London's Heathrow airport is closed after a major fire at an electrical substation caused a power outage.
120 flights were in the air and had to be turned around or diverted.
Heathrow is Europe's busiest airport.
UK Correspondent Gavin Grey talks to Ryan Bridge about the shutdown, why former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon's no longer under investigation, and Finland's ranking as the world's happiest country.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Your news talks WIB. It's quarter to seven and quarter
to six in the UK and London right now. Givin
Gray is with us and no flights going anywhere around
Heathrow Airport today given.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
No a massive, massive disruption to travelers. At one point
a couple of hours back, one hundred and twenty flights
were in the air and had to be turned around
or sent to alternative airports. That was a short time ago,
but of course he throws a massive hub for not
just coming in but going out of the UK. Eighty
(00:32):
three point nine million passengers passed through its terminals last
year and it was handling roughly one thousand, three hundred
plane movements, so landings and takeoffs each day. So that's
what's being shifted today in fact, to be precise, oney
three hundred and fifty one. So it's a huge concern.
(00:53):
People have been reporting being in the air being sent
back to their original destination. Others are going to be
landing in cities or other airports that they didn't know
they were going to get to. And we are waiting
for a statement now from Heatherer, but we're expecting that soon.
But certainly the power companies are saying, look, this is
(01:13):
going to take some time to sort this out. The
National Grid of saying quote, we're working at speed to
restore power supply as quickly as possible. All this because
of far at a substation nearby, and it's not just
the airport but it's about thirteen hundred properties nearby as well,
so it's a really massive disruption. And as of about
(01:35):
twenty minutes ago was the last site and there is
still flames. So this is going to take not just today.
The knock on a fake is going to last several days.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Oh no, it still flames burning now goodness, Well.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
It's certainly a very very thick smoke so that the
fire service still there. But even if it were to
be back and out and you know there, it's going
to take fixing. And even if it's fixed. Heather Airport
has already said we are shutting through until midnight to
night at least.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, no, and they've got to put safety first. Obviously
they're an amport, don't they, So you can't argue with that. Now.
Nicolas Sturgeon, what's happening with her? And the police were involved,
you know, there was a Police Scotland investigation into her
finances and the political party's finances. Is she off the
hook for this?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes she is, and she said there is not a
shred of evidence against me. So Nicolas Sturgeon incredibly popular
when she was Leader of Scotland. Of course she tries
to force through Scottish independence and failed narrowly, but she
remained very very popular. And then whole question started to
be asked about hundreds of thousands of pounds, hundreds of
(02:45):
thousands of New Zealand dollars regarding the fees and other
donations given to the Scottish National Party, and that is
of course the party that really pushes for independence in Scotland. Now,
she and her husband, the former chief executive of the
Scottish National Party, and indeed the Treasurer were all under suspicion.
(03:08):
But when her former husband, the chief Executive, Peter Burrell,
appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff god he was charged with embezzlement
and made no plea during a private hearing. He was
granted bail. But Nicholas Sturgeon herself and indeed the former
Treasurer Colin Beatty, were told they were no longer under investigation.
(03:29):
As I said, this all stems from donations that are
about one point four million New Zealand dollars in donations
given by independence activists, and it was led to her
home being searched, the home she had shared with her
former husband. And also there was the discovery of a
motor home, a luxury motor home parked in the driveway
(03:52):
of her husband's mother. So Peter Murrell's mother had this
bizarre luxury motor home partner. All sorts of questions about
how the money for that was procured and we wait
to see in the long run how his case of
embezzlement goes on. But as I said, Nicholas Sturgeon and
Colin Beatty, given the complete all clear.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Goodness, may if you're going to go for political ambislement,
you'd want more than a motor home, surely to show
Finland is happy. They're happy. But what about the Brits
And where did you rank on this happiness survey?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, not very well. So the UN the United Nations
always looks at a world happiness report where are the
people living in different countries happy? And if so, how
or why? And Finland tops that ranking for the eighth
consecutive year. It's actually ahead of three other Nordic companies
in this particular report, while in Latin America, Costa Rica
(04:52):
and Mexico enter the top ten for the first time
you ask about the UK, I'm afraid we're down to
twenty third. We drop down a couple of places. This
is America dropped down to twenty fourth, the lowest ever
position for the latter. How did New Zealand do well?
New Zealand has come in at twelfth, the same position
as last year, Australia eleventh, and both Australia and New
(05:14):
Zealand are one place down in the last two years,
but nevertheless sort of holding their position and significantly above
the UK. So the top ten Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands,
Costa Rica, Norway, Israel, Luxembourg and Mexico. And at the
bottom of the table of the one hundred ninety seventh Gabon,
(05:37):
ninety eighth, the Ivory Coast, ninety ninth Iran and one
hundredth Congo, So Africa very heavily weighted at the bottom end.
So why might people be happy? Well, they're saying it
could be a change in direction of political polarization. Sharing meals.
They believe is a strength to happiness. And also there
(05:58):
are you know, household sized saying four or five people
living together has the highest levels of happiness in Europe.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
There you go, a bit of company, bit of food,
everyone's happy given. Thank you for that. Gavin Great, our
UK correspondent.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Your news talks WIB. It's quarter to seven and quarter
to six in the UK and London right now. Givin
Gray is with us and no flights going anywhere around
Heathrow Airport today given.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
No a massive, massive disruption to travelers. At one point
a couple of hours back, one hundred and twenty flights
were in the air and had to be turned around
or sent to alternative airports. That was a short time ago,
but of course he throws a massive hub for not
just coming in but going out of the UK. Eighty
(00:32):
three point nine million passengers passed through its terminals last
year and it was handling roughly one thousand, three hundred
plane movements, so landings and takeoffs each day. So that's
what's being shifted today in fact, to be precise, oney
three hundred and fifty one. So it's a huge concern.
(00:53):
People have been reporting being in the air being sent
back to their original destination. Others are going to be
landing in cities or other airports that they didn't know
they were going to get to. And we are waiting
for a statement now from Heatherer, but we're expecting that soon.
But certainly the power companies are saying, look, this is
(01:13):
going to take some time to sort this out. The
National Grid of saying quote, we're working at speed to
restore power supply as quickly as possible. All this because
of far at a substation nearby, and it's not just
the airport but it's about thirteen hundred properties nearby as well,
so it's a really massive disruption. And as of about
(01:35):
twenty minutes ago was the last site and there is
still flames. So this is going to take not just today.
The knock on a fake is going to last several days.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Oh no, it still flames burning now goodness, Well.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
It's certainly a very very thick smoke so that the
fire service still there. But even if it were to
be back and out and you know there, it's going
to take fixing. And even if it's fixed. Heather Airport
has already said we are shutting through until midnight to
night at least.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, no, and they've got to put safety first. Obviously
they're an amport, don't they, So you can't argue with that. Now.
Nicolas Sturgeon, what's happening with her? And the police were involved,
you know, there was a Police Scotland investigation into her
finances and the political party's finances. Is she off the
hook for this?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes she is, and she said there is not a
shred of evidence against me. So Nicolas Sturgeon incredibly popular
when she was Leader of Scotland. Of course she tries
to force through Scottish independence and failed narrowly, but she
remained very very popular. And then whole question started to
be asked about hundreds of thousands of pounds, hundreds of
(02:45):
thousands of New Zealand dollars regarding the fees and other
donations given to the Scottish National Party, and that is
of course the party that really pushes for independence in Scotland. Now,
she and her husband, the former chief executive of the
Scottish National Party, and indeed the Treasurer were all under suspicion.
(03:08):
But when her former husband, the chief Executive, Peter Burrell,
appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff god he was charged with embezzlement
and made no plea during a private hearing. He was
granted bail. But Nicholas Sturgeon herself and indeed the former
Treasurer Colin Beatty, were told they were no longer under investigation.
(03:29):
As I said, this all stems from donations that are
about one point four million New Zealand dollars in donations
given by independence activists, and it was led to her
home being searched, the home she had shared with her
former husband. And also there was the discovery of a
motor home, a luxury motor home parked in the driveway
(03:52):
of her husband's mother. So Peter Murrell's mother had this
bizarre luxury motor home partner. All sorts of questions about
how the money for that was procured and we wait
to see in the long run how his case of
embezzlement goes on. But as I said, Nicholas Sturgeon and
Colin Beatty, given the complete all clear.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Goodness, may if you're going to go for political ambislement,
you'd want more than a motor home, surely to show
Finland is happy. They're happy. But what about the Brits
And where did you rank on this happiness survey?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, not very well. So the UN the United Nations
always looks at a world happiness report where are the
people living in different countries happy? And if so, how
or why? And Finland tops that ranking for the eighth
consecutive year. It's actually ahead of three other Nordic companies
in this particular report, while in Latin America, Costa Rica
(04:52):
and Mexico enter the top ten for the first time
you ask about the UK, I'm afraid we're down to
twenty third. We drop down a couple of places. This
is America dropped down to twenty fourth, the lowest ever
position for the latter. How did New Zealand do well?
New Zealand has come in at twelfth, the same position
as last year, Australia eleventh, and both Australia and New
(05:14):
Zealand are one place down in the last two years,
but nevertheless sort of holding their position and significantly above
the UK. So the top ten Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands,
Costa Rica, Norway, Israel, Luxembourg and Mexico. And at the
bottom of the table of the one hundred ninety seventh Gabon,
(05:37):
ninety eighth, the Ivory Coast, ninety ninth Iran and one
hundredth Congo, So Africa very heavily weighted at the bottom end.
So why might people be happy? Well, they're saying it
could be a change in direction of political polarization. Sharing meals.
They believe is a strength to happiness. And also there
(05:58):
are you know, household sized saying four or five people
living together has the highest levels of happiness in Europe.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
There you go, a bit of company, bit of food,
everyone's happy given. Thank you for that. Gavin Great, our
UK correspondent.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.