The US Justice Department on Friday cleared Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, handing a major win to a media empire financed by one of President Donald Trump’s closest billionaire allies. The Antitrust Division approved the blockbuster deal without demanding a single change, capping an eight-month review and clearing the way for … Read more
As Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama appeared at a rally of jubilant supporters on Friday in Tirana, thousands were already filling a nearby boulevard, repeating daily calls for his resignation. Opposition to a planned luxury resort linked to US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner has drawn large daily protests for … Read more
There’s a lot of America happening this weekend. For good or ill. Sunday June 14 is Flag Day, commemorating the adoption of the Stars and Stripes 249 years ago. It is also the birthday of the current president of the United States who was born 80 years ago. Both will culminate in the UFC Freedom … Read more
Anthropic says it’s disabling two AI models it launched earlier this week, Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5, to comply with an export control directive it received Friday afternoon from the US government citing national security concerns. The unprecedented incident marks the latest flashpoint between Anthropic and the Trump administration. While the company says the … Read more
During the touching performance, ukas sang the opening and closing lines of the song Ten minutes before kickoff of the 2026 World Cup opening match between the United States and Paraguay on Friday, Katy Perry appeared on the field in a glittering silver dress alongside 10-year-old Norwegian singer Tius Luka. Surrounded by flags from different … Read more
Future and Tyla kicked off the World Cup ceremony in the United States Friday with a high voltage performance at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in in Inglewood, California. A massive FIFA World Cup trophy was erected on the field for the celebration before Future appeared at the center as fireworks and red smoke set off … Read more
“Open Door,” Kevin Cate‘s viral sci-fi short with nearly 15 million views across YouTube shorts, TikTok and Instagram, will be adapted into a feature-length film through a six-figure development deal. The news follows the success of breakout horror films “Obsession and “Backrooms” as the industry invests in YouTube creators and younger filmmakers with established audiences. … Read more
The Directors Guild of America has secured a provision in its new contract that limits actors on TV series from directing episodes, as it seeks to preserve jobs for career TV directors. The provision is meant to address the 40% downturn in production jobs over the last four years, which has left a great many … Read more
While the premise of “The Furious” is simple — a father named Wang Wei (Xie Miao) must find his daughter after she is kidnapped by a child trafficking ring — it’s the springboard for a nonstop flurry of action. Kenji Tanigaki’s Hong Kong epic, which opens in American theaters today via Lionsgate Films, stars some of the world’s … Read more
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s internal announcement on Friday about a “large” companywide AI hackathon next month quickly sparked frustration and disbelief among employees. In internal messages seen by WIRED, some workers wrote that added responsibilities in the wake of recent mass layoffs at the tech giant had left them with little time to join such … Read more