Apparent pause in Russia-Ukraine hostilities comes amid concern that peace talks set for Sunday in Abu Dhabi will be delayed. What we know on day 1,438

Rising tensions over possible US strikes on Iran have injected fresh uncertainty into the plans for senior Ukrainian and Russian officials to meet in Abu Dhabi this weekend for another round of talks. “The date or the location may change,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “From our point of view, something is happening in the situation between the United States and Iran, and those developments could affect the timing.”

“It is very important for us that everyone we agreed with be present at the meeting, because everyone is expecting feedback,” Zelenskyy told reporters in remarks released by his office on Friday. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, had said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who attended the previous round of talks, would not participate in the weekend meeting in Abu Dhabi.

Ahead of the possible talks, there has been a notable reduction in attacks by Russia and Ukraine against each other as Ukraine continues to experience one of its coldest winters in decades, with many people living without electricity and heating. The Ukrainian capital is bracing for an especially cold spell from Sunday, with temperatures forecast to fall as low as -26C. Zelenskyy said he was waiting to see if Russia would observe a proposed pause in strikes on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, saying on Friday there was no formal ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia, Pjotr Sauer writes. But Zelenskyy said Kyiv would halt such strikes if Moscow did the same. Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that Vladimir Putin had agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for a week. The Kremlin has acknowledged the request but declined to say whether the Russian president had agreed to it. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov indicated the measure would end on Sunday.

Zelenskky noted on Friday that in all regions, “there were indeed no strikes on energy facilities from Thursday night to Friday”. “Ukraine is ready in reciprocal terms to refrain from strikes and today we did not strike at Russian energy facilities,” he said.

Incoming Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten – whose D66 party struck a minority coalition deal to form a government this week – said he opposed the suggestion by some European Union leaders that the EU should reopen diplomatic channels with Russia so that Donald Trump could not set the tone for talks with Moscow. Jetten pledged that his new government would continue to support Kyiv and said he would not speak to Moscow because there were currently “no indications” Russia wanted to end the war in Ukraine. “And as long as the aggression continues, we will continue our support for the Ukrainian people.” He also said Europeans should have “a much stronger debate about what can Europe do for itself,” and stop looking at the US under Trump.

Meanwhile, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has stepped up his opposition to Ukraine joining the EU, claiming the bloc was looking to admit the country in 2027 to help it benefit from the next seven-year financial budget. His comments come after Zelenskyy repeated his target to join the EU in 2027, despite some scepticism in the bloc about the accelerated process that would be required. Orbán’s comments will probably be seen as part of an increasingly fierce campaign ahead of this April’s critical parliamentary election in Hungary, which could see him ousted after 16 years in office.

The BoM forecasts parts of inland NSW will exceed 45C on Saturday, with Thargomindah in Queensland to reach 46C, Mildura 45C and Canberra 41C

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A cool change this weekend is expected to bring an end to eight consecutive days of blistering temperatures above 40C in Australia’s south-east.

But before it does, the heat continued on Saturday. Heatwave warnings remained in place for parts of every state and territory excluding Tasmania, with Canberra forecast to reach a top of 41C and parts of inland New South Wales, including Broken Hill, expected to climb higher than 45C.

University researchers say growth of the hidden fast food industry may pose risks to public health

One in seven food businesses on major delivery platforms, including Deliveroo and Just Eat, is now a “dark kitchen”, a university study shows.

The findings, which shine a light on the scale of the hidden takeaway industry, found that 15% of all online food retailers in England were dark kitchens.

Partial shutdown of government still expected to begin after midnight Friday, lasting at least through weekend

The US Senate approved a major government funding package on Friday, after the killings of two US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis upended spending talks and gave the out-of-power party rare leverage over Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

In a 71-29 tally, the Senate overcame opposition from a handful of Republicans to rally behind a deal the president struck with Democrats, an unusual display of bipartisanship as tensions rise nationally over the presence of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents in US cities.

• Giants owner appears in newly released emails

• Messages show Epstein arranging women for Tisch

• DoJ releases 3.5m pages tied to Epstein case

New York Giants chairman and co-owner Steve Tisch appeared throughout a newly released trove of emails related to Jeffrey Epstein, including communications in which Epstein arranged for Tisch to meet specific women.

The emails, which were sent in 2013, were released Friday by the Department of Justice among 3.5 million documents related to Epstein’s sex trafficking case and were first reported on by the Athletic.

Paul W Brown reportedly voiced concerns about the FBI’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in Fulton county

The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office was reportedly removed from his post after questioning the Trump administration’s renewed interest in investigating the role of Fulton county, Georgia, in the 2020 election.

The agent, Paul W Brown, had expressed concerns around the unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in Fulton county, which have been perpetuated by Donald Trump since he was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to an MS NOW report on Friday. Citing sources, MS NOW also reported that Brown refused to carry out searches and seizures of records connected to the election that Trump lost four years before winning a second presidency in 2024.

World No 1 is on the verge of a fifth grand slam title, but former Wimbledon champion has proved she can cause problems

At the end of yet another semi-final in Melbourne on Thursday night, Aryna Sabalenka slammed the door shut on Elina Svitolina with a searing forehand winner, her 29th of the night. It was another near flawless performance from the Belarusian, another match she dominated from start to finish without any response, reinforcing her status as the leading hard court player of her generation.

Six matches in, Sabalenka’s fourth consecutive run to the Australian Open final has proved one of her most impressive. She is yet to drop a set and has shown how much her game has evolved by also dominating the net and peppering opponents with an array of drop shots. The few times she has been pushed, such as in her third round match against Anastasia Potapova, the world No 1 has produced her best tennis in the decisive moments and been in control of the baseline throughout.