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5 Things You Need To Know, Today, on Thursday 24th February 2022
5. Heathrow airport has said its passenger numbers fell to their lowest level for 50 years in 2021, to 19.4 million, down from 22 million in 2020, as the pandemic restricted air travel.
The UK's biggest airport does not expect passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025 or 2026, boss John Holland Kaye said.
4. More than half of Britons are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget than they were a year ago, the highest share in almost 10 years as inflation mounts.
The survey showed 52% of people in Britain were feeling the pinch more sharply than in February 2021, up by eight percentage points since January and almost double the level in March 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
3. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will pledge to "deliver a low tax, higher growth economy" amid criticism from MPs over rises to National Insurance.
Mr Sunak will tell an audience at the Bayes Business School on today that he will cut taxes "sustainably".
2. Oil prices have surged past $100 (£74) a barrel after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a "special military operation" in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.
These are the highest levels seen by the international benchmark Brent crude futures in more than seven years.
1. Vladimir Putin announced the military operation into Ukraine at 5.55am Moscow time - and minutes later the first shelling and missiles were launched into Ukraine, according to reports.
US president Joe Biden says he will be meeting with G7 leaders today, and the US and allies "will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia".