Djokovic produces another hold to go up 2-1 but his inability to land a first serve is already looking like it could be an issue going forward. Landing just four of his 21 serves at the first time of asking so far, the Serb was taken to break point four times in that game only to fight back and eventually produce the hold. Unable to land a decisive blow, the host broadcaster is already postulating that the occasion may be getting to Zverev.
A much less dramatic hold for Zverev, working his serve and baseline play to drop just a single point.
The murders of three little girls in the seaside town led to horror – and then racist riots. Now the teenaged killer has been sentenced to 52 years. Josh Halliday reports
It was hard to imagine a more unlikely place for horror to unfold than a community centre holding a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the sleepy seaside town of Southport. So when three little girls were murdered and eight other children and two adults viciously stabbed by a 17-year-old boy, it seemed incomprehensible. But before the shock could wear off, misinformation and lies about who had unleashed this misery began to spread. The result was days of racist riots and violence.
Josh Halliday, the Guardian’s North of England editor, covered the attacks, the riots and now the court case of Axel Rudakubana as he was sentenced to 52 years in prison. On Monday, as the jury was expected to be sworn in, the now 18-year-old Rudakubana shocked everyone by pleading guilty to all the charges he was faced with. And this week the judge gave him a life sentence.
Announcement comes day before Donald Trump will visit fire-torn areas and amid criticism around state water supply
Gavin Newsom has signed a $2.5bn relief package to help areas of Los Angeles recover from the devastating fires that have been burning for nearly two weeks. The funds were announced during a press conference on Thursday in Pasadena, just outside of Altadena, the town hit hardest by the Eaton fire, which ignited on 7 January.
The signing of the bipartisan aid package comes a day before Donald Trump is set to visit the fire-torn areas and amid continued criticism of the California governor and other state officials’ management of the state’s water supply. It also follows a new blaze, the Hughes fire, which sparked on Wednesday morning and quickly grew. It is now 36% contained and has burned nearly 10,400 acres (4,209 hectares), according to Cal Fire.
Ras Baraka and other state lawmakers express outrage as sanctuary cities nationwide brace for similar Ice actions
The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, said an immigration raid in the city was done without a warrant, and led to the detainment of undocumented residents as well as citizens.
Newark mayor Ras Baraka said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) had raided a local establishment. “Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” he wrote in a statement.
Serge Atlaoui is expected to be transferred after an agreement was reached with the government in Paris, Yusril Ihza Mahendra says
A French man who has been on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for alleged drug offences is expected to return home in weeks after an Indonesian minister said an agreement would be signed on Friday to allow his transfer.
Serge Atlaoui is expected to return to France on 5 or 6 February, the senior minister for law and human rights affairs, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, told Reuters on Friday.
Trump says Opec should cut oil prices to starve Russia of war funding; Ukraine evacuating children from towns in Kharkiv region. What we know on day 1,066
Russian crews were responding to an air attack in the Ryazan region south-east of Moscow over Thursday night. Social media channels posted videos of what appeared to be very large blazes in the city and said a major oil refinery and a power station had been hit by Ukrainian drones. The Ryazan governor, Pavel Markov, said air defence units destroyed drones. The Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said air defences intercepted attacks by Ukrainian drones at four locations around Russia’s capital and more drones headed for the capital.
Donald Trump has told the Davos World Economic Forum conference that he wants to meet Vladimir Putin soon and “stop this ridiculous war”. Trump, who has threatened to impose punitive measures on Russia if no deal is reached, said: “I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended … And that’s not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It’s from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted … It’s a carnage. And we really have to stop that war.”
Heather Stewart writes that in his online address to Davos, the US president accused the Opec global oil producers of prolonging the Ukraine war by failing to cut their prices, which, if they did, would hurt Russian oil revenues and “the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately”.
The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was nothing particularly new in Trump’s threats about ending the war but Moscow was following closely “all nuances” in rhetoric and remained open to dialogue. Peskov said Trump had often applied sanctions on Russia during his first term as president.
Trump’s comments have been welcomed by Ukraine. “We do really welcome such strong messages from President Trump and we believe that he will be the winner. And we believe that we have an additional chance to get new dynamic in diplomatic efforts to end this war,” said Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha.
Russia has rejected the idea of Nato countries sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. Maria Zakharova, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, said it could cause an “uncontrollable escalation”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, said on Tuesday that at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would be needed to prevent a new Russian attack after any ceasefire deal.
Ukraine announced evacuations of children from several towns in the north-eastern Kharkiv region threatened by Russian forces. The Kharkiv region governor, Oleg Synegubov, said “267 children and their families are to be evacuated from 16 settlements to safe places”. Synegubov said the towns and villages affected were near Kupiansk, a town Russia has tried to capture for months where fighting is raging around its outskirts. “The decision was made due to the intensified hostile shelling. We urge families with minors to save their lives and leave the dangerous areas,” Synegubov said.
Ukraine is in the final stages of drafting recruitment reforms to attract 18- to 25-year-olds who are currently exempt from mobilisation, the battlefield commander recently appointed to the president’s office said. Col Pavlo Palisa said the current drafting system inherited from Soviet times was hindering progress. Though Ukraine has already passed a mobilisation law lowering the age of conscription from 27 to 25, the measures have not had the impact needed to replenish its ranks or replace battlefield losses in its war with Russia.
One initiative is what Palisa described as an “honest contract” that includes financial incentives, clear guarantees for training, and measures to ensure dialogue between soldiers and their commanders. The plan would also target Ukrainians who have the right to deferment or were discharged after the mobilisation law was passed. “As of now, my view is that we need to start an open dialogue with society,” Palisa said. “Because the defence of the state is not only the responsibility of the armed forces. It is the duty of every Ukrainian citizen, and it is their obligation.”
Osama Najim, also known as Almasri, was detained on Sunday in Turin under an arrest warrant issued by The Hague-based international criminal court (ICC).
Similar to a bomb, the diving style developed by Māori and Pasifika communities has become a national pastime
Over summer, a strange phenomenon plays out along New Zealand’s waterholes. Bridges, wharfs, cliffs and swimming pools throng with people readying to leap. Jumpers launch into the air, twist themselves into a v-shape – bums down, limbs akimbo – until they hit the surface, forcing water upwards in an almighty splash.
The bigger the splash and the more inventive the jump, the louder the cheers.
Harvey Elliott deserves a Liverpool start, Chelsea should go for the jugular at City and Mikey Moore would help Spurs
In a surprise to pre-season predictors, this match is as important as a fixture in January can be in the battle for Champions League football. Nottingham Forest head into the weekend level with second-placed Arsenal, while Bournemouth are three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and seven back from Forest. The scrutiny on both teams is growing but they keep answering the questions thrown at them. Despite having no out-and-out striker last weekend, Bournemouth put four past Newcastle, giving Nuno Espírito Santo a warning. Justin Kluivert scored a hat-trick, his second of the season, at St James’ Park as Andoni Iraola’s flexible front four excelled. Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo might feel more confident against a natural No 9 but Forest’s centre-back pairing will relish the challenge. Will Unwin
Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)
The policy stands in contrast to instances during the Biden administration when gay pride and Black Lives Matter flags were flown
The US Department of State has banned consular posts from flying any flags other than that of the US as part of the Trump administration’s pledge to crack down on diversity efforts in government institutions.
A cable seen by the Guardian titled “One flag policy” appears to target several instances during the Biden administration when gay pride and Black Lives Matters flags were flown at embassies abroad.
Game performances from Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace lift this silly but diverting action movie set almost entirely on a small aircraft
Irritating though it is to be conceding anything to the objectionable Mel Gibson (whose 2006 film Apocalypto is very good), his new film does serve up a fair bit of entertainment value. It is an action suspense thriller set almost entirely on board a rickety small-prop plane, flying in a desperately dangerous situation through the Alaska wilderness. First-time feature screenwriter Jared Rosenberg had his script on the Black List of unproduced screenplays for four years before Gibson picked it up.
Michelle Dockery plays Madelyn, a deputy US air marshal who arrests a bespectacled mob accountant called Winston, played by Topher Grace; this white-collar malefactor had been hiding out in a squalid, remote Alaska hotel room. The cringing Winston is persuaded to turn state’s evidence against his capo paymaster and so Madelyn has to transport him to the nearest city for the trial, fully chained up as a flight risk. The only way of getting him there through this snowy wasteland is in an alarmingly tiny plane piloted by the cheerful Daryl Booth, a Texan good ol’ boy played by Mark Wahlberg.
As part of a sweeping crackdown on both undocumented and legal immigrants, Donald Trump signed an executive order on 20 January following his swearing-in as president that tries to end the right to citizenship for some children born in the United States.
In a country where birthright citizenship regardless of lineage is a deeply held value, the president’s attempt to cut off that right for future generations could create a permanent underclass, through policy change that would specifically target communities of color.
World No 7 is not fully fit but has mental edge in semi-final over opponent who has repeatedly cowered under pressure
Even before he had undergone medical tests, defined the nature of his physical ailment and planned for his recovery, Novak Djokovic knew what was in store for him in the days after his remarkable quarter-final victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday, which he pulled off despite struggling with left thigh pain.
Just as he suggested post-match, Djokovic has not been present on the practice courts at Melbourne Park for Friday’s semi-final with Alexander Zverev. After being absent from the practice schedule on Wednesday, his scheduled 2pm training session had been wiped from the list on Thursday morning.
Executive order also aims to declassify federal records on killings of Robert F Kennedy and Martin Luther King
Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about the 1963 assassination of John F Kennedy, which has fueled conspiracy theories for decades.
The executive order the president signed on Thursday also aims to declassify the remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of Robert F Kennedy and the Rev Martin Luther King Jr. The order is among a flurry of executive actions Trump has quickly taken the first week of his second term.
Andrews' dropped pass cost Baltimore in playoff loss
Longtime tight end breaks silence with Instagram post
Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews has been the subject of fan ire since he dropped a pass with 1:33 remaining that would have tied the AFC divisional round game against the Buffalo Bills late in the fourth quarter last Sunday.
He remained quiet until Thursday, when Andrews finally addressed the 27-25 loss in an emotional message posted to Instagram that acknowledged both his regret and his resolve to move on.
Winning is the only cast-iron way to control the message in football. So after Ruben Amorim’s various recent rhetorical wrong turns this added-time, sixth victory of a chequered 16-game Manchester United reign was needed.
On 88 minutes it seemed very far from on as Harry Maguire missed a header to enable Cyriel Dessers to steal in and equalise with aplomb. But, then, Bruno Fernandes’s late strike grabbed the points, his winner following Jack Butland’s odd, back-fisted punch for an own-goal opener that will haunt the No 1 for many a day.
President claims to be ‘putting people over fish’ but critics say order could derail years of carefully crafted water policy
It didn’t take long for Donald Trump to reignite the California water wars he waged in his first term.
On his first day in office, Trump directed the secretary of commerce and the secretary of the interior to develop a new plan that will “route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply”.
The party will announce the winner of the leadership race on 9 March
Justin Trudeau’s announcement that he will step down in the coming months means Canada’s Liberal party needs a new leader. The party will announce the winner of the leadership race on 9 March. That person will become prime minister – but might only have weeks on the job.
With the Conservatives eager for an election, the government could fall when parliament returns in late March if other opposition parties join a vote of non-confidence.
Sir Ben Ainslie has said he is “astounded” after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Britannia team announced a parting of ways with the four-time Olympic champion for this year’s America’s Cup. He also threatened to launch a “significant” legal fight in response.
Ainslie’s crew overcame Italy in the Louis Vuitton Cup series to qualify for the showpiece event for the first time since 1964 last year. However, Emirates Team New Zealand went on to claim the Auld Mug in a 7-2 win in Barcelona last October.
American Oversight has raised concerns over ‘department of government efficiency’ using encrypted apps
A leading ethics watchdog has issued warnings to Donald Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk and the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), an agency Trump has stated he will create, claiming its use of encrypted messaging apps potentially violates the Federal Records Act (FRA).
American Oversight, which uses litigation to obtain public records and expose government misconduct, argues that Musk’s leadership of Doge raises “significant ethical concerns about potential conflicts of interest”, given his business empire and the substantial impact that Doge could have on federal agencies.
Federal government appeals against law critics say disproportionately affects hijab-wearing Muslim women
Canada’s top court has agreed to hear a challenge to Quebec’s controversial secularism law, paving the way for a fierce debate over provincial powers and the fundamental rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
The supreme court signaled on Thursday that it would grant leave to appeal against the 2019 law which prohibits certain public workers in positions of authority – including judges, police officers, prison guards and teachers – from wearing religious symbols while at work. Other public workers such as bus drivers, doctors and social workers must only keep their faces uncovered.
Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins say they cannot support nominee, raising fresh doubts about confirmation chances
Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced that they would oppose the nomination of Pete Hegseth to become the next US secretary of defense, making them the first two Republican lawmakers to publicly reject one of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks and raising fresh doubts about the controversial nominee’s chances of confirmation.
Murkowski indicated her opposition to Hegseth in a statement shared on social media on Thursday, in which she criticized the Fox News host and army veteran as lacking the experience and character needed to lead the Pentagon.
While temporary communications pauses are not entirely abnormal as new administrations find their feet, the orders come at a time of high anxiety for US scientists and public health workers.
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