Trump, Schumer hold rare White House meeting

Star Wars Shake-Up: Kathleen Kennedy Steps Down as George Lucas Protégé Dave Filoni, Exec Lynwen Brennan Take Over Lucasfilm

The change in leadership may mean a new hope for the storied franchise or it could be an attack of the clones by giving fans more of the same.

US says reached deal with Taiwan to lower tariffs, boost investments

Under the deal, US will lower tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15 per cent, down from a 20 per cent.

Coyote, bobcat sightings are on the rise in parts of Dallas-Fort Worth; here's how to stay safe

Amid a recent spate of reported sightings of bobcats and coyotes in Frisco, local experts are encouraging North Texas residents to be aware and to take precautions to avoid negative encounters between pets, people and wildlife.

Pamela Anderson ‘Felt Yucky’ Sitting Near Seth Rogen at Golden Globes and Demands Apology Over ‘Pam & Tommy’: That Series ‘Pissed Me Off’

Pamela Anderson told Andy Cohen during an SiriusXM radio interview (via TMZ) that it was “yucky” being in such close proximity to Seth Rogen at the Golden Globes earlier this month. Rogen won two prizes at the ceremony for his Apple TV comedy “The Studio,” including best actor

A rare desert plant shows benefits of sustainability efforts at a large solar array in the Mojave Desert

Although sunlight is one of the cleanest forms of renewable energy available, clearing large swathes of desert habitat to build solar arrays has consequences for the plants and animals it displaces. Researchers are trying to find better ways to preserve desert landscapes

Glen Powell, Sam Esmail Team for Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Tesseract’ for Amazon MGM, UA

The 'Mr. Robot' creator wrote the script and will direct the feature.

Democratic Women's Caucus commends FDA for lifting black box warning on estrogen

The House Democratic Women's Caucus (DWC) commended the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for lifting the black box warning on estrogen-based products for hormone replacement therapy (HRT). In November,

Goldman Sachs predicts blockbuster 2026 for M&A mega-deals

Goldman Sachs is predicting a blockbuster 2026 for mega-deals across Wall Street as it and the other US banking giants unveiled a string of bumper financial results this week.

Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner presents her medal to Trump

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she "presented" her Nobel medal to Trump, but did not say whether he accepted it.

War for Warner Bros. Discovery has headed to Europe — here’s who has the advantage

The action during the past two weeks has quietly shifted across the Atlantic, where regulators must also approve any acquisition of the company known as WBD, sources said.

NBC Orders Drama Pilot Inspired By Serial Criminal Profiler Pioneer Ann Burgess

NBC has picked up its third drama pilot of the week, greenlighting an untitled crime investigation drama from writers/executive producers Dean Georgaris (“Quantum Leap”) and John Fox (“The Equalizer”). Universal Studio Group’s Universal TV is the studio on the show, which also

Africa: UN Chief Warns of a World in Chaos As Impunity and Unpredictability Spreads

[UN News] In his final annual address outlining his priorities, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is "brimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability" - even as international cooperation is fraying at the moment it is most needed.

Elden Ring Nightreign fixes awful raids, buffs 3 Nightfarers

Patch notes for the new Elden Ring Nightreign update are here, with big changes that Raider, Executor, and Revenant players need to read.

Earth keeps getting hotter, and Americans' partisan divide over science grows sharper

As global officials confirm that 2025 was Earth's third-hottest year on record, a new poll shows Americans are sharply divided over the role of science in the United States.

Uganda holds election day amid internet blackout

Uganda votes amid an internet blackout and heavy military deployment as President Yoweri Museveni seeks a seventh term, extending his four-decade grip on power

80 Democrats Move to Impeach Kristi Noem as ICE Terror Grows

More than 80 House Democrats have co-signed articles of impeachment for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The bill, introduced by Illinois Representative Robin Kelly, comes amid ratcheting tensions in Minnesota, where ICE agents’ aggressive tactics have led to multiple

Africa: Deal-Making Trumps Democratic Principles in Us Approach to Africa

[ISS] Donald Trump's national security strategy mentions Africa in passing as a source of critical minerals and a counter to China's dominance.

Machado handed her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado handed her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump on Thursday, in a symbolic gesture that capped a high-stakes visit to Washington amid mixed signals from the White House over Venezuela’s political future.

Commentary: Thailand must reckon with reform or face irrelevance

Thailand’s urgent challenge is to lift the country out of economic stagnation and dwindling geopolitical relevance, says former foreign correspondent Nirmal Ghosh.

Alan Cumming Signs With UTA

Alan Cumming has signed with UTA for representation in all areas, Variety has learned. He will continue to be repped by Bond Artists and by B-Side in the UK. Although Cumming has enjoyed a highly-successful career that spans over four decades, he has found remarkable success in

Jamie Dimon jokingly says he plans to stay in JPMorgan CEO job ‘at least’ 5 more years

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told a top business conference Thursday that he plans to stay on in the role for "at least" another five years -- an oft-repeated refrain from the exec that a spokesperson described as a joke.

Commentary: Trump’s aggression abroad undermines traditional US partnerships in Asia

The more the US aspires to a sphere of influence in the West, the more China will feel entitled to demand the same in the East, says Pusan National University’s Robert Kelly.

Commentary: Indonesia’s gamble on mega merger of ride-hailing firms

Jakarta's golden share in a Southeast Asian superapp would set a dangerous precedent for state power, say researchers.

Quantum tools set to transform life science, researchers say

A team at Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) has published a field-defining Perspective that places the societal payoff of quantum technologies front and center: earlier disease detection, faster drug development, and new routes to clean

Africa: Morocco Beat Nigeria On Penalties to Set Up Senegal Final At Cup of Nations

[RFI] Morocco beat Nigeria in a penalty shootout on Wednesday night in Rabat to advance to the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Zelensky pushes back on Trump: Ukraine isn't 'stumbling block to peace'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded Thursday to accusations from President Trump that Ukraine was stalling a peace deal in the country’s ongoing war with Russia, saying his country will “never be a stumbling block for peace.” “Ukraine has never been and will never

Learning about public consensus on climate change does little to boost people's support for action, study shows

Providing accurate information about the climate crisis can help to correct misperceptions about how much public support exists for action.

Slag Announce New EP Losing: Hear “Face Off”

The Brighton And Hove-based quintet Slag have a new EP coming out via the formidable UK indie/punk/emo label Big Scary Monsters. Losing, out in March, follows a string of singles over the past two years. Its opening track “Face Off” is out now, with a big ol’ alt-rock chorus

US to cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods after investment pledge

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the deal would help boost semiconductor production in the US.

Perovskite display technology demonstrates record efficiency and industry-level operational lifetime

A research team has developed a hierarchical-shell perovskite nanocrystal technology that simultaneously overcomes the long-standing instability of metal-halide perovskite emitters while achieving record-breaking quantum yield, operational stability, and scalability. This work

Africa: African Union Commission Chairperson Welcomes Passage of Agoa Extension By the U.S. House of Representatives and Appeals for Senate Approval

[African Union] The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has welcomed the overwhelming passage by the United States House of Representatives of a three-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

DOJ: Ban on mailing concealable firearms unconstitutional, can't be enforced

A nearly 100-year-old federal ban on mailing handguns through the U.S. Postal Service is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, according to an opinion released Thursday by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The 15-page opinion concluded that a 1927 law, which made it illegal

Congress clears first funding bills since government shutdown ended

Lawmakers have their work cut out for them ahead of the next funding cliff, however.

Kyrsten Sinema Sued Under Rare Law for Being a Home-Wrecker

A new federal lawsuit alleges that former senator Kyrsten Sinema had an affair with her married bodyguard Mark Ammel marked by drug use, countless concerts, international travel, snide comments about colleagues, and more. Mark Ammel’s ex-wife Heather Ammel is seeking $25,000 in

New spectroscopic method reveals ion's complex nuclear structure

Different atoms and ions possess characteristic energy levels. Like a fingerprint, they are unique for each species. Among them, the atomic ion 173Yb+ has attracted growing interest because of its particularly rich energy structure, which is promising for applications in

Africa: The UN Is 'Worth Fighting For' - General Assembly President

[UN News] With the multilateral system under pressure and under attack, Member States must fight for the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly said on Wednesday, laying out her priorities for its resumed 80th session.

Africa: Nala and Noah Launch Stablecoin Settlement Network for Africa and Asia

[Daba Finance] NALA has partnered with UK-based payments infrastructure provider Noah to launch a cross-border settlement network that allows merchants in Africa and Asia to receive US dollar payments and convert instantly into local currencies using stablecoins.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Is Getting A New Mode Where Every Hit Does 9,999 Damage

The update arrives in time for the Switch 2 and Xbox versions The post Final Fantasy VII Remake Is Getting A New Mode Where Every Hit Does 9,999 Damage appeared first on Kotaku .

Greening school playgrounds can improve quality of life in cities and help deal with climate change

Adapting urban spaces to tackle climate change through nature-based solutions, especially in school playgrounds and environments, benefits both children and society as a whole. This is one of the main findings of a three-year study conducted by a group of experts at European

Timothy Busfield to Get Hearing Next Week as He Seeks Release From Jail

Timothy Busfield will get a court hearing next Tuesday on whether he should be held in jail pending a trial on child sex abuse charges. Busfield remains at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque after turning himself in on Tuesday. At a press conference on Thursday,

Required Reading

The Schomburg Qur’an, Auudi Dorsey’s paintings of Black community at the beach, an unsolved Pollock theft, remembering Claudette Colvin, dollhouse furniture, and more.

US envoy to UN: US stands by Iranian people, all options on table

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The United States stands by the “brave people of Iran,” and President Donald Trump "has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the U.N.

Rethinking climate impacts through human well-being

A new study by IIASA researchers offers a pioneering way to understand how climate change affects people's lives over the long term. Using a global model and the Years of Good Life (YoGL) metric, the research shows that today's emissions shape future well-being, especially for

Comprehensive map reveals how E3 ligases organize protein cleanup in human cells

Maintaining cellular order is a major logistical challenge: Individual mammalian cells contain billions of protein molecules, which must be synthesized, deployed, and removed with precision. In the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), proteins destined for degradation are tagged

Former Putin adviser: Russia will use nuclear weapons against Europe if it 'comes close to a defeat'

An ally and former adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Boris Yeltsin said the country could use nuclear weapons against Europe should Russia ever be on the verge of defeat in its ongoing war with Ukraine. “What is defeat of Russia? If Russia comes

True Green Announce New Album Hail Disaster: Hear “Italian Lightning”

About this time last year, Minneapolis-based trio True Green followed their 2024 debut album My Lost Decade with two new songs, “Consider The Priesthood” and “Falconry.” Turns out those are part of a larger project: their sophomore album Hail Distaster, out March 24 on

New microscopy technique preserves the cell's natural conditions

Researchers at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology) have developed an innovative microscopy technique capable of improving the observation of living cells. The study, published in Optics Letters, paves the way for a more in-depth analysis of

Machado says she counts on Trump, but White House backs Delcy Rodríguez

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado told supporters gathered outside the White House on Thursday that “we count on the president for Venezuela’s freedom” after holding a closed-door meeting lasting more than two hours with US President Donald Trump.