António Guterres urges two powers to quickly sign new deal as New Start expires
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has urged the US and Russia to quickly sign a new nuclear arms control deal, as the existing treaty expired in what he called a “grave moment for international peace and security”.
The last nuclear treaty between the two powers, the New Start agreement, ended on Thursday, formally releasing both Moscow and Washington from a raft of restrictions on their nuclear arsenals and triggering fears of a global arms race.
As I travel the world, I am reminded again and again that the health of a society is revealed not only in its laws or its institutions but in the way its people speak to, and about, one another. My father taught that nonviolence begins with language and the discipline to choose words that uplift rather than degrade, that clarify rather than distort and that build community rather than fracture it.
Last month in the United States, we marked the holiday that bears his name at a time when our own social cohesion is under immense strain. The rhetoric of public life has grown sharper, more cynical and more divisive. Too often, we speak as if our neighbours are adversaries rather than fellow citizens. But this erosion of respect is not unique to America. It is a global challenge and Australia is not exempt.
Cauchi, who lived with schizophrenia, killed six people in 2024 Westfield shopping centre stabbing before being shot dead by police inspector Amy Scott
It was a “major failing” for Joel Cauchi’s former psychiatrist not to recognise he had relapsed in the lead up to the Bondi Junction stabbings in 2024, a coroner has found.
The state coroner, Teresa O’Sullivan, handed down her findings in an 837-page report on Thursday after she had delayed its release following the Bondi beach terror attack in December.
Kyiv’s lead negotiator called the start of two days of US-led peace talks in Abu Dhabi “productive” on Wednesday. “The work was substantive and productive, focused on concrete steps and practical solutions,” Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, wrote on X. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, said it was critical for the talks to lead to real peace and not offer Russia a new opportunity to continue the war. Ukraine’s partners, he said, had to exert more pressure on Moscow.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine expected the talks to lead to a new prisoner exchange soon. The president, interviewed by French television channel France 2, said the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed on the battlefield as a result of the war with Russia was estimated at 55,000. He had previously cited a figure of more than 46,000 Ukrainian servicemen killed in an interview with US television network NBC in February 2025.
The Kremlin spokesperson,Dmitry Peskov, said on Wednesday that “the doors for a peaceful settlement are open,” but Russian forces would continue fighting until Kyiv made “decisions” that could bring the war to an end, underlining Moscow’s hardline stance even as negotiations resumed. Moscow has said it would not tolerate European troops on Ukrainian soil, a condition Kyiv sees as essential for credible security guarantees.
In a show of wartime alignment, Russian president Vladimir Putin held a video call on Wednesday with China’s president, Xi Jinping, with both leaders hailing the strength of bilateral ties.
The Kremlin also reacted to comments made by French president Emmanuel Macron that he was looking to resume contact with Putin on the war in Ukraine. According to Reuters, the Kremlin confirmed ongoing technical discussions between Russia and France, but provided no further details or indicated any dialogue between Putin and Macron. In Paris, diplomatic sources said French Macron’s most senior diplomat, Emmanuel Bonne, met Russian officials in the Kremlin on Tuesday.
Russia used cluster munitions Wednesday in an attack on a busy market in the eastern Ukraine town of Druzhkivka that killed seven and wounded 15 others, officials said. The attack darkened prospects for progress in the UAE, with Donetsk regional military administration chief Vadym Filashkin describing Russian talk of a ceasefire as “worthless.” Russia also launched 105 drones against Ukraine overnight, and air defenses shot down 88 of them, the Ukrainian air force said Wednesday. Strikes by 17 drones were recorded at 14 locations, as well as falling debris at five sites, it said.
The southern city of Odesa also came under a large-scale attack, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said on Telegram, with strike drones damaging “civilian, residential and industrial infrastructure”. About 20 residential buildings were damaged, with four people rescued from under the rubble and one injured, he said.
Senior EU diplomats meeting on Wednesday approved a long-awaited €90bnloan for Ukraine, Jennifer Rankin reports from Brussels. The financial aid is a crucial lifeline for Ukraine, which has been enduring months of brutal Russian attacks damaging its energy and heating systems, while the country is in the grip of a bitterly cold winter.
Industry bigger than all but seven world economies, and accounts for more than third of China’s economic growth
China’s clean energy industries drove more than 90% of the country’s investment growth last year, making the sectors bigger than all but seven of the world’s economies, a new analysis has shown.
For the second time in three years, the report showed the manufacture, installation and export of batteries, electric cars, solar, wind and related technologies accounted for more than a third of China’s economic growth.
Armed with rubber gloves and cleaning supplies, helpers trek through the wilderness to spruce up remote huts dotted across the country
From two-person shelters to a 54-bunk fortress, New Zealand’s countryside is scattered with huts that offer weary hikers a safe place to rest. Some huts sit along the popular Milford and Routeburn tracks, others are perched in remote valleys in the wilderness, with views ranging from snowy peaks to flourishing bush.
But the publicly owned network is too vast for the government to maintain, so ordinary people in New Zealand are filling their backpacks with cleaning supplies and hiking into the hills to clean and maintain the huts.
The Puerto Rican singer’s highly anticipated Super Bowl half-time show has inspired non-Spanish speakers to study Puerto Rican dialect and slang
Bad Bunny is expected to perform the Super Bowl half-time show on Sunday entirely in Spanish – which has inspired fans to quickly learn the language.
In October, the Puerto Rican singer – born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – kicked off the 51st season of Saturday Night Live expressing pride over the achievement in Spanish, after which he said in English, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn!”
By age 20 diagnosis rates for men and women almost equal, research finds, challenging assumptions of gender discrepancy
Females may be just as likely to be autistic as males but boys are up to four times more likely to be diagnosed in childhood, according to a large-scale study.
Research led by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden scrutinised the diagnosis rates of autism for people born in Sweden between 1985 and 2020. Of the 2.7 million people tracked, 2.8% were diagnosed with autism between the ages of two and 37.
Singer was member of vocal group that scored 1960s hits with Up, Up and Away and Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In
Singer LaMonte McLemore has died. He was a founding member of the 5th Dimension, a vocal group whose smooth pop and soul sounds with a touch of psychedelia brought them big hits in the 1960s and 70s.
McLemore died on Tuesday aged 90 at his home in Las Vegas, surrounded by his family, his representative Jeremy Westby said in a statement. He died of natural causes after having a stroke.
Alphabet reports $34.5bn profit and revenue soars 48% in recent quarter as it plans a sharp increase in AI spending
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, beat Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, and is planning a sharp increase in capital spending in 2026 as it continues to invest deeply in AI infrastructure.
Alphabet on Wednesday reported profit of $34.5bn in the recently ended quarter, as revenue from cloud computing soared 48%.
Strap yourself in for a Wembley showdown between Manchester City and Arsenal that should be as fascinating on the grass as the sideline where Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta bid to outsmart each other.
City’s manager was the Arsenal No 1’s tutor from 2016 to 2019 when Arteta was his coach. This forged a friendship, but there may be fireworks between them after Guardiola was incensed by the Spaniard’s claim that he had “all the information” on City after they complained about Arsenal’s “dark arts” tactics in the 2–2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last season.
Becoming garners 47.5m minutes viewed on same weekend as current first lady’s documentary released in cinemas
Michelle Obama’s 2020 documentary Becoming saw a major rise in views over the same weekend that Melania was released in cinemas.
The film, which followed the former first lady in the wake of her hit book, saw a rise in views of more than 13,000% over the past weekend, with 47.5m minutes viewed, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The weekend before saw only 354,000 minutes watched, according to Luminate.
EEOC demands firm turn over ‘DEI-related objectives’ amid Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity initiatives
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has launched an investigation into Nike over allegations that the sports giant discriminated against white employees and job applicants.
The federal agency is demanding that Nike turn over information related to the allegations, including the company’s “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-related 2025 Targets and other DEI-related objectives”, it announced on Wednesday.
Organisers are hoping for a celebration of winter sport at Milano Cortina 2026 but tensions will not be far from the surface
A short stroll from where the grandees of the International Olympic Committee are staying in Milan sits the Museum of Illusions – a place devoted to magic and misdirection. Mirrors distort. Perspectives shift. And nothing is quite what it seems. It is an apposite metaphor for these Winter Olympics, which officially open in Italy on Friday.
Over the following 16 days, the world will be enraptured by the dazzle and spin of these Games: downhill skiers bombing down mountains at 95mph, snowboarders twirling like gyroscopes, the balletic grace of the world’s best skaters. But in Milano Cortina a fresh cold war is also brewing amid global political chaos.
Two-decade study indicates a diet rich in foods such as olive oil, nuts and vegetables can cut risk of every type of stroke
A Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of every type of stroke, in some cases by as much as 25%, a large study conducted over two decades suggests.
A diet rich in olive oil, nuts, seafood, whole grains and vegetables has previously been linked to a number of health benefits. However, until now there has been limited evidence of how it might affect the risk of all forms of stroke.
MPs say release of papers on Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador could trigger leadership challenge
Labour MPs have warned that Keir Starmer’s days as prime minister are numbered after a day of fury over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The government was on the brink of a defeat in the Commons until a mid-debate amendment brokered by Meg Hillier and Angela Rayner to force the release of documents about Mandelson’s appointment and the depth of his relationship with the convicted child sex offender.
If Les Bleus click, the results could be spectacular against a much-altered Ireland with umpteen questions to answer
The Six Nations is kicking off on a Thursday this year to avoid a direct clash with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. In at least one key respect, even so, the two events are perfectly aligned: one early stumble for France or Ireland and a potentially painful descent awaits.
Despite the possibility of first‑night nerves and some Parisian drizzle it should still make for more intriguing viewing on ITV1 than the alternative of Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice on BBC One. Unless, of course, France are so far out of sight inside 40 minutes that they cannot be caught and the audience are free to switch over in good time to watch Sir Alan Sugar say: “You’re fired!”
Davis played sporadically after arriving in Luka Doncic trade
Eight-player swap comes ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline
The Dallas Mavericks are sending 10-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards in an eight-player trade, ESPN reported Wednesday.
The Mavericks will receive Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham and Marvin Bagley III plus two first-round draft picks and three second-round selections, per the report.
Talks that had been scheduled in Turkey salvaged after Arab states convince White House not to walk away from negotiations
Talks between the US and Iran scheduled for Friday have been brought back from the brink of collapse after the US initially rejected Iran’s request to move them from Turkey to Oman without the presence of a group of Arab states.
Iran’s foreign minister said late on Wednesday that the talks would proceed in Oman after reports of a last-minute effort by Arab states to convince the White House not to walk away from negotiations.
The American has earned the trust of Luciano Spalletti in Italy, but his role with the USMNT remains an open question
Juventus have tried to get rid of Weston McKennie. They even succeeded once, sending him on loan to Leeds United only for the American to return six months later. When he got back to Turin, as US coach Gregg Berhalter told the story at the time, Juve had emptied his locker and given away his parking spot. Despite this, McKennie stuck around.
It’s just as well for the Old Lady that he did – McKennie is now in the form of his life. The 27-year-old has scored four times in just eight games since the start of 2026. He has become one of Juve’s most important players and arguably the biggest driving force behind their recent upturn in form. Luciano Spalletti – among the most big-name coaches currently working in Italian football – has used McKennie to mould the team in his own image.
British firms could get more opportunities to supply defence equipment to Kyiv if agreement can be reached
The UK could reap greater benefits from a €90bn (£78bn) EU loan for Ukraine, if it agrees to help pay the cost of borrowing, after European countries signed off long-awaited financial aid for Kyiv.
British firms could have greater opportunities to supply defence equipment to Ukraine funded by the loan if the government agrees a “fair” contribution towards EU borrowing costs.
Ex-Trump adviser adds to elections officials’ concern about potential interference from Trump administration in voting
Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist and rightwing podcast host, said he wants to see immigration agents at the polls in November, a proposal that election officials have feared.
Bannon has no formal power, but is an influential figure on the far right and is closely tied with the Trump administration.
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