Today’s agenda: US reopens Ukraine minerals deal; Disney’s controversial “Snow White” remake; Libya’s illicit oil trade; and can Ozempic become a weapon of war?
We wrap up the week with news out of Heathrow, where the UK’s main airport has been forced to close all day after a nearby fire, disrupting scheduled flights and bringing turmoil to global travel. Here’s what we know so far.
What caused the closure? Heathrow said it would shut down operations until 11.59pm today after a blaze at an electrical substation supplying the airport caused a “significant power outage”. The London Fire Brigade said it was fighting a large fire at a substation in Hayes, near Heathrow, after a transformer caught alight. It added that the cause of the fire was not known.
How many flights are affected? Nearly 100 have been cancelled and about 120 due to arrive at Heathrow are being diverted, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. Incoming aircraft are being redirected to nearby airports including London’s Gatwick and Stansted, Birmingham, Paris’s Charles de Gaulle, Helsinki and Shannon in Ireland. The closure will affect at least 1,351 flights, it added.
Heathrow is the world’s second-busiest international airport behind Dubai, according to travel data group OAG. “Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information,” Heathrow said. We’ll bring you more updates here as we learn more.
And here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:
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Economic data: The UK publishes data on public sector finances for February today.
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Namibia: Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is sworn in today as the nation’s first female president.
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UK: Liberal Democrats kick off their spring conference in Harrogate today, with party leader Sir Ed Davey set to speak on Sunday.
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China Development Forum: Global business leaders gather in Beijing for the annual conference, which begins on Sunday.
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Results: Cruise company Carnival and UK pub chain JD Wetherspoon report.
How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.
Five more top stories
1. Exclusive: Europe’s biggest military powers are drawing up plans to take on greater responsibilities for the continent’s defence from the US, including a pitch to the Trump administration for a managed transfer over the next five to 10 years. The discussions are an attempt to avoid the chaos of a unilateral US withdrawal from Nato.
2. Exclusive: Washington is seeking new terms for US access to critical minerals and energy assets in Ukraine, widening its economic demands on Kyiv as it pushes for a peace deal with Moscow. “One of the things we’re doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine,” said Donald Trump. Read the full report.
3. Exclusive: Global companies have started to drop climate goals from executive pay plans as the corporate world retreats from ESG initiatives in the face of fierce US opposition and mounting costs. Here are the groups that have changed sustainability targets.
4. The live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has dragged Disney back into the culture wars despite chief executive Bob Iger’s attempts to lower the political temperature. The controversies appear to have dented box office prospects for the film, which opens in cinemas today.
5. Exclusive: UN secretary-general António Guterres has asked EU leaders not to request rebates from the organisation this year in order to help offset a halt in US contributions, which made up more than 20 per cent of the budget. The plea comes as the UN’s top humanitarian official said it was being forced to take “life and death choices” after Trump slashed international aid funding.
The Big Read
Libya’s oil wealth, which makes up about 95 per cent of the state budget, has long been a source of factional feuds. But rival administrations appear to have found a way to coexist by sharing the proceeds from the smuggling of subsidised fuel products. Shotaro Tani and Heba Saleh report on the illicit oil trade that is keeping Libya divided.
We’re also reading . . .
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US liberalism: From Hollywood to New York’s Upper East Side, America’s bien pensants are reeling from the return of Trump as he takes on America’s elite.
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‘Voters care about Ozempic’: Gillian Tett asks: could the weight-loss drug feature in future US negotiations with Denmark over Greenland?
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UK childcare tax cliff: With some parents requiring a 50 per cent pay rise to mitigate the effects of the £100,000 threshold, the trap is zapping productivity.
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Wiz’s Assaf Rappaport: The cyber security start-up’s CEO has emerged as a leader in the field as he snags a $32bn Google deal after turning down an “insane offer” last summer.
Chart of the day
European investors in US equities have been dealt a double blow as a slide in the dollar compounds losses on stocks, ending a “virtuous cycle” of share price and currency gains during Wall Street’s recent record run. The sharp reversal since mid-January is changing how dollar assets are perceived.
Take a break from the news . . .
The FT’s food and drink experts — Jay Rayner, Marina O’Loughlin, Jancis Robinson and Tim Hayward — have strong opinions on how to make the most of eating out in 2025. But can they handle feedback from 19 food-world stars?
Read the full article here