We said goodbye to Casper Ruud (12) last night but, perhaps, not a moment too soon: the Norwegian now able to return home to be with his wife, Maria, ahead of the expected birth of their first child this weekend.
Tumaini Carayol was on hand as he went down 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to Ben Shelton (8).
Australia’s southern states are scorching in extreme heat that could break temperature records in Victoria and South Australia on Tuesday.
January and all-time records were forecast to be set in both states, with temperatures approaching 50C across inland areas, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Strikes knock out electricity to 80% of Ukraine’s second-largest city and surrounding region and damage 11th-century Kyiv monastery. What we know on day 1,434
Russian drones and missile strikes hit Kharkiv on Monday, knocking out power to 80% of Ukraine’s second-largest city and the surrounding region and striking apartment buildings, a school and a kindergarten, local officials said. Two people were injured, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said in a video posted on Telegram. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said an “energy site” had been targeted in the city as night-time temperatures dipped to -14C. The capital, Kyiv, has been hit by three massive air attacks since the New Year, knocking out power and heating to hundreds of buildings. The war correspondent and executive director of war crimes unit the Reckoning Project, Janine di Giovanni, has suggested Russian president Vladimir Putin is intentionally “weaponising the savage eastern European winter”.
In Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home town, Russian drones hit a high-rise apartment building, the head of the industrial city’s military administration said. Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram that the impact triggered a fire, but residents in the city south-east of Kharkiv were safely evacuated. Reuters could not independently verify the reports and there was no immediate reaction from Russian officials.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has warned Ukraine is facing its “harshest winter” for over a decade. He urged lawmakers in the European parliament on Monday to show flexibility on the use of EU funds and welcomed the French move to seize a suspected shadow fleet tanker in a hit to Russia’s model of funding its war. Rutte also highlighted Nato’s continued support of Ukraine with US military equipment worth billions of dollars – and noted Ukraine’s desire to join Nato, but pointed out some member states remained opposed, so “politically, it’s practically not on the cards” for now. Rutte dismissed a potential European alternative to Nato without the US, saying: “Putin would love it.”
Ruttesaid the aim of the ongoing US-led peace talks should be a peace deal or a long-term ceasefire “as soon as possible”, saying that Ukraine’s security “I think we all know … is also our security”. Discussing Zelenskyy’s recent comments that the US security guarantees are “close to being agreed upon”, he acknowledged the major and “very sensitive” issue of territory with Russia, saying only Ukraine could decide what, if any, compromise they accepted. He flatly denied that the US tried to leverage its promise of security guarantees for Ukraine in talks with Nato on Greenland.
Another Russian drone and missile attack has damaged parts of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Ukraine’s culture ministry said on Monday. The attack on Ukraine’s most famous religious landmark – a Unesco world heritage site – took place overnight to Saturday, the ministry said, leaving “damage to doors and window frames”. Agence
France-Presse was not able to immediately verify the extent of the damage. Orthodox Christians consider the complex Ukraine’s spiritual centre. Founded in the 11th century, it is home to more than 100 buildings as well as a subterranean labyrinth of caves where monks stay and worship. Unesco added it to its list of endangered landmarks in 2023, citing the “threat of destruction” from Russia’s ongoing offensive.
Kim Jong-un has viewed sculptures for a memorial of soldiers who died in Ukraine. The North Korean leader visited the Mansudae art studio on Sunday to guide the creation of the sculptures, state media KCNA said on Monday. He said they would “convey forever the legendary feats ... of admirable sons of the DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”. Under a 2024 mutual defence pact with Russia, North Korea sent about 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, where more than 6,000 of them were killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and western sources. Kim has repeatedly lauded the troops’ “heroism” in fighting abroad and honoured them, including greeting and decorating them and working personally on the memorial for the fallen soldiers.
Legislation, which also bans mobile phones in high schools, would make France the second country after Australia to take such a step
French lawmakers have passed a bill that would ban social media use by under-15s, a move championed by president Emmanuel Macron as a way to protect children from excessive screen time.
The lower national assembly adopted the text by a vote of 130 to 21 in a lengthy overnight session from Monday to Tuesday.
A conflicted mood has lingered over Utah’s long-running film festival with premieres and parties continuing but stars speaking out against government cruelty
The news began to spread through the Sundance film festival on Saturday morning, as people emerged from early screenings or long nights out at the bars on Main Street.
“If you all have not heard what’s going on in Minnesota this morning, someone else was murdered by ICE,” director Ava DuVernay told the audience at a panel on freedom of expression, referring to the shooting that morning of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, by Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) agents in Minneapolis.
Sundance film festival: strong performances from Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan anchor a sensitive film about caregiving as a form of rehabilitation
One of the greatest achievements of a certain kind of Sundance movie is the ability to shine a light on an experience or community we hadn’t previously been aware of. This year’s stoic and sensitive drama Frank & Louis takes us behind bars, a place we’ve been many times before at this festival, but to shadow the taxing work of inmates taking care of those who have dementia, a specifically difficult job in an already difficult place. Petra Volpe, the Swiss writer-director, who last explored a far more known form of caregiving in exhausting nursing drama Late Shift, makes her English language debut with a film inspired by the “Gold Coats” peer support program at the California Men’s Colony state prison.
As with her previous film, there’s real rigour to how she zeroes in on the grind of under-appreciated labour, but while Late Shift was more naturalistic and experiential, Frank & Louis is far more formulaic and emotional, a clearer bid for the heartstrings. It’s a topic that’s hard not to get emotional about, the slow loss of one’s mental abilities, something many of us might be horribly familiar with, and it’s a tough, rather hopeless experience to witness on screen.
Frank & Louis is screening at the Sundance film festival and is seeking distribution
Among major changes planned by home secretary are abolishing most forces in England and Wales and creating a national crime agency
After a stream of policy announcements over several months, Shabana Mahmood has unveiled a white paper outlining changes that will affect every police force across England and Wales – and could well abolish most of them.
The home secretary’s department has described it as the biggest overhaul of policing since the service was founded two centuries ago.
A reduction in the number of police forces from the current 43 by 2034 – a review will determine the details.
Labour may have successfully blocked the mayor of Greater Manchester from running for parliament, but this definitely hasn’t solved their problems
Some people call Andy Burnham Labour’s prince across the water and others call him the King of the North. Those are two pretty different symbolisms – the first referring to James Francis Edward Stuart, the exiled son of James II, the second referring to Robb Stark, and later Jon Snow, from Game of Thrones. Everyone on Team Starmer will be sticking with the Stuarts, since that whole saga was defined by fakery and flakery. Since the moment of his birth, there were rumours that James was an impostor. It was all a little bit convenient that, just as his father was about to be deposed, this heir would appear. If history had taught the era anything, it was that having sons could not possibly be that easy.
The Starks, by contrast, were known for honour, bravery and legitimacy, even the ones that were definitely illegitimate. The fact that they are also fictional is a side issue, really, given that none of these routes to power – commanding fealty, raising troops – has much to teach any pretender to Labour’s throne.
US president says tariffs on automobiles, lumber and pharmaceuticals will rise to 25%, accusing Seoul of not living up to a trade deal struck last year
Donald Trump has said he is raising tariffs on South Korean goods including automobiles, lumber and pharmaceuticals, accusing the country of not living up to a trade deal struck last year and briefly sending shares in Korean carmakers tumbling.
In a post on social media, the US president said the tariffs paid on South Korean exports into America would rise from 15% to 25% because the “Korean Legislature hasn’t enacted our Historic Trade Agreement, which is their prerogative”.
Pilot comes at same time as pledge to offer all smokers and ex-smokers lung cancer screening by 2030
NHS England is to trial a combination of AI and robot-assisted care to speed up the detection and diagnosis of lung cancer, the UK’s most lethal form of the disease.
The trial comes at the same time as the health service pledges to offer all smokers and ex-smokers the chance to be screened for lung cancer by 2030.
Author says pace of change in GCSE English literature texts is too slow and tide is turning against inclusion
The Booker prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo has called for renewed efforts to diversify the school curriculum in England, warning that young people are growing up in a society where “doors are closing” and the tide is turning against inclusion.
There has been progress in the diversity of texts on offer in the GCSE English literature curriculum, but uptake in schools is still low with just 1.9% of GCSE pupils in England studying books by authors of colour, up from 0.7% five years ago, according to a report.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds problem is ‘deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years’
The UK’s poorest families are getting poorer, with record numbers of people classed as in “very deep poverty” – meaning their annual household incomes fail to cover the cost of food, energy bills and clothing, according to analysis.
Although overall relative poverty levels have flatlined in recent years at about 21% of the population, life for those below the breadline has got materially worse as they try to subsist on incomes many thousands of pounds beneath the poverty threshold.
The government has cancelled the visa of a Jewish influencer who has previously called for the ban of Islam and was booked to speak at several events in Australia.
The right-leaning Australian Jewish Association (AJA) said Sammy Yahood’s visa was cancelled three hours before his flight was due to depart.
A day of record-breaking heat looms for Victoria, with temperatures forecast to hit 49C in the Mallee and Melbourne facing its hottest day since Black Saturday 2009.
It was 26.1C as the sun rose on Tuesday over the small Victorian town of Ouyen, the Mallee town of 1,170 people whose forecast high of 49C would break the state’s temperature record of 48.8C set in Hopetoun on Black Saturday in 2009.
Authorities allege Ryan Wedding, 44, ‘turned to a life of crime’ after his snowboarding career ended
Ryan Wedding, the Canadian former Olympic snowboarder accused of cocaine distribution and orchestrating several murders, appeared on Monday in a southern California courtroom for arraignment.
The 44-year-old has been charged with drug trafficking, conspiracy to murder, witness tampering and money laundering, among other charges. Authorities allege that after his snowboarding career, Wedding “turned to a life of crime” as a narcotics trafficker and led an organization that moved cocaine from South America to the US and Canada.
18-year-old was expected to stay with Hansi Flick’s side
Joan Laporta describes move as ‘an unpleasant situation’
Barcelona have confirmed the departure of talented young midfielder Dro Fernández to Paris Saint-Germain with the club president, Joan Laporta, describing the situation around his move as “unpleasant”.
Dro, who joined the club at 14, made his first-team debut in September, and turned 18 on 12 January, arrived in the French capital on Sunday night for a medical. Considered one of the outstanding players of his generation, his representatives had appeared to agree a new contract with Barcelona, due to be signed after his birthday, but he informed the head coach, Hansi Flick, of his decision to depart the same week.
Greater Manchester mayor’s hopes of imminent return as MP appear remote as relationship with Starmer at low ebb
Andy Burnham has not given up hopes of returning to Westminster and will try again, allies say, but would need to be convinced that Keir Starmer would not try to block him again before running.
The Greater Manchester mayor’s hopes of an imminent return to parliament appeared remote, however, as No 10 sources suggested that relations between the two men were at a low ebb and played down chances of a rapprochement.
Only one ticket sold for premiere of film about US first lady at Vue’s flagship London branch as insiders question launch strategy
As film exhibitor strategies go, counter-programming is one of the most reliable. It worked for The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia!, released in the US on the same day in 2008, as well as for Dunkirk and Girls Trip in 2017. In 2023, Barbie and Oppenheimer leveraged the tactic to the tune of $2.5bn in combined box office takings.
This week we could see another example as Amazon releases its authorised documentary about Melania Trump in more than 100 UK cinemas. There it will compete against an already-eclectic slate of releases including the Jason Statham action film Shelter, the ape horror Primate, Bradley Cooper’s comedy-drama Is This Thing On? and Richard Linklater’s Jean-Luc Godard fictionalisation Nouvelle Vague.
There is no special trick to the interim manager’s early success, just a commitment to sound and sensible thinking
What must Ruben Amorim make of it? Maybe that 3-4-2-1 might not be the answer for this Manchester United team? Perish the thought. The club’s recently sacked manager was clear that not even the pope would make him change – presumably because Leo XIV is also a big fan of three centre-halves. Saying that, Amorim did come close to losing his religion towards the bitter end, however brief and unconvincing his dalliance with a back four was. He reverted to a three for his final game at Leeds in early January.
The home favourite has taken his speed and returns to new levels in Melbourne, but it’s his serve that will be key against world No 1
Alex de Minaur went into his quarter-final with Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open hopeful that he could make life difficult for the defending champion. Not only did that not happen, but the manner of his one-sided defeat left him wondering if he really had the game to trouble the top players.
Fast forward a year and the Australian again finds himself in the last eight, again facing one of the sport’s superstars, this time Carlos Alcaraz. As with Sinner, the head to head doesn’t make pretty reading for De Minaur, with Alcaraz leading 5-0. This, though, is their first grand slam meeting and there is a growing feeling that things can be different.
Claudia Sheinbaum sent a diplomatic letter requesting more shows, after a worldwide scramble for tickets
Huge demand to see K-pop septet BTS has led the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to formally request of her counterpart, the South Korean president, Lee Jae Myung, that he help arrange more concerts in Mexico.
“Everyone wants to go,” Sheinbaum said at her daily morning press conference on Monday, adding she had sent a diplomatic letter to South Korea’s Lee seeking more concerts.
Judicial review request made in Edinburgh says Avtandil Kalandadze of Russian-flagged Marinera is being detained unlawfully
Lawyers acting for the wife of the captain of a Venezuela-linked oil tanker captured by US forces in UK waters are calling for a judicial review of his situation, claiming he is being detained unlawfully.
The Marinera, a Russian-flagged vessel previously known as Bella 1, has been in the Moray Firth in recent days.
Warning: this video contains footage that may be distressing to some viewers
At about 9am on Saturday, US federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse who was observing immigration officers in the city. The Guardian’s video team has pieced together footage showing the attack from different angles
Thierno Barry’s debut season in English football must have tested the patience of David Moyes at times but the Everton manager’s perseverance is being rewarded.
The £27m summer signing from Villarreal struck his fourth goal in five Premier League games as Everton turned the tide on Leeds. A point apiece reflected a dominant half apiece, though both managers felt they could have had more.
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