The embassy says the attacks could target \u201cUS citizens, businesses, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports, and other locations perceived to be associated with the United States, as well as Iraqi institutions and civilian targets\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was not the first statement issued by the embassy urging U.S. citizens to leave Iraq, but the warning about potential attacks was unusually specific.<\/p>\n
An American freelance journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday and remains missing. No group has claimed responsibility, but U.S. officials have blamed the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia for her abduction.<\/p>\n
Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby<\/a> to revisit their remarkable on-the-day reports of the defining events of the modern age. Listen to the episodes below… <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK foreign secretary condemned \u201cIranian recklessness\u201d for \u201chitting global economic security\u201d Travel cancellations begin in the UK after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-509149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}