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Lead: On 22 December 2025, Oracle co‑founder Larry Ellison agreed to personally guarantee $40.4 billion in equity backing for Paramount Skydance’s hostile $108.4 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The move came after WBD urged shareholders to reject Paramount’s offer and disclosed a separate agreement to sell key studio assets to Netflix for $82.7 … Read more
Avatar: Fire and Ash opened at the top of the US and Canada box office this weekend with an estimated $88 million, though that figure falls short of Avatar: The Way of Water’s $134 million debut in 2022. The third film in James Cameron’s sci‑fi saga also earned about £9 million in the UK and … Read more
Lead: The S&P 500 climbed to open a holiday-shortened trading week on Monday, driven by gains in technology and artificial-intelligence–linked names. Early trading showed the broad index up around 0.4%, while the Nasdaq outperformed and the Dow posted a smaller advance. Market participants cited a mix of company-specific news — including reports about Nvidia chip … Read more
Lead Denmark said on December 22, 2025 it would summon the U.S. ambassador after President Donald Trump appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as a special envoy to Greenland. The announcement came weeks after Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 and amid repeated American statements that the Arctic island is strategically vital. … Read more
In this end-of-year Feinberg Forecast, veteran awards analyst Scott Feinberg summarizes where the 2025 Oscar race stands as voting deadlines approach. Over a December weekend, new commercial and critical data for James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash arrived — Rotten Tomatoes shows 67% critic approval and 91% audience approval, and the film opened worldwide to … Read more
Lead Two weeks of successive “atmospheric river” storms in mid-December drenched parts of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, hitting the holiday tourism town of Leavenworth, Washington, hard and disrupting seasonal commerce. The downpours, high winds and power outages dumped more than a foot of rain in areas west of the Cascade Range and forced road closures … Read more
December 22, 2025 — As Americans head into Christmas, the strongest chances for measurable snow on the ground on Dec. 25 sit across the northern halves of Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and the northern Great Lakes. The Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Scott Kleebauer told CBS News that areas from the Adirondacks into northern Maine also … Read more
Lead Denmark and Greenland on Monday issued a joint rebuke after US President Donald Trump named Louisiana governor Jeff Landry as a special envoy to Greenland, a largely self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. The two leaders said the appointment infringed on territorial integrity and reiterated that Greenlanders decide Greenland’s future. Denmark signalled formal … Read more
Lead: Oracle co‑founder Larry Ellison has pledged roughly $40 billion of personal capital to support a takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery, a move reported this week that intensifies takeover speculation around the Hollywood studio and cable group. The reported commitment signals deep private funding behind a potential bid and has immediate implications for shareholders, … Read more
Lead: Week 16 delivered dramatic finishes, policing controversies and statement wins that reshaped playoff maps across the NFL. On Sunday the Detroit Lions saw two would-be game-winning touchdowns nullified by offensive-penalty calls that left their postseason chances precarious, the Jaguars upset Denver in a high-profile road test, and individual performances from Caleb Williams and Justin … Read more
Lead: A senior Russian officer, Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, was fatally wounded by an explosive device placed under his car in Moscow on Monday, Russian investigators said. The death, confirmed by the Investigative Committee, marks the third killing of a high-ranking military officer in roughly a year. Authorities said one line of inquiry points to … Read more
Samsung is reportedly developing a new foldable phone, dubbed the “Wide Fold,” intended to arrive alongside its regular Fold model and directly target Apple’s rumored first foldable iPhone. Leaks attribute a 7.6-inch inner OLED with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a 5.4-inch outer screen to the Wide Fold, a layout designed for a tablet-like reading … Read more
Lead: James Ransone, the American actor best known for playing Ziggy in season two of The Wire, has died aged 46, the Los Angeles Medical Examiner reported. The office listed the cause as suicide on Friday. Ransone’s career spanned television and film, including Generation Kill (2008) and It Chapter Two (2019). His death prompted public … Read more
Lead On Dec. 22, 2025, Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov was killed in Moscow when an explosive device placed beneath his vehicle detonated early that morning in a southern residential district. Russian investigators identified Sarvarov as the head of the General Staff’s army operational training directorate and said they opened a criminal investigation into the blast. … Read more
Lead Jim Beam’s owner announced the company will stop production at its Clermont, Kentucky distillery for the entirety of 2026 to carry out site enhancements. The pause, described as an opportunity to invest in the facility, will not affect the company’s other Kentucky operations, including a second distillery, bottling and warehousing plants, or its visitor … Read more
