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Channel Tunnel Chaos Enters Day Two as Power Fault Drags On

The disruption, caused by a fault in the system's overhead power supply, on Tuesday upended plans for thousands of passengers in London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Rail passengers travelling between the UK and mainland Europe are enduring a second day of major disruption after a power failure shut down the Channel Tunnel, halting both Eurostar and LeShuttle services. The fault, linked to the overhead power supply, brought traffic to a standstill and left thousands of travellers stranded on both sides of the Channel. Although some services have begun to move again, operators warn that delays and cancellations will continue while engineers work to stabilise the system. Eurostar has urged passengers to avoid travelling unless essential, as many trains remain suspended or heavily delayed. LeShuttle customers are also facing long queues, with significant backlogs reported at both Folkestone and Calais. The timing has added to the frustration, hitting one of the busiest travel per...
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Small Businesses in Canada Face Bankruptcy Risk Amidst Pandemic-Era Support Withdrawal

 


According to a recent report, thousands of small businesses in Canada are at risk of bankruptcy after the government ended pandemic-era support last month with the economy slowing at a time of high interest rates. 

Small firms that employ fewer than 100 people are critical to the Canadian economy as they give jobs to almost two-thirds of the country’s 12 million private workers. A spike in bankruptcies, which jumped 38% in the first 11 months of 2023, would weigh on economic growth, lobby groups and economists warn. 

Last month, small businesses faced a deadline to repay interest-free loans of C$60,000 ($44,676) made available to each of them during the pandemic. Of the 900,000 who had taken the government support, a fifth have not yet repaid their loans, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday. Katherine Cuplinskas, a spokesperson for the Finance Minister said in an emailed response that the Department of Finance did not expect there will be a negative impact on the economy on account of repayment of the loans given as support during the pandemic. She said loan recipients have long had full information on timelines and have been able to plan accordingly.


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