McLaren’s title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri struggled in first practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace.
Norris and Piastri ended the session on a dusty track in sixth and eighth places after a series of off-track moments.
Norris was 0.456 seconds slower than Leclerc, who headed Williams’ Alex Albon by 0.166secs.
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Williams’ Carlos Sainz was fifth, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar took seventh with his final lap of the session. Mercedes’ George Russell was ninth, ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Norris took to the escape road at Turn 14 at the end of Las Vegas’ famous Strip twice on consecutive laps as he fought to find pace in his McLaren.
He also hit the wall early in the session, although he escaped without damaging the car.
Piastri, 24 points behind the Briton at the head of the championship, had his off-track moment at Turns Eight and Nine around the Sphere.
The Australian was 0.192secs slower than Norris, continuing the performance trend between the two in most recent races.
Norris has gained 58 points on Piastri in the past six races, to take control of the season and put himself within sniffing distance of the championship.
Leclerc was quick all session, but Hamilton ended up 0.759secs behind his team-mate.
The session is unlikely to be representative of the rest of the weekend as the track is so dirty and will improve as the sessions tick by.
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McLaren’s title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri struggled in first practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace.
Norris and Piastri ended the session on a dusty track in sixth and eighth places after a series of off-track moments.
Norris was 0.456 seconds slower than Leclerc, who headed Williams’ Alex Albon by 0.166secs.
1 day ago
6 hours ago
Williams’ Carlos Sainz was fifth, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar took seventh with his final lap of the session. Mercedes’ George Russell was ninth, ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Norris took to the escape road at Turn 14 at the end of Las Vegas’ famous Strip twice on consecutive laps as he fought to find pace in his McLaren.
He also hit the wall early in the session, although he escaped without damaging the car.
Piastri, 24 points behind the Briton at the head of the championship, had his off-track moment at Turns Eight and Nine around the Sphere.
The Australian was 0.192secs slower than Norris, continuing the performance trend between the two in most recent races.
Norris has gained 58 points on Piastri in the past six races, to take control of the season and put himself within sniffing distance of the championship.
Leclerc was quick all session, but Hamilton ended up 0.759secs behind his team-mate.
The session is unlikely to be representative of the rest of the weekend as the track is so dirty and will improve as the sessions tick by.
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
A federal judge in the United States has ordered the Trump administration to halt its National Guard troop deployment to Washington, DC, a turning-back in the president’s efforts to expand military presence in major cities.
In response to a lawsuit brought by city officials alleging that Trump had used the military for domestic law enforcement, US District Judge Jia Cobb on Thursday temporarily suspended the deployment.
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In Washington, DC, the federal government has special authority. Despite frequent protests from state and local officials and a lack of any emergency circumstances, the Trump administration has chosen to deploy soldiers in a growing list of Democrat-led cities.
Cobb gave the Trump administration 21 days to appeal the order before it goes into effect, saying in her decision that the president was unable to deploy soldiers for “whatever reason” he wanted.
The lawsuit that criticized the military deployment as a “frivolous stunt” was criticized by the government’s lawyers.
According to Department of Justice attorneys, “There is no reasonable reason for an injunction unwinding this arrangement now, especially given that the District’s claims have no merit.”
In an effort to combat crime and detain undocumented immigrants, Trump has also deployed troops to cities like Los Angeles, California, Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, Illinois.
Residents and civil liberties organizations have documented racial profiling and widespread rights violations by federal agents during those crackdowns, which some US citizens have been swept up in.
Trump has threatened to detain local and state officials who object to his military deployment.
According to Washington, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, US democracy would “never be the same if these occupations are allowed to continue.”
Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020 after a career which spanned nearly 30 years, and saw Chadwick star in the likes of Black Panther, Message from the King and other hits
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Viola Davis paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman at the ceremony(Image: John Salangsang/Shutterstock)
Hollywood actor Chadwick Boseman was last night honoured with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Friends gathered at a ceremony to celebrate the accolade, which comes five years after Chadwick died of colon cancer. Viola Davis, an actress who starred in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Get On Up with Chadwick, described the performer as “a mighty, mighty elixir” at the celebration yesterday.
Chadwick’s wife Simone Ledward-Boseman formally accepting the honour, the 2, 828th star on the iconic Walk of Fame in the heart of Hollywood, Los Angeles. Guests, which also included Michael B. Jordan, became tearful as the star was unveiled.
Speaking on stage moments later, Viola said: “Chadwick was a mighty, mighty elixir that sort of stirred up that alchemy that we’re all in search of, which is meaning, I celebrate him today. I say to him, I hope all the angels in heaven just sang him to a beautiful rest. And I thank him for what he left behind in me, which is a burning amber that always guides me to a higher meaning of my work and my purpose”.
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Hello! Magazine reports that since Chadwick died in August 2020, several posthumous productions have been released — and been warmly received. The film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, released less than four months after the tragedy, went on to win a Golden Globe Award in 2021.
And Chadwick became the first black performer to ever be nominated posthumously for an Oscar in that same year, as he was put forward for Best Actor for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Guest referenced such successes at the event yesterday, praising Chadwick’s personality and acting talent. Ryan Coogler, who directed the 2018 Marvel Studios fiilm Black Panther, said: “He reflected light, he refracted it, and when he did, he showed the greatness of our people, and the universe of our shared humanity, thank you Chad”.
Before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was released in 2022, Marvel Studios lauded the actor and said plans for the movie changed following the death. Chadwick kept his journey with colon cancer private,and Hollywood world and fans were devastated to learn of the passing.
The playwright’s wife Simone also became emotional as she spoke and said that her late husband “was more than an actor or even an artist”. She said: “He was a spiritual teacher, fortified by a family and close friends that kept him grounded in faith, a team that believed in him, protected him and fought for him”.
Simone, who is a singer, further expressed that “he could give each and every person a specific part of him and still have so much left to share with the world”. She met the actor in 2015 and the couple got engaged in October 2019, marrying in secret amid Chadwick’s private battle with cancer.
Germany completed a remarkable comeback to beat Argentina in a thrilling doubles decider and set up a Davis Cup semi-final against Spain.
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz saved three match points in a final-set tie-break to overcome Horacio Zeballos and Andres Molteni 4-6 6-4 7-6 (12-10) in a gruelling contest lasting two hours and 31 minutes.
Argentina had put the first point on the board when world number 60 Tomas Etcheverry hit 23 aces to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-7) in a high-quality encounter.
But world number three Alexander Zverev launched Germany’s recovery, beating world number 21 Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to force the deciding doubles.
Zverev, the only top 10 singles player competing in the Davis Cup this week, was not at his best but a brilliant tie-break performance kept Germany’s hopes of progressing to a second straight semi-final alive.
Those hopes were on their way to being extinguished when Zeballos and Molteni dominated the opening set of the doubles rubber.
But Krawietz and Puetz, who have three Grand Slam doubles titles between them, took the second set before a stalemate in the decider sent the match to a tie-break.
The Germans missed four match points, including three in a row, in an astonishing tie-break before clinching victory with the fifth.
“Incredible. There’s not many matches you play in your career like that,” said Puetz. “It feels better to win in the end but what a great match and a great Davis Cup tie.”
Not since their title-winning 1993 campaign have three-time champions Germany reached the final of the tournament.
Earlier on Thursday, Spain brushed aside the absence of Carlos Alcaraz to come from behind and beat the Czech Republic 2-1 and move one step closer to a first title in six years.
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No Alcaraz, no problem – Spain ‘still alive’
A “heartbroken” Alcaraz pulled out of Spain’s squad for the Finals on Tuesday after the new world number one was advised not to compete because of swelling in his right hamstring.
In the absence of their talisman, things started shakily for the Spanish team after the big-serving Jakub Mensik – with 20 aces – defeated Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5 6-4.
World number 36 Jaume Munar, with his first singles win at the Davis Cup, took the tie to the deciding doubles with an impressive 6-3 6-4 victory over US Open quarter-finalist and world number 17 Jiri Lehecka.
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The Czechs were left to rue their missed opportunities in a two-hour tussle, having held a 4-1 lead and three set points in the first-set tie-break, while two further set-point chances were missed in the one in the second set.
Former doubles world number one Granollers said: “We are really happy that we fought hard for all of the team. We believed and here we are in the semi-finals.
“Last year was difficult for us [exiting in the quarter-finals] but we know this competition is very difficult. We can see here how good the teams are. We have a young team but we are still alive.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said he had “officially received a draft plan from the American side, which, according to the American side, can intensify diplomacy” to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy also said, in a post on Facebook, that he had discussed “options for achieving real peace”, as well as “sequencing of our work and formats for dialogue]and] new impulses for diplomacy”, during a meeting with United States Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll in Kyiv on Thursday.
Zelenskyy’s office said the Ukrainian president had “agreed to work on the points of the plan in such a way that it would provide a dignified end to the war” during his meeting with Driscoll.
Zelenskyy’s updates followed news reports that the US and Russia have drafted a new framework to end the Russia-Ukraine war, including a 28-point plan from US President Donald Trump.
“It is a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine, and we believe it should be acceptable to both sides. And we are working hard to get it done”, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Commenting on the reported plan ahead of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday, EU foreign policy head Kaja Kallas told reporters: “Of course, for any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board”.
News of the US-Russia framework plan came as Ukraine convened a United Nations Security Council meeting following a deadly Russian attack on Ukraine’s Ternopil on Wednesday.
US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told the UNSC meeting, “It is imperative to end this war and begin the process of rebuilding”, as Ukraine approaches its fourth winter “since Russia launched its invasion”.
Waltz also said that the US, including Trump, had “invested at the highest levels … to end this war”, promising “generous terms for Russia, including sanctions relief”, and asking “Russia to halt its attacks and meet directly with Ukraine to negotiate a peaceful settlement”.
Edem Wosornu, director of the Crisis Response Division of the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, briefed the council on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, where she said 3.7 million people are displaced and nearly six million are refugees.
Fighting
The death toll from the Russian missile attack on an apartment building in Ukraine’s Ternopil on Wednesday rose to 27, Serhii Danilin of the State Emergency Service in Ternopil told Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
Russian strikes on a warehouse in Ukraine’s Lviv city destroyed supplies intended for 600 hospitals and medical clinics, Oksana Gologorskaya, vice president of medical projects for US charity Nova, told the Ukrinform news outlet. The equipment damaged included ultrasound systems, medical consumables and surgical instruments, Gologorskaya said.
Russian forces seized the Ukrainian village of Maslikovka and the Yampil settlement, near the town of Lyman in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.
Russian drone strikes on energy facilities in several regions of Ukraine caused power outages, Ukrinform reported.
Sanctions
The EU imposed sanctions on 10 “individuals responsible for serious violations or abuses of human rights and the repression of civil society and democratic opposition in Russia”, the European Council said in a statement.
High-level officials from the Russian region of Rostov, where the council claimed detainees, including Ukrainian prisoners of war, were “regularly subjected to beatings, suffered from severe food shortages, and had little access to medical care or legal assistance,” were among those who were sanctioned.
