List

Miguel Rojas is the latest Dodger to withdraw from consideration for the World Baseball Classic, joining Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages, Andy Ibáñez and perhaps other players. MLB Network will reveal all 20 team rosters Thursday at 4 p.m. PT.

Rojas, who turns 37 next month, will not represent his native Venezuela because of difficulty obtaining insurance. The versatile World Series star expressed regret that he cannot play in an Instagram story that included a photo of himself with the Venezuelan flag draped over his shoulders.

“Today I am very sad,” he wrote in Spanish. “A real pity to not be able to represent my country and wear that flag on my chest. On this occasion, age wasn’t just a number.”

Insurance was required to guarantee his $5.5-million salary in case he missed Dodgers games because of injuries incurred during the WBC, which will take place March 5-17 in Tokyo, Miami, Houston and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Rojas’ situation is similar to that of Clayton Kershaw ahead of the 2023 WBC. The pitcher was disappointed that he couldn’t play for Team USA because his injury history made obtaining insurance impossible. The Dodgers declined to waive his insurance requirement and assume financial risk in case Kershaw got hurt during the tournament.

“I’m frustrated,” Kershaw said at the time. “They should make it easy for guys that want to play to play.”

Insurance coverage protects teams from having to pay a player for time missed because of an injury stemming from the WBC, which requires participants to undergo entrance and exit physicals to document injury information.

Players can be deemed uninsurable for several reasons, a source told The Times in 2023. Included are players who finished the previous season on the injured list or spent considerable time on the injured list. Also uninsurable are players diagnosed with a “chronic condition.”

Rojas, who has said this will be his last major league season as a player, has sustained a succession of lower-body injuries in recent years. The 12-year veteran utility infielder began his career with the Dodgers in 2014 then played for the Miami Marlins for eight years before rejoining the Dodgers in 2023.

He will always be remembered by Dodgers fans for his game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The baseball Rojas struck sold for $156,000 at auction.

This will mark the second WBC in a row that Rojas has missed. He was on Venezuela’s 2023 roster but withdrew after fellow infielder Gavin Lux tore his ACL during spring training, increasing Rojas’ role with the Dodgers.

Hernández has elected not to play for the Dominican Republic while Pages and Ibáñez — who signed a one-year, $1.2-million contract with the Dodgers this offseason — won’t suit up for Cuba. It is unclear whether insurance concerns were factors in their decisions.

However, Houston Astros stars Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa were forced to withdraw because of their inability to obtain insurance. Altuve would have played for Venezuela and Correa for Puerto Rico.

Dodgers who plan to play in the WBC include World Series heroes Will Smith of Team USA and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto of Team Japan. Shohei Ohtani announced in November that he would play for Japan, although the two-way superstar has not decided whether he will pitch.

Smith will be a teammate of Kershaw, who because he retired from the Dodgers doesn’t need insurance now to participate in the WBC. In fact, he’s gone from needing insurance to being insurance.

“I just want to be the insurance policy,” Kershaw told MLB Network. “If anybody needs a breather, or if they need me to pitch back-to-back-to-back, or if they don’t need me to pitch at all, I’m just there to be there. I just want to be a part of this group.

“I learned a long time ago, you just want to be a part of great things.”

The beautiful country has been named the best retirement destination for 2026, beating Spain with affordable living and excellent healthcare

If you’ve been considering spending your golden years overseas, there’s no shortage of things to weigh up. Thankfully, International Living’s yearly report analysed everything from living costs to how easy it is for Britons to make the move.

Crucial factors include visa stipulations, access to medical services, and the country’s weather conditions. After putting 195 nations under the microscope, the research crowned Greece as the ultimate retirement haven for 2026.

Greece boasts great weather, a thriving expat scene, and remarkably, pensioners can get a three-bedroom property with coastal vistas for just £900 a month.

International Insurance notes that Greece operates both state-funded healthcare and private medical facilities. Retirees can shell out roughly £220 monthly for private cover to access “consistently good” treatment.

“There are also high ratios of medical specialists for the population, and basic emergency care is free for everyone, even foreigners. Pharmacies, after-hours clinics, and community health centers provide more care options. In small towns and on remote islands, pharmacies are equipped to provide many medical services, including helping with small emergencies.”

Coming in at second place for 2026 relocations is Panama. The Central American nation features a bustling British community abroad, whilst healthcare comes in both public and private forms, with the latter boasting cutting-edge facilities and English-fluent medical professionals.

Favourite retirement hotspots like Spain, Portugal, and Italy also secured spots in the top 10.

Top countries to retire in 2026

1. Greece
2. Panama
3. Costa Rica
4. Portugal
5. Mexico
6. Italy
7. France
8. Spain
9. Thailand
10. Malaysia

These are the key developments from day 1,435 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Thursday, January 29:

Fighting

• The death toll from a Russian attack on a passenger train in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Tuesday rose to six, after the remains of several bodies were recovered from the wreckage, the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office said on the Telegram messaging app.
• At least six people were injured in a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, the head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, said on Telegram.
• Russian forces attacked several locations across Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing a 46-year-old man and injuring at least two other people, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, said on Facebook.
• One person was killed in a Ukrainian attack on the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in Russia’s Belgorod region, the regional emergencies task force reported, according to the country’s TASS state news agency.
• A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person in the city of Enerhodar, in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, Russia’s locally appointed official Yevhen Balitsky said, according to TASS.
• Fedorov has ruled out installing anti-drone netting as a mode of defence, saying that “there are more effective ways to combat Russian attacks”, Ukraine’s Ukrinform news agency reported.

Military aid

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that France will deliver more “French aircraft, missiles for air defence systems, and aerial bombs” to Ukraine this year, following a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Regional security

• Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at an event in Paris that a 2035 target for rearming Europe “would be too late”.
• “I think rearming ourselves now is the most important thing,” Frederiksen said. “Because when you look at intelligence, nuclear weapons, and so on, we depend on the US,” she added.

• Switzerland plans to inject an additional 31 billion Swiss francs ($40.4bn) into military spending starting from 2028 by increasing sales taxes for a decade.
• “The world has become more volatile and insecure, and the international order based on international law is under strain,” the Swiss government said, noting that other European countries have also been increasing their defence spending.

Politics and diplomacy

• Vladislav Maslennikov, a top European Affairs official at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told TASS that restoring relations with the European Union will only be possible if European countries “cease their sanctions policy”, stop “pump[ing] weapons into the Kyiv regime, and sabotag[ing] the peace process around Ukraine.”

• President Macron said at an event in Paris that European countries must focus on asserting their “sovereignty, on our contribution to Arctic security, on the fight against foreign interference and disinformation, and on the fight against global warming”.
• “France will continue to defend these principles in accordance with the United Nations Charter,” said Macron, who has turned down an invitation for France to join Trump’s Board of Peace, which some critics say is an attempt to replace the United Nations.

Peace talks

• United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that negotiations over Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which is part of the Donbas region that is now 90 percent occupied by Russian forces, are “still a bridge we have to cross” in talks between Russia and Ukraine.
• “It’s still a gap, but at least we’ve been able to narrow down the issue set to one central one, and it will probably be a very difficult one,” Rubio said.

Energy

• Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 639 apartment buildings in Kyiv remain without heat, with temperatures forecast to drop to -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight this week.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s dazzling thriller “One Battle After Another” and Ryan Coogler’s resonant horror movie “Sinners” found as much love overseas as they did with Oscar voters, topping nominations at the British Film Academy Awards on Tuesday.

The two films flipped positions with the Brits, with “One Battle” leading with the way with 14 nominations, including five for its cast, and “Sinners” following with 13 nods. Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” and Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” scored big too, each picking up 11 nominations.

In the acting races, BAFTA voters restored Actors Awards nominees Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”), Jesse Plemons (“Bugonia”), Paul Mescal (“Hamnet”) and Odessa A’zion (“Marty Supreme”) to the fold, an easy task considering that the show has six slots per category, one more than the Oscars.

That surplus did not help “Wicked: For Good,” though. Shut out by motion picture academy voters, the musical sequel could only manage two nominations — costume design and hair and makeup — with BAFTA.

There’s no definitive count on the overlap of voters for the Oscars and the BAFTAs, but most publicists figure at least 1,000 of the 8,300 BAFTA film voters also belong to the motion picture academy. That overlap, along with the timing of its ceremony — this year it takes place Feb. 22, four days before final Oscar voting begins — makes the BAFTAs a precursor to watch with at least a passing interest.

In terms of taste, the group has a soft spot for British and European filmmakers and really loves the work of Edward Berger, diverging from the Oscars recently by giving best picture to two of his movies, “All Quiet on the Western Front” over “Everything Everywhere All at Once” in 2023 and, last year, “Conclave” instead of “Anora.”

If there’s a place where “Hamnet,” Zhao’s tender portrait of love and loss centered on the family of William Shakespeare, could pull off a best picture upset, it would be with this group.

Best film

“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sinners”

Leading actress

Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue”
Chase Infiniti, “One Battle After Another”
Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
Emma Stone, “Bugonia”

Leading actor

Robert Aramayo, “I Swear”
Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”
Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”
Michael B Jordan, “Sinners”
Jesse Plemons, “Bugonia”

Supporting actress

Odessa A’zion, “Marty Supreme”
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”
Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners”
Carey Mulligan, “The Ballad of Wallis Island”
Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”
Emily Watson, “Hamnet”

Supporting actor

Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another”
Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”
Paul Mescal, “Hamnet”
Peter Mullan, “I Swear”
Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”
Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value”

Director

Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “Bugonia”
Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”
Joachim Trier, “Sentimental Value”
Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet”

Film not in the English language

“It Was Just An Accident”
“The Secret Agent”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sirât”
“The Voice of Hind Rajab”

Documentary

“2000 Meters to Andriivka”
“Apocalypse in the Tropics”
“Cover-Up”
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”
“The Perfect Neighbor”

Animated film

“Elio”
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
“Zootopia 2”

Children’s and family film

“Arco”
“Boong”
“Lilo & Stitch”
“Zootopia 2”

Original screenplay

“I Swear”
“Marty Supreme”
“The Secret Agent”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sinners”

Adapted screenplay

“The Ballad of Wallis Island”
“Bugonia”
“Hamnet”
“One Battle After Another”
“Pillion”

Original score

“Bugonia”
“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”

Casting

“I Swear”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sentimental Value”
“Sinners”

Cinematography

“Frankenstein”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
“Train Dreams”

Costume design

“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“Sinners”
“Wicked: For Good”

Editing

“F1”
“A House of Dynamite”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”

Production design

“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”

Make-up and hair

“Frankenstein”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“Sinners”
“Wicked: For Good”

Sound

“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“One Battle After Another”
“Sinners”
“Warfare”

Special visual effects

“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
“F1”
“Frankenstein”
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Lost Bus”

Outstanding British film

“28 Years Later”

“The Ballad of Wallis Island”

“Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy”

“Die My Love”

“H Is for Hawk”

“Hamnet”

“I Swear”

“Mr. Burton”

“Pillion”

“Steve”

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer

“The Ceremony”

“My Father’s Shadow”

“Pillion”

“A Want in Her”

“Wasteman”

British short film

“Magid / Zafar”
“Nostalgie”
“Terence”
“This Is Endometriosis”
“Welcome Home Freckles”

British short animation

“Cardboard”
“Solstice”
“Two Black Boys in Paradise”

EE Bafta rising star award (voted for by the public)

Robert Aramayo

Miles Caton

Chase Infiniti

Archie Madekwe

Posy Sterling

The UK’s best gastropub has been crowned, beating off competition from thousands of venues. It’s a spot that’s much loved-by celebrities and famous for pouring the best Guinness in the country

The top gastropubs across the UK have been named, and the winner is a spot that has been enjoyed by many celebrities and was praised for its “premium quality, homemade food, focusing on the best of British produce”.

The Devonshire in Soho, which prides itself on offering a warm and welcoming vibe and has the style of a traditional British pub, took the number one spot in the new ranking. The venue sits on one of the lively neighbourhood’s narrow streets, amongst theatres, restaurants, and busy shops.

Downstairs is a wood-panelled bar which looks a lot like many of the historic pubs found in this part of the capital. Tourists and Londoners just finishing work crowd around the bar, often spilling out onto the street on sunny days, giving the pub a friendly, lively atmosphere.

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What sets The Devonshire apart from other pubs in the area is its claim to serve the “perfect pint of Guinness”, with bar staff obsessed about getting the perfect pour. Its bar snack menu offers the chance to try the cuisine on offer, and includes snacks such as sausage on a stick, scotch eggs, and chips, among other British favourites.

Upstairs, the restaurant has a more upmarket vibe, and the handwritten menus feature seasonal specials and local ingredients. With an on-site butcher and baker on the team, you can be assured that everything is fresh and local. Highlights include Scottish beef, which is dry-aged and butchered on-site, and seafood from Devon, including lobsters and hand-dived scallops.

The Devonshire has gained a number of celebrity fans in recent years. Last summer, A-listers including Margot Robbie, Jon Bon Jovi, and Ed Sheeran were spotted among its diners. Yungblud and Florence Pugh even surprised punters by taking on duties behind the bar and having a go at pulling pints.

In second place was The Unruly Pig in Woodbridge, which, by contrast, sits among the Suffolk countryside. This 16th-century inn has a traditional pub vibe with wooden beams and a roaring fireplace, but adds a contemporary twist with colourful modern artworks on the walls.

The menu is a fusion of British and Italian cuisine, which they’ve dubbed ‘Britalian’, and uses fresh ingredients that are sourced locally whenever possible. In the bar, there’s a wide selection of craft beers as well as over 60 choices of wine and fizz to accompany your meal.

The menu changes monthly, and in addition to its a la carte selection, the restaurant offers a three-course lunch menu for £35pp, with a choice of three dishes per course. It also offers a popular Sunday lunch, where you can opt for a sharing roast platter for two or dishes such as iberico pork and parmesan gnocchi.

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Another London venue, The Red Lion & Sun, came in third on the list. The pub, set in leafy Highgate Village, has two beer gardens that are incredibly popular in the summer. And in fourth place was The Woolpack Inn, set in the quaint Cotswolds village of Slad, which offers real ales and hearty cuisine.

Full list of top 100 gastropubs in the UK

1. The Devonshire, Soho, London
2. The Unruly Pig, Woodbridge, Suffolk
3. The Red Lion & Sun, Highgate, London
4. The Woolpack Inn, Slad, Gloucestershire
5. The Star Inn, Harome, York
6. The Angel at Hetton, Hetton, North Yorkshire
7. Parkers Arms, Clitheroe Lancashire
8. The Rat Inn, Anick, Northumberland
9. The Rum Fox, Clitheroe, Lancashire
10. The Cornish Arms, Tavistock, Devon
11. Canton Arms, Stockwell, London
12. The Dog at Wingham, Wingham, Kent
13. The Abbey Inn, Byland, North Yorkshire
14. The Three Horseshoes, Batcombe, Somerset
15. The Broad Chare, Newcastle
16. The Gunton Arms, Thorpe Market, Norfolk
17. The Baring, Islington, London
18. The Merry Harriers, Hambledon, Surrey
19. The Fordwich Arms, Canterbury, Kent
20. The Bell, Langford, Oxfordshire
21. The Kentish Hare, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
22. The Crown, Burchetts Green, Berkshire
23. The Marksman, Hackney, London
24. The Hero, Maida Vale, London
25. The Kerfield Arms, Camberwell, London
26. The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent
27. The Mariners, Rock, Cornwall
28. The Bull, Charlbury, Oxfordshire
29. The Coach, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
30. The Highland Laddie, Leeds
31. The Pipe and Glass Inn, South Dalton, East Yorkshire
32. The Silver Cup, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
33. The Waterman’s Arms, Barnes, London
34. Heft, High Newton, Cumbria
35. The Tamil Crown, Islington, London
36. Harwood Arms, Fulham, London
37. The Killingworth Castle, Woodstock, Oxfordshire
38. The Gurnard’s Head, St Ives, Cornwall
39. The Bull & Last, Highgate, London
40. The Kinneuchar Inn, Leven, Fife
41. The Tartan Fox, Newquay, Cornwall
42. The Queen of Cups, Glastonbury, Somerset
43. The Knave of Clubs, Shoreditch, London
44. The Mason’s Arms, Bampton, Oxfordshire
45. The Wild Rabbit, Kingham, Oxfordshire
46. The Black Bear Inn, Bettws Newydd, Monmouthshire
47. The French House, Soho, London
48. The Loch & The Tyne by Adam Handling, Old Windsor, Berkshire
49. The Shibden Mill Inn, Halifax West Yorkshire
50. The White Horse, Chester, Cheshire
51. The White Swan at Fence, Fence, Lancashire
52. The Cross at Kenilworth, Kenilworth
53. The Castle Inn, Castle Combe, Chippenham
54. The George, Kempsford, Fairford
55. The Hoop, Stock, Essex
56. The Scran and Scallie, Edinburgh
57. The Black Bull, Sedbergh, Cumbria
58. The Edinburgh Castle, Manchester
59. The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
60. The Camberwell Arms, Camberwell, London
61. The Parakeet, Kentish Town, London
62. The Boat, Lichfield
63. The Longs Arms, South Wraxall, Wiltshire
64. The Anchor and Hope, Southwark, London
65. The Pelican, Notting Hill, London
66. The Pack Horse, Hayfield, Derbyshire
67. The Drapers Arms, Islington, London
68. The Hand and Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
69. St Kew Inn, Bodmin
70. The Three Fishes, Mitton, Lancashire
71. The Bull Inn, Totnes
72. The Clarence, Glasgow
73. The Dog & Gun Inn, Skelton, Cumbria
74. Heathcock, Cardiff
75. The Fat Badger, Notting Hill, London
76. The Chagford Inn, Chagford
77. The Eagle, Farringdon, London
78. The Clarence Tavern, Stoke Newington, north-east London
79. The Five Elms, Weedon Aylesbury, Bucks
80. The Horseguards Inn, Tiilington, Petworth, West Sussex
81. The Oarsman, Marlow
82. The Two Pigs, Barton under Needwood, Burton on Trent
83. The Lady Mildmay, Newington Green, north-east London
84. The Royal Oak, Witney, Oxfordshire
85. The White Hart, Lydgate, Oldham
86. WildMoor Oak, Bromsgrove
87. The Double Red Duke, Clanfield, Oxfordshire
88. The Blue Stoops, Kensington, London
89. The Crown at Bray, Bray, Maidenhead
90. The Bucks Head, Sevenoaks, Kent
91. The Parlour, Kensal Rise, London
92. The Dog and Pickle, Essex
93. The Burleigh Arms, Cambridge
94. The Charlton Arms, Ludlow
95. The Suffield Arms, Gunton
96. The Hare & Hounds, Vale of Glamorgan
97. The Sun, Felmersham, Bedford
98. Pyne Arms, Barnstaple
99. The Standard Inn, Portscatho, Cornwall
100. The Swan, Bampton

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

AFTER 20 years of strict liquid rules, airports are finally starting to scrap them.

The rule, introduced back in 2006 after a foiled liquid explosive bombing at London Heathrow, has long caused problems for unaware travellers heading abroad.

However, new CT scanners are slowly being rolled out across the UK, which will eventually end the rules that require liquids to be under 100ml, and fit in a small plastic bag.

Earlier this week, London Heathrow became the latest to lift some of the rules.

Despite this, there is some confusion – some airports no longer require liquids to be taken out of the bag, but still be 100ml, while others now allow up to 2l.

So we’ve rounded up all of the airport rules to explain which ones have lifted which rules, as well as which are yet to.

PACK IT IN

Major UK airport introduces new liquid rules after £1billion upgrade

FLY AWAY

UK gets new flight route to world’s best airport – less than 4 hours from the UK

(And don’t forget to check the rules of your return airport too, as many across Europe still follow the 100ml guidelines).

London Heathrow

The UK’s busiest airport is the latest to scrap the requirement 100ml liquid requirement.

Following a £1billin upgrade, the new advance scanners have been rolled out across all four terminals.

Passengers can now carry liquids up to 2l through airport security, and can keep them in their bags.

London Gatwick

The 100m liquid rules were scrapped at London Gatwick Airport last year across both terminals.

Passengers can take liquids up to 2l in their hand luggage and can keep them in their bag when going through security.

Birmingham

Birmingham Airport also lifted the strict 100ml liquid rules last year back in July.

Up to 2 litres of liquid can be taken in hand luggage, with no need for plastic bags and can stay in hand luggage.

Bristol

Bristol Airport passengers can ditch the small 100ml bottles in favour of 2 litre bottles of liquids.

They can also be kept in bags when going through airport security.

Edinburgh

The first Scottish airport to lift the rules, Edinburgh scrapped the 100ml liquid rule back in July 2025.

The new 2 litre rule now applies.

And the airports yet to lift the rules…

The below airports are yet to lift the strict 100ml restriction in favour of the 2 litre limit.

However, they have all scrapped the requirement for them to fit in a plastic bag, and they can all be kept in hand luggage at airport security.

• London City
• London Luton
• London Stansted
• London Southend
• Manchester
• East Midlands
• Leeds Bradford
• Liverpool John Lennon
• Newcastle
• Teeside
• Norwich
• Southampton
• Bournemouth
• Newquay
• Cardiff
• Aberdeen
• Glasgow Internatinal and Glasgow Prestwick
• Inverness

Here are some of the airlines that are banning passengers from using power banks onboard.

And here is all of the food and drink which is banned from being taken on flights.

These are the key developments from day 1,433 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Tuesday, January 27:

Fighting

• At least two people were injured after Russian forces launched a drone and missile attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. The attack also damaged apartment buildings, a school, and a kindergarten, he added.

• Russian drones also hit a high-rise apartment building in Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown southeast of Kharkiv. The head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said the attack triggered a fire, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
• A Russian drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital damaged parts of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Ukraine’s most famous religious landmark and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture said in a statement.
• In Russia, one person was killed following a Ukrainian drone attack in the border region of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app.
• Ukraine’s military said it struck the Slavyansk Eko oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight. The military said in a statement that parts of the primary oil processing facility were hit. There were no initial reports of casualties.

• One person was injured, and two business enterprises caught fire in the city of Slavyansk-on-Kuban – also in Russia’s Krasnodar – after fragments fell from a destroyed drone, the regional emergencies centre said.

• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said that air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed 40 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 34 in the Krasnodar region.

Military aid

• NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Ukraine’s interception rate of Russian missiles and drones has decreased due to Kyiv having fewer weapons to protect it from incoming attacks. Rutte urged allies to dig into their stockpiles to help defend Ukraine.

Humanitarian aid

• Czechs have collected more than $6m in just five days in a grassroots fundraising effort to buy generators, heaters and batteries to send to Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of people are freezing in sub-zero temperatures after Russian attacks on power plants, the online fundraising initiative Darek pro Putina (“Gift for Putin”) said.

Ceasefire talks

• Talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are expected to resume on February 1, Zelenskyy said in his regular evening address. He urged Ukraine’s allies not to weaken their pressure on Moscow in advance of the expected talks.

• In a separate post on X, Zelenskyy said military issues were the primary topic of discussion at trilateral talks with the US and Russia over the weekend in Abu Dhabi, but that political issues were also discussed. He added that preparations are under way for new trilateral meetings.

• The US-brokered trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were held in a “constructive spirit”, but there was still “significant work ahead”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow. The talks should be viewed positively despite these differences, he added.

• The Kremlin also said that the issue of territory remained fundamental to Russia when it came to getting a deal to end the fighting, the Russian state’s TASS news agency reported. Moscow has insisted that for the war to end, Russia must take over all of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

• German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul denounced Russia’s “stubborn insistence on the crucial territorial issue” following the talks in Abu Dhabi.

Politics

• European Union countries have approved a ban on Russian gas imports by late 2027, a move to cut ties with their former top energy supplier nearly four years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Ukrainian Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal welcomed the ban, saying in a statement that independence from Russian energy “is, above all, about a safe and strong Europe”.
• Germany’s Wadephul said that Russia is testing European countries’ resilience with hybrid tactics, such as the damaging of undersea cables, the jamming of GPS signals and the deployment of a shadow fleet of vessels to break sanctions, as its deadly war in Ukraine continues.

• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Budapest would summon Ukraine’s ambassador over what Orban said were attempts by Kyiv to interfere in a Hungarian parliamentary election due on April 12. In recent weeks, Orban has intensified his anti-Ukrainian rhetoric and sought to link opposition leader, Peter Magyar, with Brussels and Ukraine.