April 27, 2026
World
World
WASHINGTON, April 27 — A man accused of targeting US administration officials at a Washington event has been arrested after allegedly opening fire, injuring a Secret Service agent.
LONDON, July 31 —At least 16 flights to and from London’s Heathrow Airport were cancelled on Thursday, following a major disruption to the UK’s air traffic control system that caused widespread delays and cancellations the previous day.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which manages air traffic in UK airspace and parts of the North Atlantic, said on Wednesday that its systems had returned to full functionality after switching to a backup system. However, the aftermath of the incident continued to affect operations.
This marks the second system failure at NATS in two years, impacting not only Heathrow but also other major airports including Gatwick and Edinburgh. By 6:30 p.m. GMT on Wednesday, aviation analytics firm Cirium reported 122 flight cancellations across the UK.
UK Transport Minister Heidi Alexander announced she would meet with NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe to investigate the cause of the disruption and explore measures to prevent future occurrences. She added on social media that NATS is collaborating with airlines and airports to manage the backlog.
Heathrow’s website showed at least 16 flights were cancelled on Thursday, including departures to Brussels and Toronto and arrivals from New York and Berlin.
The airport—Britain’s busiest and one of Europe’s largest—was previously affected by a power substation fire in March, which left thousands of passengers stranded.
Ryanair’s Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon publicly called for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to resign, criticising the agency for failing to learn from a similar flight plan processing issue in August 2023.
NATS, which issued an apology on Wednesday, has not yet responded to McMahon’s comments. — Reuters
