Comments follow an announcement from newly inaugurated US secretary of state Marco Rubio that he would pause foreign aid grants for 90 days. What we know on day 1,068

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The US has not stopped military aid to Ukraine after newly sworn in US secretary of state Marco Rubio announced he would pause foreign aid grants for 90 days, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday. The Ukrainian leader did not clarify whether humanitarian aid had been paused. Ukraine relies on the US for 40% of its military needs. “I am focused on military aid; it has not been stopped, thank God,” he said at a press conference alongside Moldovan president Maia Sandu.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to offer coal to Moldova, which is gripped by an energy crisis after flows of Russian gas through Ukraine stopped in the new year. Moldova accuses Moscow of refusing to send gas by other routes. “Russia’s latest move has been to orchestrate an energy crisis,” Sandu told reporters. The Moldovan president said energy prices had shot up in areas controlled by her government, and the situation was worse in a region held by pro-Russian separatists who relied on Russian energy and were subject to daily power cuts.

US president Donald Trump could fulfil his promise to end the war in Ukraine, but only if he includes Kyiv in any talks, Zelenskyy said on Saturday. Zelenskyy also said the terms of any deal that might arise under Trump were still unclear – and might not even be clear to Trump himself – because Russian president Vladimir Putin had no interest in ending the war. Putin has said he is ‘ready for negotiations” on the war in Ukraine with Trump and suggested it would be a good idea for them to meet.

Zelenskyy said he hopes Europe and the United States would be involved in any talks about ending the war. He told reporters on Saturday that Ukraine also needed to be involved in any discussions on ending the war for such negotiations to have any meaningful impact. “As for what the set-up of the talks will be: Ukraine, I really hope Ukraine will be there, America, Europe and the Russians,” Zelenskyy said, later clarifying that no framework had been established.

The Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, has rejected calls for his resignation after tens of thousands demonstrated against his government’s policy shift closer to Russia. About 60,000 people protested in the capital, Bratislava, on Friday and approximately 100,000 turned out for rallies in cities across the country, the largest demonstrations since Fico returned to power in 2023.

Three civilians were killed on Saturday in shelling in the Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Moscow-installed governor Vladimir Saldo said. He urged the residents of Oleshky, which sits close to the frontline in southern Ukraine, to stay in their homes or in bomb shelters.

Russia attacked Ukraine with two missiles and 61 Shahed drones overnight Saturday, said officials. Ukrainian air defences shot down both missiles and 46 drones, a statement from the air force said. Another 15 drones failed to reach targets due to Ukrainian countermeasures. The downed drones caused damage in the Kyiv, Cherkasy and Khmelnytskyi regions.

Russia also struck Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region with drones causing casualties and damage, local authorities said on Saturday. Drones targeted the city’s Shevchenkivskyi, Kyivskyi and Kholodnohirskyi districts, said mayor Ihor Terekhov. Terekhov said the number of victims was still being determined, while Kharkiv’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said three people, two women and a man, were injured in the strikes.

Finding suggests the agency believes totality of evidence makes a lab origin more likely, but assigns a low degree of confidence to the conclusion

The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the coronavirus pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment released on Saturday that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has “low confidence” in its own conclusion.

The finding is not the result of any new intelligence, and the report was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA director William Burns. It was declassified and released on Saturday on the orders of president Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in as director on Thursday.

Sundance film festival: A primary school teacher in Russia pushes back on cruel nationalist propaganda in a fascinating and daring look at everyday encroachment

Pavel Talankin is, by his own admission early in the extraordinary documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin, not the person you or he would pick to be the hero of the story or to take on an oppressive regime. To stand up to Vladimir Putin takes a considerable amount of courage and a not inconsiderable amount of resources; Pasha, as he is known to his students, is a teacher at a small primary school in Karabash, a mining town in the Ural mountains remarkable only for its renowned levels of toxic waste, and would have been more or less content to remain the titular nobody far from Moscow. He loves his hometown, its smokestacks and Soviet buildings, but most of all loves the curiosity and enthusiasm of his students, all filmed by Talankin in his capacity as school videographer.

But Talankin has always cut a bit of a non-conformist streak – he is the one teacher with a Russian democracy flag in his classroom, a safe haven for the school’s punks and artsy weirdos, or anyone with a desire to speak freely. He is openly alarmed, to the extent one can be, when the school begins enacting Vladimir Putin’s new “patriotic education policy” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He keeps doing his job, filming the new blatantly nationalist curriculum, the lies about the necessity of invasion told as fact, the forced military drills and oaths of loyalty forced on initially bored and apathetic children.

Mr Nobody Against Putin is screening at the Sundance film festival and is seeking distribution

Official cites review of course curriculum at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, where new recruits get basic training

Donald Trump’s order halting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives has led the US air force to suspend course instruction on a documentary about the first Black airmen in the US military, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, a US official said on Saturday.

The famed Black aviators included 450 pilots who fought overseas in segregated units during the second world war. Their success in combat helped pave the way for Harry Truman’s decision to desegregate the armed forces in 1948.

Full restoration could take days, says energy official, with conditions still difficult and more yellow alerts issued

About 40,000 people in Scotland remained without electricity on Saturday night in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn and some may have to wait several days before it is restored, according to an energy distribution director.

As of 4pm on Saturday, about 28,000 Scottish Power customers were without power, while as of 7.30pm, about 12,000 Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) customers were also without power.

• Signing gave away Chelsea’s opening goal in shaky start
• Enzo Maresca defends Robert Sánchez after mistake

Pep Guardiola defended Abdukodir Khusanov after Manchester City’s new £33.8m defender endured a torrid start to his debut in Saturday’s win over Chelsea, the manager saying this “is the best lesson you can take”.

The 20-year-old’s weak header back to Ederson led to Noni Madueke’s third minute opener, and he was booked soon after for fouling Cole Palmer.

Irritable and resentful, the Spurs manager is not unique in being unnerved by a remorseless league where every game is a test

Long before he began experimenting with the mind-expanding potential of psychedelic mushrooms, Timothy Leary was a psychologist. In 1957, he came up with the interpersonal behaviour circumplex, which sought to represent personality using two dimensions: power and love. While relationships on the power axis were oppositional – that is, dominance inspires submission and vice versa – on the love axis they are reflexive: hostility inspires hostility and cooperation inspires cooperation.

This was subsequently developed by Emily and Laurence Alison at the University of Liverpool. In their 2020 book Rapport, they use animals to express the four basic characteristics: a lion for control, a mouse for capitulation, a T-Rex for assertiveness and a monkey for cooperation. None of these are intrinsically good or bad: the lion could be inspiring and supportive, but he could also be patronising or dictatorial. And nor are many people represented by a single animal.

Christiane Amanpour has spent four decades as a celebrated journalist and war reporter. With disinformation rampaging through the media, she talks about the threat of technocracy, Donald Trump’s second term – and why facts are more important than ever

Just occasionally, in more than 40 years of reporting the world’s troubles, Christiane Amanpour has forced herself to step away and pause for breath. One of those moments for rebooting came over Christmas and new year, when she took a holiday in South Africa. I met her on the day she got back to work at the CNN offices in London, from which she makes her nightly news programme, and Saturday’s The Amanpour Hour. There is a powerful sense of her team buckling up for the tumultuous year ahead. “What I cover is the international reverberations of what America does in the world and what might be coming back at America,” she says. “The good, the bad and the ugly.”

Amanpour’s choice of holiday destination was, inevitably, not unrelated to the immediate challenges of that role as kickstarted by the second inauguration of President Trump this week in Washington DC. Before that she wanted to holiday somewhere, she suggests, that represented a robust spirit of hope. She had always regretted missing out on perhaps the greatest good news story of our lives: the release of Nelson Mandela from 27 years in prison and his subsequent rise to power. “I was covering all the really bad stories, the Rwanda genocide, the Bosnia war,” she says. “And I’ve always felt a little sad I missed that, because I do strongly believe that good things happen in this world. I don’t ever want to only focus on the bad. South Africa is obviously still a huge work in progress, but it was just phenomenal to see it, even as a holiday.”

Too dark, too cold – winter’s charms aren’t as obvious as summer’s brassy joys. But for Robert Macfarlane, Alice Oswald, Poppy Okotcha and others, this is a rich season. Here, they offer ways to lean into it, with an introduction by Jeanette Winterson

Steel-lit days. Charcoal evenings. Dark nights.

Winter is part of the cycle of life. Every season brings us something different. Something to celebrate. And that includes winter.

With famous parents, Roman Kemp always knew people would make certain judgments about him – but he never guessed he’d become an advocate for mental health. Here, he talks about radio, tattoos – and the event that changed his life

I apologise if you hear any buzzing,” says Roman Kemp, the 31-year-old radio and television presenter, leaning back in his chair. I’ve done interviews in some strange scenarios, including a sauna (twice), but this is a new one. Kemp, who is in Northern Ireland filming the BBC One quizshow The Finish Line, is video-calling me on his day off from the tattoo parlour. As he holds the phone to his face, an artist is at work inking a portrait of Thierry Henry on to his shin. “On my right leg I want to try to build as many of my favourite footballers of all time,” Kemp explains. “So I started out with original Ronaldo and we’re currently doing Thierry, and then we’ll add from there. So it’s a work in progress but yes, as I’ll show you… Very much happening.”

Kemp spins the camera, just in time to catch the needle tracing his skin. Isn’t that quite painful? “Once you go past a certain amount of tattoos, you earn the right to use numbing cream,” he replies. “When I first started having them, especially some of the bigger ones, a lot of parlours want you to have the full experience. And I just suffered for many hours, and hated it. I’m too much of a wuss to do it any more to myself. I refuse to sit here in pain.”

Turn bedtime into a treat with a pair of gloom-busting PJs

Valentine-inspired jewellery, stylish wellington boots and exciting denim collaborations from Levi’s, Diesel and Timberland

Nigerian officials say a Boeing 787-800 belonging to United Airlines was forced to make an emergency return last Friday

Multiple people were injured on a United Airlines flight heading from Lagos, Nigeria, to Washington DC last week.

In a statement released on Friday, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria said that a Boeing 787-800 belonging to United Airlines was forced to make an emergency return last Friday.

David Armitage, resident in Thailand since 2004 death of Lamduan Armitage, detained by immigration officials

The British husband of Lamduan Armitage, a Thai woman whose body was found in a stream in the Yorkshire Dales in 2004, has been detained by police in Thailand.

David Armitage, a university lecturer, has been detained in Bangkok by immigration officials after an investigation into his visa.

According to the BBC, Armitage, who has a resident visa, was detained at his house in Kanchanaburi on Thursday before being transferred to the Bangkok immigration detention centre while the country’s authorities prepare to revoke his visa.

Tycoon tells 4,500 people at campaign event in Halle to be proud of German culture in speech via video link

Elon Musk made a surprise appearance during Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday, speaking publicly in support of the far-right party for the second time in as many weeks.

Addressing a hall of 4,500 people alongside the party’s co-leader, Alice Weidel, Musk spoke live via video link about preserving German culture and protecting the German people.

In an exclusive interview the Chelsea winger says they can still improve despite not losing under Sonia Bompastor as the reigning champions prepare to face Arsenal on Sunday

Guro Reiten pulls a face when asked about Chelsea’s developing rivalry with Arsenal that looks like a mixture of distaste and wryness. The clubs meet at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the opportunity to make statements.

For Arsenal, there is a chance to extend their unbeaten run under new manager Renée Slegers, close the gap on the rampant league leaders from seven points to four and ensure there is a title race. For Chelsea, their invincibility under Sonia Bompastor is on the line. They could go 10 points clear of the Gunners.

Source says: ‘The Danes are in crisis mode’ after US president’s call with prime minister Mette Frederiksen

Donald Trump had a fiery phone call with Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen over his demands to buy Greenland, according to senior European officials.

Speaking to the Financial Times, officials said that Trump, then still president-elect, spoke with Frederiksen for 45 minutes last week, during which he was described to be aggressive and confrontational about Frederiksen’s refusal to sell Greenland to the US.

• Lukaku penalty seals 2-1 home win for Serie A leaders
• Real Madrid sink Valladolid to stretch lead in La Liga

Napoli staged a rousing comeback to secure a 2-1 victory over Juventus in Saturday’s action-packed clash, handing the visitors their first Serie A defeat of the season.

Randal Kolo Muani, signed on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, scored on his debut to give Juventus the lead two minutes before the break, pouncing on a rebound to volley past goalkeeper Alex Meret and send Antonio Conte’s side in to the break behind.

Return and reunion with families of four soldiers brings bittersweet joy and relief after 15-month hostage ordeal

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Nineteen-year-old Naama Levy became an indelible symbol of Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel. In footage from that day, an armed man dragged the barefoot and bleeding soldier out of the back of a Jeep on to a street in Gaza. Her arms were tied behind her back and blood pooled in the seat of her pajamas. Onlookers cheered at her distress.

For months, the women of Levy’s all-female surveillance unit – tatzpitaniyot – had noticed unusual practice raids and drills taking place on the other side of the fence, but their reports and warnings were ignored by commanders. Fifteen women from the unit were killed when Hamas fighters stormed their base on the Gaza border, and seven taken hostage.

After scoring on 68 minutes, Erling Haaland’s expression was pure box office – and who could blame him? Manchester City had hit the front, Chelsea were cowed, and relief mainlined through Pep Guardiola.

The ruthless striker’s 18th Premier League goal of the season was a sweet lofted effort fashioned over a backpedalling, out-of-position Robert Sánchez in the Chelsea goal: Haaland watched the ball kiss the net, then offered a comical what-else-do-you-expect face to the jubilant congregation.

Ditching hanging out for isolated scrolling on our sofas is a dangerous habit that warrants help on a par with gambling

Over the decades, research has chipped away at our most cherished ideas about human specialness: it turns out that we share such things as theory of mind, empathy, and time perception with many other creatures.

But there is one feature of humanity that we can claim to be uniquely our own. Animals – unless captured by humans or infected with zombie parasites – tend to act staunchly in their own interests. Why is it that this frog or that bat or this humming-bird behaves in the peculiar way it does? The answer is almost always the same: to further its survival and the propagation of its genes.

Pressure growing on Labour to improve trade with EU as Rachel Reeves admits Brexit damaged UK

Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to forge closer economic links with Europe five years on from Brexit, as a major new poll shows voters clearly favour prioritising more trade with the EU over the US.

The MRP survey of almost 15,000 people by YouGov for the Best for Britain thinktank shows more people in every constituency in England, Scotland and Wales back closer arrangements with the EU rather than more transatlantic trade with Washington. MRP polls use large data samples to estimate opinion at a local level

Maria Eugenia Nieva was reluctant to complicate her friendship with fellow musician Andrew. Then one day she could no longer deny her true feelings

• Find more stories from The moment I knew series here

When I was 29, I moved from Argentina to Sydney on a whim, following one of my best friends. It was late 2022 and I had a one-year working holiday visa for Australia. Initially, everything was new and exciting, but the shine soon began to wear off.

In Argentina, I was a professional mezzo-soprano, but in Sydney I was racked by homesickness and working several service-industry jobs just to get by.

The teenage prodigy who scooped his way into national consciousness on Boxing Day has a lot to prove on Australia’s upcoming tour and beyond

If you’re Sam Konstas, you’re used to things moving quickly. It took 718 first-class runs to get into the Australian team. It took 113 Test runs to potentially change the way it is set up. For almost two years since Travis Head won a shootout in India, the plan has been clear: on the next ragging Asian pitch, the usual No 5 would skip up the order, opening the batting to target rare overs of seam or to smack spinners using a harder ball. Usman Khawaja would partner him with graft, the veteran regular opener bridging the gap after David Warner’s retirement.

A few weeks before Australia’s imminent series in Sri Lanka, though, that plan was turned upside down. Konstas is also an opener. Konstas is also in the squad. On the momentum of the moment, Konstas is going to play. So either Khawaja moves down the order for the first time in years, Konstas plays out of position in his third Test, or Australia abandon the Head plan that has sat there for so long waiting to be implemented. However it goes will mean a major last-minute change on the basis of a Test career that reads 60, 8, 23, 22.