Popular Mavic drone will be replaced by homegrown option with longer range, says minister; digital transformation of Ukraine defence ministry and military announced. What we know on day 1,428

Ukraine’s new defence minister has announced troops will begin fielding a homegrown replacement for the Chinese-made DJI Mavic drone. Reliance on China for drones and components has been a major concern for Ukraine given Beijing’s close relationship with Moscow. The retail-grade Mavic is used widely for aerial reconnaissance on the frontlines by both sides, even though Ukraine already builds many of its own “suicide” attack drones – as well as defensive versions used to take down Russian drones. Mavic drones are prized by Ukrainian army units, who are often supported by volunteer groups that continuously run campaigns to source Mavics and raise funds to buy them. Mykhailo Fedorov, the defence minister, said: “We will have our own Mavic analogue: the same camera, but with a longer flight range.” Fedorov did not disclose the manufacturer of the Ukrainian version.

Fedorov on Tuesday promised a sweeping data-driven overhaul of Ukraine’s military to reward commanders achieving results on the battlefield and give Ukrainian forces the upper hand. Fedorov said he would start by overhauling the vast defence ministry’s management and spending, emphasising the importance of “the mathematics of war”. He promised a mission control system for drone flights and for artillery crews to increase the data available about crews’ performance and effectiveness. Fedorov said Ukraine would establish a system allowing its allies to train their military artificial intelligence models on Kyiv’s combat data collected throughout the war including combat statistics and millions of hours of video taken by drones.

A Russian air attack cut power to more than a million Kyiv residents and affected substations carrying power from Ukraine’s nuclear plants on Tuesday. Ukrainian officials had warned in recent days that Moscow would target nuclear-related facilities. The UN atomic watchdog said several substations critical for nuclear safety were affected by the attack, while power lines to some other nuclear plants were affected.

Drone and missile strikes killed four people: three in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia and one in the Kyiv region surrounding the capital. Other regions in the east, south and north of Ukraine also came under attack. “In Kyiv alone, as of this evening, more than one million households remain without power,” said Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his Tuesday evening address. “And a significant number of buildings have no heating, more than 4,000 apartment buildings.” Authorities in the northern region of Chernihiv bordering Russia said 87% of the population was without power.

All off-site power was also temporarily lost at the Chornobyl plant – where the reactor destroyed in the world’s worst civil nuclear catastrophe is entombed and requires constant monitoring for safety. “While Russian officials speak about the ‘importance’ of power lines, their forces deliberately strike substations, directly endangering nuclear safety,” said Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha.

A new round of peace talks at the weekend between US and Ukrainian officials was followed on Tuesday by a meeting at Davos in Switzerland between envoys for presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Kiril Dmitriev, the Russian envoy, said their meeting on a possible peace deal to end the war had been “very positive” and “constructive” and claimed that “more and more people are realising that Russia’s position is right”. Dmitriev met Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Zelenskyy urged the US to pile more pressure on Moscow, saying it had “not yet had the strength” to stop Russia. “Can America do more? It can, and we really want this, and we believe that the Americans are capable of doing this,” said the Ukrainian president. Zelenskyy said some of the Russian missiles fired on Tuesday had been produced this year and called for tougher sanctions on Moscow to curb its production. He said he was ready to travel to Davos if Washington was ready to sign documents on security guarantees for Ukraine and a postwar prosperity plan.

For years, Beijing has struggled to gain a foothold in Greenland, in part because of US and Danish unity. Trump’s fraying of that alliance could create the opening it needs

According to Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, China and Russia must be having a “field day” about Donald Trump’s plans for Greenland, which Kallas says will divide Nato.

But according to Trump, his plans are motivated by a desire to counter the very threat that Kallas identified. “World peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

The ‘very stable genius’ zigzagged wildly in a packed press room – Nato’s future lies in the hands of a modern Caligula

“I was quite the baseball player, you wouldn’t believe,” said Donald Trump, suddenly wistful as he recalled his salad days when his mother would tell him, “Son, you could be a professional baseball player,” and he would reply, “Thanks, mom.” Carpe diem!

Not for the first time on Tuesday, the US president had veered wildly off topic. The point of this story was a “big building” that “loomed over the park” in Queens, New York, where he used to play little league baseball. When he asked why it had bars on the windows, she told him it was a mental hospital.

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Sabalenka (1) 2-0 Bai* Bai starts with a slower second serve which Sabalenka easily returns and Bai meekly hits her backhand into the net. Bai is clearly nowhere near Sabalenka’s level. The Belarusian takes the second game and Bai hasn’t got a point yet.

*Sabalenka (1) 1-0 Bai Sabalenka dominates from the get-go. Hitting two backhand winners off Bai’s serve return. She’s loud and looking confident. Make that three, Bai doesn’t even bother stretching to reach it. And the first game is done and dust in slightly over two minutes as Sabalenka fires down a forehand which Bai flails towards but can’t make any contact.

Emmy award winner faces charges of inappropriately touching a minor while on set directing a TV series

A judge has ordered that actor Timothy Busfield be released from jail during a detention hearing on child sex abuse charges .

The order Tuesday by state district court judge David Murphy is linked to accusations that Busfield inappropriately touching a minor while working as a director on the set of the series The Cleaning Lady.

Close family friend says Nico Antic had ‘devastating injuries’ and was fighting for his life after more than 60 hours in hospital

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The family of the 12-year-old who was attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour are grieving as they contemplate “the worst possible outcome”.

The boy, named as Nico Antic in an online fundraiser, has been fighting for his life after being bitten on both legs on 18 January at a harbour beach in Vaucluse, in Sydney’s east.

Mark Ruffalo, Brian Eno and Abigail Disney sign letter timed for WEF in Davos saying wealthy are buying political influence

Nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries are calling on global leaders to increase taxes on the super-rich, amid growing concern that the wealthiest in society are buying political influence.

An open letter, released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, calls on global leaders attending this week’s conference to close the widening gap between the super-rich and everyone else.

Actor says it is ‘more important than ever’ to safeguard city’s parks as report finds more than 50 are at risk

Dame Judi Dench has called for greater protections for London’s parks and green spaces, as research finds more than 50 of the city’s parks are at risk from development.

The Oscar-winning actor has long loved trees, and in 2017 fronted a BBC documentary about her love for them. She plants a tree every time a close friend or relative dies, including for her late husband, Michael Williams, who died in 2001, and the actor Natasha Richardson, who was killed in a skiing accident in 2009, and one for her brother Jeffery Dench, who died in 2014.

The number of small venues shrank by just nine in 2025, but more than half of them reported making no profit, while employment in the sector dropped almost 22%

The number of grassroots music venues (GMV) in the UK shrank in effect by just nine in 2025, the lowest rate of annual decline since 2018.

Thirty venues closed permanently between July 2024 and 2025 and 48 ceased functioning as GMVs, citing financial viability, change in ownership and eviction or redevelopment. However, 69 spaces that had previously ceased operating as GMVs returned to the sector.

European countries now reliant on US liquified natural gas shipments, creating risk of higher bills amid recent tensions

Donald Trump has a stranglehold over EU and UK energy supply as a result of Europe swapping its dependency on Russia for reliance on the US, analysis has shown.

In part due to the war in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions on Russian pipeline gas, European countries have become dependent on shipments of US liquified natural gas (LNG), according to a paper co-authored by the Clingendael Institute, in The Hague, the Ecologic Institute, in Berlin, and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

‘Cost-cutting’ announcement comes amid uncertainty over deal struck with Saudi Arabia to perform in Riyadh

New York’s Metropolitan Opera has announced a round of layoffs, pay cuts and program reductions as it grapples with financial strain.

The organization cited problems left over from the Covid pandemic, which drastically affected performing arts shows across the US and internationally.

The scars remain and there is much to be fixed still but this was a step towards reconciliation. It was something of a statement too, and not just in the goals scored but the reaction to them. Nine days after Xabi Alonso’s sacking, six after their captain said they had hit rock bottom with Copa del Rey elimination and three after the protest of a generation, white hankies and whistles greeting the players and even the president, there were songs and support at last as Real Madrid defeated Monaco 6-1.

Kylian Mbappé, Franco Mastantuono and Jude Bellingham all scored, while there was an own goal from Monaco’s Thilo Kehrer. More significantly still, the man who had been at the centre of the storm made three of the six goals and smashed in a superb strike of his own. And if Vinícius Júnior, who had stood accused before the game and stood with the MVP trophy at the end of it, wasn’t entirely ready to share his moment with fans yet, his first goal here since October saw teammates come to his side. He then hugged his new coach, Álvaro Arbeloa, who claimed that was the embrace of the whole of Madrid.

• 29-year-old had stimulants and kratom in system

• Death investigated as possible overdose or suicide

American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky had a combination of stimulant and psychoactive substances in his system when he died last year, according to a toxicology report released by North Carolina authorities.

Naroditsky, 29, was found dead at his home in Charlotte in October 2025, a loss that sent shockwaves through the global chess community. At the time, police said his death was being investigated as a possible overdose or suicide. No official cause was announced.

In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

• Ellis: ‘Careful not to throw stones in glass houses’

• Ex-USWNT coach criticises anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in US

• Qatar said to be in talks to stage 2028 Women’s Club World Cup

Fifa’s chief football officer and former USWNT coach Jill Ellis has criticised anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the United States and spoken of not wanting to “throw stones in glass houses” when discussing the prospect of Qatar hosting the 2028 Women’s Club World Cup.

The Guardian revealed earlier this month that the world’s governing body is in discussions about Qatar potentially staging the new tournament, which will be held from 5 to 30 January 2028. While Ellis said she had not heard of any such talks personally, she appeared to be open to the tournament being played in the Middle East.