Ukraine's ambassador to Australia has called for Novak Djokovic's father to be banned from the Australian Open after he was seen posing with fans waving Russian flags. The ambassador also demanded that Djokovic apologize and denounce Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A video posted to a pro-Russian Australian YouTube account showed Djokovic's father posing with a man holding a Russian flag with Vladimir Putin's face on it. Tournament organizer Tennis Australia said it would work with security to enforce admission regulations.
Japan has tightened sanctions against Russia by adding goods to an export ban list and freezing the assets of Russian officials and entities. This decision comes after Russia launched missile attacks in Ukraine, killing at least 11 people. The new measures will forbid Japan from sending goods to 49 organizations in Russia starting on February 3 that could be used to increase Russia's military prowess. The assets of three Russian companies and 22 Russian individuals will also be frozen by Japan.
Five former Memphis police officers have been dismissed in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who passed away three days after a violent traffic stop. Nichols' family members and friends have informed that video footage of the event will be released soon. The circumstances surrounding Nichols' arrest and the precise events that followed his traffic stop have not been made public by the authorities in great detail. Nichols' funeral was held on Tuesday, where family members paid tribute to him and recalled his laid-back, goofy, independent personality and his love of eating.
IBM Corp. has fired 3,900 workers as part of its layoff campaign, which is associated with the separation of its Kyndryl company and a portion of Watson Health. The layoffs will result in a $300 million charge between January and March, and its shares also dropped 2% in extended trade. Despite this, IBM's sales growth for 2022 was 5.5%, the highest in a decade. The market appears to be unimpressed by the scale of the company's planned job cuts, which only represented 1.5% of its staff.
Following the passing of French nun Sister André earlier this month at the age of 118, Maria Branyas Morera, who was born in the United States, has now been declared the oldest person in the world by Guinness World Records (GWR). Morera was born nearly 116 years ago in San Francisco, United States but she has spent the last 22 years at a nursing facility in Catalonia, Spain. Before the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the family moved to Barcelona in 1915. According to Guinness, Morera also experienced the Spanish Civil War in 1936, which she claimed left her with 'extremely unpleasant recollections.'