Bo Nix broke his right ankle late in overtime of the Denver Broncos’ divisional-round victory over Buffalo on Saturday and will have surgery that will sideline him for the rest of the playoffs.
Coach Sean Payton delivered the stunning news about his second-year quarterback in the aftermath of Denver’s biggest win in a decade. Backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham will start the AFC championship game next weekend.
Kyrylo Budanov arrives in US heading delegation for further talks on peace proposals. What we know on day 1,425
Russia istaking aim at Ukraine’s nuclear power system, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday, as the Kremlin continues to try to freeze Ukraine into submission by crippling its energy grid. “We do not see any willingness on the part of the aggressor to comply with any agreements or end the war,” the Ukrainian president said. “Instead, there is ample information about preparations for further Russian strikes on our energy sector and infrastructure, including facilities and networks that serve our nuclear power plants. Each such Russian strike on the energy sector amid such a harsh winter weakens and undermines the efforts of key states – in particular the United States – to end this war.”
Zelenskyy spoke after a briefing from Ukraine’s chief of defence intelligence, Oleh Ivashchenko – the recent replacement for Kyrylo Budanov, who was made head of the president’s office. Budanov on Saturday confirmed his own arrival in the US to discuss peace proposals. He and Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Davyd Arakhamia would meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and the US army secretary, Dan Driscoll, Budanov said. Zelenskyy has tasked his delegation at the Miami talks with finalising proposals about security guarantees and economic recovery. If American officials approve the proposals, the US and Ukraine could sign a deal next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, according to Zelenskyy. However Russia has given no indication it will accept any peace deal without Ukraine’s entire Donbas region being handed over for a start.
Russian attacks left at least two people dead and others injured in Kharkiv oblast on Saturday, regional authorities said. A strike that damaged a critical infrastructure facility in Kharkiv city’s industrial district could seriously affect power and heating, said the mayor, Ihor Terekhov, with the energy system “constantly operating at its limits”. One person was wounded in the attack. An attack on a house in Kharkiv city killed a woman aged 20 and wounded others. In the village of Borivske, a 52-year-old woman was killed when a drone hit a public transport stop, prosecutors said. In the Sumy region, emergency services said an airstrike on a residential neighbourhood wounded three women and a seven-year-old child, and left 15 residential buildings damaged.
Russia struck energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s Kyiv and Odesa regions overnight into Saturday, the ministry of energy said. More than 20 settlements in the Kyiv region were left without power. Zelenskyy said Ukraine needed to ramp up the importation of electricity and the acquisition of additional equipment from partners. Officials have instructed state energy companies Ukrzaliznytsia, Naftogaz and Ukroboronprom to urgently purchase imported electricity covering at least 50% of their own consumption, according to Denys Shmyhal, the energy minister.
Shmyhal announced that Lithuania would be providing Ukraine with more energy generating equipment for Kyiv and the most critically affected regions, after already supplying equipment for emergency repairs on coal and nuclear power plants. “In addition we have received over 2,000 solar panels, various equipment and machinery from our Lithuanian friends,” Shmyhal said. “Lithuania has contributed €5.7m euros to the energy support fund of Ukraine … There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been hit by Russian strikes. Ukrainian energy workers continue to repair around the clock and return electricity to people.”
Brisbane Entertainment Centre Solo songs and Talking Heads classics mingle in a spectacular performance that doesn’t pull any punches
Dressed from head to foot in iridescent orange, David Byrne and his 12-piece backing band look as if they’re about to burst into flames. On a vast, empty stage – uncluttered by amplifiers, microphones or any of the usual things that anchor a live performance – the former Talking Heads frontman is still full of twitchy energy.
Thankfully, there’s no spontaneous combustion. The template for tonight’s spectacle remains the legendary Stop Making Sense tour of 1984 – via American Utopia – where the show is built in increments. It starts slowly with Heaven, from Talking Heads’ 1979 album Fear of Music, a song that has lost none of its existential power.
Valentino Guseli takes bronze and NZ’s Campbell Melville Ives silver
More medals in bobsleigh and snowboard cross ahead of Milan-Cortina Games
Snowboard king Scotty James has dazzled to reign supreme in the last World Cup halfpipe event before the Olympics, where he’ll be seeking an elusive gold medal.
On a big day for Australia’s Olympic hopes, James sent a clear message to rivals as he won the prestigious Laax Open in Switzerland for a third consecutive time and fifth time in total, while young countryman Valentino Guseli was third.
The two biggest voting blocs in the European parliament, the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Socialists & Democrats (S&Ds), said on Saturday night the deal with the EU cannot be approved in the present circumstances.
Heads of state across Europe respond in solidarity with Denmark and Greenland, and boycott of World Cup suggested
Donald Trump threatened a 25% tariff on a slew of European countries including Denmark, Germany, France and the UK – until the US is allowed to purchase Greenland, in an extraordinary escalation of the president’s bid to claim the autonomous Danish territory.
In a lengthy post on Saturday on Truth Social, Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland beginning 1 February, “on any and all goods sent to the United States of America”.
Frenetic derby was just the place for the interim manager to roll out Ferguson’s old ‘use the energy of the people’ dictum
For Manchester United’s executives, City are the best-in-class runaway train they wish to emulate and aspire to. Coveted talent like Antoine Semenyo and now Marc Guéhi opt for blue when a generation ago, Old Trafford was the destination of dreams.
United’s myth and legend becomes increasingly sepia-tinged but there may be life in it yet. The list of Sir Alex Ferguson’s boys able to take the reins in times of emergency is being exhausted but Michael Carrick, on his second turn, found a way to feed off it. He has just 17 games though there is a tantalising prize on offer. A return to the Champions League looks possible. Rather than embracing the void, Carrick’s United reminded that sporting directors, analytic departments and strategic reviews may have their place in the eventual restoration of power, but dogged spirit, wanting it more, can win the day.
More than 1,400 calls to emergency services amid NSW storms, authorities say
The NSW State Emergency Service has received more than 1,400 calls for help and 20 requests for flood rescues after Sydney was lashed with torrential rain.
We did have an evacuation at Narrabeen overnight due to the rapid rising waters there and the localised heavy rainfall, so that continues around that. Those particular areas with the weather also moving up north, we’ll see around north-eastern New South Wales experiencing some of that heavy winds, heavy rain and large wind gusts.
We’re hoping to see a little bit of relief for the Illawarra area today. But still in that Sydney northern area. So again urging everyone to keep safe, keep inside if you can.
The woman was a driver in the vehicle when the incident happened.
Romero comments add to sense of unease at Tottenham
Thomas Frank’s future as the Tottenham manager is in doubt after Saturday’s last-gasp 2-1 home defeat by West Ham, at which the club’s supporters called for him to be “sacked in the morning”.
The Spurs hierarchy have been mindful of the difficulties Frank has faced during what was always likely to be a transitional season. The chief executive, Vinai Venkatesham, wrote an open letter to fans on Saturday morning, the tone of which was supportive, the overriding message being a call for patience.
About one quarter of our bones are in our feet. How can you keep them strong and pain free for longer?
Dentists have trained us well to visit them on a regular basis for a check-up, rather than waiting until things start to hurt. Hylton Menz, a professor of podiatry at La Trobe University in Melbourne, wishes we’d do the same for our feet.
“We probably ignore our feet relative to other parts of our body, because we stick them in shoes and they’re a long way away, so we tend to forget about feet,” he says. “It’s only really when they don’t actually function properly – so when they become painful, they don’t do what we want them to do – that we really think about them.”
Summer storms on Australia’s east coast have claimed one life and threatened dozens more as flood waters rise.
Residents and holidaymakers have been told they can return back after being evacuated Narrabeen Lagoon in Sydney’s northern beaches overnight on Saturday, while a landslide damaged three homes and injured at least one woman 20km north, at Great Mackerel beach.
Despite high-quality matches, Senegal’s meeting with hosts Morocco may pale with the World Cup looming
Sometimes a tournament’s greatest strength can be its greatest weakness. In part because of the excellent playing conditions, this has been an Africa Cup of Nations devoid of shocks. The better teams keep winning. There has been a lot of good football, but not a huge amount of memorable football.
And the consequence is that, in the final, we have the two best teams, or certainly the best team in north Africa against the best team in sub-Saharan Africa: the hosts and World Cup semi-finalists Morocco against Senegal, who have reached three of the past four Afcon finals.
Mikel Arteta was adamant his team should have been awarded a penalty for handball by Ola Aina 10 minutes from time that would have given Arsenal the opportunity to move nine points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Instead Nottingham Forest hung on gamely for a doughty goalless draw in a performance redolent of the team last season who were pushing for European qualification. They may only be five points clear of the relegation zone, after West Ham’s last-gasp win at Tottenham, but Sean Dyche was understandably proud of his team’s efforts that suggest Forest are moving in the right direction.
Country says some appointments to the group, which will oversee the administration and reconstruction of Gaza, are ‘contrary to its policy’
Israel has objected to the White House’s pick of world leaders who will join the so-called Gaza “board of peace”, meant to temporarily oversee governance and reconstruction in the strip.
The White House and other sources announced a flurry of appointments and invitations to the organisation over the last two days, including Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, former UK prime minister Tony Blair and the president of Argentina, Javier Milei.
After traumatic events we look for reminders of humanity’s good, and flashes of courage from ordinary people become symbols of hope. But it can be hard to wear the hero’s crown
The smell of burning flesh and pulverised concrete is seared into the psyche of Anneke Weemaes-Sutcliffe. On 22 March 2016, the Australian expat was due to check in for a flight when Islamic State suicide bombers detonated two nailbombs inside Brussels airport. Miraculously unharmed, she sprinted to the exit after the second blast exploded metres away from her – but then, risking her life, decided to turn back.
Screams, wailing alarms and a thick blanket of dust choked the air. The ceiling had caved in. “It turned from buzzing with life to a war zone. It’s horrific, absolutely horrific,” Weemaes-Sutcliffe says.
Some regions of the continent have enough ice to push up sea levels by 15 metres if they all melt, but researchers don’t yet fully understand the consequences
On one side of Dr Ben Galton-Fenzi’s view across the vast Totten ice shelf, the sun sat low on the Antarctic horizon. On the other, a full moon.
The ice shelf is “flat and white”, says Galton-Fenzi. “If there’s cloud around, you lose the horizon.”
In 2015 I was in my early 20s and living in New York City, working as a journalist and moonlighting as a comedian. My dating life was not going well, and my poor little heart had taken a beating. Dating in the city had set the bar very low. But even if it hadn’t, Douglas would’ve stepped right over it.
On our first date, something felt different. For one thing, I spent the entire time talking, rather than smiling and nodding when appropriate. Instead of knocking back a series of drinks just to get through it, I found myself nursing a single cocktail the entire evening as I fielded his questions about my opinions and aspirations. Compared with the self-indulgent jerks I usually suffered through dates with, Doug’s common decency was a revelation. I even phoned my mum on the way home to gush about him.
Nostalgic knick-knacks will always have a place on my shelf – and in my heart. There’s something magical about being able to access the past in tangible, physical ways
It’s important to state that I am the most insufferably sentimental person I know.
There are old birthday cards collecting dust in my jam-packed cupboards, stuffed toys – their colours long-faded – sitting in my bedroom despite their prime cuddling years over, while gifts handmade by friends I no longer talk to take up real estate on my cluttered shelves. You couldn’t pay me to part with any of them.
More than 4,120 photographers from 123 countries submitted a record-breaking 23,130 images across the 24 categories to this year’s World Sports Photography awards, the only global competition for sporting photography.
To see the silver, bronze and special merit images from all of the categories click here
Congressional Republicans criticize ‘absurd’ idea as polls show most Americans oppose taking control of territory
Donald Trump’s renewed interest in taking control of Greenland has become a subject of pointed dissent among congressional Republicans, with several allies speaking out in recent days against the idea after the president reintensified his interest following the US raid that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Congressional Republicans are typically loath to disagree openly with the president, who has repeatedly called for his party’s dissenters to be voted out of office. But amid polling that shows an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose taking control of the island and warnings from Denmark that an invasion would spell the end of Nato, some congressional Republicans have issued forceful warnings against pursuing the issue.
Manager makes outburst after 2-1 defeat at Sunderland
Austrian angry club sold captain one day before game
Oliver Glasner accused Crystal Palace’s board of “abandoning” his team in the course of a scathing post-match deconstruction after the 2-1 defeat at Sunderland.
At times the Austrian, who on Friday announced he would be leaving Selhurst Park at the end of this season, sounded as if he was talking himself out of the remaining few months of his contract.
As an editor and writer who regularly covers the world of nonalcoholic drinks, I have tasted more than my fair share of booze-free wines. Much like with regular wine, the results have been mixed – some are bitter or super sour, or even worse, smell like nothing. But I’ve also had the pleasure of drinking alcohol-free wines that scratched the same itch as a top-notch riesling or champagne.
When I have conversations with people who are curious about nonalcoholic wines, cost comes up as one of the most common concerns. I totally understand that it’s tempting to write off the category as upcharged grape juice with better branding, but contrary to popular opinion, you’re not actually paying for the alcohol in regular wine either.
US health department’s new food pyramid places red meat and cheese high in saturated fats over plant-based proteins
The new food pyramid rolled out in US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) places animal-based proteins, including cheese and red meats high in saturated fats, above plant-based proteins, which has raised alarm bells among health and environmental experts.
This rejiggered food pyramid is in line with Kennedy’s previous signals that he will recommend increasing saturated fat in US diets as part of the “Make America healthy again” movement.
High figures for child mortality continue despite ceasefire; more than 100 children have died in territory since October
A 27-day-old baby died in Gaza on Saturday from severe cold, bringing the number of children in the region who have died of hypothermia since the start of the current winter season to eight, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Medical sources confirmed to the news agency Anadolu that the newborn, named Aisha Ayesh al-Agha, died as a result of freezing temperatures, and that when she was brought to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis it was already too late to save her.
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