Totally grounded? How the jet fuel crisis could change our holidays – and world history

Jet fuel has doubled in price since the start of the war on Iran. How bad will the disruption get and could this accelerate the route to jet zero?What happens to flights if the world runs out of oil? Well, obviously they will be grounded. To be more specific, is it possible, if the war in Iran does not resolve and the strait of Hormuz remains blocked, that airlines will simply run out of aviation fuel?It’s not a question anyone has had to ask before. Air travel has hit some hurdles this century that nobody could have seen coming – Covid, of course, but also the Icelandic volcano in 2010, which closed much of European airspace for eight days, cost an estimated €3.75bn (£3

Four in five Britons worried Iran war will make food more expensive, poll finds

Four in five people are worried that the Iran war will make food more expensive, according to a new poll, as businesses warned the “window is closing” for ministers to cut energy costs for UK retailers.Research by Opinium found that 80% of people are worried about the rising price of groceries, which would come from retailers passing on cost increases to consumers, while 73% expect the conflict to push up prices of other products.The blockade of the strait of Hormuz has already sent oil and gas prices soaring, caused a crisis in the global fertiliser industry, and has made shipping and distribution more expensive.The effects have so far been felt most acutely in sectors such as manufacturing and chemicals, which use high amounts of gas. The UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced more support on bills for the most energy-intensive businesses in April, but now faces fresh calls to cut costs for the food sector

Reinstate windfall tax on banks after surge in profits, TUC urges

An increased windfall tax should be imposed on the UK’s largest banks according to trade union leaders, after the big four lenders reported almost £14bn in first-quarter profits, partly fuelled by market turbulence caused by the Iran war.The Trades Union Congress (TUC) renewed its call for an increase in the current bank surcharge, which was reduced from 8% to 3% of profits above £100m by the Conservative government in 2023, as banks benefit from the high interest rate environment.The Bank of England held interest rates at 3.75% last week, with markets pricing in up to two increases by the end of this year. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate was 5

Two million airline seats cut amid soaring jet fuel prices

Two million airline seats have been cut from this month’s schedules as airlines redraw their operations because of soaring jet fuel prices amid the Middle East conflict.About 13,000 fewer flights will operate in May around the world after recent cancellations, according to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium.Although the figure represents less than 2% of global aviation capacity, and only a net 111 flights have disappeared from London Heathrow schedules it comes amid fears that the long-term supply of jet fuel could cause further summer cancellations, with UK airlines told at the weekend they could have more flexibility to consolidate flights on popular routes if needed.Some of the 2m seats have been cut by using smaller planes, as well as outright cancellations.Istanbul and Munich have recorded the biggest drop in flights, with Turkish Airlines and the German flag carrier Lufthansa making swingeing cuts

Stock markets are wobbling, but £10bn cash bids at fat premiums can still happen

It was a bad day for the FTSE 100 index on Tuesday – down 1.4% – but the puzzle in many quarters is why share prices haven’t fallen further since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran. The index is still up by a couple of percentage points since new year, which is not a bet most would have made at the time if they had been told an inflationary energy price shock lay around the corner.An absence of Iran-related corporate profits warnings partly explains the relative resilience, even if those usually take a while to arrive. So, too, the fact that the Footsie is overpopulated with overseas earners for whom the US economy, which isn’t suffering Europe’s soaring natural gas prices, matters more than their home market

UK 30-year borrowing costs hit highest since 1998 amid oil price surge and political uncertainty – as it happened

Time to wrap up…The UK government’s long-term borrowing costs have hit their highest level since 1998, amid rising fuel prices and concerns about political stability.The yield – effectively the interest rate – on 30-year UK government bonds (gilts) hit 5.77% at lunchtime on Tuesday, up 0.13 percentage points – exceeding the 27-year high reached last September.Yields have been rising across leading economies amid renewed fears over rising inflation, after US efforts to escort ships through the strait of Hormuz prompted Iranian reprisals

HSBC profits fall amid $400m fraud-related charge and Iran war

HSBC has taken a $1.3bn (£961m) hit to profits, amid the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran and fraud in the troubled private credit sector.The London-headquartered bank said profits fell 4% in the first three months of the year, dropping $100m to $9.4bn, compared with the same period in 2025. Revenue increased 6% to $18

New threat to Labour spending plans as UK long-term borrowing costs hit highest level since 1998

The risk to Labour’s tax and spending plans from the war in Iran was underscored on Tuesday, as long-term government borrowing costs hit their highest level since 1998.Fears of higher inflation as a result of the conflict have fuelled a selloff across government bond markets, which City analysts say has been exacerbated in the UK by uncertainty about the future of Keir Starmer’s government.The yield – effectively the interest rate – on 30-year UK government bonds (gilts) hit 5.77% on Tuesday – exceeding the 27-year high reached last September.Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, said he was “concerned for the health of the UK economy”, after the latest market moves

UK electric car sales leap ‘could be hit by Iran war inflation and energy price rises’

A recent jump in electric car sales in the UK is likely to be “tempered” by worries over rising inflation and energy prices caused by the Iran war, a leading industry body has warned.New car sales in the UK rose by 24% year on year to 149,247 in April, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).The trade body said battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales jumped by 59.1% last month and the two millionth electric car had been registered. They accounted for more than a quarter (26

Australians are poorer because of war on the other side of the world – Michele Bullock’s logic is hard to fault

As far as rallying cries go, Michele Bullock’s “we are poorer, and there is no way out of that” leaves a lot to be desired.It’s not going to win you any applause, particularly when you’re the governor of a central bank that has just announced a third rate hike.But as a blunt way to describe what the US-Israel war on Iran means for everyday households, it’s hard to fault.“Australians are poorer because of this shock to oil prices and energy prices and all the other commodity prices that are being impacted,” Bullock told journalists.“So yes, we are all feeling poorer

Vodafone to take full control of UK mobile operator in £4.3bn deal

Vodafone is to take full control of the UK’s biggest mobile operator in a £4.3bn buyout deal with the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison.The billionaire Li Ka-shing’s business said it had agreed to sell its 49% stake in VodafoneThree – a network with more than 27 million subscribers – to its partner Vodafone.Vodafone will buy out CK Hutchison, paying cash, and cancel the shares.The deal is part of CK’s efforts to reshape its global portfolio, offloading major assets to boost shareholder returns

Reform UK’s immigration policies are a significant risk to the UK economy | Sushil Wadhwani

While all eyes are on the Middle East and the risk of a global recession, a possible scenario with significant downside risk for the UK economy after the next general election is building: the impact of anti-immigration policies.We do not know enough about the actual policy changes a Reform UK-led government would impose, but if we get forced repatriation (including of some who were born in Britain) combined with a climate of fear, the economic disruption could be highly significant.The number of people affected by Reform UK’s policies is necessarily uncertain, but it has been estimated that the party might want at least 2 million people to leave the country, which is considerably higher than previous talk of deporting 600,000 people.Minority ethnic NHS doctors and nurses already report that they encounter increased levels of racism at work. Home Office numbers show a steep decline in the number of foreign nurses granted entry into the UK over the past three years

Spring soup and bean and cheese quesadillas: Thomasina Miers’ Mexican-inspired seasonal recipes

I have always loved the evident (though not proven) link between how foodie a country is and its love of soups. In Mexico, where nose-to-tail eating is a given, broths maintain a steadying presence in any self-respecting cantina, and soups are commonplace on most menus. We don’t eat a crazy amount of meat at home, but having homemade stock in the freezer is an ingenious fast track to flavour and goodness. Here, whether your stock is chicken or vegetable, homemade or shop-bought, the joy is in the gentle spicing, a scattering of herbs, zingy tomatillos and some lovely spring leaves.There are so many different herbs in Mexico that are impossible to find here, so I’ve used bundles of more common soft herbs to try to capture the lovely breadth of flavour in this soup

How to make the perfect Spanish broad bean stew – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect …

I always feel sorry for broad beans, the lumpy cousin perpetually overshadowed by the charms of slender, elegant asparagus and sweet, bouncy, little peas. They’re in season at roughly the same time, but asparagus in particular gets all the glory, perhaps because so many of us are scarred by childhood experiences of large, grey wrinkly beans served in a floury white sauce (my own parents are so averse to the things that I vividly remember the first time I came across them on a Sunday roast as a teenager and had to ask a friend what they were).The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more

‘We don’t want to make the same mistakes’: Jamie’s Italian reopens in London

Jamie Oliver’s head of restaurants is optimistic about new recipe of smaller site, slimmed-down menu and no burgersWhen Jamie’s Italian crashed and burned in 2019, with the company in £83m of debt and causing 1,000 job losses, no one imagined the celebrity chef would try again.But seven years later, Jamie Oliver has opened a flagship site under the same name in Leicester Square in central London, and believes he has a new recipe for success: a smaller restaurant with a slimmed-down menu, which features cheaper cuts of meat and no burgers.At its peak the chain, which opened in 2008, had 47 UK restaurants. Now it just has the one.Ed Loftus, the global director of Jamie Oliver Restaurants, has worked with Oliver for 20 years and is charged with making the reopening a success

Willy’s, Margate, Kent: ‘It chortles in the face of small plates’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

This cute and jovial eatery is reason enough to make a break for the coastAs summer looms, and with it the urge to stampede towards the edges of Britain in search of paddling opportunities, I proffer another coastal dining idea: Willy’s in Margate – and, yes, that name does have about it something of the naughty seaside postcard. Tucked away in the back of Margate House hotel on Dalby Square, a few minutes’ walk from the seafront, Willy’s is a blur of frilly red-and-pink seaside adorableness. It’s cool, cute and jovial, with pork scratchings and apple chutney on the menu, as well as black pudding scotch eggs, sticky toffee pudding and Sunday lunches of beef rump and baked cauliflower cheese. This menu is short, intentional and hearty, rather than airy-fairy, and it chortles in the face of small plates.But, for the foodie/sippy crowd, the signifiers are all here: there’s a paper plane and a penicillin on the cocktail menu, throwbacks to New York’s iconic Milk and Honey bar

Helen Goh’s springtime spinach sponge cake with cream cheese icing – recipe | The sweet spot

There is a particular green that belongs to spring: pale and luminous, it’s softer than the dark foliage of winter, and quieter than the glossy abundance of summer herbs. Spinach, the colour of new growth, captures this moment perfectly. Tender and almost impossibly vivid, this cake loses its metallic edge in the heat of the oven, leaving a gentle, vegetal brightness. Baked in a shallow tin and spread with cream cheese icing, when sliced into squares, it produces the perfect ratio of cake to icing and tastes uncommonly good.Prep 10 min Cook 50 min serves 8-10For the cake120g baby leaf spinach, stems removed 120ml milk 200g plain flour 1½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) ¼ tsp fine sea salt 3 large eggs, at room temperature180g caster sugar Finely grated zest of 1 lime 120ml solid coconut oil, melted and cooled to tepid1 tsp vanilla extractFor the icing200g cream cheese 100g icing sugar, sifted Finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus 1 tsp juice80ml double creamLine the base and sides of a standard 23cm x 33cm x 5cm baking tin and heat the oven to 185C (165C fan)/360F/gas 4½

Why we care so much about preserving family recipes

“Chicken, leek, flour, a few more ingredients.” That was it: my grandma’s WhatsApp response to me earnestly asking if she’d mind sharing her time-honoured chicken pie recipe. She wasn’t being obtuse – well, not deliberately. She had simply never before committed a dish that was second nature to paper, let alone an iPhone screen.It wasn’t how she’d learned it and it wasn’t how I’d go on to learn it, either

When it comes to wines, it pays to look beyond the fashionable

The sommelier Honey Spencer, of Sune in east London, struck a real chord on Instagram earlier this year: “I’m so fucking sick of expensive wine,” she lamented. There followed an angry plaint about the “unrelenting rise” in the cost of bottles from “artisans making wine properly … and FORGET BURGUNDY”. In a difficult climate, this is “one of the hardest pills to swallow” for the restaurateur.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for spaghetti with crab, chilli, herbs and lemon | A kitchen in Rome

My copy of the River Cafe Cookbook is silver, having lost its original blue sleeve some years ago. Naked, the hardback cover is completely plain, so it is my handwriting of “River Cafe blue” along the metallic spine, even though there is little chance of mixing it up with the yellow softback River Cafe Cookbook Two or the emerald cover of River Cafe Cookbook Green.Blue was first published in 1996, a sobering fact, because that’s the same year I enrolled at the Drama Centre London, as well as the year when Pierce Brosnan took on rogue agent Alec Trevelyan (played by Sean Bean) in GoldenEye. That was Brosnan’s debut as James Bond and Dame Judi Dench’s first appearance as M. Brosnan trained at Drama Centre between 1973 and 1976, which is why, when I bought the blue book in 1996, I had good reason to imagine my future career as looking a little like that of Pierce, or Judi, or both

How to turn old pitta into spiced chips – recipe | Waste not

Three years ago, I helped my friend, the chef Sam Webb, set up Babette, a street food stall at Newquay Boathouse. Webb and his team make everything from scratch and, wherever possible, using only local Cornish produce, from their hot honey (sourced from the Rescued Bee) to pitta with freshly milled flour from Cornish Golden Grains; he also grows his own produce with fellow restaurateur Matt Comley at Gannel Valley Gardens.As you might expect, saving food waste is at the top of Webb’s agenda, which is how he came to create waste-saving pitta chips to serve with hummus. It’s a recipe I couldn’t resist, not least because they take minutes to cook. What makes Webb’s pitta chips unique is their wonderful seasoning of sumac, za’atar and sea salt just before serving

Why sweet, chewy dates go perfectly with chocolate – and the best ones to try

I first cemented the allure of the “chew” aged 14, working illegally as a chambermaid (I lied about my age) and finding a guest’s Gummy Bears laid open – a breach I heavily exploited. Recently this chew need has been sated by dates and their use in chocolate as a healthy caramel. Dates do have nutritional benefits over mere sugar: fibre, minerals, antioxidants and make a great pre-workout boost.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link

The perfect birthday cake: tips for the best blow-out

What’s the best birthday cake?Katie, by email“My mum once made a cake with mini rolls made to look like cats with googly eyes and strawberry lace tails,” says Nicola Lamb, author of Sift and the Kitchen Projects newsletter. And that’s the whole point of a birthday cake, right? It should align with the recipient’s favourite thing: “That could even be a lasagne,” Lamb says. “I’m not at all prescriptive about what you stick a candle into.”Of course, some cakes are a safer choice than others. Take the Victoria sponge: “I don’t think anyone is going to have a problem with a plush vanilla sponge, jam and cream job,” Lamb says

Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for green chilli eggs with coriander and coconut | Quick and easy

This might look like a shakshuka, but with lemongrass, ginger and lime, you couldn’t really get away with calling it one – particularly because the noodles make this an easy, flavour-packed one-pan dinner. The crunch of the peanuts is particularly good against the lime-spiked coconut milk – a perfect transitional “is it spring yet?” dinner.Prep 15 min Cook 15 min Serves 21½ tbsp neutral oil 2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated½ stick lemongrass, finely chopped½-1 green chilli, finely chopped (remove the pith and seeds first if you want less heat)5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely gratedJuice and zest of 1 lime 2 large echalion shallots (or small onions), peeled and finely sliced1 tsp freshly ground coriander seeds 1 tsp flaky sea salt 320g baby spinach400ml tin coconut milk, whisked smooth150g packet straight-to-wok medium noodles2 eggsTo serve 15g coriander, roughly chopped 50g salted peanuts, finely chopped½ green chilli, finely sliced (remove the pith and seeds first if you want less heat)Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan on a medium heat, then add the garlic, lemongrass, chilli, ginger, lime zest and shallots. Stir-fry for four to five minutes, until the shallots are soft and the mixture is aromatic and starting to brown lightly, then turn down the heat and add the ground coriander and salt. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, add the spinach and cook for two minutes, until it is just wilting