Fire shuts down Heathrow Airport
London’s Heathrow Airport remained shut down this morning because of a massive fire nearby that resulted in a loss of electrical power to the area that includes the airport. International air travel had been disrupted and an estimated 1,300 flights cancelled. While sabotage was not immediately suspected, British authorities have begin an investigation headed by the counterterrorism division of London’s Metropolitan Police.
Trump begins shutdown of Department of Education
Donald Trump yesterday signed an executive order to formalize the implementation of cutbacks at the Department of Education. Although Trump wants to completely shut down the department, that can only be done by an Act of Congress. The department already has made moves to get rid of about half of its employees. Trump’s executive order does not explain what will happen to the billions of dollars in federal aid to education the department provides to public schools or to such programs as student loans.
Musk and people ordered to stay out of Social Security data
Federal Judge Ellen Hollander has issued a temporary restraining order blocking Donald Trump’s biggest campaign contributor Elon Musk and his computer people from having access to personal information on tens of millions of Americans in Social Security’s computer files. Judge Hollander also ordered them to make no further use of any information they have and destroy any copies they made of the files. She said the Trump Administration has not provided a good reason for Musk and his people to have access to the information that includes Social Security numbers, medical records, birth certificates, marriage certificates, employment information, home addresses, telephone numbers, bank account numbers and other highly sensitive personal information.
Musk’s visit to the Pentagon
Elon Musk was scheduled to visit with Defense Secretary Hegseth at the Pentagon today. The New York Times reported having learned that Hegseth would be giving Musk a briefing on top-secret plans drafted by the U.S. military for conducting a war with China. The report by the Times prompted Donald Trump to put out an internet post denying that Musk would be briefed on the highly classified plans, saying that China won’t even be brought up during the meeting. Musk has business interests in China and the Times report resulted in questions being raised by critics of Musk about whether him receiving classified information about China while doing business in China could pose a problem.
Redactions to Kennedy records hid personal information
As a result of Donald Trump announcing on Monday that on Tuesday all records relating to the Kennedy Assassination would be made public, with no redactions, the personal information of hundreds of people was made public. This includes Social Security numbers, home addresses and other personal data. It turns out that most of the blackouts on Kennedy assassination records were to hide that personal information and not to cover up some sort of conspiracy. The Trump Administration is now scrambling to fix the situation, including issuing new Social Security numbers and offering identity theft protection to people who were affected.
NTSB calls for bridge investigations
The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that 30 owners of 68 bridges across 19 states conduct a vulnerability assessment to determine the risk of bridge collapse if the bridge is hit by a ship. The NTSB reports that the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed after being struck by the containership Dali on March 26, 2024, was almost 30 times above the acceptable risk threshold for critical or essential bridges, according to guidance established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The NTSB recommended that bridge owners develop and implement a comprehensive risk reduction plan.
