Ukrainian president voices support for US and Israel strikes on Iran, calling Tehran ‘an accomplice of Putin’. What we know on day 1,467

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the time and place of the next round of peace talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine would depend on the security situation in the Middle East and the level of “real diplomatic possibilities”. The Ukrainian president on Saturday said he would issue new directives to Ukraine’s negotiating team at the talks, without detailing what they were. He had said the next round of talks would probably take place in Abu Dhabi in early March. But the United Arab Emirates has since been caught up in hostilities after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran.

Zelenskyy voiced his support for the US-led strikes, calling Iran “an accomplice of Putin” for supplying Shahed drones and the technology for Russia to produce them and other weapons in its war against Ukraine. He said it was important that Washington acted decisively, but also that hostilities did not escalate into a wider war.

“It is only fair to give the Iranian people a chance to get rid of the terrorist regime, to get rid of it and guarantee the safety of all nations that have suffered from terror originating in Iran,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on social media. “It is important that the United States is determined. And whenever America is determined, global criminals weaken.”

Zelenskyy said that Russia has used “more than 57,000 Shahed-type strike drones against Ukraine – against our people, against our cities, against our energy sector”. “Although Ukrainians have never threatened Iran, the Iranian regime chose to be Putin’s accomplice,” Zelensky said.

Donald Trump is urging Moscow and Kyiv to strike an agreement to end Europe’s biggest war since 1945, though Zelenskyy has complained that his country is facing more pressure to make concessions. Ukraine is seeking iron-clad security guarantees which commit the US and its European allies to action if Russia attacks again after a peace deal is reached. The last round of peace talks, which took place in Geneva last week, did not achieve a breakthrough and was described as difficult by Kyiv and Moscow, although Washington said it saw “meaningful progress”.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff on Saturday said that Russia said at recent talks in Geneva that it would accept the US proposal for Ukraine’s postwar security guarantees. “At the last talks, the Russian side said for example that they would accept the security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the United States,” said Kyrylo Budanov in an interview aired on Ukrainian television. Budanov also said that at present Russia had not agreed to a summit between Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, which had been floated earlier as a possibility by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Russia on Saturday condemned the US-Israeli strikes on Iran as “a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state”, demanding an immediate halt to the military campaign and a return to diplomacy.

Russia has maintained a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to navigate its warm relations with Israel even as it has developed strong economic and military ties with Iran. Iranian forces and Russian sailors conducted annual drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean last week aimed at “upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported. Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact in January last year as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging western sanctions.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday its forces had taken control of the settlements of Neskuchne and Girke in Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Zaporizhizhia regions. And Ukraine’s Naftogaz said Russia struck a gas extraction facility in the Kharkiv region overnight, causing serious damage.

North Carolina’s Michael Phillips revealed that he had a 0.38in member in bid to reduce stigma of the condition

A North Carolina man has challenged anyone on earth to disprove his claim of having the world’s smallest penis as he advocates against body shaming and aims to raise awareness about the medical condition known as micropenis.

Michael Phillips, 38, threw down the gauntlet in an interview posted Friday on TMZ’s YouTube channel, in which he purported that his penis was 0.38in (0.97cm) when fully erect – and, holding up the fingernail on his right pinky to illustrate that length, added: “When it’s flaccid, it’s smaller than that.”

Chaos as key transit hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha close, and more than 1,000 flights by major Middle Eastern airlines cancelled

• Full report: US president announces death of the ayatollah, who has ruled Iran as supreme leader since 1989

• Latest updates: Trump says Khamenei is dead

America and Israel’s attack on Iran disrupted flights across the Middle East and beyond as countries around the region closed their airspace and three of the key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the west to Asia halted operations.

Hundreds of thousands of travellers were either stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace. There also was no flight activity over the United Arab Emirates, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said, after the government there announced a “temporary and partial closure” of its airspace.

As Olivia Dean swept the board, there were eye-catching performances from Sombr, Raye, Rosalía and more, while Jeff Goldblum and Maya Jama lit up the red carpet

The US joined an Israeli assault after intel suggested Iran’s top clerics and commanders could be hit at once

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Donald Trump launched attacks against Iran on Saturday as part of a joint operation with Israel after they developed intelligence that they could simultaneously target the country’s leaders and mullahs, according to two people familiar with deliberations.

The Israelis had been tracking the movements of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and determined there was a window of opportunity to launch attacks as they convened, the people said.

The 26-year-old dominates in Manchester, landing the night’s biggest prizes as Rosé, Wolf Alice and Mark Ronson also take top honours

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Olivia Dean was the big winner at the 2026 Brit awards, taking home awards for artist of the year, pop act, song of the year for her Sam Fender duet Rein Me In, and album of the year for The Art of Loving.

In less than a year, Dean has leaped to the forefront of British pop thanks to The Art of Loving, her second album. With songs that get to the heart of the joys and frustrations of casual modern dating, she is enormously relatable, while her sophisticated and cosmopolitan songcraft, deftly finessing styles such as bossa nova, trip-hop, neo-soul and jazz together, has given her an unusually broad and cross-generational appeal.

Comedian Steph Tisdell had a delightful old-fashioned courtship with Jessie – and was struck by her small, everyday acts of kindness

• Find more stories from The moment I knew series

In my early 30s I’d decided I didn’t want to swipe right on another man holding a fish on dating apps and I was taking tentative steps into the world of dating women in my home base of Brisbane.

Things hadn’t got off to a great start and as I tried to refine my approach, a friend posed a question that I’d foolishly never really considered: what did I actually want in a partner?

Air strikes halt bitter political feuding ahead of elections as prominent Israelis call for a broad open-ended war

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• US and Israel strikes on Iran – what we know so far

Air raid sirens emptied Israel’s streets on Saturday and filled its bomb shelters, as the country braced for waves of Iranian attacks.

But individual fear and resignation did not temper broad political and popular support for the country’s second regional war in less than a year.

Coordinated daylight assault on Tehran sparked Iranian retaliation and plunged the region into wider conflict

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• US and Israel strikes on Iran – what we know so far

The bombs and missiles started falling on Tehran in full daylight, at about 9.15am, after the working day had started and the streets and offices were full.

Bombing campaigns in the modern era usually start at night, to heighten the target’s sense of disorientation and minimise the effectiveness of air defence.

• Section of fans reacted as play paused at Elland Road

• Guardiola: ‘Respect the religion, respect the diversity’

• Leeds coach calls it ‘disappointing … we need to do better’

Pep Guardiola has called on football supporters to “respect religion and diversity” after fans booed a brief stoppage in play at Elland Road to allow Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast.

Play was halted in the 13th minute of Manchester City’s 1-0 win against Leeds after the sun had set to allow the Muslim players to eat. At this point, despite a clear message on the big screen, fans audibly jeered the situation.

The radical cleric took over as supreme leader in 1989 and is likely to be replaced by hardline figures

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• US and Israel strikes on Iran: what we know so far

When he appeared in public for the first time in five years in October 2024, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had an uncompromising message: Israel “won’t last long”, he told tens of thousands of supporters at a mosque in Tehran in a Friday sermon.

“We must stand up against the enemy while strengthening our unwavering faith,” the then-84-year-old told the gathering.

Regime could try to retain control of streets as US and Israel have expressed no intention of mounting ground invasion

Venezula’s Nicholás Maduro was captured. But Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have chosen a different strategy for Iran: to target and aim to kill the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and as many other senior regime figures as possible.

Though Iranian military sites and its air defence systems were also targeted by coordinated US and Israeli bombing, beginning in the morning, the most significant attack was on Khamenei’s compound in Tehran.

Iran strikes are attempt to hijack the global narrative and drown out Epstein and tariffs with the thunder of cruise missiles

In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq without deciding whether it should. The George W Bush administration failed to ask whether the costs, risks and likely consequences of regime change justified the gamble. The result was tragedy – for Iraq, for the Middle East and for America.

Donald Trump’s attack on Iran now follows the same pattern – but with an even narrower logic of performative power. In the run-up to Iraq, Washington devoted enormous energy to planning the invasion. Almost no attention was given to the more important question: was war necessary, and could it realistically produce a stable political outcome?

Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow and director of the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The starkest improvement under the interim manager has been the Slovenian supersub’s attacking potency

Benjamin Sesko’s career at Manchester United breaks into two distinct periods. In the first, he played 1,404 minutes of football and scored two goals. In the second, he has played 274 minutes and scored six goals: 702 minutes per goal and then 45 minutes 40 seconds per goal.

There’s a very obvious explanation. On 4 January, Sesko toiled in a 1-1 draw at Leeds. He didn’t manage a shot on target. He completed only 76% of his passes. He didn’t attempt a dribble but still lost possession five times. He was caught offside twice. On 5 January, Ruben Amorim was sacked.

For those wondering if Manchester City are overreliant on Erling Haaland, they offered a riposte at Leeds. It was neither a fluid nor entertaining victory but importantly it closed the gap at the top to two points, increasing the pressure on Arsenal in the process.

It helps that when the league’s top scorer is absent, City can rely on the third man in the charts. Antoine Semenyo scored his 14th of the season on a difficult night for Pep Guardiola’s side, making the full-time euphoria well deserved after what felt like a significant win. A number of City players sunk to the turf once the whistle went, having called on all their reserves to get over the line.

War launched by US and Israel on Iran has quickly escalated prompting anxiety and concern in whole region

• Full report

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

Iran struck the world-famous Fairmont hotel in Dubai, setting the hotel alight, as the war launched by the US and Israel on Iran quickly spread to the rest of the Middle East on Saturday.

Residents watched in shock as an Iranian missile hit the five-star hotel in Dubai’s luxurious Palm Jumeirah area. Social media videos showed fires breaking out near the entrance of the hotel, which led to four people being injured.

Body of Nathan Smith, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, was found in pond north of Atlanta in February

The son of the rapper Lil Jon drowned after ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms, officials in the US state of Georgia said.

The body of Nathan Smith, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, was found in a pond north of Atlanta in early February.

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Here come the teams! Leeds wear white, just as The Don decreed all those years ago. Manchester City in second-choice black, as per their Puma contract. A rare old atmosphere at Elland Road, as there always is, the home fans Marching On Together. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!

Sky have also just flashed up an intriguing stat that we may as well nick bears repeating. As mentioned in the preamble, during half time of the corresponding fixture in Manchester last November, Daniel Farke switched things around, changing to a back three, and nearly pulled off a great comeback …

• Pakistan 212-8, Sri Lanka 207-6. Pakistan win by five runs

• New Zealand into semi-finals on net run-rate

Pakistan went out of the T20 World Cup despite a five-run victory against Sri Lanka in the Group Two Super 8s match in Pallekele on Saturday. Their inferior net run rate meant Pakistan had to win convincingly in order to pip New Zealand and join group winners England in the semi-finals.

“When I lost the toss, it was always going to be challenging [bowling second] because of the dew,” said the Pakistan captain, Salman Ali Agha. “Then it was a very good pitch and restricting them below 148 was going to be a challenge. But we tried. I think if I won the toss then it could have been a different story.”

• England captain scores twice in 3-2 win in Der Klassiker

• Lamine Yamal fires hat-trick in Barça win over Villarreal

Harry Kane scored twice again and Bayern Munich opened an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga with a 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker on Saturday.

Joshua Kimmich let fly with his left boot to score the winner with a volley in the 87th minute, just four minutes after Daniel Svensson equalised for Dortmund with a brilliant volley inside the left post. Nico Schlotterbeck put Dortmund 1-0 up at the break, but Serge Gnabry set up Kane’s response and the England captain got his second from the penalty spot – after a foul by Schlotterbeck on Josip Stanisic – to take his league tally to 30 goals this season.

The US president upended half a century of US foreign policy in an eight-minute video with another attempt at Middle Eastern regime change

It was another date that would live in infamy. But whereas Franklin Roosevelt declared war in sombre tones to a joint session of Congress, Donald Trump did it his way.

The US president wore a white “USA” cap, dark jacket and white shirt open at the collar. He stood at a blue lectern bearing the US presidential seal and a black microphone, with the Stars and Stripes behind him, presumably at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. He released a video on his own social media network, Truth Social, at 2.30am on Saturday – a time when most Americans are asleep but Trump is often found rage-tweeting into the night.

As rain fell, incessantly, Eddie Howe wandered around the pitch alone. The final whistle had just gone and, with Everton celebrating a deserved win, Newcastle’s lingering hopes of a top-six finish were also blown.

Newcastle look shattered, mentally as much as physically, by a Champions League campaign that will soon pit them against Barcelona and their Premier League form is suffering accordingly.

Scott Parker was left sad and disappointed by more video assistant referee controversy after Burnley’s spirited comeback came to nothing. The home side were 3-0 down in 34 minutes and facing hostility from their own fans, but fought back to level before having a fourth goal ruled out after Jaidon Anthony was adjudged to be a shoulder-width offside.

Mikkel Damsgaard then put Brentford back in front three minutes into injury time only for Ashley Barnes to net and spark scenes of jubilation, but his apparent equaliser was also chalked off, for handball, after a long delay.

Sir Alex Ferguson watched on as Hearts defeated Aberdeen 1-0 to move seven points clear of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Ferguson, the last manager to win the title with a team that was not Celtic or Rangers when his Aberdeen side were back-to-back champions from 1983-85, was at Tynecastle as a guest of the Hearts coach, Derek McInnes, and he saw Cláudio Braga score what proved to be the only goal of the game just before the half-hour mark.