FINANCIAL TIMES
-Heathrow Airport has experienced disruptions due to a fire that shut down the country's busiest airport, causing 1,300 flight cancellations and raising questions about the resilience of the UK's infrastructure. The airport reopened for flights on Saturday morning, but disruption is expected as carriers restart operations with planes, crews, and passengers scattered across the world. British Airways, Heathrow's largest airline, is expected to cancel about 15% of its flights at the airport. The fire at a local electricity substation caused a power outage, forcing inbound flights to divert to other hubs or return to their original airports. London's Metropolitan Police is leading enquiries due to the incident's impact on critical national infrastructure.
-President Trump's administration is questioning the values and arrangements of the US economy, which has outperformed other advanced countries in recent years. The US is home to leading tech companies, leading research in artificial intelligence, and a start-up-friendly culture. However, the future of this dominance is uncertain, with research capacity in the public sector and US universities being strained. The future of skilled migrants and investment in America is also uncertain due to policy uncertainty and doubts about the rule of law.
-US President Donald Trump has canceled security clearances for Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, his former rivals for the White House, as part of his campaign of retribution against political opponents. Trump announced the move, which includes Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who has been critical of Trump's stance on the war in Ukraine. Trump has already included Joe Biden and some of his top aides, including Jake Sullivan and Antony Blinken. This move highlights Trump's use of the first months of his second presidency to target political foes, including Democrats and Republicans who have opposed his return to office. Trump has also targeted Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, and Letitia James, the New York State attorney-general, after they brought legal cases against him, including one that led to his conviction for falsifying business records last year.
-Argentina's former leftwing president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, has been barred from entering the US due to her involvement in "significant corruption." This comes amid a Trump administration crackdown on immigration and targeting leftwing opponents domestically and internationally. Rubio, a former Florida Republican senator, has been a longtime critic of leftwing political figures in Latin America.
-Turkish bankers have reported that officials lost control of the market early on Wednesday, leaving a scar on investors' confidence. JPMorgan Chase also noted impaired lira liquidity amid large outflows. The central bank likely continued intervening in the market on Thursday and Friday. Policymakers have taken steps to soothe markets, including holding an emergency central bank meeting on Thursday, increasing a key overnight interest rate to keep local savers in lira accounts.
-Elon Musk has reassured Tesla's employees that the future is bright and urged them to keep their shares despite declining sales, safety recalls, and vandalism caused by his political activism. This communication came after Donald Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, urged Fox News viewers to "buy Tesla" amid a 51% drop in Tesla's shares since mid-December. Musk said that he understands if employees don't want to buy Tesla products, but they shouldn't burn them down. Tesla and its dealerships have been the target of protests in the US and Europe due to Musk's influence in the White House, his attack on the US federal government, and his support for the far-right AfD party in Germany.
-Alcohol consumption in the US has dropped by 3% last year, the largest drop since the prohibition era a century ago, according to Bernstein research. Drinking is now at its lowest level since 1962, down 20% on its 1980s peak. The World Health Organization has recommended that drinks carry prominent labels warning consumers of the link between alcohol and cancer, a recommendation Ireland will make in May next year. This comes as declining alcohol consumption, growing health awareness, and the effects of weight-loss drugs on drinking habits cement a negative narrative around the industry. Analyst Trevor Stirling is discussing the question of whether alcohol is the new tobacco.
-Global investors are withdrawing money from Southeast Asia due to concerns over the region's largest economies and a shift towards Chinese equities. Indonesia and Thailand, the region's two largest economies, have seen foreign equity outflows in the year to date, with their stock markets performing poorly. Indonesian stocks fell to their lowest in four years, while the rupiah is near five-year lows. The MSCI Indonesia index is down about 16% from the start of the year in US dollar terms, while the MSCI Thailand is down just over 12%. The sell-off, driven by economic concerns in both countries, has been exacerbated by a global trade war sparked by US President Donald Trump and regional fund managers shifting their money towards China. Foreign investors have pulled $1.3B from Indonesian markets and $500M from Thai equities this year, while putting $13B into Chinese equities.
-President Trump has chosen to entrust Boeing for the development of the next-generation US stealth fighter jet. The F-47 will replace the F-22 Raptor, a stealth fighter deployed in Syria and Iraq from 2014. The Air Force plans to spend up to $20B on research and development for the F-47 through 2029. Boeing has a history of developing fighter jets in partnership with Lockheed Martin, and has already bet billions on the Next Generation Air Dominance program. The company's stock rose 5.3% at $182 after Trump's announcement. Boeing built new production facilities in St Louis in hopes of winning the F-47 contract, a victory for the company after losing the F-35 contract to Lockheed Martin in 2001 and facing cost overruns and delivery issues with the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker and the next-generation Air Force One.
NEW YORK TIMES
-Columbia University has agreed to overhaul its protest policies, security practices, and Middle Eastern studies department in a concession to the Trump administration. The agreement could signal a new stage in the administration's escalating clash with elite colleges and universities, as Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Michigan face federal inquiries and fear similar penalties. Columbia's response to the White House's demands may set a dangerous precedent. The University of Pennsylvania was also targeted by the Trump administration, which said it would cancel $175M in federal funding due to the university's failure to protect students and faculty members from antisemitic violence and harassment.
-Donald Trump and Columbia University have been in a 25-year conflict over free speech, academic freedom, and federal government funding. The first battle involved a lucrative real estate deal. Trump's administration has demanded Columbia to turn over control of its policies and curricular decisions to quell antisemitism on campus and has canceled federal grants and contracts valued at $400M. Former university officials are questioning if this conflict sparked Trump's current focus on Columbia.
-A federal judge in Washington has expressed skepticism about the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan immigrants. Judge James E. Boasberg suggested that the White House had stretched the meaning of the statute by applying it to scores of Venezuelan immigrants, accusing them of being members of a violent street gang. The administration flew them to El Salvador last weekend with little or no due process. The judge is concerned that President Trump had sought to use the law when there was neither an invasion taking place nor a declared state of war, and that the people the government had sought to deport have no way of contesting whether they are actually gang members.
-President Trump has issued a memo rescinding security clearances and access to classified information for former opponents such as Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and any other member of Biden Jr.'s family. The list of names reads like President Trump's enemies list, from Letitia James to Liz Cheney. The move comes as a payback for Biden's actions after leaving office in the days after the Jan 6. attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Trump administration has previously said it planned to remove his predecessor's access to classified intelligence briefings, as it was payback for Biden's actions after leaving office.
-The Trump administration has cancelled a contract funding legal representation for over 25,000 children who entered the US alone, leaving them vulnerable to swift deportation. The move will fast-track their court cases, leaving many without counsel in adversarial immigration proceedings. Advocates argue that children as young as 2 who are survivors of trafficking, trauma, and abuse, often too young to understand their legal rights, would be returned to countries where they could face harm. The termination of the contract was up for renewal on March 29.
-President Trump denied that Elon Musk was to be briefed on top-secret military plans in the event of war with China, stating that he wouldn't show it to a businessman. The Pentagon scuttled Musk's planned visit to a secure room in the Pentagon after The Times published an article on the matter. Trump denied the briefing had been planned but also made clear that he thought Musk should not have access to such war plans. The report has shaken Washington and seemed to surprise President Trump by surprise. Musk's planned visit to a secure room in the Pentagon was called off after The Times published its article on the matter.
-Critics argue that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is manipulating the courts and media to tighten his grip on power, and is now trying to prevent a top contender from running for president. This comes as voters are angry about persistently high inflation, his political party's popularity has sunk, and his opponents have coalesced around the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who made it clear that he was gunning for the presidency. On Wednesday, just four days before the mayor was set to be designated as the political opposition's presidential candidate, dozens of policemen arrested him at his home on accusations of corruption and terrorism. This has led to a decline in democracy in Turkey, with opposition parties accusing Erdogan of manipulating the courts and media to tighten his grip on power. The arrest of Imamoglu has raised concerns about the erosion of democracy in Turkey.
NEW YORK POST
-Former Vice President Kamala Harris is the preferred 2028 presidential candidate by a wide margin, according to a survey of Democratic voters. Harris received 36% support from Democratic and Democratic-leaning independent voters in the early 2028 primary poll conducted by Morning Consult. She has a double-digit lead over her closest potential competitor, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who garnered just 10% support from his party. Harris has yet to announce any intention of running it back in 2028. Despite raising over a billion dollars from Democratic donors during her campaign, Harris suffered a crushing loss to President Trump in November. Since her defeat, Harris has reportedly told allies to keep her political options open and is believed to be mulling a run at the California governorship in 2026.
-JPMorgan, led by Jamie Dimon, has rebranded its Diversity, Opportunity and Inclusion (DEI) program to avoid a crackdown on corporate policies that the Trump administration has deemed discriminatory and illegal. The bank is replacing the controversial "Equity" component of DEI with "Opportunity," according to a memo obtained by The Post. JPMorgan's Chief Operating Officer, Jenn Piepszak, stated that the bank aims to comply with current laws and regulations. The bank plans to reduce training on DEI topics and consolidate activities, councils, or chapters to streamline its process and engagement strategy.