By The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of passengers faced flight cancellations at Europe’s busiest travel hub after a fire knocked out power to London’s Heathrow Airport, forcing it to close for the day.

At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, including several from U.S. cities that were canceled, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said.

Here’s the latest:

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United Airlines offers travel waiver to Heathrow customers

United Airlines says that it is offering a travel waiver to its customers while Heathrow is closed so that they can switch to eligible flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris or Edinburgh. The airline said that all flights scheduled to arrive at Heathrow on Friday are canceled due to the closure.

Eurostar adding trains to help travelers

Eurostar says it is adding two additional trains between London and Paris to accommodate passengers stranded by Heathrow’s shutdown.

The high-speed train that goes beneath the English Channel said it was increasing capacity by 882 passengers per train on Friday.

Heathrow says it doesn’t know when power will be restored

Heathrow Airport says it doesn’t know when power will be restored and expects disruption to last for days after an electrical substation fire nearby.

The airport said in a statement it does not have “clarity on when power may be reliably restored.”

What is known about the fire that brought London’s Heathrow Airport to a standstill

It said it expects “significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”

Heathrow earlier said the airport is not expected to reopen until Saturday.

Analysts say Heathrow closure raises worrying questions

While the cause of the fire that shut down Heathrow Airport is still unclear, analysts say the incident raises concerns about the U.K.’s ability to withstand attacks or natural disasters that damage critical infrastructure such as communications and power networks.

It’s particularly worrisome given recent comments by Britain’s security services that Russia is conducting a reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe, said Alan Mendoza, the executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank focused on security and democracy in Europe.

“The U.K.’s critical national infrastructure is not sufficiently hardened for anywhere near the level it would need to be at to give us confidence this won’t happen again,” Mendoza said.

“I mean, if one fire can shut down Heathrow’s primary systems and then apparently the backup systems as well, it tells you something’s badly wrong with our system of management of such disasters,” he added.

European airline shares fall on main indexes

The Heathrow disruption weighed on shares of European airlines, which posted declines that outpaced the fall in broader main stock indexes on Friday.

Shares of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, were down 1.4% after falling as much as 3% in early trading. Shares of Lufthansa, which operates Germany’s biggest carrier as well as Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and others, fell 1.3%. Air France-KLM, which operates the main carriers in France the Netherlands, slid 1.3%.

German leisure and tourism company TUI, which owns five airlines including one that serves the British market, slid 1.8%. Other European airlines that don’t operate at Heathrow were also dragged down by the negative sentiment. Wizz Air shares declined 1.4%, easyJet was down 0.7% and Ryanair dipped 0.8.

UK prime minister calls for rigorous investigation into fire

The British government says “clearly there are questions to answer” about how a single fire could shut down Europe’s busiest airport.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there must be a rigorous investigation to make sure “this scale of disruption does not happen again.”

Tom Wells said the most pressing task is to extinguish the fire, which is still burning on Friday. He said that “at the moment the priority is to deal with the incident in hand.”

He said “it’s very premature” to speculate on the cause of the blaze.

US flight operations normal as Delta issues waiver for Heathrow passengers

Flight operations remained normal in the United States on Friday despite the Heathrow fire, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Delta Airlines has issued a travel waiver through Sunday for customers who need to rebook their flights due to the Heathrow fire, a spokesperson said in a statement.

The company canceled 10 flights scheduled to depart from Heathrow on Friday.

No indication of foul play in London blaze, police say

Police say there is so far no indication of foul play in blaze that shut Heathrow but counterterror detectives leading the investigation into its cause.

The Metropolitan Police force says that is because of the location of the electrical substation fire and its impact on critical national infrastructure.

The force says counterterrorism command has “specialist resources and capabilities” that can help find the cause quickly.

Starmer thanks emergency services tackling blaze

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he is receiving regular updates on the fire that has shut down Heathrow Airport, as he thanked the emergency services tacking the blaze.

Starmer posted on X: “I know the situation in Heathrow is causing distress and disruption, especially for those traveling or without power in their homes. I’m receiving regular updates and I’m in close contact with partners on the ground. Thanks to our emergency workers for keeping people safe.”

Heathrow closure recalls Icelandic volcano disruption

The Heathrow closure is drawing comparisons to the 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption that closed much of European airspace for five days out of fears volcanic ash could damage jet engines.

The eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH’-lah-yer-kuhl), after two centuries of silence, spewed an ash cloud that closed Europe’s airspace and grounded millions of travelers. Iceland was briefly infamous as the country that stopped the world.

Read more about Iceland’s tourism boom in the aftermath of the 2010 eruption.

Scandinavian Airlines cancels 12 round-trip London flights

Scandinavian Airlines has canceled all 12 of its flights to and from London Heathrow on Friday.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and remain in continuous dialogue with Heathrow. Naturally, we hope for a swift resolution,” the company said in a statement.

Known as SAS, it’s considered the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Hopes dashed for family seeking to travel home to Texas

At Heathrow’s Terminal 5, a family of five traveling to Dallas had shown up in the hopes their flight home — still listed as delayed — would take off.

But when Andrea Sri brought her brother, sister-in-law and their three children to the airport, they were told by police that there would be no flight.

“It was a waste of time. Very confusing,” said Sri, who lives in London. “We tried to get in touch with British Airways, but they don’t open their telephone line until 8 a.m.”

Other London-area airports could reroute stranded travelers

Heathrow is one of the world’s biggest airports, but there are five others in the wider London area as well.

Travelers might be able to rebook through the remaining five airports — City, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Southend — in the aftermath of Heathrow’s closure.

However, they aren’t all easy to reach from Heathrow. While City is in inner London, and buses link Heathrow with Gatwick, the others are further out. Southend is about a 78-mile drive from Heathrow, around the congested M25 orbital highway and then out to the eastern coast of England.

Witnesses describe fireball and loud explosion from substation blaze

LONDON — Residents in west London have described hearing a large explosion, followed by a fireball and clouds of smoke, when a blaze ripped through an electrical substation near Heathrow Airport.

Matthew Muirhead, who was working a night shift, said that at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday he saw smoke rising over trees, then “a bright flash of white and all the lights in town went out.”

Delivery driver Adeel Anwar said the heat and billowing smoke from the blaze were “absolutely apocalyptic.” He told Sky News that as he drove past the substation “I just felt the heat … I tried to just get out of the area as quick as possible.”

Firefighters brought the blaze under control after seven hours and were still working to douse the flames on Friday. No injuries were reported.

Electricity supplier National Grid said power was restored to 62,000 customers by Friday morning, with 4,900 still without electricity.

Air India suspends Heathrow flights, with one turning around in midair

NEW DELHI — All Air India flights to Heathrow were suspended until Friday midnight, the carrier said in a statement, adding that it will “update about resumption of operations as soon as we have more information.”

The airline also said one of its flights had to return midair to Mumbai and another was diverted to Frankfurt. The company didn’t specify how many flights were affected in total.

Some passengers at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport said they had been informed of cancellations, while others said they were still waiting for the airline to provide them with alternate flights.

“As soon I went inside to get my boarding pass, they (airline staff) told us that the flight has been canceled and there is no flight for next two, three days,” passenger Vikas Swarup said.

Emma Fulton, who was in India’s Jaipur city for a wedding, said she received a text message en route to the airport.

“We had a text message about 20 mins before we arrived here, but we were already on the road,” she said.

9 flights through Dubai canceled after Heathrow closure

DUBAI — Eight outbound flights from Dubai International Airport to Heathrow, and one inbound from London to Dubai, were canceled Friday, according to Dubai Airports.

Travelers were told to contact their airlines for rebooking options.

What should travelers do?

Any travelers impacted by the Heathrow closure should contact their airline.

If a phone call doesn’t go through, travelers can also try contacting the airline on social media. Several airlines were responding to passengers’ posts on social platform X on Friday. A representative for British Airways, for example, was telling customers on X to send a direct message to the airline’s account so they could assist in rebooking.

For customers who are seeking a refund or other compensation, a European Union regulation known as EU261 could apply. Because the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU, however, not every flight will be covered under EU261. The regulation covers flights within the EU, as well as flights departing from the EU to a non-EU country.

London flights from Barcelona and Madrid canceled

Spanish airport operator Aena said on Friday morning that 20 flights to and from Madrid and Barcelona had been canceled due to the Heathrow power outage. A total of 54 flights headed to or departing from Spanish airports were affected.

In a post on X, the state-controlled commercial airport operator advised travelers to contact airlines for more information about disrupted flights.

‘An incredibly long day’ for travelers

GLASGOW — Lawrence Hayes was three-quarters of the way to London from John F. Kennedy International in New York when Virgin Atlantic announced they were being diverted to Glasgow.

“It was a red-eye flight and I’d already had a full day, so I don’t even know how long I’ve been up for,” Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland. “Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and she’s kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston (railway station in London), but it’s going to be an incredibly long day.”

Ryanair adds ‘rescue flights’ between Dublin and London Stansted

DUBLIN — Ryanair has added eight “rescue flights” between Dublin and Stansted, another London airport, on Friday and Saturday to help travelers impacted by the fire at Heathrow, the budget airline announced.

Ryanair does not operate at Heathrow.

Four of the flights will occur Friday afternoon, and the remaining on Saturday morning.

Lufthansa Group cancels flights to and from Heathrow

BERLIN — All flights by Lufthansa Group to and from Heathrow were canceled on Friday.

The company didn’t specify how many flights were affected in total, but said in an emailed statement that “passengers affected by the flight cancellations have been rebooked on other flights and informed about it.”

Lufthansa Group includes Germany’s biggest airline, Lufthansa, as well as Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and others.

No evidence that substation fire was suspicious, UK officials say

LONDON — British officials working to determine the cause of an electrical substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport have not yet found evidence it’s suspicious.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says “it’s too early to say” what caused the huge blaze, but there’s “no suggestion” of foul play.

London’s Metropolitan Police say the fire brigade is leading the investigation, suggesting it’s not thought to be criminal.

Flights from Tokyo diverted or turned around

TOKYO — The closure of Heathrow forced two Japanese flights that had already departed to return to Tokyo and a third to change its destination, airline officials said.

Japan Airlines said one of its two Heathrow-bound flights Friday returned to Tokyo’s Haneda international airport, and another one diverted to the Finnish capital, Helsinki. A third flight out of Tokyo, operated by All Nippon Airways, another major Japanese carrier, also returned to Haneda.

Airline officials advised passengers to check the latest flight information for Saturday.

Birdsong replaces aircraft noise for Heathrow neighbors

The noise from Europe’s busiest airport is a constant bugbear for those who live nearby, but has temporarily fallen silent.

“Basically living near Heathrow is noisy. There are planes every 90 seconds or so, plus the constant hum of traffic, but you get used to it, to the point of no longer noticing,” said James Henderson, who has lived next to Heathrow for over 20 years.

“Today is different. You can hear the birds singing.”

Qantas diverts Heathrow flights to Paris

Australian airline Qantas diverted its Singapore-London and Perth-London flights to Paris on Friday and then bused the travelers to London, a spokesperson said.

Customers will be contacted directly if their flight is impacted.

Aviation expert compares impact to 9/11 or Icelandic volcano

LONDON — Aviation consultant John Strickland says it will take several days for global airline travel to recover from a daylong closure of Heathrow Airport.

He said: “We’re talking about several days’ worth of disruption to get the planes recovered and start using them again to move planned and disrupted passengers.”

Strickland compared the disruption to “a contained version of 9/11 or, to an extent, the Icelandic volcanic eruption” that shut European airspace in 2010.

“I remembered seeing on those occasions – particularly more so on 9/11 – it happened so quick and then U.S. airspace was closed, they were turning back aircraft and holding planes. That’s the parallel I would make.

“Heathrow being such a busy airport and full, there’s no kind of wriggle room for getting out of these kind of things.”

Heathrow closure has widespread impact on air travel

The closure of Heathrow rippled through global aviation. The long-haul carrier Emirates in Dubai, which has London as one of its top destinations, canceled six round-trip flights to Heathrow on Friday alone.

Etihad in neighboring Abu Dhabi canceled two round-trip flights, while one flight diverted to Frankfurt, Germany. Qatar Airways said at least seven scheduled flights were “impacted,” with its staff working with passengers.

Blaze that shut down Heathrow is unprecedented, UK government minister says

A British government minister says a “catastrophic” fire knocked out a backup generator as well as the electrical substation that supplies power to Heathrow Airport.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC that the blaze is “unprecedented.”

He said it’s too early to know the cause but that lessons will have to be learned about “protection and the resilience that is in place for major institutions like Heathrow.”

Flights from Hong Kong rerouted to Amsterdam, airline says

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways rerouted two overnight flights to Amsterdam and canceled at least two daytime flights to Heathrow, according to the flight status page on its website.

Fire that closed Heathrow is now under control but not out

The London Fire Brigade says the electrical substation blaze closed Heathrow Airport is under control.

The fire caused a widespread power outage, affecting thousands of homes, local businesses, and disrupting thousands of flights.

LFB Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne says the fire was under control just after 8 a.m.

“This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” he said. “Thanks to their efforts and a coordinated multi-agency response, we successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread.”

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports for international travel. It had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% for the same period last year. January also was the 11th month in a row it averaged over 200,000 passengers a day, with the airport citing trans-Atlantic travel as a key contributor.

Heathrow normally opens for flights at 6 a.m. due to nighttime flying restrictions. It said the closure would last until 11:59 p.m. Friday.

The U.K. government earlier this year approved building a third runway at the airport to boost the economy and connectivity to the world.

Flights turn around as airport closes

Seven United Airlines flights returned to their origin or diverted to other airports and its flights Friday to Heathrow were canceled, the airline said.

The FlightAware website showed more cancellations including two from John F. Kennedy International in New York, a Delta Airlines flight and an American Airlines flight.

Other jets were diverted to Gatwick Airport outside London, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Ireland’s Shannon Airport, tracking services showed.

National Rail canceled all trains to and from the airport.

Fire cuts off power to Heathrow and thousands of homes

Flames soared into the sky when a transformer at an electrical substation caught fire in west London late Thursday night. The fire continued to smolder after daybreak.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes. About 150 people were evacuated.The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

By JILL LAWLESS The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A fire that closed London’s Heathrow Airport has sparked one of the most serious disruptions to air travel in years.

More than 1,300 flights were canceled and hundreds of thousands of journeys were disrupted following the blaze at an electrical substation, whose cause is under investigation.

Here is a look at some past incidents:

July 2024: Faulty software causes chaos

A faulty software update sent to millions of Microsoft customers by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused technological havoc worldwide. Airlines lost access to their booking systems, thousands of flights were canceled and tens of thousands were delayed, leading to long lines at airports in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.

August 2023: UK air traffic control problems

A glitch at Britain’s National Air Traffic Services in August 2023 meant flight plans had to be processed manually, rather than automatically. Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled at the height of the summer holidays. The NATS system had already suffered several software-related failures in the years after it opened in 2002.

March 2020: COVID-19 pandemic

As a new coronavirus spread around the globe in early 2020, the world’s airports shut down. Many governments closed national borders and imposed travel restrictions. By April, the number of flights around the world had fallen by 80%. When air travel resumed, it was with masks, mandatory coronavirus tests and other measures that made flying more onerous and expensive. It wasn’t until 2024 that global passenger numbers reached 2019 levels again.

December 2018: Gatwick drone sightings

More than 140,000 travelers were stranded or delayed after dozens of drone sightings shut down London Gatwick, south of the U.K. capital and Britain’s second-busiest airport, for parts of three consecutive days before Christmas. A monthslong police investigation failed to identify the culprits or determine how many of the sightings were real.

May 2017: British Airways IT glitch

A computer failure at a British Airways data center forced the airline to cancel all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick on a holiday weekend. The airline blamed a power-supply issue for the incident which affected some 75,000 travelers.

August 2016: Delta outage

Delta Air Lines planes around the world were grounded when an electrical component failed and led to a shutdown of the transformer that provides power to the carrier’s data center. Delta said that it canceled more than 2,000 flights and lost $100 million in revenue as a result of the outage.

April 2010: Iceland’s volcano

People around the world learned how to pronounce the name of Iceland’s tongue-twisting Eyjafjallajökull volcano (ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) after it roared to life, sending plumes of ash and dust into the atmosphere. Airspace over northern Europe was shut for several days and airlines canceled flights between Europe and North America because of concerns the ash could damage jet engines. More than 100,000 flights were canceled, stranding millions of passengers, at an estimated cost of $3 billion.

September 2001: 9/11

U.S. airspace was closed to commercial flights on Sept. 11, 2011 after hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. Thousands of planes were grounded and flights in the air heading for the U.S. were diverted to Canada and Mexico. Flights began to resume two days later, but air travel was forever altered, with passengers facing more rigorous security, more intrusive scrutiny and longer lines.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers face flight cancellations as Heathrow closes

Tesla is recalling 2024 and 2025 Cybertrucks after learning a stainless-steel exterior trim panel could break loose and fall off while driving.

"It could create a road hazard for following motorists and increase their risk of injury or a collision," documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

More than 46,000 vehicles are impacted by the recall, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

RELATED STORY | Trump admin. vows harsh penalties for 'wave of domestic terrorism' against Tesla

The agency received a complaint from a Cybertuck owner who said a "nine-foot-long stainless steel trim piece located above the doors had become loosened and was not completely secured to the frame of the vehicle."

Tesla says it will fix the issue by replacing the cant rail, a section of trim along the edge of the roof, for free.

Affected Cybertruck owners should expect a letter in the mail about the recall. They can also contact Tesla customer service to inquire about getting their vehicle fixed.

This is the 8th recall involving Cybertrucks since they hit the market.

RELATED STORY | Trump touts Tesla in front of the White House as automaker's stock struggles

By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY and JOCELYN GECKER, Associated Press Education Writers

Until recently, it was a little-known program to help Black and Latino students pursue business degrees.

But in January, conservative strategist Christopher Rufo flagged the program known as The PhD Project in social media posts that caught the attention of Republican politicians. The program is now at the center of a Trump administration campaign to root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education.

The U.S. Education Department last week said it was investigating dozens of universities for alleged racial discrimination, citing ties to the nonprofit organization. That followed a warning a month earlier that schools could lose federal money over “race-based preferences” in admissions, scholarships or any aspect of student life.

The investigations left some school leaders startled and confused, wondering what prompted the inquiries. Many scrambled to distance themselves from The PhD Project, which has aimed to help diversify the business world and higher education faculty.

The rollout of the investigations highlights the climate of fear and uncertainty in higher education, which President Donald Trump’s administration has begun policing for policies that run afoul of his agenda even as he moves to dismantle the Education Department.

There is a range of nonprofits that work to help minority groups advance in higher education but The PhD Project was not well known before Rufo began posting on X about its work with colleges, said Jonathan Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, an association of college presidents.

“It’s not hard to draw some lines between that incident and why 45 institutions that were partners with The PhD Project are getting this investigation announced,” he said.

The 45 colleges under investigation for ties to the organization include public universities such as Arizona State, Ohio State and the University of California, Berkeley, along with private schools like Yale, Cornell, Duke and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Education Department sent letters to the universities informing them its Office for Civil Rights had received a complaint and they were under investigation for allegedly discriminating against students on the basis of race or ethnicity because of a past affiliation with The PhD Project. The letters set a March 31 deadline for information about their relationship with the nonprofit.

In a statement, the PhD Project said it aims to “create a broader talent pipeline” of business leaders. “This year, we have opened our membership application to anyone who shares that vision,” it said.

Public reaction from the universities’ leadership has been minimal and cautious, with most issuing brief statements saying they will cooperate with investigators and refusing further comment.

Colleges may see reason not to push back. The Trump administration has shown willingness to withhold federal funding over issues involving antisemitism allegations, diversity programs and transgender athletes. At Columbia University, under fire for its handling of pro-Palestinian protests, the administration pulled $400 million in federal money and threatened billions more if it does not comply with its demands.

“There is a concern that if one university steps up and fights this then that university will have all of their funding cut,” said Veena Dubal, general counsel for the American Association of University Professors. “They are being hindered not just by fear but a real collective action problem. None of these universities wants to be the next example.”

Some colleges moved swiftly to stop working with The PhD Project.

The University of Kentucky said it severed ties with the nonprofit on Monday. The University of Wyoming said in a statement that its college of business was affiliated with the group to develop its graduate student pipeline, but it plans to discontinue its membership.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas issued a statement saying three professors participated in the program, but two no longer work at the university and a third was killed in a shooting on campus in 2023. Arizona State said its business school is not financially supporting The PhD Project this year and it told faculty in February the school would not support travel to the nonprofit’s conference.

Similar fallout came in Texas earlier this year, when Rufo began posting on X about the PhD Project.

“Texas A&M is sponsoring a trip to a DEI conference,” Rufo posted on Jan. 13. Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, accused the university of “supporting racial segregation and breaking the law.”

The next day Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbot posted on X that the university “president will soon be gone” unless he immediately “fixed” the matter. Texas A&M responded by withdrawing from the conference, and soon after at least eight other Texas public universities that had participated previously in The PhD Project’s conference also withdrew, the Texas Tribune reported.

Rufo has not responded to a request for comment.

Some of the schools under investigation raised questions about where the complaints against them originated.

Montana State University said it follows all state and federal laws and was “surprised” by the notice it received and “unaware of any complaint made internally with regards to The PhD Project.”

Six other colleges are being investigated for awarding “impermissible race-based scholarships,” the Education Department said. Additionally, the University of Minnesota is being investigated for allegedly operating a program that segregates students on the basis of race.

At the University of California, Berkeley, hundreds gathered Wednesday on the campus known for student protests. But this one was organized by faculty, who stood on the steps of Sproul Hall, known as the birthplace of the free speech movement in the 1960s.

“This is a fight that can be summed up in five words: Academic freedom is under assault,” Ula Taylor, a professor of African American studies, said to the crowd.

In a campus email Monday, Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons did not specifically mention the investigation targeting his school. But he described the federal government’s actions against higher education as a threat to the school’s core values.

“A Berkeley without academic freedom, without freedom of inquiry, without freedom of expression is simply not Berkeley,” Lyons said. “We will stand up for Berkeley’s values and defend them to the very best of our ability.”

Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The following is a list of organizations in the area that are offering Friday fish fry dinners during Lent.

• Knights of Columbus #8659 Lenten Fish Dinners are 4-7 p.m. Fridays through April 11, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church Parish, 3400 S. Adams Road, Auburn Hills, 248-852-4170, www.esacredheart.org, dine-in or carry-out, $14+, children younger than 10-free, other menu items, www.facebook.com/sacredHeart7009.

• Berkley American Legion Stanley J. Fons Post 374 hosts its annual Fish Fry Dinner Fundraiser, 5-8 p.m. Fridays, through April 18, at 2079 W. Twelve Mile Road, Berkley, dinners start at $10 for 1-piece dinner, menu prices vary, carryout hot-line 248-591-9220, facebook.com/berkleyamericanlegion. Also, bake sale will be held during Friday fish dinners. Donated baked items requested, and can be dropped off on Thursdays or Fridays.

• Clarkston Eagles 3373 offers Friday Fish Fry dinners, 5-8 p.m. Fridays at 5640 Maybee Road, Clarkston, $10-$12+.

• Friday Night Fish Fry dinners are 5-8 p.m. Fridays, at American Legion Chief Pontiac Post 377, 4819 Mary Sue Ave., Clarkston, www.chiefpontiac377.org, 248-673-9301. The menu includes a range of choices, prices vary.

• Knights of Columbus Lenten Fish Fry dinners are 4:30-7 p.m. Fridays through April 11, at St. Joseph Myrick Hall, 715 N. Lapeer Road, Lake Orion, $15 for 2-piece cod fish dinner with coleslaw, roll and French fries, $19 for three-piece dinner. Sit down or carry out, cash and credit card accepted for dinners (cash only for the beverage bar), www.stjoelo.org, 248-693-0440.

• Oxford American Legion Post 108 offers fish dinners from noon to 8 p.m. Fridays throughout the year, at 130 Drahner Road, Oxford, 248-628-9081, menu prices vary.

• The Rochester Area Knights of Columbus will be offering fish fry dinners every Friday during Lent, through April 11, between 5 to 7 p.m. at the Rochester Community House, 816 Ludlow, Rochester. Baked or fried cod fish dinners, adults-$14 and children 12 and under-$7, baked potato-$1, drinks-$1, desserts-$2. Cash or credit cards are accepted, https://kofc5452.org. Dine in or carry out is available.

• Royal Oak-Detroit Elks Lodge #34 offers fish dinners, 5:30-8 p.m. Fridays through April 18, during Lent at the lodge, 2401 E 4th St, Royal Oak. Fish and chips dinners include 3 pieces of cod, fries, coleslaw for $15, baked walleye dinners are $15, kids meals are $8, dessert included with meals, www.facebook.com/RODElks34.

• Royal Oak First United Methodist Church Fish Dinners are 4:30-7 p.m. March 21 and April 4, at the church, 320 W. 7th Street, Royal Oak, www.rofum.org, 248-541-4100, menu prices vary.

• Friday fish fry dinners are 4:30-7:30 p.m. Fridays, through April 18, at St. Andrew’s Society of Detroit, Kilgour Scottish Centre, 2363 Rochester Road, Troy, dine-in or carry out, www.facebook.com/DetroitScots, 248-526-1849, $15-$17+, children-$7+, cash bar.

• St. William Dads’ Club 36th Annual Lenten Fish Fry Dinners are 4-8 p.m. Fridays through April 11, and carryout only, 3-8 p.m. April 18, at St. William Parish 531 Common St., Walled Lake, drive-up service, order online at https://saintwilliam.net, 248-624-1421, Fish dinner-carryout is $15.50+, other menu items to purchase.

• Knights of Columbus Lenten Fish Fry Dinners, are 4-8 p.m. Fridays, through April 11, at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 9086 Hutchins White Lake Twp., 248-698-3100, www.stpatrickwhitelake.org, dine-in or drive-thru, fish dinners, menu prices vary.

WATERFORD – Marian started extremely fast Thursday night and cruised to a 7-1 victory over Waterford Kettering in the season opener for both sides.

The Mustangs got on the board less than two minutes into the game when Emerson Walton’s shot hit the post, caromed out front, hit a defender in the shins, and deflected back into the open net to give them a 1-0 lead on their first shot.

Six minutes later, Marian made it 2-0 on another deflection with Giulianna Agrusso getting credit for the goal.

For the first 20 minutes of the game, all the bounces went Marian’s way, and when the Captains got a bit rattled, the Mustangs took full advantage to stretch their lead out even more and make sure that the Captains would not be able to come back. Marian kept the pressure on Kettering and did everything it could to create its own breaks, and it paid off. Bella Musachio and Emma Wyciskalla also scored for the Mustangs, who expanded their lead to 4-0 just 17 minutes into the game.

“We have prided ourselves on starting quickly in games, and you can see that with three goals in the first (nine) minutes of the game,” Marian head coach Danny Price said. “You need a little bit of luck sometimes. Some of the things that eluded us last season during the run were a little bit of lady luck. We got it tonight, but the pressure we put them under the first five, 10 minutes was incredible. So that is something we have been working on is going at teams and not letting up and having that fire in our belly.”

After that, the Captains finally started to settle down and find their way into the game. Kettering was much better in the final 60 minutes and started creating offensive chances of its own, particularly in the later part of the first half. The Kettering pressure would pay off with a goal late in the first half when freshman Savannah Sartorius headed in a ball from a corner kick to get the Captains on the board. That made it 5-1 at the time, which was the halftime score.

“I think the girls figured it out. It took us a little bit to kind of mesh and see how everyone was moving and what our style of play was going to look like. But after the first 20 minutes, we started to figure it out a little bit more,” first-year Kettering head coach Justice Tillotson said.

In the second half, Marian again dominated possession, but the Captains were much better defensively than they had been early in the game, though the Mustangs still added a couple more goals.

“The effort level and pressing style, it never dropped, and that’s what we’re most proud of as a coaching staff is making sure that at this program they have to work hard. They know that, and they did that in the second half, and that’s what I’m proud of,” Price said. “It was a really good team performance,” he added.

Photos of Bloomfield Hills Marian vs. Waterford Kettering in girls soccer action

Being the first game for both teams and the coaches, each learned a bit about their teams, which have only been together for about a week with practice officially starting just last week.

“I messed around with one or two different formations, kinda wanted to see what the younger girls could do,” Tillotson said. "I wanted to get a lot of girls playing time, especially those younger ones to see where I can put them and what things can look like moving forward."

Marian will be back in action next week when the Mustangs play another non-conference game against Detroit Country Day.

Waterford Kettering, meanwhile, will have some time to regroup. The Captains are off for nearly two weeks before playing Auburn Hills Avondale after they return from spring break at the beginning of April.

By MATT BROWN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — For weeks, Democratic lawmakers have met with and mimicked figures they believe may offer them a path back to power in Washington: online influencers and content creators.

Hours before President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress this month, Senate Democrats huddled with a dozen online progressive personalities who have millions of followers. House Democrats were introduced, without staff, to 40 content creators who Democratic leaders said could help them grow their audience online.

An earlier tutorial session in February featured online personalities like the YouTube commentator Brian Tyler Cohen.

The result has been a burst of Democratic online content, including direct-to-camera explainers in parked cars, scripted vertical videos, podcast appearances and livestreams — some topping trending charts online, others drawing mockery from liberal allies and Republicans in Congress.

But while the Democratic Party is largely divided over the path forward after last year’s election losses, party leaders agree that, no matter the message, how they connect with voters in the digital media landscape will be key to a political comeback.

Democrats are aiming to double engagement with digital content

More than a dozen Democratic senators, asked about the party’s digital strategy, pointed to Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey as the architect of their new push.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth of Democratic senators now. They’re engaging in the tools and strategies necessary to elevate their voice in a new, changing media market, where legacy media is not the place that people get their news now,” Booker said. “We’re just weeks into this, but just by making key changes … we’re seeing a massive growth in engagement with the content that our senators are creating, and we’ve only just begun.”

Booker said he’s aiming for Democratic senators to double online engagement with their content over the next year — and early metrics have been noticeable. Democratic senators racked up more than 87 million views on content they published in response to Trump’s joint address to Congress, according to Booker’s office.

But the Democrats’ digital efforts also draw Republican mockery

Not all of that online engagement is positive. After more than two dozen Democratic senators posted identical scripted videos knocking Trump’s speech, saying he should have addressed the cost of living and his support for billionaire adviser Elon Musk, conservatives mocked them as inauthentic and out of touch.

“They are all actors reading a script,” Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he owns.

There’s no doubt that Democrats are playing catch-up. Trump and his fellow Republicans built a digital operation that fed on bombast and celebrity, and it’s a strategy they’ve taken with them to the White House. Official government accounts are new filled with right-wing memes, cinematic videos and pugnacious statements.

The Democratic embrace of influencers has also yielded mixed early results. Democrats were ridiculed online after a food and wellness influencer who attended the House Democrats’ creators event created a “Choose Your Fighter” video collage of Democratic congresswomen for Women’s History Month.

The White House posted a video in response that read “America chose its fighters last November,” and the Pentagon, normally known for being studiously non-partisan, posted a video stating “We chose our fighters a long time ago.”

But Booker and other Democratic leaders don’t consider the sneers to be a downside. Missteps are to be expected, they say, but the path to Americans’ attention will require some discomfort from lawmakers.

“I do think that the caucus as a whole is trying to figure out how we show people that we are real people,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, one of the congresswomen featured in the viral “Fighter” video. Crockett, whose posts regularly garner millions of views online, said she was used to criticism for her often frank statements and was more interested in combating perceptions that Democrats are “elitist” or “robotic.”

“I didn’t like the jumping, I’m going to be honest, though,” Crockett added about the viral “Choose Your Fighter” video.

Trump prompts a more aggressive digital posture

Democrats adopted a more combative stance online in recent weeks as Trump’s moves to slash the federal workforce drew protests from liberals and pushback at GOP town halls. Top Democratic digital operatives who worked for the 2024 presidential campaign of then-Vice President Kamala Harris have been in high demand, with many Democrats anticipating close 2026 races in which digital strategies may be key.

Some of the most prominent Democrats across the country have been engaging more in new media since the election. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has touted the party’s message on progressive podcasts over the last month, including from the comedian Jon Stewart and the progressive outlet MeidasTouch. Clips of those videos were also lampooned online but garnered millions of views.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential contender in 2028, has launched a podcast of his own on which he has welcomed close Trump allies like the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and former Trump aide Steve Bannon to discuss hot-button political topics.

“We want to make sure we hit the podcasters that normally don’t have Democrats on there,” said Rep. Derek Tran, a Democrat from a competitive California House district. “The ones that are more right-leaning or independent, and be able to address a crowd and an audience that’s not typical for the Democratic base.”

Democrats divide on message vs. messaging

Some House Democrats have expressed frustration that the guidance from Democratic leaders about social media is too vague, while others grumble that leaders are too prescriptive in their approach to messaging on platforms they don’t intuitively understand. Meanwhile, Democratic strategists have cautioned lawmakers that garnering attention online is secondary to the goal of using social media as a tool in specific policy fights and campaigns.

“I think there’s a fine line before we’re being cringe and trying too hard and seeming too thirsty. I think the most important thing in any of this is being as authentic and genuine as we can be,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.

“When it comes to authenticity, it also means leaning into what makes each of us unique. Like many of my colleagues probably should not be doing ‘get ready with me’ videos. It would look super cringe. But I’m a 36-year-old woman, and I do my makeup all the time, and I watch a lot of makeup tutorial videos, so it makes sense for me to do it,” said Jacobs.

Some Democrats think that the party’s messaging strategy hinges as much on the messengers as the medium it’s communicated on.

“If you know how to talk to people, it doesn’t matter what medium is going to exist,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, a freshman Democratic senator from Arizona. “You could be the best freaking spokesperson in the world, but if you don’t know how to talk to working-class people, it doesn’t matter if you have the best TikTok following, it’s just not going to translate.”

The elements were definitely in play as Marian defeated Waterford Kettering 7-1 in an early spring soccer matchup Thursday, March 20, 2025 in Waterford.

Russian drones pummeled the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa, injuring three people and sparking massive fires, officials said Friday, an attack that underlined Moscow's intention to pursue aerial strikes even as it agreed to temporarily halt strikes on energy facilities.

The head of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said the city suffered local emergency power outages in three of its districts, an indication that the energy infrastructure of the city could have been damaged.

Reacting to the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "joint pressure on Russia, strengthening sanctions and defense support for our state ... is the way to stop such terror and Russias prolongation of the war."

We expect real pressure on Russia from the US, Europe and all our partners, Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram And this is what will allow diplomacy to work.

Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of blowing up a gas facility in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have launched an incursion, in violation of the ceasefire deal. Ukraine denies the accusations.

Russian drone attack sparks massive blazes in Odesa

The strike came shortly before Czech Republic President Peter Pavel visited Odesa early Friday morning and held meetings with the city's leaders and officials from other southern regions.

This is another reminder to the whole world: the war continues and Ukraine continues to fight, Kiper said in a statement.

He reported blazes at at least three locations after the attack late Thursday. Civilian infrastructure, commercial facilities are on fire, cars damaged, Kiper said.

Over 70 people and 20 fire engines were involved in extinguishing what the emergency services called massive fires.

Russia accuses Ukraine of blowing up natural gas facility in the Kursk region

Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of blowing up a gas metering station near the town of Sudzha in Russias Kursk region, in what it described as a deliberate provocation by the Kyiv regime, which is part of a series of recent strikes on Russias energy infrastructure in order to discredit the U.S. presidents peaceful initiatives.

Ukraines military General Staff rejected Moscows accusations and blamed the Russian military for shelling the Sudzha gas metering station as part of Russias discrediting campaign.

The gas metering station serves a major pipeline that had pumped Russia's natural gas to Europe until supplies were halted last year.

Views differ on what is covered by the truce

Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the countries leaders this week, though it remained to be seen what possible targets would be off limits to attack.

The three sides appeared to hold starkly different views about what the deal covered. While the White House said energy and infrastructure would be covered, the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy said he would also like railways and ports to be protected.

Zelenskyy told reporters after Wednesday's call with Trump that technical talks in Saudi Arabia this weekend would seek to resolve what types of infrastructure would be protected from attack under the agreement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized Friday that the agreement reached between Trump and Putin referred only to energy facilities, adding that the Russian military is fulfilling Putins order to halt such attacks for 30 days.

The Russian military is currently refraining from strikes on Ukraines energy infrastructure in accordance with the agreement reached between Russia and the United States, Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

Other attacks reported by both sides

In another attack, Russian glide bombs injured at least six people, including a child, in the Zaporizhzhia region overnight Thursday to Friday. Regional head Ivan Fedorov published photos showing firefighters extinguishing flames at multiple damaged residential buildings.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired 214 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks. It said 114 of them were intercepted and another 81 were jammed.

Russias Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 43 Ukrainian drones, 34 of them over the Volgograd region and others over Rostov, Kursk and Belgorod regions. The authorities didnt report any casualties or significant damage.

Meanwhile, a massive blaze at an oil depot in the Krasnodar region has continued to rage since it was hit by a Ukrainian drone attack late Wednesday.

By DANICA KIRKA The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Flights to and from London’s Heathrow Airport were canceled Friday after a fire at a nearby substation knocked out power to Europe’s busiest airport, disrupting travel plans for hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

Here’s a look at what’s happening and its impact on air travel.

What happened?

A fire at an electrical substation in west London, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the airport, knocked out power to Heathrow Airport just before midnight on Thursday.

The “significant power outage” forced officials to shut the airport until 11:59 p.m. on Friday “to maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues.”

The London Fire Brigade said 10 fire engines and 70 firefighters responded to a fire at the substation that was reported at 11:23 p.m. on Thursday. The fire has been contained but firefighters will remain at the scene throughout Friday, the fire brigade said.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the “catastrophic” fire appeared to have knocked out a backup generator as well as the electrical substation that supplies power to Heathrow Airport.

National Grid, which maintains energy infrastructure in Britain, said the fire damaged equipment at the substation and crews are working to restore power supplies as quickly as possible. Power had been restored to 62,000 customers by 6 a.m. local time, but 4,900 were still without electricity.

What caused the fire?

The cause is still under investigation, and officials said there was “no suggestion” of foul play.

But the Metropolitan Police said counterterror detectives were leading the investigation into its cause because of the fire’s impact on critical national infrastructure.

“We don’t know the cause of this fire. It’s obviously an unprecedented event,” Miliband said, adding that the fire and subsequent shutdown of Heathrow raises questions about the resilience of the country’s key infrastructure.

How was Heathrow affected?

The disruption disrupted travel plans of the roughly 200,000 people who were expected to travel through Heathrow on Friday. Heathrow advised passengers not to travel to the airport and to contact their airlines to rebook flights.

With all take offs and landings canceled, the first impact was on dozens of long-haul flights from North America and Asia that were in the air when the airport was shutdown. Some were forced to turn around, while others were diverted to airports around the U.K. and Europe.

Heathrow-bound aircraft have landed at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam; Shannon Airport in western Ireland; Glasgow, Scotland; Manchester, England; Charles de Gaulle in Paris; Lyon, France; and Frankfurt, Germany, among others.

The impact on short-haul flights was delayed until Friday morning because flight operations at Heathrow are severely limited between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day to minimize overnight noise in surrounding communities. Even so, thousands of people will be unable to travel to and from airports around Europe and the U.K. on Friday.

Some 4,000 tons of cargo have also been stranded by the closure, according to Anita Mendiratta, an aviation consultant.

How long will the disruptions last?

Even if the airport reopens on Saturday, the disruptions are expected to last for days as airlines move stranded aircraft and flight crews back into position and work to accommodate passengers whose flights were canceled.

Mendiratta estimated that it would take two to four days to clear all the backlogs.

“This is an extreme situation where the entire aviation ecosystem is impacted,” Mendiratta said.

“There will be two things that will be happening as a priority number one shall we say. First is airport operations and understanding, from an electrical system point of view, what has been impacted, if anything,” she added. “Did anything short out, for instance? What needs to be reactivated? And then how do you literally turn the airport back on again? Passenger and cargo.

“On top of that, there’s the issue of actually managing the human component of it. You have passengers that are impacted, crew are impacted and operations — so being able to re-mobilize everything.”

How big is Heathrow?

Heathrow was Europe’s busiest airport last year, with 83.6 million passengers traveling through the airport. Its closure will have far-reaching impacts because it is a major hub for connecting flights to cities throughout Britain and around the world, as well as for travel to London.

Does London have other airports?

Yes. Five other air hubs in southeastern England identify themselves as London airports, but they are much smaller than Heathrow. Gatwick, Britain’s second-biggest airport, handled 43.2 million passengers last year. It is in the town of Crawley, 28 miles south of London.

By MORIAH BALINGIT, CHRIS MEGERIAN and BILL BARROW, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A little more than 23 years ago, Republican President George W. Bush sat at a desk at a high school in Hamilton, Ohio, and signed a law that would vastly expand the role of the Education Department and transform American schooling. On Thursday, his Republican successor, President Donald Trump, signed a very different document — this one an executive order designed to dismantle the department.

For years, as right-wing activists called for eliminating the agency, many Republicans paid lip service to the cause but still voted to fund it. Now Trump, emboldened and unapologetic in his drastic remaking of the federal government, has brushed aside concerns that deterred his predecessors.

Thursday’s announcement follows other aggressive decisions, including the enlistment of billionaire Elon Musk to downsize the federal bureaucracy at startling speed, or the review of scientific findings that are foundational for fighting climate change.

Dismantling the Education Department was always high on Trump’s list. He talked about it repeatedly during his campaign, often to cheers from his supporters, including the conservative group Moms for Liberty.

But despite telegraphing his goals, Trump’s executive order was a stunner, even for a president who thrives on audacity. Margaret Spellings, education secretary under Bush, said she was indeed surprised he was following through on his campaign vow.

For years, Spellings said, talk of about eliminating the department was a way for Republicans to signal their adherence to party orthodoxy, even as they voted to send billions of dollars to support its mission. Much of that money ended up at schools in their own districts, funding extra teachers for impoverished schools, for example. As recently as 2023, 60 House Republicans voted against a bill to close the department.

“It was always a little bit of a wink and a nod deal,” Spellings said. “Donald Trump has called the bluff.”

Trump, in remarks at the White House, said: “People have wanted to do this for many, many years, for many, many decades. And I don’t know, no president ever got around to doing it. But I’m getting around to doing it.”

He held the executive order up for photos while standing next to Education Secretary Linda McMahon. He’s joked that he’ll need to find another job for her once her department is gone.

The executive order is likely to get mired in legal challenges, and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle said closing the department can’t move forward without their approval. But Trump, through the Department of Government Efficiency, has already shrunk the department’s imprint, moving to eliminate about half of its staff.

The first talk of eliminating the department came just a year after its formation from President Ronald Reagan, who opposed its efforts to integrate schools. However, calls to get rid of the new department fell out of favor by the end of Reagan’s first term. By the time George W. Bush became president, it was seen as a vehicle to implement his policy vision of a federal government that required states to closely monitor student progress, and hold schools accountable that fell short.

Calls to eliminate the department reemerged with the Tea Party, whose adherents made it a symbol of bloated bureaucracy that usurped power that belonged to local governments.

The most recent push to close the department emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, when right-leaning parents, infuriated by what they saw as unnecessary school closures, began arguing that the government was indoctrinating their children.

Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, was in the White House audience and was recognized by Trump in his remarks. She said the department allowed teacher unions to exert undue influence over schools, a problem that became more apparent while schools were closed and students were learning over Zoom.

“The American people woke up and recognized the fact there were a lot of people that were making decisions that were not in the best interest of their children,” she said.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who as a young lawmaker voted for the 1979 bill to create the department, praised Trump’s move and argued the agency has not accomplished its original mission.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Gingrich said of backing Democratic President Jimmy Carter, his fellow Georgian, in a 215-201 vote.

Two generations later, Gingrich argued, “If you take what the scores were then and how much we were spending on education then and compare it now, it’s impossible to escape the reality that it’s been an abject failure.”

For all the talk of overreach, federal law explicitly bars the federal government from telling schools what to teach their students. Day-to-day operations of schools are largely handled by state and local authorities.

And while Trump has talked about eliminating the department, he envisions a more muscular role for the federal government in schools, moving swiftly and aggressively to punish schools that do not fall in line with the administration’s interpretation of civil rights laws.

Early in his administration, he has already taken unprecedented action to sever federal grants from the University of Pennsylvania and from Columbia University over its handling of pro-Palestinian protests.

The executive order to close the department also included language to take federal funding away from schools that promote “diversity, equity and inclusion,” a term that has come to encompass everything from highlighting the achievements of Black Americans to allowing transgender athletes to compete.

Advocates and Democratic strategists have warned that Trump’s efforts could backfire with voters. According to recent polling, six out of ten registered voters oppose the closure of the department.

Democratic pollster John Anzalone, who has worked for multiple presidential campaigns, including Joe Biden’s 2020 victorious effort over Trump, said the president’s moves are a base pleaser likely to backfire for Republicans with the broader electorate.

First and foremost, he said, “education is generally popular with voters” as a priority. Anything that allows Democrats to position themselves as better reflective of those values, he said, works against Trump.

The states whose schools are most reliant on federal dollars include Mississippi, South Dakota, Montana, Alaska, Arkansas and North Carolina — all of which backed Trump. Any disruption in federal funding will hit them hardest.

Spellings said there’s long been a bipartisan consensus that “education is the route to the American dream, and it ought to be afforded to everyone, and the federal role was to level the playing field.”

“If that’s still true, we’re in the process of finding out.”

Sharon Lurye and Linley Sanders contributed.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A large fire near London's Heathrow Airport knocked out power Friday to Europes busiest flight hub, forcing it to shut down all day and disrupting global travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.

At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said, and the impact was likely to last several days as passengers try to reschedule their travel and airlines work to get planes and crew to the right places.

Authorities do not know what caused the fire but so far they have no evidence it was suspicious.

Residents in west London described hearing a large explosion, followed by a fireball and clouds of smoke, when the blaze ripped through the electrical substation near the airport.

Some 120 flights were in the air when the closure was announced, with some turned around and others diverted to Gatwick Airport outside London, Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris or Irelands Shannon Airport, tracking services showed.

Lawrence Hayes was three-quarters of the way to London from New York when Virgin Atlantic announced they were being diverted to Glasgow.

It was a red-eye flight and Id already had a full day, so I dont even know how long Ive been up for, Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland. "Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and shes kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston, but its going to be an incredibly long day.

Heathrow is one of the worlds busiest airports for international travel. It had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% from the same period last year.

Still, the disruption Friday fell short of the one caused by the 2010 eruption of Icelands Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and created trans-Atlantic air travel chaos for months.

Fire under control but impact to last days

It was too early to determine what sparked the huge blaze about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the airport, but theres no suggestion of foul play, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

Still, the Metropolitan Police force said counterterrorism detectives are leading the investigation into the cause because of the location of the electrical substation fire and its impact on critical national infrastructure. The force said counterterrorism command has specialist resources and capabilities that can help find the cause quickly.

They are working with the London Fire Brigade.

Miliband said the fire, which took seven hours to control, also knocked out a backup power supply to the airport. Heathrow said in a statement that it had no choice but to close the airport for the day.

We expect significant disruption over the coming days, and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens," the airport said.

Heathrow was at the heart of a shorter disruption in 2023 when Britains air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the U.K. on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Anita Mendiratta, an aviation consultant, said the impact of the closure will be felt over two to four days as airlines, cargo carriers, and crews are moved into position and passengers rebooked.

As soon as the airport opens up at midnight tonight, its not only about resuming with tomorrows flights, its the backlog and the implications that have taken place, Mendiratta said. Crew and aircraft, many are not where theyre supposed to be right now. So the recalculation of this is going to be intense.

Diverted, canceled and in limbo

At Heathrow, a family of five traveling to Dallas showed up in the hopes their flight home still listed as delayed would take off.

But when Andrea Sri brought her brother, sister-in-law and their three children to the airport, they were told by police that there would be no flight.

It was a waste of time. Very confusing, said Sri, who lives in London. We tried to get in touch with British Airways, but they dont open their telephone line until 8 a.m.

Travelers who were diverted to other cities found themselves trying to book travel onward to London. Qantas airlines sent flights from Singapore and Perth, Australia, to Paris, where it said it would bus people to London, a process likely to also include a train shuttle beneath the English Channel.

Budget airline Ryanair, which doesn't operate out of Heathrow, said it added eight rescue flights between Dublin and Stansted, another London airport, to transport stranded passengers Friday and Saturday.

National Rail canceled all trains to and from the airport.

Flights normally begin landing and taking off at Heathrow at 6 a.m. due to nighttime flying restrictions. But the skies were silent Friday morning.

Living near Heathrow is noisy, there are planes every 90 seconds or so, plus the constant hum of traffic, but you get used to it, to the point of no longer noticing, said James Henderson, who has lived next to the airport for more than 20 years. Today is different, you can hear the birds singing.

Blaze lit up the sky and darkened homes

Matthew Muirhead was working Thursday night near Heathrow when he stepped outside with a colleague and noticed smoke rising from an electrical substation and heard sirens crying out.

We saw a bright flash of white, and all the lights in town went out, he said.

The London Fire Brigade sent 10 engines and around 70 firefighters to control the blaze and about 150 people were evacuated from their homes near the power station.

This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible, Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes.

The U.K. government earlier this year approved building a third runway at the airport to boost the economy and connectivity to the world.

The post Saturday marks 11 years since Michigan marriage equality decision appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

The post Trump has ordered the dismantling of the Education Department. Here’s what it does appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said late Thursday that he would be meeting with billionaire Elon Musk at the Pentagon Friday to discuss “innovation, efficiencies & smarter production.”

Musk, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, and his Department of Government Efficiency have played an integral role in the administration’s push to dramatically reduce the size of the government. Musk has faced intense blowback from some lawmakers and voters for his chainsaw-wielding approach to laying off workers and slashing programs, although Trump’s supporters have hailed it.

A senior defense official told reporters Tuesday that roughly 50,000 to 60,000 civilian jobs will be cut in the Defense Department.

In a post on Musk’s X platform, Hegseth emphasized that “this is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans,’” denying a story published by The New York Times late Thursday.

Hegseth is also scheduled to deliver remarks with Trump at the White House Friday morning.

Britains Heathrow Airport was closed all day Friday after a fire at a nearby electrical substation knocked out its power, disrupting flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers at Europe's busiest travel hub.

At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said, and the impact was likely to last several days as passengers try to reschedule their travel.

According to Detroit Metro Airport's website, only one flight was scheduled to land from London-Heathrow to Detroit on Friday  at 4:39 p.m.

See video of the fire below

Video of fire at electrical substation near London-Heathrow Airport

Some 120 flights were in the air when the closure was announced, with some turned around and others diverted to Gatwick Airport outside London, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris or Irelands Shannon Airport, tracking services showed.

Lawrence Hayes was three-quarters of the way to London from John F. Kennedy International in New York when Virgin Atlantic announced they were being diverted to Glasgow.

It was a red-eye flight and Id already had a full day, so I dont even know how long Ive been up for, Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland. "Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and shes kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston, but its going to be an incredibly long day.

Fire under control but impact to last days

The fire at a power station about 2 miles from the airport was brought under control about seven hours after it erupted in a ball of flames, the London Fire Brigade said.

We dont know the cause of this fire. Its obviously an unprecedented event, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

Miliband said the fire had also knocked out a backup power supply to the airport. Heathrow said in a statement that the fire had given it no choice but to close the airport for the day.

We expect significant disruption over the coming days, and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens," the airport said.

Heathrow is one of the worlds busiest airports for international travel. It had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% from the same period last year. January also was the 11th month in a row that it averaged over 200,000 passengers a day, with the airport citing trans-Atlantic travel as a key contributor.

The disruption was reminiscent of the 2010 eruption of Icelands Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and created trans-Atlantic air travel chaos for months.

Heathrow was at the heart of a shorter disruption in 2023 when Britains air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the U.K. on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Anita Mendiratta, an aviation consultant, said the impact of the closure will be felt over two to four days as airlines, cargo carriers, and crews are re-mobilized and passengers rebooked.

As soon as the airport opens up at midnight tonight, its not only about resuming with tomorrows flights, its the backlog and the implications that have taken place, Mendiratta said. Crew and aircraft, many are not where theyre supposed to be right now. So the recalculation of this is going to be intense.

Diverted, canceled and in limbo

United Airlines said seven of its flights returned to their origin or diverted to other airports and its flights Friday to Heathrow were canceled.

At least two flights from Taiwan to London were affected, the islands Central News Agency reported. A China Airlines flight that left in the morning turned around and was headed back to Taiwan. An EVA Air flight stopped in Bangkok, a planned stopover, while the airline assessed the situation in London.

Singapore Airlines said on the X social media platform that its overnight flight to London was diverted to Frankfurt.

The FlightAware website showed more cancellations, including two from JFK in New York, a Delta Airlines flight and an American Airlines flight.

National Rail canceled all trains to and from the airport.

Blaze lit up the sky and darkened homes

The London Fire Brigade sent 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters to control the blaze after flames soared into the sky when a transformer at an electrical substation caught fire in west London late Thursday night.

About 150 people were evacuated from their homes near the power station.

This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible, Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said. Thanks to their efforts and coordinated multi-agency response, we successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes.

Heathrow normally opens for flights at 6 a.m. due to nighttime flying restrictions. It said the closure would last until 11:59 p.m. Friday.

The U.K. government earlier this year approved building a third runway at the airport to boost the economy and connectivity to the world.

Here at 7 News Detroit, we want to make sure you start your day off on the right foot, informed about weather, traffic, the latest news and more. That's why we have the 7 Morning Digest, where we'll get you out the door informed and ready to go.

What's the weather for today? Metro Detroit Weather: The sun is back Friday

The sun is back Friday. The weekend could start and end with some mixed rain/snow showers.

Friday: Mostly sunny and milder with highs in the low to mid 50s. Winds: SW 10-25 mph.

Saturday: A rain chance before 9AM. Then it will be partly sunny with highs in the low 40s. Winds: NW 10-20 mph.

Any traffic issues?

So far, no major traffic issues to know about this morning. Be sure to check our live traffic map here.

The top stories to know about Hospital employee accused of shooting coworker in Corewell Troy parking garage Hospital employee targeted in shooting at Corewell Health Beaumont Troy

The suspect in a shooting at Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital on Thursday morning is in custody and could be charged today. It all started around 7 a.m. Thursday when an employee at the hospital opened fire on another employee in the parking garage.

The victim was shot twice and is in stable condition, police tell us. The suspect fled the scene and was later taken into custody at a home in Macomb Township without incident.

The hospital, located in the area of M-59 and Dequindre Road in Troy, was placed on lockdown after the shooting happened around 7 a.m.

Originally, there was a report of an active shooter at the hospital, but we later learned it was an isolated incident between the employees.

People who were inside or near the hospital at the time of the shooting recalled their experiences with us.

Right as we were about to walk through the door, some girl was like don't go in there. Don't go in there. There's a shooting,' Matt Williams said.

Williams and his friend Marc Garling first thought it was a joke. The woman warned them a shooting had just occurred and the gunman was on the loose. Their skepticism lasting but for so long.

Every minute to 30 seconds, it would be passing to 20 seconds, we would be counting three or four cops from every other county coming through Madison Heights, Royal Oak, we saw even Southfield," Williams said. "It was wild.

See the latest information here

'Thank you, all': 7-year-old girl attacked by dogs in Inkster gets surprise from city 'Thank you, all': 7-year-old girl attacked by dogs in Inkster gets surprise from city

A 7-year-old girl who was attacked by two unattended pit bull dogs earlier this week in Inkster received a sweet surprise from city officials.

The brutal attack happened on Monday in the area of John Daly and Florence streets.

The girl was rushed to the hospital by police officers, which was captured on body camera video.

A parade of police officers and the mayor surprised young Amariee Brown with flowers, gifts and balloons Thursday at her home in Inkster.

Thank you, all for what yall did for me, Amariee said.

Amariees mom Tiffany Brown explained what it was like to experience the brutality.

It was scary. It was devastating to me because to see my baby all bit up and stuff, that hurt me because people just dont care, she said.

Governor Whitmer responds to House Republican's $3.1B road funding plan Governor Whitmer speaks on road funding and the Republican plan

In a one-on-one interview, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told 7 News Detroit the $3.1 billion road plan that passed through the Michigan State House on Wednesday doesn't solve the problem and creates holes in the budget.

Weve kicked the can down the road for too long, and were all paying a price for it," said Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

But she says shes hopeful lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can come together to find a solution.

"I'm glad that the speaker is finally solving the roads or at least having another long-term solution that has eluded us for decades, she says.

If the plan were to pass, it would mean the sales tax you pay at the pump would go strictly to road funding.

Drivers we spoke to say theyre ready for that to happen.

"The roads are absolutely deplorable, and its been so long since weve seen them fixed," a Southfield resident said.

Thats what were focusing on, is the driveways to the highways. So our residents that are driving on these roads, in Lansing, thats a local road," said Rep. Ronnie Steele, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Local Transportation.

For the past two weeks, demonstrators have gathered outside Troy’s Somerset Collection holding handmade signs with slogans like “DETROIT VS MUSK,” “STOP FUNDING A FASCIST,” and “NO KINGS! NO NAZIS!” The demonstrations support an international “Tesla Takedown” movement against billionaire Elon Musk and his meddling in politics.

Sixty-eight bridges across the US should be assessed to see if they are at risk of collapse if hit by a ship, transportation safety officials found, while urging the bridges owners to undertake immediate vulnerability assessments. The four urgent safety recommendations are part of the National Transportation Safety Boards ongoing investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last year.

In the early hours of March 26, 2024, the container ship Dali lost power after leaving the Port of Baltimore and struck a pillar of the Key Bridge, causing it to collapse, killing six construction workers who fell into the Patapsco River. The Dali suffered a pair of catastrophic electrical failures minutes before the crash, according to a preliminary report released by the NTSB last May.

The Key Bridge was above the acceptable level of risk based on guidance established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or AASHTO, NTSB officials said. But the owner of the bridge never evaluated that risk.

The Maryland Transportation Authority never ran the calculation on the Key Bridge, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters Thursday. Had they ran the calculation on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the MDTA would have been aware that the bridge was almost 30 times greater than the risk threshold AASHTO sets for critical, essential bridges.

The NTSB identified 68 other bridges in 19 states spanning waterways frequented by cargo ships that, like the Key Bridge, were built before 1991 and do not have a current vulnerability assessment. Owners of the bridges that have higher than acceptable risk ratings should create a plan to reduce that risk, Thursdays findings say.

The Golden Gate Bridge in California; Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, George Washington and Verrazzano-Narrows bridges in New York City; the Walt Whitman and Benjamin Franklin bridges in Pennsylvania; the Sunshine Skyway in Florida and the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan all made the list.

A risk level above the acceptable threshold doesnt mean a collapse from a vessel collision is an absolute certainty, Homendy said. What we are telling bridge owners is that they need to know the risk and determine what actions they need to take to ensure safety.

The NTSB is also urging the Federal Highway Administration, the US Coast Guard and the US Army Corps of Engineers to establish a team to offer guidance and assistance to bridge owners on evaluating and reducing the risk of a collapse from a vessel collision.

Investigations into bridge collapse continue nearly a year later

Eight of the 21 Dali crew members, including the ships highest-ranking officers, remain in Baltimore nearly a year after the tragic incident, pending the findings of federal and local investigations.

While none of the crew members have been charged in connection with the disaster, investigators are still working to determine who might be responsible, and it is unclear when the remaining crew will get to leave.

CNN previously reported that the FBI and Coast Guard are looking intowhether the ships crew failed to report thein-port power outage as part of a criminal investigation, according to a US official familiar with the matter.

In October, the ships Singaporean owner, Grace Ocean Private Limited, and manager, Synergy Marine PTE LTD, reached a settlement with the US Justice Department agreeing to pay nearly $102 million to resolve a civil claim alleging that the companies cost-cutting and negligence in the ships maintenance led to the disastrous collision.

Justice Department prosecutors had alleged that the tragedy was entirely avoidable, pointing to alleged failures in the ships infrastructure.

In a court filing, prosecutors wrote that instead of fixing longstanding problems with their electrical transformer, the companies jury-rigged their ship with makeshift braces that repeatedly broke. And when those electrical transformers broke the night of the bridge collapse, a backup transformer should have restored power within just a few seconds but that safety feature had been recklessly disabled, they alleged.

The city of Baltimore hasfiled its own claimagainst the two companies, and the families of several of the victims have also said they intend to sue.

The Dali returned to service earlier this year after extensive repairs to the ship were completed.

CNNs Aaron Cooper contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire

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