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Power cut halts all flights from two Manchester Airport terminals

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By Ewan GawneBBC News • Simon BrowningTransport reporter

Passenger footage shows people stranded in a dark terminal at Manchester Airport

All flights out of the two main terminals at Manchester Airport have been cancelled after a “significant power cut” caused widespread disruption

Passengers travelling through Terminals 1 and 2 have been told to stay away after the outage hit in the early hours, affecting baggage and security systems.

An airport spokesman said all flights from those terminals have been cancelled “until further notice”.

Large queues have formed inside the airport, which is the UK’s largest outside London, and more than 10 outbound flights have already been cancelled and inbound flights diverted.

Reuters Passengers waiting in queues and sitting on the floor or on luggage outside Terminal 1 at Manchester AirportReuters

Passengers had to queue – and wait – outside Terminal 1

Passengers flying via Terminal 3 should come to the airport as normal, but could face delays, an airport spokesman said.

Flights of those already at the airport would be prioritised as efforts to “work through that backlog” continued, a spokesman said.

The number of journeys the airport’s departure board is showing as cancelled is expected to grow until at least mid afternoon.

The airport told the BBC inbound flights were diverted because “planes can’t take off” due to limited space.

This made it harder to accept aircraft, which would be sent elsewhere, the spokesman added.

Queues at Manchester aiport

The airport urged passengers to contact their airlines

The airport’s back-up power systems came on when the main system went down, but the situation was complicated by mains power cutting out multiple times.

Airlines have said problems with baggage processing meant customers could only board with a cabin bag.

In a statement, Jet2 said handlers had been unable to load bags on to planes due to the outage.

Meanwhile an Easyjet spokesman said passengers could only board their flight with a cabin bag because of problems with the baggage system.

Manchester cancellations

The disruption comes at the start of the summer holiday season at the UK’s third-busiest airport, which has apologised to passengers.

An airport source said the power cut “literally knocked everything off”.

It also affected other businesses in the surrounding area, including major logistics firms nearby.

Bobbi Hadgraft, who is travelling to watch England at Euro 2024, told BBC Radio Manchester she arrived at the airport at about 04:00 BST to see “enormous queues” outside Terminal 1.

“We were worried we would miss our flight,” she said, adding the power outage had affected display boards and scanners so staff had to direct passengers around the site.

Olwyn Hocking said one member of staff looked like they were trying to hide as “hundreds and hundreds of people poured into the airport, with not a clue there was problem”.

She said it was “chaos”.

Passengers queue amid disruption at Manchester airport

Flights travelling out of Terminal 1 and 2 have been affected by the power loss

Balázs Fazeka, who was due to fly to Montenegro for a week-long holiday with his wife and eight-month-old baby, arrived at 02:00 BST and, after eight hours standing in queues, found out the flight had been cancelled.

“There are bigger issues in life than this,” he said, but added the lack of communication from the airport had been “quite frustrating”.

Another passenger, Phillip Banfield, said his plane had taken off while he was stuck after going through passport control.

He said he was surrounded by an “enormous number of passengers, stranded, wondering how they’re going to continue onwards journeys”.

It had been “virtually impossible” to get through check-in and security, which was only feasible if you were just carrying hand luggage, he added.

Reuters Passengers queue outside Terminal 1 after an overnight power cut led to disruptions and cancellations at Manchester Airport Reuters

People have complained of “chaos” at check-in areas

Social media has been filled with complaints about long queues for check-in desks and passport control, as well as a lack of communication from staff in the “chaos”.

Pictures and video footage showed long queues of people, some waiting in near darkness. 

The airport said its electricity supply went off at about 01:30 but has since been restored, although it would take time to get systems up and running again.

Additional reporting by Aleks Phillips



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For sale: A piece of California’s country music history

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The famed Buck Owens Crystal Palace, where music legends including Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Garth Brooks and a young Taylor Swift have played, is up for sale, with the foundation that runs the Bakersfield venue planning to list it for $7 million on Monday.

The nightclub, museum and steakhouse was owned by its namesake Buck Owens, the country music trailblazer who bucked the slick commercial melodies of Nashville for a distinctly West Coast twang. Owens opened the Crystal Palace in 1996, watching it become a premier venue for the biggest names in country music, including himself. Buck and the Buckaroos played there every Friday and Saturday night until his death in 2006.

Jim Shaw, a member of the Buckaroos and a director of the Buck Owens Private Foundation, said that after 28 years of running the famed venue, the Owens family plans to step back and find new owners amid a challenging business climate. The foundation said in a statement that “since Buck’s passing in 2006, we’ve tried to maintain the excellence that he expected, even as it became more and more difficult during these challenging times of increasing food and labor costs.”

The venue is not closing and scheduled events will continue as planned, Shaw said.

“It’s business as usual for now,” Shaw said. “Ideally, someone who wants to keep it exactly as it is will come forward.”

Owens’ youngest son, Johnny Owens, wrote on Facebook that the family’s hope “is that a buyer steps forward with a vision for the future and a reverence” for his father and the Bakersfield Sound.

The Crystal Palace, located on Buck Owens Boulevard, is a major tourism staple for Bakersfield. The 18,000-square-foot venue is next to the city’s downtown entrance.

“It’s the No. 1 tourist attraction in Bakersfield,” Shaw said. “There are people stepping forward and we are waiting to see what happens. I am getting a lot of phone calls. I’m anxious to see what happens.”



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2nd local radio host says they were given questions ahead of Biden interview

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A second local radio host on Saturday told ABC News that he was provided a list of questions in advance of his interview with President Joe Biden this week.

“Yes, I was given some questions for Biden,” Earl Ingram of CivicMedia told ABC News. Ingram, a prominent host of a Wisconsin radio station, interviewed Biden this week in the wake of his debate performance.

Ingram said he was given five questions and ended up asking four of them.

“I didn’t get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask,” he said.

Ingram is the second interviewer who now says they were provided questions by Biden aides to ask the president this week. Earlier today, another local radio host who interviewed Biden this week told CNN she was given questions to ask Biden before the interview.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School, on July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School, on July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School, on July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners,” the Biden campaign told ABC News on Saturday.

Ingram told ABC he didn’t see anything necessarily wrong with the practice. “To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the President of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect,” he said.

He continued that he was grateful for the opportunity to interview Biden at all.

“Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity … meant a lot to me,” Ingram said.

MORE: Wealthy Democratic donors sound alarm over Biden staying in race

On CNN earlier today, Andrea Lawful-Sanders, the host of WURD’s “The Source,” said Biden officials provided her with a list of eight questions ahead of their interview with Biden.

“The questions were sent to me for approval; I approved of them,” she said.

“I got several questions — eight of them,” she continued. “And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved.”

Responding to Lawful-Sanders, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement that it’s not “uncommon” for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. She noted that Lawful-Sanders was “free” to ask any questions she saw fit. She also noted that it was the campaign who sent over the questions and not the White House as other reports claim.

Lawful-Sanders did note in her interview with CNN that she ultimately “approved” the questions provided.

“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day – the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans,” the statement said.

“We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.”

A source familiar with the Biden booking operation told ABC News that moving forward they will “refrain” from offering suggested questions to interviewers.

“While interview hosts have always been free to ask whatever questions they please, moving forward we will refrain from offering suggested questions.”

2nd local radio host says they were given questions ahead of Biden interview originally appeared on abcnews.go.com



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President George W. Bush turns 78 years old

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George W. Bush, born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, was the 43rd President of the United States.

Bush was born to parents Barbara Bush and former President George H. W. Bush. He has five siblings; Jeb Bush, Marvin Bush, Neil Bush, Dorothy Bush Koch and Pauline Robinson Bush. Pauline was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away at age three.

He was formerly the Republican Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.

WHY FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH IS WINNING … THE POST-PRESIDENCY

Bush was first elected to the White House in November 2000, and officially began his first term as president in January 2001, after he defeated Democrat Al Gore during the presidential election. Bush was reelected to his second term as the incumbent in November 2004, when he prevailed over Democrat John Kerry, and led the United States until January 2009 before handing over his torch to former President Barack Obama.

Bush married Laura Bush on November 5, 1977, the day after her 31st birthday, in her hometown of Midland, Texas. The couple were engaged in September 1977, and married less than two months later in a Methodist church. Bush and Laura met at a barbecue, and he took her to play mini-golf on their first date. 

The Bush’s share twin daughters, Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, born on November 25, 1981. Today, the couple also share four grandchildren; Mila, Poppy, Hal and Cora.

GEORGE BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY ISSUE STATEMENT ON AFGHANISTAN WITH MESSAGE TO US TROOPS, VETERANS

During his presidency, Bush cared for his English springer spaniel, Spot Fetcher, who accompanied him to meetings in the Oval Office and on adventures throughout the White House. The dog was born to his parent’s dog, Millie.

On September 11, 2001, less than one year into Bush’s presidency, the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked by terrorists when airplanes hit both buildings, causing a collapse and thousands of lives lost. At the time, Bush was reading to elementary-aged children at a school in Sarasota, Florida. He was calmly and quietly advised of the attacks and quickly returned to Washington, where he was briefed alongside Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bush was regarded highly for his poise while learning of the attacks and for his demonstration of patriotism and leadership in the uncertain days and weeks following the hijackings of multiple planes on the day that shook America to her core.

SADDAM CAPTURED ‘LIKE A RAT’ IN RAID

On December 30, 2003, during Bush’s first term as POTUS, Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader and executor of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., was captured by the American military

In the early morning of December 30, 2006, during Bush’s presidency, Hussein was hanged and executed for his crimes against humanity. Americans across the nation celebrated the death of Hussein and applauded Bush for promising the country he would take him out and following through.

While Bush was regarded for his dealings with the terrorist attacks, the signing of No Child Left Behind Act and the Patriot Act and the creation of the United States Department of Homeland Security, many Americans were unhappy with the sanctions of interrogation techniques, the war in Iraq and taxes while he was president.

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