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Lead Twenty-six-year-old filmmaker Curry Barker has moved in 18 months from low-fi YouTube sketches to a festival‑lauded feature, Obsession, which opens this week after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, made for under $1m and inspired in part by a Monkey’s Paw–style idea, currently sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and was … Read more

Lead Versant Media Group on Thursday reported first-quarter results for the period ended March 31, its first quarter as an independent public company after the spinout from Comcast and listing on Nasdaq earlier this year. Overall revenue fell to $1.69 billion, a roughly 1% decline year over year, while the stock jumped nearly 10% in … Read more

Lead Israel’s prime minister’s office said on Wednesday that Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates during the Israel‑U.S. campaign against Iran, and that he met Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al‑Nahyan in what Israel called a “historic breakthrough.” The UAE’s official WAM news agency publicly denied any clandestine visit … Read more

Lead On May 14, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, launching a high‑stakes summit scheduled to run through Friday, May 15. The visit — the first by a sitting U.S. president to China since 2017 — centers on trade, regional security and … Read more

Lead: On May 13, 2026, the South Carolina Supreme Court granted Alex Murdaugh a new trial in the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, concluding that a Colleton County court clerk improperly influenced jurors in the 2023 proceeding. The unanimous opinion found Becky Hill’s conduct so prejudicial that it undermined the … Read more

Lead: Supporters of Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC on Sunday that they expect him to trigger a leadership contest to challenge Keir Starmer as soon as tomorrow, after a brief meeting at 10 Downing Street. The report follows days of speculation and media coverage, including a Times story about a possible resignation. Streeting’s … Read more

Lead Tokyo-based Calbee Inc. announced this week that 14 of its snack packages will switch to black-and-white printing beginning May 25 as disruptions from the war in Iran have reduced supplies of an oil-derived ingredient used in colored inks. The company said product recipes and distribution are unchanged and that the move is intended to … Read more

Lead On May 12, 2026, actor-turned-forward Cristo Fernandez signed a professional contract with El Paso Locomotive FC of the USL after completing a two-month trial with the club. The announcement, made in El Paso, Texas, confirms Fernandez will join the squad pending formal approval by the second-tier league and the national soccer federation; the financial … Read more

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on May 12, 2026, that additional hantavirus infections could surface following an Andes virus outbreak linked to the expedition ship MV Hondius. Health authorities worldwide are tracing contacts and monitoring dozens of people, including 18 U.S.-linked evacuees placed in quarantine or biocontainment units. Eleven cases tied to the … Read more

Lead: The Pentagon told Congress on 29 April that US military operations tied to the war with Iran have reached an estimated cost of roughly $29 billion after about two months of fighting. The rise from an earlier $25 billion figure reflects additional equipment repair and replacement and ongoing operational expenses to sustain forces in … Read more

US consumer inflation accelerated to 3.8% in April, the fastest annual pace since May 2023, driven largely by a sharp rise in energy costs linked to the conflict in Iran. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the CPI climbed from 3.3% in March as higher gasoline and grocery prices pushed the overall index up. National … Read more

On May 12, 2026, eBay Inc. formally rejected an unsolicited $56 billion takeover proposal from GameStop Corp. chief executive Ryan Cohen, saying the bid was “neither credible nor attractive.” Chairman Paul Pressler communicated the board’s decision in a letter to Cohen, cited in a Bloomberg report, and pointed to doubts about the financing plan, operational … Read more

Lead: On May 10, the Sun produced a powerful M5.7-class solar flare accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME), sending a burst of particles and radiation into space. The flare caused a brief radio blackout over the Atlantic Ocean at the time of the eruption, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Instruments on SOHO … Read more

Lead Two Maryland residents are under public-health monitoring after sharing an international flight with a passenger later identified with hantavirus, state officials said. The Maryland Department of Health confirmed the cases in a statement updated May 11, 2026, and said the possible exposure occurred on the flight, not aboard the M/V Hondius cruise ship where … Read more

Lead: On May 11, 2026, President Donald Trump told CBS News he intends to suspend the federal gas tax “for a period of time” as pump prices surge amid the Iran war. He framed the move as temporary, saying the tax would be reinstated as prices fall. The proposal would require congressional approval and, according … Read more