Good morning. It's Saturday, March 22, and in this weekend edition, we're covering the death of a boxing legend, a power outage at one of the world's busiest airports, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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Breaking news: George Foreman, a two-time world heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic gold medalist, died Friday at a hospital in Houston. He was 76. Foreman was also known for his multimillion-dollar grill business. Read more here.
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London's Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest and a major connection for US travelers to Europe, was temporarily closed Friday due to a power outage caused by a fire at a nearby electrical substation. The blaze, which began late Thursday (see footage), is now under control and full service is expected to resume today. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire as of this writing.
Up to 200,000 travelers globally were affected by the shutdown, with flights canceled or diverted to other airports like Amsterdam and Frankfurt. While Heathrow's backup generators functioned as intended during the outage, officials said the backup systems were not designed to support full airport operations. The incident raised concerns about the vulnerability of such a critical infrastructure to a single substation fire. Flight disruptions are still expected through this weekend.
Heathrow was the world's fourth-busiest airport last year, with roughly 84 million passengers and 1.7 million tons of cargo. The airport serves over 230 destinations in nearly 90 countries. See a list of the world's busiest airports here.
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Small Business Administration to cut more than 40% of workforce.
The Small Business Administration plans to cut 43% of its staff as part of the Trump administration's effort to downsize the government and reduce federal spending. The SBA employs roughly 6,500 people, or less than half a percent of the total federal workforce. President Donald Trump also announced the SBA would handle student loans. See other changes here.
Texas measles outbreak rises to 309 cases with 40 hospitalizations.
The Texas outbreak has grown to 309 cases in roughly two months, surpassing the 285 cases reported nationwide last year. Most cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown. Thirty of the cases were reported this week. Meanwhile, New Mexico's outbreak has grown to 38 cases. See CDC data here.
Johnson & Johnson pledges $55B investment in US amid looming tariffs.
The pharmaceutical giant will invest more than $55B over the next four years, building four new manufacturing plants and expanding existing facilities. The investment is a 25% increase compared to the previous four years and appears to be a response to potential drug import tariffs from the Trump administration.
Sudan's army retakes Khartoum presidential palace from paramilitary forces.
The development marks a symbolic victory for Sudan's military in the ongoing civil war against the Rapid Support Forces militia. The nearly two-year conflict between forces of two formerly allied generals—army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo—has killed an estimated 28,000 people and displaced an estimated 10 million others, about one-fifth of the country’s population.
Bones of mammoths butchered for their tusks 25,000 years ago unearthed.
Archaeologists in Austria found the ancient remains of butchered mammoths, including dismembered tusks, suggesting the site was used for ivory processing. The discovery provides insights into how humans hunted mammoths and used their resources before the peak of the last Ice Age.
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Dear Readers—We've officially launched our series of 1440 Topics newsletters, taking deep dives into hot topics in each area. Our goal is to provide context and resources for you to understand these areas better—and of course, spark curiosity and fascination.
You can sign up for each individually, and they're all 100% free. Currently you can check out:
1440 Business & Finance: This coming week we're exploring pay transparency, from its cultural origins to efforts to normalize salary discussions (sign up here).
1440 Society & Culture: We're looking at the life and career of Bob Dylan and his decadeslong rise to become a cultural icon (sign up here).
Stay tuned for more—we'll be launching in Science & Technology, Health & Medicine, World History, and many others in the coming months!
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Strangers celebrate an 8-year-old boy's birthday with a sing-along party in the park. (More, w/video)
A 9-year-old North Carolina boy saves his choking classmate by performing the Heimlich. (More)
International nonprofit uses hospital ships staffed with volunteers to provide free surgical care in underserved communities. (More)
Identical twin brothers marry twin sisters in double wedding—and honeymoon together. (More)
... and an 88-year-old couple gets married after meeting at their church's senior center. (More, w/photos)
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Today, we're sharing a story from reader Jessica I. in Port Angeles, Washington.
"I was driving down the highway on a road trip to visit my parents along with my two sons. We were only about ten minutes into the trip when I saw a pickup truck coming up really fast behind me. He suddenly drove up next to me and signaled for me to pull over. I instantly realized that the back of our truck must have come open. I got out of the car and the driver of the truck was carrying my suitcase, which had indeed fallen out of the truck and onto the highway. This kind human had not only witnessed my suitcase flying out of the truck bed but had stopped on the highway, picked it up (at his own risk), and chased me down to return it. I was floored that someone would go that far out of their way for a total stranger."
What act(s) of kindness did you experience this week? Tell us here.
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"What strikes me is that there's a very fine line between success and failure. Just one ingredient can make the difference."
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