THE BIG STORIES
Heathrow airport closed by huge fire | Sturgeon says she is “relieved and vindicated”

📣 A huge fire has closed Heathrow Airport for the day causing widespread disruption. More than 1,000 flights have been affected by the closure, with widespread cancellations, including many flights from Scotland to the hub.

Planes already in the air were being diverted to other airports this morning, including two transatlantic flights which ended up in Glasgow this morning. Travellers are being warned to stay away from the airport, and it’s likely that flights to alternative airports - and trains south - are likely to become very busy. Disruption will continue for days after the problem is fixed: there is no timescale, yet, on that fix. (BBC live coverage) (Guardian live coverage)

• The fire that closed Heathrow was at an electrical substation; the video shows flames reaching high into the sky. The cause of the fire is, at send time, unknown. (Guardian)

• Check your flights: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee airports all have flights to LHR. There may also be disruption to flights to other locations.

📣 Nicola Sturgeon says she is “relieved and vindicated” after it was confirmed she will face no action in the Police Scotland investigation into the SNP’s finances. The former First Minister said there was never “a scrap of evidence that I had done anything wrong” and that she was now “completely in the clear”. (BBC)

• The announcement came as Sturgeon’s estranged husband, former SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court charged with embezzlement. He made no plea and was granted bail. (BBC)

• In full: Sturgeon’s responses to questions on Branchform (Herald £)

• John Swinney said he shared the relief of Nicola Sturgeon and fellow SNP MSP Colin Beattie, who was also told he would face no action. (Daily Record)

• The SNP will breathe a sigh of relief - for now (The Scotsman)

IDEAS
Your autobiography suggestions, and a roundup of the weekly magazines

🗣️Thanks for the responses to my plea for political autobiography recommendations.

Jim Gordon wrote to recall some political memoirs that stretched back to the pre-Thatcher era: “Shirley Williams, Politics is for People was a rare example of stated values within the context of a life story and what seemed more a vocation than a political career,” he writes.

“Denis Healey's The Time of My Life was a richly cultured comment on the world in which politics takes place, but in which politics is not deemed all-important. Frank Field's Politics, Poverty and Belief was likewise as much personal apologia as autobiography, but a rare example in contemporary politics of politics and faith articulated for a public readership.”

Jim also captured, perfectly for me, the value of these books. “As a theologian and minister,” he says, “I have found rich food for thought in biography and autobiography, and in these accounts of lives lived, a rootedness in the soil of life and differing perspectives that often challenge my own. That's a very good thing!”

My thanks also to Chris Condron, who also recommended Healey’s book. “I think he might have managed logistics for the Allied invasion of Italy,” he writes. “Proper ‘hinterland’ territory.”

Indeed so.

🗣️ This week’s Economist leads on “Humanity 2.0” - the effort to live longer. Much longer. “It would be easy to recoil from a project that is filled with cranks and has uncomfortable echoes of the eugenics movement of the early 20th century,” the newspaper says in a leader. “But it would be a mistake to dismiss all forms of human enhancement. The idea that medicine should seek to augment the body, not just restore it to health when it goes wrong, has plenty of merit. The key to maximising the benefits and minimising the risks will be to drive out the quacks and bring this rapidly growing project into the scientific mainstream.” There are drug treatments and computerised human enhancements to try… and huge ethical questions to consider. (Economist £)

🗣️Cracks are appearing in “Magaland”, writes Freddie Hayward in The New Statesman. Trump may be delivering much of what he promised, at least domestically. And he’s being aided by a newly-supine US media, keeping public dissent to a minimum. But the markets are in revolt against Trump’s trade wars, and polling is starting to show disapproval for his handling of the economy. Moreover, foreign allies are keeping their distance. Elon Musk is provoking revulsion. And there’s even evidence the online hard right is getting frustrated. (The New Statesman £)

🗣️ “Austerity is back,” says a gloomy Spectator, along with the spirit of Dominic Cummings. Like Cummings, the government has concluded Britain is a failing state. “But identifying a problem is not the same as solving it,” the magazine notes, adding: “As Rachel Reeves prepares for the Spring Statement, that reality is weighing heavily on ministers.” (Spectator £)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 The University of Dundee is to receive a “multi-million rescue package” as it grapples with its ongoing financial crisis. (The Herald)

• The Scotsman goes deep on the dramatic meeting, in November, when the University’s senior leadership discovered the extent of the institution’s troubles. (Scotsman)

📣 A “Festivals City Leadership Group” will tackle Edinburgh’s logistical and infrastructure problems, and create a “shared vision” for the future of the events. (The Scotsman has the exclusive)

📣 North Berwick is the best place to live in Scotland, again, according to the latest Sunday Times Best Places to Live report. It’s got lovely beaches, thriving local businesses and Edinburgh just half an hour away, notes the title. (The Times £)

AROUND THE UK & WORLD

📣 At least 91 people died in Gaza as Israel’s new offensive gathered pace. Israel’s latest action included air strikes and ground operations, with the two-month ceasefire now entirely over. (Reuters)

📣 Ukraine attacked a Russian strategic bomber airfield causing a huge explosion: Russia said it had shot down 132 Ukrainian drones over its territory. (Reuters)

• Kier Starmer has warned Russia of “severe consequences” if it breaches any future peace deal. (Guardian)

📣 Regulators have ordered a recall of almost all Tesla Cybertrucks, the eighth recall of the troubled vehicle, after finding that a side panel can fall off, endangering other road users. (AP)

• A Tesla investor says Musk should reduce his Trump work and focus on his car company (Guardian)

📣 Property expert Sarah Beeney has been ordered to demolish her £3 million home after a planning row with her local council. (The Sun)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰 Great British Energy, the state-owned energy company based in Aberdeen, is making its first investment: £110 million in grants to fund solar and other clean energy sources at UK schools, hospitals and community projects, almost all in England. The “investment”, using up more than half of the company’s available funds for the year, will not create any return, but will trigger other funding lifting the total spend on the scheme to around £200 million. (FT £) (BBC)

💰 Scotland’s forestry industry is facing a £24m funding gap with the country set to miss its tree planting targets for the next two years, after budget cuts. The industry - and those who depend on it - are furious. (The Herald)

• A new Western Forest of 20m trees is to be planted in the west of England (Guardian)

💰 The vast Younger building in Edinburgh - built for the Royal Bank of Scotland - has been sold for redevelopment, in a move that will help address the city’s lack of high-quality office space. (The Scotsman)

SPORT

⚽️ Scotland will bring a 1-0 advantage back to Hampden on Sunday after a nail-biting night against Greece in Athens. That means they’re in the prime position to retain their top-flight Nations League status - and they have Grant Hanley, a man struggling to get a game for Birmingham City these days, to thank after a “super-human effort” in defence, says The Scotsman’s Alan Pattullo. (Scotsman)

• “Acropolis now” says The Sun’s headline, for reasons I can’t quite fathom. Still, they think it’s a great result for Steve Clarke’s men. (The Sun)

🏎️ A reminder - if you’re reading your Early Line shortly after it comes out - that there’s the first F1 sprint race of the season, in China, to watch on TV, instead of getting ready for the day. It’s at 7.30am, on Sky Sports F1. (Formula1.com)

• The sport remembers Eddie Jordan, one of F1’s most colourful characters (Formula1.com)