A devastating fire at an electrical substation in Hayes, West London, has sparked widespread travel disruptions, forcing Heathrow Airport to close all day Friday.

Counter-terrorism police have launched an investigation into the blaze, which has left thousands of passengers stranded in the UK and abroad.

The fire, which broke out at approximately 11:30 pm on Thursday, has caused a significant power outage at Heathrow, prompting officials to shut down the airport until at least 11:59 pm tonight.

The disruption is expected to last well into the weekend, with over 1,300 flights to and from Heathrow affected.

According to London Fire Brigade, 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters are still battling the blaze, with part of a transformer still alight.

A 200-metre cordon has been put in place as a precaution, and approximately 150 people have been evacuated from surrounding properties.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband described the fire as “unprecedented,” stating that it appeared to have disabled both the primary and backup power generators.

The incident has raised concerns about the vulnerability of Heathrow’s infrastructure.

In addition to the airport closure, the fire has also affected nearby residents, with over 100,000 homes initially left without power.

However, National Grid has reported that the number of affected homes has been reduced to around 4,000, with efforts underway to restore power supplies as quickly as possible.

Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for updates on flight schedules and cancellations

Sudan’s army has reclaimed the Presidential Palace in Khartoum in a significant victory over the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has controlled large parts of the war-torn country since the conflict began in April 2023.

The battle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, leaving more than 28,000 people dead and displacing 11 million others, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Initiative.

The RSF has maintained control of Khartoum since the start of the war, but on Friday, the government announced that its troops had seized the Presidential Palace and would continue pushing to reclaim the capital.

“Today the flag is raised, the palace is back, and the journey continues until victory is complete,” Sudanese Information Minister Khalid Al-Aiser wrote on X.

Despite this success, large parts of Khartoum remain under RSF control, and the militia continues to dominate the western, southern, and central regions, including Darfur, where ethnically motivated violence is rampant. The SAF holds the eastern and northern regions of Sudan.

Retaking Khartoum would be a symbolic victory for the SAF, as the RSF had begun steps to establish a parallel government. However, the battle for control of the capital has taken a heavy toll on civilians caught in the crossfire.

“Dozens of civilians, including local humanitarian volunteers, have been killed by artillery shelling and aerial bombardment by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in eastern Khartoum and north Omdurman since 12 March,” a spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office, Seif Magango, said on Thursday.

Both the SAF and RSF have been accused of war crimes. In January, the United States accused the RSF of committing genocide, the second in Sudan in two decades.

A recent UNICEF report linked the SAF to atrocities, including sexual violence against young children, some as young as one year old.

“Credible reports indicate that the RSF and allied militia have raided homes in eastern Khartoum, carrying out summary killings and arbitrary detentions, and looted food and medical supplies from community kitchens and medical clinics,” Magango added.

“SAF and affiliated fighters are also reported to have engaged in looting and other criminal activities in areas they control in Khartoum North (Bahri) and East Nile. Widespread arbitrary arrests are ongoing in East Nile.”

The State Department says South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, who was declared “persona non grata” last week, has until Friday to leave the country.

After Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was no longer welcome in the U.S. and posted his decision Friday on social media, South African embassy staff were summoned to the State Department and given a formal diplomatic note explaining the decision, department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

She said Rasool’s diplomatic privileges and immunities expired Monday and that he would be required to leave the United States by Friday.

South African Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said in a television interview on Monday that Rasool was still in the U.S. but would be leaving as soon as possible.

Rubio announced his decision in a post on X as he was flying back to the United States from a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Canada. In it, he accused Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates President Donald Trump.

His post linked to a story by the conservative Breitbart news site about a talk Rasool gave earlier Friday in Johannesburg as part of a South African think tank’s webinar. Rasool, speaking by videoconference, talked about actions taken by the Trump administration in the context of a United States where white people soon would no longer be in the majority.

It is highly unusual for the U.S. to expel a foreign ambassador, although lower-ranking diplomats are more frequently targeted with persona non grata status.

Rubio’s decision was the latest Trump administration move targeting South Africa. Trump signed an executive order last month halting funding to the country. It criticized the Black-led South African government on multiple fronts, saying it is pursuing anti-white policies at home and supporting “bad actors” in the world like the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters on Monday that Rasool would give him a report when he returned home.

Ramaphosa said his government has “noted the displeasure that has been expressed by the United States,” and particularly about Rasool’s remarks, but stressed that he believed South Africa was in the process of rebuilding its relationship with the U.S.

“This is a hiccup, a hiccup we are working on straightening out,” he said.

“We will engage with the United States of America in a formal way,” Ramaphosa said. “We will do so with deep respect for them and for President Trump as well. Our relationship with the United States is going to be put on an even keel, so I would like the people of South Africa not to have sleepless nights.”

Bruce said the United States expects a certain level of respect.

“We’ve had a decent level of diplomacy with South Africa. There are some challenges, but you want people in each embassy who can actually facilitate a relationship,” she told reporters on Monday. “And these remarks were unacceptable to the United States, not just to the president, but to every American.”

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said South Africa intended to raise questions with the U.S. over Rubio seemingly announcing on social media that Rasool was no longer welcome in the U.S. before informing him of the decision.

Phiri said South Africa believed such matters should first be discussed diplomatically. “But this is the reality that we also have to contend with with this administration. That it does seem as though Twitter (X) is the preferred mode of communication,” the spokesman said in an interview on the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation.

Bruce said the meeting with South African embassy staff was on Friday. Rubio’s post went out at 4:42 p.m. on Friday.

-AP