Culture

Mekado Murphy, The Times’ unofficial roller coaster correspondent

Mekado Murphy, the assistant film editor for The New York Times, also moonlights as the newspaper’s unofficial roller coaster correspondent. Over the past 15 years he has published more than a dozen stories and, he says, ridden at least 360 coasters, which he tracks on the website Coaster-Count; he

Business

Ann Taylor winter sale: sweaters, pants and jackets from $20

People reports that Ann Taylor's semi-annual winter sale is offering an additional 60 percent off select styles through January 11, with discounts of up to 69 percent and pieces starting at $20. On-sale items called out include an Embellished Herringbone Cropped Jacket for $64 (orig. $198), a Collared

World

Three missing as catastrophic bushfires hit Victoria amid extreme heat

Independent.co reports three people, including a child, are missing after bushfires tore through parts of Victoria under "catastrophic" conditions, destroying homes and prompting emergency warnings across south-eastern Australia. Around 40 fires were burning across the state, and police said a man, woman and child remain unaccounted for

Tech

Strapsicle unveils iPad mini case with built-in silicone straps at CES

Strapsicle unveiled a new iPad mini case at CES 2026 that features built-in silicone straps intended to provide a secure, ergonomic hold for prolonged reading and use. The case includes built-in silicone straps for one-handed or two-handed use, a detachable cover, a removable Apple Pencil strap, and interchangeable straps for

Culture

Oxfordshire gravedigger wins Good Funeral award for work at Leedam

A gravedigger who runs a burial business at Leedam in Oxfordshire says the cemetery is his happy place and was named gravedigger of the year at the Good Funeral Awards last September, as told to Heather Main. He began working as a contract gardener for the council, tending cemeteries before

Business

How America’s Most Iconic Companies 2026 were ranked

Time, in partnership with Statista, has published the first edition of the "America's Most Iconic Companies" ranking, a quantitative study intended to recognize American brands and companies for their influence on American culture, economy, and society. To qualify, companies had to be founded and headquartered in

Culture

Park Chan-wook says No Other Choice satirises capitalism and flags AI threat

Park Chan-wook’s new film No Other Choice reframes modern South Korea as an unstable landscape of industrial decline and male fragility, and the director says the film is “more accurate to view it as a satire on capitalism.” Set in the paper-manufacturing world of Ulsan, the film follows Man‑

Crypto

Colombia and France tighten crypto tax reporting rules

Beincrypto reports Colombia and France have moved to strengthen crypto tax reporting: Colombia’s tax authority will require exchanges and other providers to report user balances and transactions starting with the 2026 tax year, while France’s National Assembly committee adopted amendments to force disclosure of self‑custody wallets holding

Politics

Trump says he will meet Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado

Donald Trump said he plans to meet Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, days after launching an operation that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and after he threatened land strikes against drug cartels in Latin America. Trump had dismissed working with Machado over the weekend, saying “she

World

French researcher Laurent Vinatier freed in swap for Russian basketball player

Laurent Vinatier, a French researcher detained in Russia since 2024, was freed on Thursday in exchange for the release of Daniil Kasatkin, a Russian professional basketball player, French and Russian officials said. Kasatkin had been detained in France on suspicion of negotiating payments for a ransomware ring that hacked around

Culture

Swamp People Season 17 adapts to volatile bayou conditions and cast loss

Collider reports that Season 17 of the History Channel series Swamp People is showing notable changes in the Louisiana bayou as hunters contend with volatile water levels and shifting challenges. Flash-flooding hundreds of miles north has altered flow into the Atchafalaya Basin, the report says, leaving bait too high to

Sports

Arsenal fans restless as stalemate with Liverpool produces muted Emirates atmosphere

Arsenal’s home draw with Liverpool at the Emirates was marked less by celebration than by restlessness, with supporters described as groaning through long periods of the match and an overall sense of a muted, looped atmosphere. The game featured extended, slow build-up play — examples cited include William Saliba passing

Sports

Martinelli apologises to Conor Bradley after Emirates incident

According to Goal, Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli has apologised to Liverpool defender Conor Bradley after an incident late in the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium left Bradley stretchered and later seen leaving the stadium in a knee brace. Martinelli dropped the ball onto Bradley, then grabbed him and

Crypto

Optimism proposes using half of Superchain revenue for OP buybacks

The Optimism Foundation has proposed directing 50% of incoming Superchain revenue to buy Optimism (OP) tokens, the foundation said in a Jan. 8 blog post. The program would launch in February if a Jan. 22 governance vote approves the plan. The Superchain is a network of layer-2 chains built with

Science

NASA to return SpaceX Crew-11 to Earth early amid medical concern

NASA announced on Thursday it will return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to Earth earlier than originally planned as teams monitor a medical concern with a crew member currently living and working aboard the International Space Station. As NASA reviews Crew-11 return dates, the agency said it is working

Culture

Kate Winslet says Mare of Easttown season 2 is likely, filming eyed for 2027

Movieweb reports that Kate Winslet said a second season of HBO's Mare of Easttown is now likely, but that production would not happen immediately and is expected to film in 2027. Winslet, whose turn as Mare Sheehan earned widespread acclaim, previously said the 2021 series felt "done

Crypto

Iran internet blackout raises questions about citizens' access to cryptocurrency

Iran’s government cut internet access on Thursday as protests spread across the country, prompting questions about whether citizens can still use cryptocurrencies. About seven million Iranians are estimated to be crypto users, Statista says, and TRM Labs tracked roughly $3.7 billion in total crypto flows in Iran between

Culture

Demi Moore says Bruce Willis kept a weekly 'Neil Diamond Day' ritual

People reported that Demi Moore told Kate Hudson at a Jan. 7 Q&A at Soho House in Los Angeles that, during her marriage to Bruce Willis, he kept a weekly ritual he called "Neil Diamond Day." Moore, who was married to Willis from 1987 until 2000

Culture

Joshua Sudman and Julian Wright marry in small Governors Island ceremony

Joshua Benjamin Sudman and Julian Ernest Wright held a short wedding ceremony on an overlook on Governors Island on Dec. 25, with Mr. Sudman’s sister, Lindsay Sudman, officiating after a one-day ordination by the New York City Clerk. The couple met at Columbia in June 2016, formed an indie

Politics

ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, officials say

According to Independent.co, Jonathan Ross, a federal agent with nearly two decades of service in Border Patrol and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. Ross, an Iraq War veteran, has been a deportation officer with ICE since 2015 and was assigned to

Politics

Border Patrol agents involved in Portland shooting that left two hospitalized

Time reports federal agents were involved in a shooting in Portland’s Hazelwood neighborhood that left an unidentified man and woman hospitalized, city police said. Portland police said officers first responded to a report of a shooting along Southeast Main Street at 2:18 p.m. Pacific Time and, six

Tech

Five TVs to watch from CES 2026, including LG's W6 Wallpaper and TCL X11L

At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, ZDNET’s team went hands-on with dozens of new televisions and highlighted five models to watch this year, including offerings from TCL, Samsung, LG, Hisense and an updated Samsung portable. TCL’s X11L combines Micro RGB and SQD Mini LED technology and claims up

Culture

Lemon and tahini baked apples recipe from Helen Goh

Helen Goh offers a recipe for baked apples with lemon and tahini, presented as a light, refreshing vegan pudding after the excesses of December. The recipe indicates Prep 5 min, Cook 1 hr 15 min and Serves 6, and uses 3 large granny smith apples and 200ml apple juice. The

Crypto

Over $2.2B of Bitcoin and Ethereum options expire, pinning prices near max pain

Beincrypto reports Bitcoin and Ethereum were trading tightly around key options “max pain” levels as more than $2.2 billion of BTC and ETH options were set to expire on Deribit at 8:00 UTC. At the time of the report, Bitcoin was near $90,985, almost exactly aligned with

Culture

Dawn French leads charming BBC sitcom about a faked death and hidden cash

Dawn French stars as Debbie Fendon in Simon Mayhew-Archer’s debut sitcom Can You Keep a Secret?, playing a speed-walking, recently widowed stalwart of the local community and mother of one with a mix of Vicar of Dibley energy and the wildness of her earlier work. The central conceit is