News

As the tennis star entered the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne to begin her Australian Open 2026 campaign in a wide-brim hat with a long veil and a white umbrella, fans were enthralled as Naomi Osaka entered.

The two-time Australian Open champion beat Antonia Ruzic shortly after men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner entered the second round in a divisive manner against Hugo Gaston.

Before stepping up for the pre-match formalities wearing a portion of her pleated outfit on the lower body, Osaka waved regally to the crowd, folded the parasol, and neatly put the hat and veil to the side.

For the match itself, which ended with a 6-3, 3-6, and 6-4 scoreline for the Japanese player, she was back to her more or less regular tennis kit.

The 16th seed lost a set in her final match of day three on the main show court at Melbourne Park despite having won two of her four Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open.

In the second set, she made a strong comeback, winning in two hours, 22 minutes.

Osaka claimed that her hat was embellished with a butterfly and was inspired by a jellyfish after winning.

She said in an on-court interview after the match that “the butterfly has to do with the Australian Open I won in 2021, which I guess is a long time ago.

Osaka claimed to have created the outfit’s design.

Before Gaston abruptly retired, Sinner’s quest for a third successive title on the same court drew near in ominous form as he predominated two sets.

The Italian world number two roared to a 6-2, 6-1 lead in less than an hour after defeating Carlos Alcaraz to win the ATP Finals title, racking up 19 victories on the court where he has been a former tennis player for two years.

After the first set, Frenchman Gaston took tablets to apologize and offer a handshake, but there was a rumble of surprise when he crossed to Sinner’s side after the second set, which showed something was amiss.

After comforting the Frenchman as he sobbed on his chair under a towel, Sinner said he could see Gaston was not at his best but was content with his own game.

He told reporters, “I’ve worked a lot, a lot of hours trying to improve my tennis game.”

“But ultimately, the most crucial thing is to play basketball and enjoy,” no? Opening the season with a night-session game at a Grand Slam, in a stadium full of fans, is very special.

In the third round, Sinner will face Australian James Duckworth.

Madison Keys, the reigning women’s champion, admitted to being “very nervous” as she launched her title defense against Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.

The ninth seed of the United States said of once more leaving center court, “I’ve been thinking about this moment for essentially a year.

“I’m so happy to be back in Melbourne,” he said. I must admit that I was initially very anxious.

Before the Grand Slam, she admitted to feeling the weight of expectation as the defending champion after quarterfinal exits in Brisbane and Adelaide.

And so it was when she faced an impending implosion from the ranked 92 in the world before finding her feet to win the match with ease in the third set.

After a heartfelt four-set defeat to Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny, the men’s draw saw an emotional Gael Monfils bid farewell to the tournament.

In his final performance at the venue, the French entertainer lit up the court with a 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 scoreline in Sweeny’s favor.

The 39-year-old Monfils received a standing ovation and an on-court presentation following his statement, “Somehow it’s the finish line, but thank you so much for an amazing ride.

There are many fond memories here for me.

Monfils, who has won 13 ATP titles in a distinguished career dating back to 2004, declared that this would be his final year playing tennis.

Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office one year ago as the 47th president of the United States after campaigning again on his Make America Great Again slogan and picking up from where he left off during his first term.

During the past 365 days, the Trump administration has implemented significant economic, diplomatic and social policy changes that have reshaped both the US and global landscape.

In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera breaks down some of the key numbers.

Signed 228 executive orders

On his first day back in office on January 20, 2025, Trump signed 26 executive orders, establishing a new record for the most executive orders signed on the first day in office by a president.

Executive orders are directives issued by the US president. They are supposed to pertain to the management of the federal government and may not override federal laws. Critics say he often exceeds these boundaries, leading to court challenges of many of his executive orders.

The rapid pace of Trump’s orders continued throughout the first year of his second term with the president signing a total of 228 executive orders, exceeding the 220 orders signed during his entire four-year first term from 2017 to 2021.

Deported at least 605,000 people

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the second Trump administration had deported at least 605,000 people in DHS enforcement operations as of December 10 while an additional 1.9 million “voluntarily self-deported”.

Over the past year, about 1.6 million people living in the US lost their legal immigrant status, including those affected by the termination of their temporary protected status and various student and high-skilled visa programmes.

Furthermore, under Trump’s orders, at least 66,886 people were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement with an average of 821 people arrested each day across the country.

On Wednesday, Trump also banned citizens of 75 countries from obtaining immigration visas.

Tariffs for all

One of Trump’s favourite words in 2025 was tariffs, which he imposed on allies, neighbours and foes alike, rattling global trade and increasing tensions in international relations.

On average, all US trading partners were hit with 10 percent tariffs, and India got hit the hardest with 50 percent levies.

According to daily Department of the Treasury data, US-imposed tariffs generated $287bn in 2025 in customs duties, taxes and fees. However, Yale University’s Budget Lab estimated that tariffs cost each US household an average of $1,500 in higher prices for the year.

Taking a chainsaw to federal jobs

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, was established by Trump via executive order. Its stated purpose was to cut costs within the federal government, which is the single largest employer in the US.

After just 10 months, DOGE eliminated at least 317,000 federal jobs; shut down all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices; drastically reduced the Department of Education; and slashed projects funded by the US Agency on International Development until it ceased operations and was absorbed into the Department of State.

International diplomacy

For the second time in his presidency, Trump chose Saudi Arabia as the destination for his first official state visit after brief stops in Italy and the Vatican for Pope Francis’s funeral.

So far, Trump has visited 13 countries during his second term, often mixing in business deals with international diplomacy.

During his first term, Trump visited 25 countries, but his trips were limited in the latter part of that term due to COVID-19.

Bombed seven countries

At the start of his second term, Trump pledged to restore peace by ending global conflicts. His administration has since attacked at least seven countries with Venezuela being the latest.

According to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data monitor, the US and its allies conducted at least 658 air and drone attacks from January 20, 2025, to January 5, 2026.

Trump has claimed to have stopped at least eight wars since he took office in January, but several of the conflicts he claimed to have resolved continue to fester.

Climate and the environment

With the motto “drill, baby, drill,” Trump has opened more than 2.5 million square kilometres (965,000sq miles) of ocean for offshore drilling, signalling an end to federal environmental protections. He has reversed at least 30 Biden-era climate policies by executive order, including dropping out of the Paris Agreement.

According to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, at least 84 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since October 2023 as a result of systematic abuse, including physical and psychological abuse, inhumane conditions, deliberate starvation, and the denial of medical care.

In a report released on Tuesday, the organization listed the names of the 84 detained prisoners, including one minor, as well as the locations where they died. However, Israeli authorities are still holding 80 of their bodies and refusing to give them back to their families.

Israel has waged its genocidal war there for more than two years, and fifty of them fought in the Gaza Strip, where they had repeatedly broken a ceasefire in October. Three were Israeli citizens, and three were from the occupied West Bank. Because the organization only listed the deaths it was able to verify, the report noted that the numbers were likely to be higher.

As part of “a coordinated onslaught on Palestinian society intended to destroy their existence as a collective,” according to B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak.

The most blatant manifestations of this policy are the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, Novak said in a statement.

Based on the testimony of 21 Palestinians who have been released from Israeli prisons in recent months and on the work of Israeli and international human rights organizations, according to B’Tselem, its conclusions were made. According to estimates, there are about 9,200 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons.

In addition to sexual assault, forced stripping, severe genital injuries caused by beatings, dog attacks, and other types of object penetration, some of the interviewees also described it.

Other testimony highlighted the brutality of interrogations, particularly in a room known as the “disco room,” where electrical shocks were frequently administered while the prisoner was denied food and access to a restroom.

The findings confirmed a pattern of abuse that was already highlighted in B’Tselem’s report Welcome to Hell from August 2024. The international community continues to grant this regime full immunity, according to Novak, despite mounting evidence and numerous reports about Israel’s torture camps, effectively granting them full immunity.

Palestinian prisoners are initially imprisoned for six months in accordance with administrative detention, which is a quasi-judicial procedure used by the majority of Palestinian prisoners. Then, without giving a damn, can they be held on top of their detentions for an indefinite time.

In what critics refer to as sham military trials, where most Palestinians, including children, are tried in military courts and given lengthy sentences because of the lack of legal representation for Palestinians. In contrast, Israeli citizens are tried in civil courts, demonstrating a two-tiered justice system that treats Palestinians unfairly.

Palestinians’ bodies that Israel returned to Gaza in October have shown signs of torture and execution, and families have been forced to locate their missing loved ones through photos of decaying and mutilated remains.

According to Yair Dvir, a spokesperson for B’Tselem, “Israel must use all the means at its disposal in the framework of international law to stop it from continuing to commit these crimes.”

releasing prisoners from prison by sleeching

Israeli intimidation-related attempts to silence released prisoners hampered B’Tselem’s collection of evidence. Anyone who shared details about their experiences in prison was threatened by Israeli authorities to re-arrearrest them, according to the report. Before and after the prisoners’ release, threats were made.

According to the statement, “how Israel uses deprivation of liberty as a key means of oppressing Palestinians”

Israeli authorities have repeatedly refuted allegations of abuse, claiming that they abide by international law, but these claims contradict the government’s own officials’ assertions.

In a video that was shot while surrounded by bound prisoners lying blindfolded on the floor in November, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir bragged about the harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

After Israel’s parliament passed a bill that would allow the death penalty for “terrorists,” Ben-Gvir, who is in charge of the Israeli prison system, was seen carrying sweets in the Knesset chamber a few days later. He is credited with bringing sweets to the Palestinians.

While Israel tries to deny the abuses, Ben-Gvir, the spokesperson for B’Tselem, said that “Ben-Gvir continues to produce public relations pieces and videos from these torture facilities, proudly showcasing the inhuman conditions and the abuse inflicted on Palestinian detainees.”

The report’s conclusion was clear. Israel is continuing its institutionalized, systemic torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners, which is supported and supported by the political system, the judiciary, the media, and, of course, the prison authorities themselves, it said.