Japanese star retains all four major title belts at 122lbs
Inoue lays claim as world’s top pound-for-pound boxer
Round 3
Kim lands a good combination to start the round between Inoue’s high guard but the champion responds with a straight right hand. Now Inoue is putting together his punches with alarming efficiency. Excellent body work from Inoue. Snappy, precise shots from Inoue, who is outthrowing and outlanding his South Korean foe. A mouse has appeared under the left eye of the challenger. Kim has given a commendable accounting of himself so far, but the gulf in class between the pair is apparent.
Composer also discusses plans for musical and film score as kingdom attempts to improve its image
Saudi Arabia has asked the Oscar-winning composer, Hans Zimmer, to work on a new version of its national anthem, a senior official said, as the kingdom steps up an image makeover.
Zimmer, whose film scores include the 1994’s The Lion King, Dune and the Dark Knight trilogy, has agreed to the “broad outlines” of the project, the General Entertainment Authority chair, Turki Alalshikh, said.
Chronically handsome and brooding he may be, but the actor’s casting in a new film has inverted the traditional Star Wars formula by bringing in an established star. Will it work?
What exactly is the essential DNA of Star Wars, its unique selling point, its defining je ne sais quoi? Is it its uncanny ability to turn space wizards, walking carpets and beep-booping rubbish bins into the backbone of a multibillion-dollar mythology? Naturally, it’s the creation of a preposterously hopeful galaxy in which a lowly moisture farmer can become a Jedi knight, or a hardbitten bounty hunter can find himself playing surrogate daddy to a tiny green enigma who communicates entirely through coos, ear twitches, and an ability to devour live amphibians. And it’s most definitely the conviction that you can slap a fresh coat of CGI on a 40-year-old spaceship, throw in a few cryptic prophecies about destiny, and still convince millions that this time – this time! – it’s all leading somewhere achingly, untouchably profound.
But what it’s never really been, ever since George Lucas began mulling the idea of a big budget space opera influenced by 1930s adventure serials and 1950s Japanese samurai flicks, is a star vehicle. Which is why this week’s news that Ryan Gosling is to join a new Star Wars film being directed by Deadpool & Wolverine’s Shawn Levy feels downright weird. It’s as if the Mona Lisa suddenly showed up as a background painting on the set of a TV sitcom.
Outcome of internal investigation remains to be heard
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has confirmed that the Swiss public prosecutor’s office will not initiate legal proceedings against its general secretary, Veron Mosengo-Omba, after an investigation into allegations of dishonest management, fraud and forgery of documents.
Mosengo-Omba had denied the claims, which were revealed by a public disclosure from the federal criminal court of Switzerland in October, and met with the Swiss public prosecutor’s office in November to answer questions relating to the preliminary investigation. He said on social media that the payments related to “remuneration and bonus” he had received from Caf since becoming general secretary and that they were made in “full transparency” and “full compliance with Caf statutes”.
‘Baseline’ contamination study to inform Netherlands trial in which shops will sell drug produced by licensed growers
Lead, pesticides and potentially harmful bacteria were among the contaminants found during an investigation into cannabis sold in semi-legal “coffee shops” in the Netherlands.
The research, which aimed to establish a “baseline” level of typical contamination , was carried out by the Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction (Trimbos Institute). It will be used to inform a trial starting in April in which shops in 10 municipalities will sell cannabis that is produced by licensed growers and subject to limits on contaminants.
Defending champion faces Zverev in Sunday showdown
An hour into one of the greatest occasions of his young tennis career, Ben Shelton was soaring. As he faced the daunting challenge of Jannik Sinner, Shelton frustrated the best player in the world early on with his potent forehand, athleticism and variety of shot. Up set point and 6-5 on his serve, Shelton was well positioned to take a surprise early lead on Rod Laver Arena.
While Sinner’s mental toughness used to be considered a flaw, one of the qualities obstructing him from finally winning the biggest titles, today few players tackle these important moments with such composure and consistency. From set point down, Sinner spectacularly elevated his level, turning the first set around before marching to another supreme victory on a court that is becoming his fortress.
From Europe to Canada, Africa, China and Brazil, most countries appear to have doubled down on their commitment to tackle crisis
World leaders, senior ministers and key figures in climate diplomacy have, one by one, reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement this week, in response to the order by Donald Trump to withdraw the US from the pact.
The prospect of the world keeping temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, as the treaty calls for, was damaged by the incoming US president’s move. Hopes of meeting the target were already fast receding, and last year was the first to consistently breach the 1.5C limit, but the goal will be measured over years or even decades and stringent cuts to emissions now could still make a difference.
Halts to external communications, publishing reports and reviewing and approving research a ‘dramatic shift’
US health agency employees are now banned from nearly all travel and certain agencies and programs have been ordered to stop issuing new contracts and grants until further notice.
The limits on travel and spending, announced internally on Wednesday, add to previous indefinite halts on external communications, including publishing new reports or even posting to social media, and on reviewing and approving new medical research, a nearly $50bn industry in the US.
This long and awful war has taught Ukrainians to love and value their country – and its beauty – even more
Last November, my wife Elizabeth planted a great many tulip and daffodil bulbs in the cold autumn soil, so that in the spring, even more flowers than usual would bloom around our village house, located an hour’s drive from Kyiv. Our neighbours have sown garlic and onions for the winter, planted flowers and scattered fertiliser over the ploughed land, thoughtful of another year’s harvest.
But between now and the spring, there is winter and there is war.
Nicola Walker narrates the account of the 10 Rillington Place murders in the 50s – and the macabre media whirlwind that followed
The Peepshow opens in 1953 with a sex worker being approached by a middle-aged man in spectacles in London. When she asks if he’d like to go home with her, he is insistent she come to his house. After she declines, he suggests they meet in Paddington the following day where, after completing their “business”, he will take her to his home to take some nude photos. But when the time comes, the man doesn’t show up. That weekend, she sees his photo in the News of the World and learns that he is John “Reg” Christie, now missing after police uncovered the bodies of three women, each of them strangled to death, behind the kitchen alcove in his house at 10 Rillington Place.
Kate Summerscale’s follow-up to 2020’s The Haunting of Alma Fielding unpacks the Christie murders, setting them against a backdrop of postwar London where the air was filthy, racism was rife and “spivs and flash boys … frequented the drug dens, gambling clubs, pubs and late-night cafes”.
(Rock Action) Conceived in troubled circumstances, the Glasgow band’s follow-up to their 2021 chart-topper As the Love Continues is compelling balm
After the triumph of scoring an unlikely pandemic UK No 1 album with As the Love Continues, things quickly turned very difficult for Glasgow four-piece Mogwai, with the daughter of multi-instrumentalist Barry Burns taken seriously ill. Thankfully, she is “going to be fine”, but the title of their 11th album (it’s a Glaswegian term for hell) gives an indication of how troubled its gestation was.
Grammy-winner John Congleton (St Vincent, John Grant, Sleater-Kinney) produces for the first time, but this doesn’t represent any sort of radical departure. For the most part, Mogwai now soothe where once they roared (save on the appropriately named Lion Rumpus), gentle repeated motifs unhurriedly opening out into more expansive shapes, as on the sublime Pale Vegan Hip Pain or the constantly questing Hammer Room. Meanwhile, the vocoder-heavy Fanzine Made of Flesh comes across like a more purposeful Sophtware Slump-era Grandaddy, and If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others is a masterclass in artfully deployed dynamics. Thirty years into their career, Mogwai remain as absorbing as ever, their fire undimmed.
Israeli government seeks to keep military positions in southern Lebanon past deadline agreed in ceasefire deal
Israel is seeking the backing of the Trump administration to delay its military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, despite a ceasefire agreement stipulating all Israeli troops should leave by Sunday.
The request for a 30-day extension follows claims that Israel would like to keep up to five outposts in southern Lebanon.
This week, the bishop of Washington delivered a sermon in front of President Trump urging him to show mercy towards LGBTQ+ and migrant communities. The president condemned it as ‘nasty’. We reproduce it in full
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on Earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!” Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Joined by many across the country, we have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a nation – not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.
The Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde is the Episcopal bishop of Washington
(Columbia) The British rapper gathers his bangers and chart-toppers together with less impactful work on this 17-track record
Since 2020, London rapper Central Cee has proven himself a hitmaker. His early singles Day in the Life and Loading have been streamed more than half a billion times, drawing listeners in with a combination of high-energy verses and drill-influenced beats, while 2022’s tongue-in-cheek Doja became a TikTok hit thanks to its bravado-laden R&B feel; 2023’s anthemic Sprinter topped the UK charts for 10 weeks.
On his long-awaited debut album, Can’t Rush Greatness, Cee taps into that hit-making sensibility but struggles to maintain momentum across 17 tracks. Thunderous 808 kicks and snapping snares appear throughout, bolstering numbers such as Top Freestyle and the Skepta-featuring Ten to provide the perfect backdrop for Cee’s lively verses celebrating his fame and fortune, but the cumulative effect means that tracks bleed into one another. When he tries to branch into different sonic palettes the results are uneven. Walk in Wardrobe is too minimal in its rattling percussion and piano chords, yet Now We’re Strangers showcases a standout downtempo vocal performance over R&B guitar. A debut that gestures tantalisingly to a different side of Central Cee’s sound but which stays mired in his usual performance.
Rebel group’s advance has had a devastating toll on the civilian population, UN secretary general says
António Guterres has voiced alarm over the M23 rebel group’s advance towards eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s largest city in a renewed insurgency that has displaced more than 178,000 people in the past two weeks.
In a statement though his spokesperson, the United Nations secretary general said M23’s advance had had a devastating toll on the civilian population and heightened the risk of a broader regional war.
(Young/Atlantic) Coining a word to describe a particular state of euphoria, twigs effortlessly juggles left-field digitals and club pop tunes on album No 3
It’s a slippery concept, but FKA twigs’s third album title roughly translates as an instance of feeling perfectly at one inside oneself, the Cartesian mind-body split healed over. An example might be diving unselfconsciously into a rave in Prague, as twigs did while filming The Crow in 2022. Alternatively, it might be the moment before orgasm. “It feels nice,” she choruses simply on Room of Fools, a track that explores the somatic healing potential of the dancefloor with an exuberance that tilts both at Kate Bush and Middle Eastern vocalisations. Girl Feels Good drives home the point that the world spins better when women feel good, recalling, of all people, Madonna.
FKA twigs has long operated at the bleeding edge of left-field digital musicianship, with incursions into the mainstream reminding fans she could do pop, if she wanted to. Eusexua is one of those instances writ large, where gnarly electronics – in collaboration with producer Koreless – remind you of her outsider status while the tunes sing out. A hymn to anonymous encounters, Perfect Stranger is club pop powered by a little two-step syncopation, while a more minimal, emotional track such as Keep It, Hold It contains explicit advice for how to get through hard things.
Got a houseplant query? Our expert is here to answer them. This week, the tricky business of getting the Ficus lyrata through the winter
What’s the problem?
How can I prevent leaf drop in winter? My fiddle leaf fig is looking bare …
Diagnosis
The fiddle leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) can be a fickle plant, and winter presents a particularly challenging time because they’re sensitive to light, temperature and humidity changes. Leaf drop is a common issue during this season, often caused by drafts, low humidity or insufficient light. Keeping the heating on all day may not be the solution, as dry, heated air can exacerbate the problem.
Irish meteorological service, Met Éireann, has published a map of wind observations at 7am across Ireland.
Additionally, in its post on X, the weather service noted the maximum gusts and highest mean speeds recorded at 7am. You can see those below:
This is highly unusual, this means between 7am and 2pm tomorrow there is a likelihood of widespread disruption, danger to life and damage to buildings, and our strong advice and the advice of the PSNI is to stay at home if at all possible.”
Vote on Sunday will see extension of Lukashenko’s 30-year stranglehold on power
Before we look at some other events in Europe today, here’s my Guardian colleague Pjotr Sauer’s story on this Sunday’s vote:
In 2020, accusations of electoral fraud triggered months-long demonstrations, drawing hundreds of thousands of Belarusians to the streets. The authorities detained more than 35,000 people, many of whom were tortured in custody or forced to flee the country.
Since then, the Lukashenko regime, backed by Vladimir Putin – whom Minsk in turn supports in the war in Ukraine – has intensified its repression of even the smallest acts of dissent, charging critics with extremism and terrorism for actions as minor as leaving critical comments on social media or following so-called extremist Telegram channels.
Some other transfer talk, via X, and the Telegraph’s Luke Edwards, who was sat with Eddie Howe this morning. Abdukodir Khusanov is now headed to big-spending Manchester City.
”Howe confirmed this morning that Newcastle had done all the preparation to sign Khusanov this month but were simply unable to move because of PSR situation. Man City swooped in and got him instead. Newcastle would have liked to sign him in the summer. Paul Mitchell a big fan of the centre back. Unless there is a late twist, Newcastle will not be signing anyone this month.”
The overnight transfer talk comes via Simon Burnton.
There has been the odd awkward incident – sometimes if I’m pulling a tight jumper over my head, I’ll accidentally knock my nose off
I hated my nose when I was younger. I thought it was huge and pointed, and when I was little, classmates called me Concorde. As an adult, my husband would jokingly duck when I turned round. But other than it not being the neat little stub nose I dreamed of, it never caused me any problems.
In 2012, while out on a walk near my home in Redditch, Worcestershire, my dog, Cece, jumped up at me, knocking my nose. It was sore, but not broken. A few days later, though, it was still painful and had started to swell.
(Music to Watch Seeds Grow By) The Pittsburgh composer moves between soporific light and dissonant shade on this plant-inspired meditative journey
In 1976, composer Mort Garson released Mother Earth’s Plantasia, an album of early electronic ditties designed to help listeners’ house plants grow. Though its horticultural facility is questionable, it became a cult classic among record collectors, beloved for its sweet, jaunty music as much as its concept. Propagation is also the raison d’être of Music to Watch Grow Seeds By, a new cassette label that pairs a packet of seeds with a release. For its second instalment, the delphinium elatum takes centre stage, providing the inspiration and part of the production process for Pittsburgh-based sound artist Davis Galvin, who used the perennial’s lilac petals to make marks that then formed part of a score.
Joining the dots between ambient, new age and dub, Prism is a slow-building, meditative record that ebbs and flows without pause, more soundscape than standalone tracks. But an uncanniness lies beneath the calm. Opener Sipes’ Vista hinges on a deep, oscillating synthlead, which builds into a tangle of mutating low-end frequencies. The subterranean flurry comes to a head on the second track, Humidity 14, where hissing static cuts through the atmospheric textures. Later, it’s more subtle: a loungy guitar riff in Grasshopper (Solo) is scattered with barely audible mutterings, weird glitches and found sounds from walks around California and Mexico City. The dissonant layers add a disorienting edge to an otherwise soporific listen.
Connexion
