Ukrainian president and German chancellor praise US efforts after Trump claims Putin agreed to pause, as six killed in latest Russian strikes. What we know on day 1,437

German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have welcomed “efforts in favour of a truce”, Berlin said, after Donald Trump claimed Vladimir Putin had agreed to a week-long halt on attacks on Ukraine’s power grid after Moscow’s strikes left millions without heating during an “extreme” cold snap. Merz at the same time stressed that “the systematic and brutal destruction of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure by Russian attacks” was “still ongoing”, which he condemned “in the strongest terms”, his spokesperson said on Thursday. Zelenskyy said he was counting on the US to help secure the claimed week-long pause in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy network. The Ukrainian president thanked Trump and said he expected the agreement to be implemented. “We hope the United States can make this happen.” Ukraine’s state weather agency on Thursday forecast a drastic dip in temperatures to as low as minus 30C in coming days as authorities race to restore power services.

Donald Trump claimed Vladimir Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for one week after he issued a personal appeal to the Russian leader, Andrew Roth reports. Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not immediately confirm the ceasefire was in place but said that the US president had made an “important statement … about the possibility of providing security for Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities during this extreme winter period”. The short-term ceasefire, which has not been confirmed by Russia, was first announced during a cabinet meeting of Trump’s top advisers at the White House on Thursday. “I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and various towns for a week and he agreed to do that,” Trump said at the meeting.

Russian attacks killed six people in central and southern Ukraine on Thursday, regional authorities and emergency services said. In the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian shelling killed a 62-year-old man and women aged 26 and 50, emergency services said, as well as causing a major blaze in an apartment building. Firefighters also battled fires in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where two people were injured. In the Kherson region, a Russian bombardment killed a 46-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. A Russian attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rig killed one elderly woman, the head of the city’s administration said.

Ukraine is working with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to stop Russia from guiding drones using the firm’s Starlink internet system, according to the Ukrainian defence minister, after Kyiv said it had found Starlinks on long-range drones used in Russian attacks. “We are grateful to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and personally to Elon Musk for the quick response and the start of work on resolving the situation,” Mykhailo Fedorov said on Telegram on Thursday. SpaceX did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

The European Union has blacklisted Russia for risk of money laundering, the EU foreign policy chief has said. “This will slow down and increase the costs of transactions with Russian banks,” Kaja Kallas told reporters.

Woman and man accused of sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol faced what is likely to be one of the severest punishments since Aceh province adopted sharia law

Sharia police have caned a couple 140 times each in Indonesia’s Aceh province for having sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol, likely one of the severest such punishments since the deeply conservative region adopted Islamic law.

Sexual relations between an unmarried couple are strictly outlawed in Aceh, the only place in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, to impose sharia law.

Law will give private companies more control but experts unsure whether reforms go far enough for US

Venezuela’s congress has approved a bill making significant changes to the country’s oil sector after pressure from the US to open it up to foreign private investment.

The new hydrocarbons law promises to give private companies control over oil production and sales, ease taxes and allow for independent arbitration of disputes, while largely maintaining state control over oil production.

Ecosystem known as the Com is carrying out extreme exploitation, violence and sexual abuse, says report

A leading UK online safety charity has issued a “public warning” about a hacking community that is targeting vulnerable children for sexual abuse, self-harm and suicide.

The Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) said online networks linked to a global ecosystem labelled the Com were carrying out extreme exploitation, cyberbullying, violence and abuse – and called for a coordinated global response from governments, regulators, law enforcement and tech companies.

Nico O’Reilly gives Manchester City options, Sunderland miss Granit Xhaka’s grit and West Ham find a way

Just when Brighton supporters were hoping their side was building some momentum after a run of five games undefeated in all competitions, Saturday’s stoppage-time loss to Fulham arrived. Fabian Hürzeler’s side led at half-time, but their collapse was typical of performances on the road this season. Securing only two away wins – against Chelsea in September and Nottingham Forest in November – has undermined their challenge for Europe. Their next two games at the Amex, against Everton on Saturday and arch-rivals Crystal Palace next week, are an opportunity to make up some ground. Only seven points separate them from Chelsea in fifth place, but Brighton’s record against David Moyes’s side at home is terrible, having failed to beat them since 2019 when a late Lucas Digne own goal sealed the points for Graham Potter against an Everton team managed by Marco Silva. Ed Aarons

Brighton v Everton, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Leeds v Arsenal, Saturday 3pm

Wolves v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

Chelsea v West Ham, Saturday 5.30pm

Swedish study of 100,000 women found higher rate of early detection, suggesting potential to support radiologists

The use of artificial intelligence in breast cancer screening reduces the rate of a cancer diagnosis by 12% in subsequent years and leads to a higher rate of early detection, according to the first trial of its kind.

Researchers said the study was the largest to date looking at AI use in cancer screening. It involved 100,000 women in Sweden who were part of mammography screening and were randomly assigned to either AI-supported screening or to a standard reading by two radiologists between April 2021 and December 2022.

Democratic senators question national intelligence head’s fitness for office after overt, unexplained appearance

Democratic lawmakers are raising questions about why Tulsi Gabbard, the president’s director of national intelligence, was “lurking” in Fulton county on Wednesday while FBI agents carted off boxes of 2020 election documents.

Gabbard visited an elections hub in Fulton county, home to Atlanta, on Wednesday as the FBI executed a search warrant for records related to the 2020 election. The warrant sought all ballots from the 2020 election in the county, tabulator tapes, ballot images and voter rolls, according to a warrant obtained by the Guardian.

• Boxer fights back tears in first video since fatal car crash

• Joshua: ‘I am going to do what is right by them’

An emotional Anthony Joshua has insisted he knows what he has got to do after the death of close friends Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele last month, adding that their company was akin to “walking with giants”.

The two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria on 29 December which killed Ghami and Ayodele and shocked the boxing fraternity.

• AFC prize pot stagnates amid global women’s football boom

• Tournament is now world’s lowest-paying continental competition

It has been billed as the most successful Women’s Asian Cup to date, yet prize money at the upcoming tournament in Australia will not increase from what was offered by the Asian Football Confederation at the last edition four years ago.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the world’s oldest women’s national team competition introduced prize money for the first time in 2022, distributing US$1.8m among the nations who finished in the top four.

Sundance film festival: the story of the Marion County Record and the forces that tried to destroy it is expanded for a charming, and concerning, look at freedom of the press

On 11 August 2023, police officers executed a search warrant on the offices of the Marion County Record, a small, family-owned paper in central Kansas. Local law enforcement seized the computers, cell phones and reporting materials from all staff, as well as from the homes of one city council member and paper co-owner Eric Meyer, without incident – though they met the impassioned resistance of Meyer’s 98-year-old mother Joan, the paper’s other co-owner, who threw her walker to the ground and declared the raid “Nazi stuff”.

“This is illegal,” Eric Meyers warns the officers, as seen in a new documentary on the episode. “You’re going to be on national news tonight.”

• Celtic race into 3-0 lead inside 19 minutes and win 4-2

• O’Neill’s side now face either Stuttgart or Ferencvaros

This was only briefly a little more fraught than it needed to be and looked as if it would be for Celtic. Martin O’Neill can focus on the most important factor in that he has guided the Scottish champions into the Europa league’s playoff phase. Job done, once again, for the effervescent O’Neill. Ferencvaros or Stuttgart lie in wait after Celtic closed in 21st place.

Celtic were fully deserving of their win in what unexpectedly developed into an entertaining clash with Utrecht. O’Neill, thought to be a managerial yesterday’s man not so long ago, continues to do his bit for 70-somethings everywhere. The Irishman will know Celtic must improve to make meaningful, further progress in this competition but such detail can wait. Even continuation in the Europa League had looked a long shot at one point. Utrecht will be delighted to see the back of a tournament which yielded just a single point from eight grisly fixtures.

Presumably, come Friday lunchtime, Evangelos Marinakis will have more than one eye on events at the House of European Football, Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon.

Not only will Olympiakos discover their Champions League playoff opponents but Nottingham Forest will learn whether they will face Fenerbahce or Panathinaikos, his Greek team’s arch rivals, in the Europa League playoffs. Marinakis, the Forest owner, would be public enemy No 1 if Sean Dyche’s side end up across town in Athens.

• 38-year-old faces recent nemesis at Australian Open

• Djokovic rested after only 11 completed sets in Melbourne

Novak Djokovic has insisted that he will not “walk out with a white flag” as he prepares for his latest battle with one of the ATP’s dominant top two in a grand slam semi-final, this time against the two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday in Melbourne.

“I’m creating my own history, and I think I’ve been very clear when I say that my intention is always to … get to the championship match in every tournament, particularly slams,” Djokovic said. “Slams are one of the biggest reasons why I keep on competing and playing tennis. So that’s all I can say.

Senator says she is running ‘for every Minnesotan who wants ICE and its abusive tactics out of the state we love’

Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic US senator and one-time presidential candidate, announced she will run for governor of Minnesota, an expected move after the incumbent governor, Tim Walz, dropped out of the race in early January.

Klobuchar’s announcement comes less than 24 hours after Walz said that he would never run for public office again.

Met Office issues yellow rain alerts in south-west, with 66 flood warnings – indicating expected flooding – in force

Nearly 150 flood alerts remain in place across England as communities continue grappling with the aftermath of Storm Chandra.

A yellow rain alert spanning from noon to midnight on Thursday has been issued for parts of south-west England, with the Met Office warning that more flooding could hit roads, homes and businesses.

The Oscar-nominated star of The King’s Speech will check in for the new season of hit comedy drama set in France

Oscar-nominee Helena Bonham Carter has joined Steve Coogan for the fourth season of HBO’s comedy drama The White Lotus.

Bonham Carter is one of three new cast members officially announced today alongside Chris Messina and Marissa Long. Messina is known for roles in Sharp Objects, The Mindy Project and Julie & Julia, while Long is a model with only a short film to her name as an actor.

Federal transportation regulator to investigate after child in Santa Monica sustained minor injuries from incident

The US’s federal transportation regulator said Thursday it had opened an investigation after a Waymo self-driving vehicle struck a child near an elementary school in southern California last week, causing minor injuries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the child in Santa Monica ran across the street on 23 January from behind a double parked SUV towards the school and was struck by the Waymo autonomous vehicle during normal school drop-off hours. The agency said there were other children, a crossing guard, and several double-parked vehicles in the vicinity.

The iPhone maker reported first-quarter earnings after market close

• Big tech results show investor demand for payoffs from heavy AI spending

Apple released its first quarter earnings on Thursday, exceeding Wall Street’s expectations and seeing its revenue skyrocket 16% from the same time last year.

“Apple is proud to report a remarkable, record-breaking quarter, with revenue of $143.8bn,” Tim Cook, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. “iPhone had its best-ever quarter driven by unprecedented demand, with all-time records across every geographic segment.”

Anthony Kazmierczak faces federal assault charges after he appeared to spray the congresswoman with liquid from a syringe

The Department of Justice has filed federal charges against the man accused of attacking Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday. In newly filed court documents, a “close associate” told investigators that the alleged attacker previously said that someone “should kill” the Minnesota lawmaker.

Local police arrested and booked Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, for third-degree assault after he appeared to spray Omar with an acidic-smelling liquid from a syringe as she addressed constituents from a lectern.

US president says he made appeal to Russian leader, but no ceasefire has been confirmed by Moscow or Kyiv

Donald Trump has claimed that Vladimir Putin has agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for one week after he issued a personal appeal to the Russian leader due to the extreme cold in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, did not immediately confirm the ceasefire was in place, but said that Trump had made an “important statement … about the possibility of providing security for Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities during this extreme winter period”.

Avaaraq Olsen tells content creators to think before making jokes after German tried to raise Stars and Stripes in Nuuk

The mayor of Greenland’s capital has called on media professionals and content creators to act responsibly after a German comedian’s failed attempt to hoist the US flag.

Maxi Schafroth, 41, a Bavarian comic, tried to run up the Stars and Stripes on a flagpole near the cultural centre in Nuuk but was confronted by angry passersby.

Agency updates guidance after increase in reports of condition to its yellow card scheme

Patients on weight-loss jabs and diabetes injections should be aware there is a small risk of developing severe acute pancreatitis, the UK medicines regulator has said.

About 1.6 million adults in England, Wales and Scotland used GLP-1 medication, such as semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro), between early 2024 and early 2025 to lose weight, according to recent research.

Order allows direct flights from US to Venezuela, as major oil companies already on ground to assess potential operations

Donald Trump has ordered the immediate reopening of commercial airspace over Venezuela, weeks after US military forces toppled the dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Speaking at the White House during his cabinet’s first meeting of the year, Trump said he had just concluded a telephone conversation with Venezuela’s acting president (and former vice-president), Delcy Rodríguez, in which he informed her of the decision to restore flight access.

Protesters need support following the bloody crackdown by a ‘zombie’ regime – not wild threats or worse from the US president

The brutality of Iran’s crackdown on protesters is almost unfathomable. Despite the authorities cutting off communications and destroying evidence, it is clear that a regime never reluctant to shed its citizens’ blood has done so with unprecedented zeal, sensing an unprecedented threat from unrest across the country, challenging not only its policies but its very existence.

Officials have reported 3,000 deaths, but human rights groups have tallied many more, and a network of medical professionals has estimated that 30,000 could have been killed. Security forces shot people dead as they fled a fire and are arresting doctors for helping the wounded.

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