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Gal Dalal has spent nearly a year and a half fighting for the release of his brother, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, who was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

Dalal wants the world to know who his brother was before he was a face on a poster and why getting Guy out of Gaza is urgent.

‘So, my brother is the most warm-hearted man I know. He’s a very, very funny guy,’ Dalal told Fox News Digital. ‘For me, he’s actually my best friend. We share the same interests and hobbies and we do everything together.’

On Oct. 7, 2023, Guy was in the middle of experiencing his first-ever spiritual festival with his friends when Gal, a more seasoned festival goer, joined the group at approximately 6:15 a.m., less than 15 minutes before the attack began.

Dalal told Fox News Digital that when he arrived at the festival, an excited Guy ran up to hug him before pulling out his phone to take a selfie for their mother.

‘That’s the only reason I went there [to the Nova music festival] was to watch over him. And, you know, the fact that I came back without him, I think that’s the worst part of it for me,’ Dalal told Fox News Digital.

Neither of the Dalal brothers could have known what was coming next. As the sirens began to sound, Dalal told Fox News Digital that he suggested that the group go to his apartment, and they agreed. While Dalal went in his own car, Guy decided to go with his friends. Dalal estimates that Guy and his friends took an additional 10 minutes before leaving the festival area. At this point, they were not alarmed despite the rocket sirens blaring.

‘We [are] used to these alarms. We [are] used to missiles attack and no one thought it’s going to be a terror attack in this kind of scale,’ Dalal told Fox News Digital.

Safety protocol for rocket attacks is widely known in Israel. There are designated amounts of time to seek shelter depending on the location’s distance from Gaza. Many at the Nova festival ran to shelters on the side of the road, which would later turn out to be deadly. Hamas terrorists used the shelters to carry out mass killings. They would throw grenades into groups of people, many of whom did not survive.

Dalal told Fox News Digital that outside the festival, he sat in traffic for about 20 minutes before he heard shooting. From there, he spent hours running for his life. He was too far to go back for Guy, but the two were able to talk on the phone one last time before Guy was taken hostage.

The Dalal family found out on Oct. 7 that Guy and his best friend, Evyatar David, were taken hostage. Hamas published a video of the two kidnapped men already in Gaza. Guy and Evyatar went to the festival with two other friends, both of whom were killed.

Dalal and his family have spent the last 17 months advocating for the release of all the hostages, including Guy.

‘I always say that in one hand, we are so tired. We are literally on the edge. This fight is taking so much out of us, and the only thing that we really care about is my brother seeing him again, knowing that he’s well and protecting him. Hug him. Help him to heal. We miss him so much, I miss him so much,’ Dalal told Fox News Digital.

Recently, the Dalal family received a sign of life, but it was not a relieving sight. Guy and Evyatar were forced to take part in a Hamas propaganda video, in which they were forced to sit in a van and watch hostages be released only to have the door slammed in their faces.

Dalal told Fox News Digital that the video brought him back to Oct. 7 and showed the ‘psychological torture’ the families of hostages endure. He says it’s clear that his brother and Evyatar are being ‘starved to death.’

‘It scares me that this negotiation can take more time, and Guy doesn’t have the time,’ Dalal told Fox News Digital. However, he believes that President Donald Trump and the U.S. have the power to bring the hostages home.

In his fight for his brother’s freedom, Gal traveled to the U.S. and met with members of both the Biden and Trump administrations. He said that meeting the Trump officials felt ‘different’ and that they understood that time is not on their side.

‘I think that the only one who can really put the pressure and bring these hostages back and make sure that they will return to their families is President Trump and United States as a nation, you have the power of that, the power and the support that we need to make sure the hostages will return and will come back home,’ Dalal told Fox News Digital.

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Politics

Musk was never briefed on China war plans at Pentagon meeting, Trump and Hegseth say

President Donald Trump said he’s not interested in showing ‘anybody’ plans for how the U.S. would navigate a conflict with China after a New York Times report that SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s meeting at the Pentagon Friday included details about contingency plans for any war with Beijing.

Trump told reporters Friday that Musk met with Pentagon officials to discuss initiatives relating to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that Musk is spearheading.

‘We don’t want to have a potential war with China,’ Trump said at the Oval Office Friday. ‘But I can tell you if we did, we’re very well-equipped to handle it. But I don’t want to show that to anybody. But, certainly, you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much. He’s a great patriot. He’s taken a big price for helping us cut costs, and he’s doing a great job.’

Musk and China could be a conflict of interest, given Tesla’s business dealings with China and SpaceX’s relationship with the Pentagon on military space capabilities. And an adversary like China learning details about the U.S. military’s war plans could put national security at risk and undermine U.S. forces.

But Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Musk’s meeting at the Pentagon centered around DOGE, innovation and other ways to advance efficiency, not China.

‘There was no war plans. There was no Chinese war plans,’ Hegseth said at the White House Friday. ‘There was no secret plans. That’s not what we were doing at the Pentagon.’

Hegseth also announced plans Thursday to cancel more than $580 million in Department of Defense contracts, following recommendations from DOGE.

The New York Times reported Thursday evening that Musk’s Pentagon briefing would involve a presentation with 20–30 slides on how the U.S. would combat China, various Chinese targets to strike and how the Pentagon would share these plans with Trump.

The Times also reported the meeting would take place in the so-called Tank, a secure conference room reserved for the joint chiefs, senior staff and visiting combatant commanders.

The Times report said details on China could have been shared with Musk amid his efforts leading DOGE and possible cuts to the Department of Defense.

The White House referred Fox News Digital to Trump’s remarks when asked for comment about the nature of Musk’s briefing.

Trump and Hegseth pushed back on the report Thursday, with Trump describing the report as ‘completely untrue.’ Hegseth also said in a post on X the meeting with Musk would primarily touch on innovation.

In response to Hegseth’s post, Musk responded, ‘Exactly. Also, I’ve been to the Pentagon many times over many years. Not my first time in the building.’

Musk also said in a separate post he looks ‘forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT.’

‘They will be found,’ he said.

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Politics

Left loses it over possibility of Musk top secret China briefing: ‘No business’

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has ‘no business’ conducting affairs at the Pentagon, amid reports Musk would receive secret information from top military officials Friday about military contingency plans should a war break out with China.

While The New York Times reported that Musk was set to receive military plans about any potential China conflict, the Pentagon and White House pushed back and said Musk’s briefing wouldn’t cover China.

‘Elon Musk is an unelected, self-interested billionaire with no business anywhere near the Pentagon,’ Gillibrand said in an X post Friday morning with a photo of the Times story, just after Musk arrived at the Pentagon. Gillibrand is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The possibility of Musk receiving information on China raises a possible conflict of interest, given the fact that Musk has financial interests in China stemming from Tesla, and SpaceX is working with the U.S. federal government on military space capabilities.

However, the Trump administration swiftly pushed back on the Times’ reporting, and Trump issued a post on social media discrediting the story as ‘completely untrue.’

‘They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China.’ How ridiculous?’ China will not even be mentioned or discussed,’ President Donald Trump said in a Thursday night Truth Social post.

A former Obama administration official also sounded the alarm about Musk’s visit to the Pentagon.

Xochitl Hinojosa, who previously served as a spokesperson for former Attorney General Eric Holder and communications director for the Democratic National Committee, said that career officials must have disclosed the information about the meeting to the press because they were concerned about what would be shared with Musk.

‘What is happening here, and everyone needs to be scared, is Pentagon officials are sounding the alarm,’ Hinojosa said in an interview with CNN Thursday night. ‘This doesn’t just happen on its own. This has happened because career officials in the Pentagon are terrified. And they believe there is a conflict of interest. That is why it is in the New York Times. Because I am sure they took it to the senior most people within the White House and within the Pentagon and they didn’t do anything about it.’

Hinojosa said that during her time at the Justice Department, career officials would sound the alarm if they became aware of any unethical behavior at the agency.

‘That is exactly what is happening here,’ Hinojosa said.

Hinojosa could not be reached for comment by Fox News Digital.

The New York Times published a story Thursday evening claiming that Musk’s visit to the Pentagon would involve discussing plans in the event of a potential war with China. Specifically, the Times reported that the briefing involved a presentation with 20 to 30 slides on how the U.S. would combat China, various Chinese targets to strike and how the Pentagon would share these plans with Trump.

The Times also reported the meeting would occur in the so-called Tank, a secure conference room that the Joint Chiefs utilize for meetings, along with other senior staff and visiting combatant commanders.

Meanwhile, the Times report also noted that Musk may have needed to know information about plans for China as he eyes cutting the Pentagon’s budget amid his efforts leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Pentagon war plans are highly confidential for operational security purposes. Should details regarding the U.S. military’s strategy to combat an enemy be shared or leaked in any way, it would jeopardize U.S. forces and undermine the success of the military campaign.

Hegseth also weighed in on the matter, and said the meeting with Musk would primarily center around innovation.

‘But the fake news delivers again — this is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans.’ It’s an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production. Gonna be great!’ Hegseth said in a post on X late Thursday evening.

In response to Hegseth’s post, Musk responded: ‘Exactly. Also, I’ve been to the Pentagon many times over many years. Not my first time in the building.’

Musk also said in a separate post he looks ‘forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT.

‘They will be found,’ he said.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Politics

Trump downplays Canada’s liberal lean from Oval Office, calls border an ‘artificial line’

President Donald Trump called the U.S.-Canada border an ‘artificial line’ while also declining to say whether Canada would lean right or left if it were to become a state.

Trump’s Friday comments were made during a press conference in the Oval Office amid controversy over the president speaking of Canada as the ’51st state.’

Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked the president whether he would be ‘concerned’ about whether Canada ‘would be a very, very blue state.’

‘It’s just an artificial line that was drawn in the sand or in the ice,’ Trump said. ‘You add that to this country – what a beautiful landmass. The most beautiful landmass anywhere in the world. And it was just cut off for whatever reason.’

‘It would be great,’ he continued.

Trump circumvented the question, saying, ‘I don’t care who winds up there.’

‘Frankly, [it] probably would do better with the liberal than the conservative, if you want to know the truth,’ he responded.

Trump referenced former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the exchange, whom he has notably called ‘Governor Trudeau.’

Trudeau resigned as leader of the Liberal Party and the country’s prime minister in early January, following increased pressure and criticism from within his own party and threats levied by then-President-Elect Trump.

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney won the Liberal leadership earlier this month, replacing Trudeau.

‘I think Canada is a place like a lot of other places – if you have a good candidate, the candidate’s going to win,’ Trump said.

Canadian MP Charlie Angus recently claimed the Trump administration had committed an ‘act of war’ over Trump repeatedly referring to Canada as the U.S.’ ’51st state’ and for leveling tariffs on the nation.

‘Well, I think Marco Rubio probably needs to be sent back to school, because when you say that someone doesn’t have a right to have a country, that’s an act of war. When you rip up, arbitrarily, trade agreements and threaten and say you’re going to break a country, that’s an act of war. And Canadians have responded in kind,’ Angus said during an interview earlier this week with the MeidasTouch Network.

Trump leveled a 25% tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum from other nations in early March, while Canada specifically is set to face a 25% tax on all imported goods beginning April 2. The tariffs have sparked boycotts of U.S. goods.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

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Business

Nvidia CEO says he was wrong about timeline for quantum, surprised his comments hurt stocks

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Thursday walked back comments he made in January, when he cast doubt on whether useful quantum computers would hit the market in the next 15 years.

At Nvidia’s “Quantum Day” event, part of the company’s annual GTC Conference, Huang admitted that his comments came out wrong.

“This is the first event in history where a company CEO invites all of the guests to explain why he was wrong,” Huang said.

In January, Huang sent quantum computing stocks reeling when he said 15 years was “on the early side” in considering how long it would be before the technology would be useful. He said at the time that 20 years was a timeframe that “a whole bunch of us would believe.”

In his opening comments on Thursday, Huang drew comparisons between pre-revenue quantum companies and Nvidia’s early days. He said it took over 20 years for Nvidia to build out its software and hardware business.

He also expressed surprise that his comments were able to move markets, and joked he didn’t know that certain quantum computing companies were publicly traded.

“How could a quantum computer company be public?” Huang said.

The event included panels with representatives from 12 quantum companies and startups. It represents a truce of sorts between Nvidia, which makes more traditional computers, and the quantum computing industry. Several quantum execs fired back at Nvidia after Huang’s earlier comments.

A third panel included representatives from Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, which are also investing in quantum technology and are among Nvidia’s most important customers.

Nvidia has another reason to embrace quantum. As quantum computers are being built, much of the research on them is done through simulators on powerful computers, like those that Nvidia sells.

It’s also possible that a quantum computer would require a traditional computer to operate it. Nvidia is working to provide the technology and software to integrate graphics processing units (GPUs) and quantum chips.

“Of course, quantum computing has the potential and all of our hopes that it will deliver extraordinary impact,” Huang said on Thursday. “But the technology is insanely complicated.”

Nvidia said this week that it will build a research center in Boston to allow quantum companies to collaborate with researchers at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The center will include several racks of the company’s Blackwell AI servers.

Quantum computing has been a dream of physicists and mathematicians since the 1980s, when California Institute of Technology professor Richard Feynman first proposed the idea behind a quantum computer.

While classical computers use bits that are either 0 or 1, the bits inside a quantum computer — qubits — end up being on or off based on probability. Experts predict that the technology will be able to solve problems with massive amounts of possible solutions, such as deciphering codes, routing deliveries or simulating chemistry or weather.

No quantum computer has yet beat a computer at solving a real, useful problem. But Google claimed late last year that it discovered a way to do error correction.

One question at the panel centered around whether quantum computing might one day threaten companies like Nvidia that make computers based on transistors.

“A long time ago, somebody asked me, ‘So what’s accelerated computing good for?’” Huang said at the panel. Accelerated computing is a phrase he uses to refer to the kind of GPU computers that Nvidia makes.

“I said, a long time ago, because I was wrong, this is going to replace computers,” he said. “This is going to be the way computing is done, and and everything, everything is going to be better. And it turned out I was wrong.”

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Business

Nvidia’s CEO did a Q&A with analysts. What he said and what Wall Street thinks about it.

Investors have closely watched Nvidia’s week-long GPU Technology Conference (GTC) for news and updates from the dominant maker of chips that power artificial intelligence applications.

The event comes at a pivotal time for Nvidia shares. After two years of monster gains, the stock is down 15% over the past month and 22% below the January all-time high.

As part of the event, CEO Jensen Huang took questions from analysts on topics ranging from demand for its advanced Blackwell chips to the impact of Trump administration tariffs. Here’s a breakdown of how Huang responded — and what analysts homed in on — during some of the most important questions:

Huang said he “underrepresented” demand in a slide that showed 3.6 million in estimated Blackwell shipments to the top four cloud service providers this year. While Huang acknowledged speculation regarding shrinking demand, he said the amount of computation needed for AI has “exploded” and that the four biggest cloud service clients remain “fully invested.”

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore noted that Huang’s commentary on Blackwell demand in data centers was the first-ever such disclosure.

“It was clear that the reason the company made the decision to give that data was to refocus the narrative on the strength of the demand profile, as they continue to field questions related to Open AI related spending shifting from 1 of the 4 to another of the 4, or the pressure of ASICs, which come from these 4 customers,” Moore wrote to clients, referring to application-specific integrated circuits.

Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar said the slide was “only scratching the surface” on demand. Beyond the four largest customers, he said others are also likely “all in line looking to get their hands on as much compute as their budgets allow.”

Another takeaway for Moore was the growth in physical AI, which refers to the use of the technology to power machines’ actions in the real world as opposed to within software.

At previous GTCs, Moore said physical AI “felt a little bit like speculative fiction.” But this year, “we are now hearing developers wrestling with tangible problems in the physical realm.”

Truist analyst William Stein, meanwhile, described physical AI as something that’s “starting to materialize.” The next wave for physical AI centers around robotics, he said, and presents a potential $50 trillion market for Nvidia.

Stein highliughted Jensen’s demonstration of Isaac GR00T N1, a customizable foundation model for humanoid robots.

Several analysts highlighted Huang’s explanation of what tariffs mean for Nvidia’s business.

“Management noted they have been preparing for such scenarios and are beginning to manufacture more onshore,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said. “It was mentioned that Nvidia is already utilizing [Taiwan Semiconductor’s’] Arizona fab where it is manufacturing production silicon.”

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said Huang’s answer made it seem like Nvidia’s push to relocate some manufacturing to the U.S. would limit the effect of higher tariffs.

Rasgon also noted that Huang brushed off concerns of a recession hurting customer spending. Huang argued that companies would first cut spending in the areas of their business that aren’t growing, Rasgon said.

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World News

London’s mayor: ‘Clearly a link’ between Trump and Americans wanting to become Brits

For the mayor of London, it’s clear that the rush of Americans applying for British citizenship is connected to the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Americans applied for British citizenship in record numbers last year, according to Britain’s Home Office, with a big spike in applications logged during the final quarter — a period coinciding with Trump’s reelection.

Speaking at the MIPIM real estate conference in Cannes, France, last week, Khan recalled teasing former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during Trump’s 2017-21 presidential term: “I wanted all the Americans who were leaving America. And he was saying, no, he wanted all the Americans leaving America.”

Now that Canada is very much in Trump’s crosshairs — the US president has repeatedly said the country should become America’s “51st state” — Khan believes London has the stronger hand: “I suspect those Americans are probably not choosing Canada and choosing London.”

More than 6,000 Americans applied for British citizenship in 2024, the most since the Home Office began tracking applications two decades ago. Around 1,700 of those applied during the last three months of the year, almost 40% more than in the same period in 2023.

There is no love lost between Trump and Khan. In a high-profile spat in 2019, Trump called Khan a “stone-cold loser” after the mayor criticized Britain’s decision to invite Trump for a formal state visit.

Khan, London’s mayor since 2016, wrote in The Observer newspaper ahead of the visit that it was “un-British to be rolling out the red carpet” for a US president who amplified the views of the far-right. And the year before, Khan gave his permission for protesters to fly a 20-foot-tall “Trump baby” balloon near Britain’s Houses of Parliament during Trump’s first presidential visit to the United Kingdom.

During a state visit, foreign leaders are welcomed to Britain by the reigning monarch and are treated to a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace and a grand banquet. Last month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who, like Khan, belongs to Britain’s center-left Labour Party — handed Trump an invitation from King Charles III for the second state visit.

“America is a superpower,” he said. “Just like we feel the ripples of hope and optimism from America, we can often feel the ripples of hatred and negativity.”

Still, the mayor’s approach to Trump appears softer this time around.

“I wish President Trump all the best,” he said, stressing that the two countries are “best mates.” “I hope he’s a successful president. I love America. I love American culture, American people, American politics, American businesses and so, of course, I wish him well.”

But Khan did not rule out allowing another “Trump baby” balloon to fly over London during the president’s next visit, saying he would respond to any applications from protesters “based on (their) merits.”

“Satire and humor and protest are quintessentially British — and actually American —traits,” he said. “Watch ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’”

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World News

Sudan army close to reclaiming Presidential Palace from militia as two-year war rages

Sudan’s army is close to taking control of the Presidential Palace in Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, state TV reported on Thursday, in a significant milestone in a two-year-old conflict that threatens to fracture the country.

The RSF quickly took the palace and most of the capital at the outbreak of war in April 2023, but the Sudanese Armed Forces have in recent months staged a comeback and inched towards the palace along the River Nile.

The RSF, which earlier this year began establishing a parallel government, maintains control of parts of Khartoum and neighboring Omdurman, as well as western Sudan, where it is fighting to take control of the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, al-Fashir.

The taking of the capital could hasten the army’s full takeover of central Sudan, and harden the east-west territorial division of the country between the two forces.

Both sides have vowed to continue fighting for the remainder of the country, and no efforts at peace talks have materialized.

The war erupted amid a power struggle between Sudan’s army and the RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.

World’s largest humanitarian crisis

The conflict has led to what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, causing famine in several locations and disease across the country. Both sides have been accused of war crimes, while the RSF has also been charged with genocide. Both forces deny the charges.

The fight for the Presidential Palace has raged over the past several weeks, with the RSF fighting fiercely to maintain control, including via snipers placed around surrounding downtown buildings. Its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, instructed troops earlier this week not to give up the palace.

Late on Wednesday into Thursday morning, explosions could be heard from airstrikes and drone attacks by the army targeting central Khartoum, witnesses and military sources told Reuters. The army has long maintained the advantage of air power over the RSF, though the paramilitary group has shown evidence of increased drone capabilities recently.

On the Telegram messenger app, the RSF said its forces were making advances towards the Army General Command, also in central Khartoum, and eyewitnesses said the force was attacking from southern Khartoum.

The army’s advance in central Sudan since late last year has been welcomed by many people, who had been displaced by the RSF, which has been accused of widespread looting and arbitrary killings, and of occupying homes and neighborhoods.

The RSF denies the charges and says individual perpetrators will be brought to justice.

Hundreds of thousands of people have returned to their homes in Central Sudan, though late on Wednesday activists in Omdurman warned that some soldiers have engaged in robbery. The military has routinely denied such allegations.

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World News

Hamas fires rockets at Israel for first time since truce collapses as toll mounts in Gaza

Hamas fired rockets at Israel from Gaza Thursday, the militant group’s first response to Israel’s renewed offensive in the Strip that shattered the two-month-old ceasefire.

Three projectiles were fired at central Israel, the Israeli military said. One was intercepted and two “fell into an open area,” with no casualties reported.

Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed it had launched an attack, saying it had “bombed the city of Tel Aviv deep inside the occupied territories with a barrage of M90 rockets” in retaliation for Israel’s attacks this week on Gaza that killed hundreds.

The rockets are the first to be fired from Gaza since Israel this week broke the ceasefire with Hamas that had held since January, first bombarding the Strip with airstrikes on Tuesday before launching a ground offensive a day later.

Israel also came under fire overnight from Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The Iran-back militia said it fired a ballistic missile at Israel in response to Israel’s renewed war in Gaza – the second it has fired since the ceasefire collapsed. Israel’s military said it intercepted the missile.

Israel blames the new fighting on Hamas for refusing to accept revised ceasefire terms. Hamas, in turn, has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of unilaterally upending the truce and putting hostages “at risk of an unknown fate.”

Netanyahu faced fury from protesters in Jerusalem on Wednesday as thousands gathered outside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, to oppose the renewed fighting.

Protesters have accused Netanyahu of restarting the war in order to solidify his governing coalition, which has long threatened to collapse due to divisions over the war in Gaza.

Swiftly after Tuesday’s airstrikes, which Gaza’s health ministry said killed more than 400 people, far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would be returning to Netanyahu’s coalition. He had quit the government in January as Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Hamas.

At a National Security Ministry meeting on Thursday, Ben-Gvir said he was “happy to return after two months of respite.”

Ben-Gvir’s return to government will come as a boon to Netanyahu, who has to pass Israel’s next budget before a March 31 deadline or face fresh elections.

Israel continued to pound Gaza overnight – killing at least 59 people, according to Palestinian officials – after it announced “targeted ground activities” earlier Wednesday.

The military said it had retaken the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land that splits Gaza in half, dividing the central Gaza City and northern areas from the southern parts of the Strip that borders Egypt.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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World News

Global travel disruption after Heathrow Airport shuts down over power outage caused by fire

London’s Heathrow Airport announced a complete shutdown all day Friday due to a “significant power outage” due to a large fire nearby, causing massive disruption to one of the world’s busiest travel hubs as flights were forced to turn back midair or divert to other locations.

“Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage,” Heathrow Airport said in a statement on X. “To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March.”

A transformer at an electrical substation in Hayes, a London suburb located just a few miles from the airport, caught fire Thursday night, according to the London Fire Brigade. The cause is not yet known, and firefighters were still working to extinguish the blaze as of early Friday morning.

The brigade said it evacuated 150 people from the area. More than 16,000 homes lost power, according to utility supplier Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks — with Britain’s National Grid “working at speed” to restore power.

Videos shared on social media showed huge flames and smoke rising into the air early Friday.

“As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible,” Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said in the fire brigade’s statement.

Heathrow Airport appeared largely dark amid the power outage, according to videos shared on social media.

Massive disruption

The shutdown could affect tens of thousands of travelers. Heathrow was the world’s fourth-busiest airport in 2023, according to the most recent data, with a record-breaking 83.9 million passengers passing through last year.

Spread across four terminals and located 14 miles west of central London, it usually runs at 99% capacity, with every major airline passing through, meaning it’s always very busy.

Airline analytics firm Cirium estimated that “upwards of 145,000” passengers could be impacted.

Dual US-Norwegian citizen Kim Mikkel Skibrek had already been flying for three hours from Minneapolis to London when crew announced they had to turn back due to the fire.

On the same flight, Abby Hertz and her family were traveling to London for the wedding of her husband’s best friend. The couple had postponed the wedding once due to Covid and were finally getting married now that their son was in remission from leukemia, Hertz said — but it’s not clear if they’ll be able to make the wedding now.

Meanwhile at New York’s JFK Airport, passenger Christine said her British Airways flight had been ready to depart when the pilot announced they’d been asked to hold for a while. Half an hour later, passengers were told Heathrow was closed and that another flight which had already taxied to the runway had turned back — leaving them stuck on the tarmac.

“The mood is fairly relaxed on the plane, surprisingly. They’ve just come around to feed us,” said Christine, who declined to give her last name. But, she said, with a wedding in the UK to attend Saturday, “I really hope we’re not stuck until then!”

According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, more than 1,350 flights going in or out of Heathrow on Friday will be affected. It also said 120 flights were in the air when the announcement came. They had to be diverted to other airports or turned back to their original location.

Thomas added that while shorter domestic flights might be able to turn back, that’s not an option for long-haul international flights. There are several other airports near London, including Gatwick Airport and Stansted Airport, but those are likely “at capacity,” meaning diverted flights have to go further to find an alternative place to land — like in Glasgow or Edinburgh, he said.

And that could pose another problem. Those other airports, some of them smaller and lower-cost than Heathrow, aren’t equipped to handle the sheer number of diverted passengers coming their way, he said.

As authorities race to contain the fire and navigate the fallout, they’ll also face tough questions, Thomas said, including why such a crucial travel and economic hub wasn’t able to tap into a backup power source.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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