Greek political leaders ignored a final plea from the president to form a coalition government to avert a repeat election, pushing the debt-stricken nation closer to bankruptcy and a possible exit from the eurozone.

UK airlines cancelled flights to Tokyo today following the devastating Japanese earthquake.

Bidding for the mainstream holiday packages business of UK travel company First Choice today looked to have become a straight fight between MyTravel and Thomas Cook.

Upmarket travel group Kuoni today played down rumours that it was involved in merger talks with travel agency Thomas Cook.