Passenger rights not protected during pandemic – report
Airlines and EU member states did not fully protect passenger rights throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors.
Travellers often lost out on money due to cancelled flights or because they were not informed about their right to be reimbursed.
The report also found that at the same time, while airlines were being bailed out with billions of euro of public money, no member state made it such that the receipt of that money came with the obligation to reimburse passengers.
RTÉ reports that a source close to the report revealed that airlines were effectively using passengers as banks by keeping their money on their books throughout the crisis.
The European Court of Auditors estimates that around 50 million tickets were cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic, between March and May of 2020.
Death rate soars as Western Canada reaches almost 50 degrees Celsius
The province of British Columbia experienced nearly double the average deaths after temperatures hit a record high of 46.6 degrees Celsius during four days of extreme heat last week.
At least 233 people died in the western Canadian province between Friday June 18 and Monday June 21, which is about 100 more than the average for a four-day period.
Officials said the number was expected to rise further as more reports were filed.
“Since the onset of the heat wave late last week, the BC Coroners Service has experienced a significant increase in deaths reported where it is suspected that extreme heat has been contributory,” BC Coroners Service said June 21.
The coroners are now gathering information to determine the cause and manner of deaths and whether heat played a role.
Bank of Ireland warns of surge in fraud
Bank of Ireland has issued a fresh warning to the public about an “unprecedented spike” in “smishing”.
They advised the public to take extra caution around fraudulent text messages which have been in heavy circulation over the past week.
The bank identified a rise in smishing in particular, which sees fraudsters sending fake text messages, which appear to come from Bank of Ireland, and direct customers to fake websites imitating Bank of Ireland websites.
Bank of Ireland said the number of new ‘phishing’ websites detected by its fraud prevention team has doubled since last month.
It also said it’s seen an unprecedented level of activity in the last week, with up to 20 new fraudulent sites appearing a day.
Bank of Ireland is advising their customers or whoever receives the texts not to click on links or to respond to SMS text messages, which are designed to appear as if sent by the bank and look as though they are originating from a genuine phone number.