2 h. ago Paramount Skydance reportedly preparing takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery

Media conglomerate putting together majority cash offer for WBD backed by ultra-rich Ellison family, reports sayParamount Skydance is reportedly preparing a takeover offer for Warner Bros Discovery, in a bid to pull together two of the largest US legacy media conglomerates and Hollywood movie studios.Less than a month after Skydance, a production firm run by David Ellison, son of the billionaire tech mogul Larry Ellison, closed its merger with Paramount, the firm is considering other blockbuster deals. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Jaedyn Shaw moves to Gotham FC from North Carolina Courage in record $1.25m deal

Fee is the largest ever for an intra-league moveUS international just moved to North Carolina in JanuaryA record fee has been paid for a transfer between two NWSL clubs, after Gotham FC completed the signing of the United States midfielder Jaedyn Shaw from North Carolina Courage for $1.25m.The move is the sixth in the women’s game to surpass $1m US so far this year, with Naomi Girma’s move to Chelsea in January being the first to do so. Shaw’s move is not quite an NWSL record, falling just short of Orlando Pride’s $1.5m acquisition of Lizbeth Jacqueline Ovalle from the Mexican club Tigres in August, but it is a record for an intraleague player move in NWSL, and thus immediately becomes one of the most significant transfers in the sport’s history. Continue reading...

Economics

3 h. ago Spotlight falls on Starmer’s political judgment after Mandelson sacking

Decision to end support for US ambassador over Jeffrey Epstein links comes just before Donald Trump state visit Keir Starmer is facing serious questions about his political judgment after he was forced to sack his US ambassador, Peter Mandelson, over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.In the second damaging departure for the government in a week, the prime minister withdrew support for Lord Mandelson over emails to Epstein from 2008 suggesting his sentence for soliciting a child for prostitution should be challenged. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Fiji ant study provides new evidence of insects’ decline on remote islands

DNA analysis of endemic specimens in museums finds 79% of ant populations in Pacific archipelago are shrinkingIsland-dwelling insects have not been spared the ravages of humanity that have pushed so many of their invertebrate kin into freefall around the world, new research on Fijian ant populations has found.Hundreds of thousands of insect species have been lost over the past 150 years and it is believed the world is now losing between 1% and 2.5% a year of its remaining insect biomass – a decline so steep that many entomologists say we are living through an “insect apocalypse”. Yet long-term data for individual insect populations is sparse and patchy. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago The Guardian view on the killing of Charlie Kirk: a perilous moment that may lead to more | Editorial

The shooting of the Turning Point USA co-founder should not be used to foment further division in a polarised country“Democracy is the way that we have diverse societies that don’t kill each other, largely,” Lilliana Mason, a leading scholar of partisanship, observed recently. She added: “As soon as we stop believing in it, it disappears.” Dr Mason’s own research suggests that there is sharply rising tolerance of political violence. On Wednesday, it claimed one more victim.The shocking killing of the co-founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk, a hugely influential activist who rallied young people to Donald Trump’s cause and far-right ideology more broadly, has been widely and rightly condemned across the political spectrum. Leading Democrats and progressive activists made clear that such violence must not be tolerated.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in ...

Events

4 h. ago Rome mayor’s claim of swimmable Tiber in five years met with scepticism

Experts unconvinced by Roberto Gualtieri’s mooted timescale for river to be reopened for public bathingRome hopes to welcome swimmers back to the River Tiber within five years, the city’s mayor has announced, drawing inspiration from Paris, where the Seine was reopened for public bathing this summer for the first time in a century.During a visit on Thursday to the Osaka Expo in Japan, Roberto Gualtieri said a working group had been set up to study the feasibility of the clean-up project. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Scientific study suggests destruction of the Amazon rainforest directly impacts human health

New study finds well-preserved areas of Amazon rainforest occupied and managed by Indigenous peoples show lower incidences of multiple diseases in the regions around them

Science

6 h. ago FBI terror hunter blows the lid on search for Charlie Kirk's assassin: Ghost gunman. A planned escape. And the armed militia mystery

Ex-FBI boss Chris Swecker says everything about the shooting in Utah suggested a calculated, and methodical operation rather than the chaotic violence America has grown accustomed to.

Events

6 h. ago I’ve always wanted to be seen as ‘cool’, but it’s time to face the music: I am anything but | Eleanor Burnard

I have come to realise that there is no freer feeling than just embracing one’s own unique lameness, mainstream interests and allEver since the Tumblr-scrolling days of my youth, my ultimate goal in life has always been to be seen as someone who is undoubtedly, undeniably, unquestionably “cool”.As most other former insecure, desperate-to-be-perceived-as-cool teenagers would attest to, the formation of our identities directly coincided with the media, fashion, celebrities or philosophies we were fans of at the time. It was paramount that what we happened to enjoy got the stamp of approval by whatever chic society we were chomping at the bit to be accepted into, digital or otherwise. Continue reading...

Events

6 h. ago Octopuses prefer to use different arms for different tasks, scientists find

Creatures favour front arms for most tasks, study suggests, despite fact all eight arms are capable of all actionsWhile some humans find they have two left feet on the dancefloor, octopuses manage to coordinate eight highly flexible arms across a host of behaviours, from foraging to den-building, or moving around the seafloor.Now researchers say they have completed the most comprehensive study of its kind, not only identifying the actions and small motions involved in different types of movements, but revealing that – like primates, rodents and fish – the cephalopods prefer to use particular limbs for certain tasks. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Stephen Colbert on Charlie Kirk shooting: ‘Political violence only leads to more political violence’

Late-night hosts react to Charlie Kirk killing and discuss Trump’s alleged 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey EpsteinLate-night hosts respond to the shooting of Charlie Kirk and assess Donald Trump’s denials of a sexually suggestive birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein from 2003. Continue reading...

Events

7 h. ago Kids suffer pain from heavy school bags and textbooks aren't always to blame

New study has found that the typical school bag weighs five kilos - as much as a bowling ball - and 80% of youngsters have experienced back, neck or shoulder pain

Culture

8 h. ago Trump health fears as side of his face 'completely droops' at public appearance

Internet sleuths have suggested – without any professional medical evidence – that US President Donald Trump may have suffered a stroke due to his mouth and other allegedly ailments

Politics

8 h. ago Trump’s US aid cuts could cause more than two million extra TB deaths in five years, study warns

America contributed at least 55 per cent of external funding for global TB programmes at the end of 2024, but losing this could result in an extra 10 million cases worldwide

Events

8 h. ago Trump accused of using 'blatant AI' in Charlie Kirk address as 'glitch' spotted

Eagle-eyed social media users have suggested Donald Trump's video addressing the shooting and death of Charlie Kirk may have used AI after spotting a 'glitch'

Politics

9 h. ago Study predicts Usain Bolt would have run 100m in 9.42 seconds in super spikes

Data showed Bolt would have knocked 0.16sec off recordLegend backs Jamaicans to beat Lyles in Tokyo 100mA new scientific study has predicted that Usain Bolt would have run the 100m in 9.42 seconds in super spikes – an astonishing 0.16 faster than his current world record set in 2009. But one man who isn’t arguing is the legendary Jamaican himself.Bolt, who is in Tokyo to present the medals for the 100m final at the world athletics championships on Sunday, said he wasn’t surprised with the findings. “I fully agree with it,” he said. “Because one athlete that continued after I retired was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and she got faster with the new spikes. I probably would have run way faster with them too.” Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago Study predicts Usain Bolt would have run 100m in 9.42sec in super spikes

Data suggests Bolt would have knocked 0.16sec off recordLegend backs Jamaicans to beat Lyles in Tokyo 100mA new scientific study has predicted that Usain Bolt would have run the 100m in 9.42sec in super spikes – an astonishing 0.16sec faster than his current world record set in 2009. But one man who isn’t arguing is the legendary Jamaican himself.Bolt, who is in Tokyo to present the medals for the 100m final at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday, said he was not surprised with the findings. “I fully agree with it,” he said. “Because one athlete that continued after I retired was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and she got faster with the new spikes. I probably would have run way faster with them too.” Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago The Colombian coastal village reinventing itself as seas rise

Intense high tides have destroyed homes and businesses in Juanchaco and affected 3,000 families. But many in the Afro-Colombian community that live there are choosing to ‘stay in a different way’Words and photographs by Mario Toro QuinteroBuenaventura is the most important port on Colombia’s Pacific coast, handling about 40% of the country’s foreign trade and acting as the gateway to the Uramba Bahía Málaga national natural park. Every year, tens of thousands of tourists arrive there, heading to the village of Juanchaco or the beaches of Ladrilleros and La Barra.But the coast around Juanchaco, in the Valle del Cauca department, is experiencing accelerated erosion that has already left damaged streets, collapsed homes and a local economy exposed to the elements.On the beach front in Juanchaco, damage caused by the rising tides has forced some people to evacuate their homes Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago Charlie Kirk's five most controversial claims from vaccine conspiracy to public executions

Co-founder and head of conservative youth group Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot dead in front of a horrified crowd at Utah Valley University - here’s five of the Trump ally’s most divisive claims

Politics

10 h. ago Arsenal: Gary Neville suggests Bukayo Saka switch to help Noni Madueke thrive

Could Gunners swap their star man to the left when he returns with summer signing currently shining for both club and country on the right?

Politics