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Trump to close Kennedy Center for renovations amid backlash from performers

United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to close the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts for two years for renovations starting in July.

Trump’s announcement on Sunday follows a wave of cancellations by leading performers, musicians and groups since the president ousted the previous leadership and added his name to the building.

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Trump made no mention in his post of the recent cancellations.

“I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period of time,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result!”

The closure will start on July 4, to coincide with the 250th Independence Day celebration.

The decision, Trump said, will be subject to approval of the board, which he handpicked upon taking over as chairman.

The president added that the facility’s various entertainment events – concerts, operas, musicals, ballet performances, and interactive arts – would impede and slow the construction and renovation operations, and that a full temporary closure would be necessary.

“The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World,” he said.

“America will be very proud of its new and beautiful Landmark for many generations to come.”

There was no immediate comment from the Kennedy Center.

The complex began as a national cultural centre, but was renamed by Congress as a “living memorial” to former President John F Kennedy in 1964, in the aftermath of his assassination.

Opened in 1971, it operates year-round as a public showcase for the arts, including the National Symphony Orchestra.

After Trump took over as chairman of the centre’s board, several entertainers and performers withdrew their performances in protest of the president’s policies.

Among them were the producers of the award-winning musical Hamilton, and international operatic soprano Renee Fleming.

The Washington National Opera recently announced that it would leave the Kennedy Center, its home since the centre’s opening.

Renowned composer Philip Glass also announced on Wednesday the withdrawal of a symphony orchestra performance for Abraham Lincoln, saying that “the values” of the centre “today” are in “direct conflict” with the message of his piece.

Trump had criticised some of the programmes of the once non-partisan centre as too “woke”.

In recent days, the Kennedy Center hosted the premiere of First Lady Melania Trump’s documentary, which saw a record weekend at the box office, but drew mostly negative reviews from film critics.

The extent of the “complete rebuilding” mentioned by Trump is unclear, but he has described the structure as dilapidated and needing a facelift.

In a post on X, Maria Kennedy Shriver, a niece of the slain former president, criticised Trump’s decision without naming him. She suggested that the closure and renovation were made to distract Americans, as “no one wants to perform there any longer”.

Trump’s rebuilding plans for the centre follow a series of measures to reshape US historical and cultural institutions.

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,439

Here is where things stand on Monday, February 1:

Fighting

  • A Russian drone strike on a bus carrying miners in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region killed at least 12 people, according to officials.
  • Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal denounced the strike as a “cynical and targeted” attack on energy workers. Their employer, DTEK, said the victims were finishing a shift.
  • Another Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed a man and a woman, while nine people were wounded in Russian attacks on a maternity ward and a residential neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia, officials said. Among those injured were two women undergoing medical examination.
  • In a post on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of attempting to disrupt logistics and connectivity between Ukrainian cities and communities through its drone, bomb and missile attacks. He said Russia used more than 980 attack drones, nearly 1,100 guided aerial bombs, and two missiles against Ukraine.
  • Nearly 700 apartment buildings remain without heating in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, due to previous Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said, as a new wave of bitter cold swept across much of the country.
  • Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces gained control over the village of Zelene in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, and the settlement of Sukhetske in the Donetsk region, according to the TASS news agency. The ministry added that Russian forces hit facilities of transport infrastructure used in the interests of the Ukrainian army.
  • Tech billionaire Elon Musk said moves by his SpaceX company to stop Russia’s “unauthorised” use of its internet system Starlink seem to have worked, after Ukrainian officials reported finding Starlink terminals on long-range drones used in Russian attacks.
  • Ukrainian Minister of Defence Mykhailo Fedorov said Kyiv was developing a system that would allow only authorised Starlink terminals to work on Ukrainian territory.

Politics and diplomacy

  • Zelenskyy said a new round of trilateral talks between Russian, Ukrainian and US officials on a Washington-drafted plan to end the nearly four-year war has been postponed to February 4 and 5 in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi.
  • Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, praised US President Donald Trump’s “brash” style as “effective” in seeking peace, but added that Moscow had seen no trace of nuclear submarines that Trump claimed he had moved to Russian shores.
  • Medvedev added in his interview with the Reuters and TASS news agencies that Trump “wants to go down in history as a peacemaker – and he is really trying”, which explains “why contacts with Americans have become much more productive”.
  • Medvedev also said that European powers had failed to defeat Russia in Ukraine, but had inflicted severe economic harm on themselves by trying to do so.
  • Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu held talks with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi in Beijing, with China’s top diplomat saying that bilateral relations between the two countries could “break new ground” this year.
  • Wang also told Shoigu that China and Russia must work together to uphold multilateralism in a time of “turmoil”, and “advocate for an equal and orderly multipolar world”.
  • The US and Russia’s New START pact, the final treaty in the world that restricted nuclear weapon deployment, is set to expire on Thursday, and with it, restrictions on the two top nuclear powers. Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested in September a one-year extension of New START, but little has been heard from Trump since he indicated last year that an extension “sounds like a good idea”.

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Rose sets tournament record in dominant Torrey Pines win

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Farmers Insurance Open – final leaderboard

-23 J Rose (Eng); -16 P Coody (US), SW Kim (Kor), R Hisatsune (Jpn); -15 J Knapp (US), S Jaeger (Ger). Selected others: -12 T Finau (US), S Power (Ire); -8 A Scott (Aus); -6 K Bradley (US); -4 B Koepka (US)

England’s Justin Rose clinched an utterly dominant win at the Farmers Insurance Open in a new tournament record score.

Rose, the 2019 winner, led by six shots before Sunday’s fourth round on Torrey Pines’ South Course and was rarely troubled over his final 18 holes.

He signed for a two-under-par 70 to finish seven clear of the field on 23 under and claim his 13th PGA Tour title.

The 45-year-old, whose last win came at August’s FedEx St Jude Championship, picked up birdies at the sixth, eighth and ninth, with a bogey at the 12th his only blip.

The previous best winning score in the tournament’s history was 22 under – by Tiger Woods in 1999 and George Burns in 1987.

Rose also becomes the oldest player to secure a wire-to-wire finish on tour – leading in all four rounds – since Rocco Mediate in October 2010 aged 47.

“This has been a huge win and to start the season with a win is amazing,” said Rose.

“I knew 23 under was a record. I’ve grown the lead each day so I wanted to finish seven ahead rather than six.

“I had my own little mini goals down the stretch which kept me focused, which was key and I managed my game well.

“I’m still loving it and working hard and do believe there is some good stuff ahead of me.”

American Pierceson Coody had the best round of the day – a seven-under-par 65 – which gave him a share of second place alongside South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune who both shot 69s.

American Jake Knapp and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger finished a further shot back.

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‘Complacent and lost control’ – Man City’s second-half problem

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Manchester City‘s second-half performances are becoming a concern for them, and might just end up costing them in the Premier League title race.

After Sunday’s collapse from 2-0 up to draw 2-2 against Tottenham, City have now failed to see out three of the past four league games where they have been ahead at half-time.

The other times they have been pegged back for draws since the turn of the year, at home to Chelsea and Brighton, did not see the same dramatic drop-off in performance as in the second half against Spurs.

However, in all three matches they will look back and think they had chances to make the points safe.

The turnaround at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was down to what both teams were like after the break – a re-energised and fired-up Spurs, with some new personnel and a different system, against what I think was a complacent City side.

Tactics do matter here, of course, and Tottenham stopped City playing through them the way they had in the first half – but what made more of a difference for Spurs in their fightback was the way their attitude and desire was much greater than City’s.

In any game, I always believe that if the team with the better players matches the energy, desire and running power of the team with less quality, and wins the important duels, then they will win the game or maintain their lead.

I do not think City lost their way because Spurs suddenly had more quality than them – it was more that Tottenham just wanted it more in the second half.

‘City should know better’

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There are two reasons why a team’s levels can drop in the second half of matches the way City’s did against Spurs – mental or physical.

While City played a lot of matches in January, they have got a big squad and Guardiola rotates the team, so I do not see that being the issue – I think the problem was more to do with their mindset.

What happened to them against Spurs happened to me as a player, where a game is so easy and feels so comfortable in the first half, you do not expect what is coming.

Yes, you know the opposition will have a little go at fighting back, especially if you are away somewhere, but you just think you are going to have the same dominance and as many chances.

The irony is that, if the game is a bit more even before the break, you are more fired up for the second half, knowing you have got to kick on.

But because City were 2-0 up and probably should have been three or four goals ahead, they were so dominant they probably switched off a bit.

First half: ‘City were dominant and composed’

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In the first half, City were dominant, dangerous and looked totally composed – exactly the type of performance I was expecting from them.

It was interesting that Guardiola played Antoine Semenyo and Erling Haaland together as a split front two, and the midfield four was quite fluid.

At times when they were building up, Bernardo Silva would drop next to Rodri and Nico O’Reilly and Rayan Cherki would come inside, a bit like Aston Villa do. It caused Spurs all sorts of problems.

Another little tweak Guardiola made which I thought was quite clever was how they pressed Tottenham when the home side had the ball.

Silva was the player who left his position, and the other three midfielders behind him, to join the front two to create the press. It actually led to City’s first goal.

Because Spurs were down to the bare bones in terms of their personnel, they had some players out of position and in a system they have tried recently but certainly do not use all the time.

They were at sixes and sevens with who they were picking up, and as the first half progressed I thought it was just a case of how many goals City would get. I just did not see a way Tottenham would get back into the game – but I was wrong.

Cristian Romero had to come off at half-time through illness, which forced Thomas Frank to switch to four at the back, and he changed to a more orthodox 4-4-1-1 shape, with Randal Kolo Muani joining Dominic Solanke up front.

Straight away, the four in midfield narrowed up to reduce the space City had. They could not get through as easily and, as Spurs saw more of the ball, the hosts grew in confidence bit by bit and built their way back into the game.

Second half: ‘City lost all control’

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City lost all momentum and control and, if not for a couple of brilliant saves by Gianluigi Donnarumma, they probably would have been beaten.

Normally if you have controlled the first half and the other team comes at you more after the break, you might face more pressure and concede more chances but you will also have more space for breakaways.

That did not happen for City against Spurs, even though Frank had left Joao Palhinha and Radu Dragusin two v two against Semenyo and Haaland as he chased the game. Firstly because Spurs were much more switched on, but also because City’s front two were poor.

They did not hold enough balls up, or give enough options in behind. I would expect far more from them in that scenario.

Overall, though, I would not say what happened was down to City being all bad or Spurs becoming brilliant – it was a combination of both.

Spurs did much better but City fell down a few levels. That contrast in performances from them, between the first and second half, was as extreme as I have seen from Guardiola’s side in a long time.

City have now only won one of their past six league games, and I think everyone is surprised by their results because they have got so much quality and experience.

The reality about their performances is they are not at the level they should be, with the players they have got.

The reason I can say that is not because of their past title triumphs, it is because in the first half I saw City play like a team trying to catch Arsenal – a team on a mission saying “we’re coming after you”.

Part of the fall off from them in the second half was self-inflicted – giving the ball away, not winning challenges or second balls. It was very unlike them, because we are used to seeing them manage games so well.

They are not out of the title race yet, because the gap is only six points and Arsenal still have to go to Etihad Stadium.

City are still capable of going on the kind of long winning run that has got them over the line before. But at the moment it looks like there is a mindset issue with some of their players.

Some of them – not all of them – seem to think that, when they go up in games, they are done. That is not how you win the title, and that is not the City we know.

Snapshot of the top of the Premier League: 1st Arsenal, 2nd Man City, 3rd Aston Villa, 4th Man Utd & 5th Chelsea

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