World No 8 defeates Mikael Ymer 7-5, 6-1 in qualifier
Aleksandar Vukic beat Leo Borg 6-4, 6-4 for 2-0 lead
Trusty Davis Cup old hand Alex de Minaur and late-blooming new boy Aleksandar Vukic have put Australia well on the road to victory in their first-round qualifying tie against Sweden in Stockholm.
World No 8 de Minaur, in his first outing since his Australian Open quarter-final drubbing by Jannik Sinner, had to subdue comeback man Mikael Ymer before running away to a 7-5, 6-1 victory on Friday (Saturday AEDT).
The National Transportation Safety Board has recovered the flight “black box” from the US military Black Hawk helicopter involved in Wednesday’s deadly crash with a commercial airliner, and it appears to be undamaged, NTSB member Todd Inman said Friday.
The black box – containing a flight data and cockpit voice recorder – was “in good condition” despite its accident with an American Airlines jet in Washington DC, Inman said. But, he said, the NTSB would not be releasing information from the device immediately as investigations into the crash that killed more 67 people aboard both aircraft continued.
Forest service website among many sites affected as agencies scramble to comply with president’s orders
On Thursday, the Trump administration ordered the US agriculture department to unpublish its websites documenting or referencing the climate crisis.
By Friday, the landing pages on the United States Forest Service website for key resources, research and adaptation tools – including those that provide vital context and vulnerability assessments for wildfires – had gone dark, leaving behind an error message or just a single line: “You are not authorized to access this page.”
The coalition government will be led by the conservative New Flemish Alliance party’s Bart De Wever
Five Belgian parties struck a coalition deal on Friday to form a new government headed by the Flemish conservative Bart De Wever, after more than seven months of tortuous negotiations.
The agreement paves the way for De Wever to become the first nationalist from the Dutch-speaking Flanders region to be Belgian premier – although in recent years he has backed off on calls for it to become an independent country.
Teams fought out fiercely contested draw in September
Martin Ødegaard is relishing the “heat” of Arsenal’s rivalry with Manchester City and is ready to put his friendship with Erling Haaland to one side when the teams meet on Sunday.
Ødegaard was injured for the bad-tempered 2-2 draw at City in September when Haaland, his Norway teammate, confronted Mikel Arteta at the final whistle and told the Arsenal manager to “stay humble”. Haaland scored the first goal but City needed a late John Stones strike to rescue a point against a team they have not defeated in their past four meetings. Arsenal have finished as runners-up to City in the past two seasons and Ødegaard is expecting an extra edge to proceedings.
‘It’s no surprise to me that they are able to compete’
Arne Slot has credited Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, with turning Bournemouth into one of the toughest assignments in the Premier League.
Hughes joined Liverpool last summer from Bournemouth, where he had been technical director during the club’s rise from the Championship and led the appointment of Andoni Iraola as manager. The former Bournemouth and Portsmouth midfielder was also responsible for players such as Justin Kluivert to the Vitality Stadium. He was appointed Liverpool’s sporting director by Michael Edwards, a friend from their time together at Fratton Park.
If England can tighten up and not rely on individual brilliance, they’ll have a chance in their Six Nations clash with Ireland
Not long ago you wouldn’t have thought of England as a team who produce many magic moments. Their approach at the 2023 World Cup was certainly different but, as we saw in the autumn, England can produce something from nothing. My worry is that they can be too reliant on those moments. Marcus Smith is a magician, capable of some spellbinding stuff, but there are only so many rabbits he can pull out of a hat.
Put simply, England have some room for improvement in terms of precision from their launch plays. To win in Dublin for the first time since 2019 they need to show better shape and patterns, which in turn give Marcus more opportunities to do his stuff. In the autumn most of what Marcus showcased wasn’t as a result of shape or patterns, it was instinct – darting down the blindside, leading counterattacks or picking off an intercept against New Zealand.
Welsh losing run continues as Les Bleus prove too strong
Worrying times for the Welsh, worrying times, indeed, for all the four teams who have a game coming up against this France team in the next few weeks. They started the 2025 Six Nations by beating Wales 43-0, a record score against them in a home game, and they did it at a canter. It’s hard to say which side of the score they’ll be more pleased with, the seven tries or the shutout. The only blemish for the French was a red card for Romain Ntamack, who was sent off for a high tackle on Dan Edwards when there were 10 minutes left to play. It did not make much difference this weekend but, who knows, maybe it will in the next one, when they play England at Twickenham.
Wales have lost 13 in a row now. They looked awfully small out there waiting for the start, surrounded by flames, fireworks, and the blindingly bright blue, red and white lights, while their handful of travelling fans were drowned out by the tens of thousands of French. Their captain, Jac Morgan, gathered his men into a huddle and did his best to steel them for what was coming. Being ready for the blow, though, did not make it any easier to wear when it came. Within minutes, Morgan’s team were reeling backwards when Thomas Ramos kicked a 50-22, and Antoine Dupont barrelled his way over underneath the posts.
Our writers highlight the films they find endlessly rewatchable, including Notting Hill and Married to the Mob
“Feelgood” movies are often thought of as big-hearted romantic comedies, comforting classics, or childhood favourites that still hold up decades later. In our series, My feelgood movie, Guardian writers reflect on their go-to flick, and explain why their pick is endlessly rewatchable.
This list will be updated weekly with further picks.
Defending Your Life is available to rent digitally in the US and the UK
RFK Jr’s proposal to remove fluoride from tap water is a matter for debate. But his plans to improve school lunches and crack down on additives are laudable
The United States and Britain: two countries divided by a common language and by very different approaches to health, whether it’s how healthcare is accessed, what kind of food products are sold in supermarkets, what is advertised on TV or even what is in the water that we drink from our taps. Having lived in both countries for an extensive period, the UK, in my opinion, takes a more sensible approach to implementing pro-health and wellbeing policies, closely linked to EU regulations. But the US could soon be following suit, under a range of proposals from a surprising source:Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr. As I laid out last month, many of his ideas are potentially dangerous for public health – from bizarre conspiracy theories to anti-vaccineviews and campaigning – and completely divorced from data and reality. But a couple of them could turn out to be beneficial.
For example, the US still allows certain additives banned by the UK and EUto be added to ultra-processed foods such as cereals, sweets and biscuits, despite the fact that they have been linked to hyperactivity in children. Kennedy has suggested this week that he will ban some of these in food products. Depending on what exactly he does, thisisn’t a radical suggestion: it may just put the US in line with what is done in other countries. It’s the same with his suggestions to regulate the advertising of pharmaceutical products and improve the nutritional quality of school meals.
Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Richard Grenell’s visit prompts fresh speculation of rapprochement between Washington and Caracas
A Donald Trump special envoy has flown to Venezuela to hold talks with its authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, fuelling fresh speculation of a possible deal between the two governments.
Richard Grenell, a prominent Maga cheerleader and diplomat who was the US ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, was set to land in Caracas on Friday, according to CNN.
US secretary of state to visit region amid concern over Trump threat to ‘take back’ canal and tensions over China
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, will travel to Central America this week on a five-country tour that will focus on limiting migration to the United States, curbing Chinese influence in the region and on securing Donald Trump’s ambitious goal of reasserting US control over the Panama canal.
Rubio will travel to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic from Saturday to Thursday this week, meeting with the presidents of each. It is the first time in more than a century that a secretary’s first official visit abroad will be to Central America.
Firefighters believe Palisades fire started from small blaze that may have reignited due to hurricane-force winds
As Los Angeles grapples with the aftermath of the devastating fires that killed dozens and laid waste to entire neighborhoods, the potential causes of the disasters are beginning to come into focus.
The siege of wildfires, sparked amid powerful Santa Ana winds earlier this month, created chaos around the city for weeks. They scorched around 60 sq miles (155 sq km) of the city, destroying the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods, and killed at least 29 people. Preliminary estimates of the economic losses have exceeded $250bn. Firefighters have only recently managed to achieve near containment of the fires, and residents begin returning to what remains of their communities, looking for answers.
Internal email says agency is ‘reviewing’ programs and contracts that ‘promote or incubate gender ideology’
US state department employees must scrub gender pronouns from their email signatures by Friday evening, according to an internal email obtained by the Guardian, joining the list of other agencies reportedly sent a similar memo.
The directive came from former ambassador Tibor P Nagy, now the acting under-secretary for management, writing to staff that the department was also launching a comprehensive review to eliminate what he called “gender ideology” from government communications and programs.
US neighbors hit with 25% tariff and China with 10% as Trudeau pledges ‘forceful but reasonable’ response
Donald Trump has vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China starting this weekend, potentially setting the stage for a damaging trade war between the US and three of its biggest trading partners. Trump also threatened to follow up with a further wave of tariffs against the European Union.
Goods exported from Canada and Mexico to the US will be hit with a 25% tariff, while products from China face a 10% levy, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters on Friday.
Manchester United are simultaneously the world’s fourth-richest club while taking away free cereal bars for stewards
Bad news for Marcus Rashford, who was described by Ruben Amorim last week as being so poor in training that he would rather play his goalkeeping coach. Great news, on the other hand, for new 63-year-old wide forward Jorge Vital, now weighing up a number of offers from Serie A and Saudi Pro League clubs, and whom Manchester United are hopeful of shifting from the wage bill before the end of the transfer window.
For this cash-strapped theatre of ghosts, trying to build its new cast of dreams on the bones of the old, perhaps every pound helps. Corporate box guests at Old Trafford no longer get a free match programme each and are instead invited to download the dictated thoughts of Amorim via a QR code. Free cereal bars for matchday stewards were cut at the beginning of the season. The annual £100 staff Christmas bonus was replaced by a £40 M&S voucher. Concessionary tickets for children and the senior citizens were temporarily withdrawn.
Sundance film festival: A desperate wannabe attaches himself to a singer on the rise in a darkly compelling breakout from Alex Russell, writer for Beef and The Bear
There’s something remarkably assured about Alex Russell’s attention-demanding thriller Lurker, a buzzy Sundance debut that’s made with an unusual amount of self-awareness. The majority of this year’s first-time narrative films have been cursed with an overabundance of either in-your-face style or precariously stacked ideas (or, even worse, both) and a frantic need to show how much one can do, often showcasing how little can be done well.
But Russell, a TV writer whose credits include Beef and The Bear, is the rare freshman who knows exactly the right balance, often choosing less when others choose too much, his film a relatively simple yet extremely confident introduction. It’s a contemporary pop-culture riff on an obsessive psycho-thriller, the kind we were flooded with in the 90s in which an outlier enters the life of someone who has something they want, recalling Single White Female and The Talented Mr Ripley as well as something more recent and comedic like Ingrid Goes West. Russell takes this formula and extracts most, if not all, of the heightened genre elements to give us something a little more grounded, dialogue more rooted in reality and a canny realisation that murder isn’t always needed to create menace.
Lurker is screening at the Sundance film festival and is seeking distribution
There are a bunch of new laws in place for this year’s Six Nations:
Conversions must take place within 60 seconds.
Lineouts to be formed within 30 seconds (same as scrums)
No stoppage for lineouts that aren’t straight if the defending team doesn’t contest.
9s (or players at the base of a ruck, maul or scrum) have more protection from defenders (effectively given more space).
20 minute red card – players can still get sent off, but after 20 minutes they can be replaced by a teammate, which means we can hopefully stop talking about red cards ruining games.
A fatal crash on 29 January took down a commercial jet and a US military helicopter on a training flight near Washington DC’s Reagan National airport. Authorities have said all 64 people on the American Airlines flight were presumed dead as well as three more on the army helicopter, making the incident the deadliest US air tragedy since 2001.
Colombian links up with Cristiano Ronaldo in £71m deal
Neymar rejoins Santos from Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal
Jhon Durán has completed his move from Aston Villa to Al-Nassr for a fee of up to £71m, becoming the latest player from one of Europe’s top leagues to move to Saudi Arabia.
The 21-year-old Colombia international will team up with Cristiano Ronaldo and wear the No 9 shirt. The initial fee is about £65m and represents a significant profit for Villa, who signed him from Chicago Fire for £18m. Durán has scored 12 goals in 29 games for Villa this season, including a memorable winner against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Palestinians return to Gaza, Americans survey the aftermath of the Palisades fire and Hindus gather at the Shahi Snan in India: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing
Sharp rise in population in 11 of 16 cities expected to continue as rising temperatures make it easier for the animals to breed, say researchers
Rat numbers are soaring in cities as global temperatures warm, research shows.
Washington DC, San Francisco, Toronto, New York City and Amsterdam had the greatest increase in these rodents, according to the study, which looked at data from 16 cities globally. Eleven of the cities showed “significant increasing trends in rat numbers”, said the paper published in the journal Science Advances, and these trends were likely to continue.
Move to issue 03-mini model follows sudden arrival of much cheaper Chinese rival DeepSeek’s R1
OpenAI is releasing a new artificial intelligence model for free, after the company said it would speed up product releases in response to the emergence of a Chinese rival.
The startup behind ChatGPT is issuing the AI, called o3-mini, after the surprise success of a rival product by China’s DeepSeek. It will be available without charge – albeit with usage limits – to people who use the free version of OpenAI’s chatbot.
IRS handbook containing mentions of taxpayers’ ‘inequity’ and ‘inclusion’ have been wiped, WSJ reports
As the Trump administration continues to get rid of diversity programs throughout the government, it is deleting any mention of the words “diversity,” “equity” and “inclusion”.
That meant that in the Internal Revenue Service’s procedural handbook for employees, the terms were wiped out when referring to finances and tax procedures rather than actual DEI programs, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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