Culture

Qui-Gon Jinn's Phantom Menace Line Foreshadowed Anakin's Arc

Movieweb says a single line from Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace—"Your focus determines your reality"—powerfully foreshadowed Anakin Skywalker's journey from promising Jedi to Sith and back to redemption. Qui-Gon delivers the line to the young, Force-sensitive Anakin upon their arrival on Coruscant as

Culture

Jessa Duggar says she lost 15 pounds after welcoming sixth child

According to People, Jessa Duggar shared she has lost about 15 pounds since welcoming her sixth baby in a YouTube video posted Tuesday, Jan. 6. Duggar, 33, said she is now roughly five pounds from her pre-pregnancy weight and discussed her postpartum routine in the video titled "Getting Back

Tech

Euhomy Ice Leopard X1 makes nine ice cubes in five minutes, debuts at CES 2026

Euhomy debuted the Ice Leopard X1 at CES 2026; ZDNET's Alison DeNisco Rayome said the company claims it is the world's fastest portable ice maker, producing nine bullet ice cubes (about one cup) in five minutes. Rayome described the machine as surprisingly slim, with a countertop

Culture

Mark Hix offers roast pumpkin and pickled-walnut salad recipe

Mark Hix, a restaurateur and writer based in Lyme Regis, Dorset, has published a recipe for a roast pumpkin and pickled walnut salad that combines roasted and shaved squash for contrasting textures. Hix says he grows several squash varieties and used a ripe crown prince for this dish, though he

Crypto

On-chain markets put 15% odds on Trump acquiring Greenland before 2027

Beincrypto reports that on-chain prediction markets are actively pricing President Donald Trump’s revived push to acquire Greenland: Polymarket shows the question “Will Trump acquire Greenland before 2027?” at roughly 15% with nearly $3 million in total volume committed. Reuters reported that on January 7 US Secretary of State Marco

Culture

Black Ops returns with Ikumelo and Animashaun as junior MI5 agents

Black Ops returns to BBC One at 9.30pm, with Gbemisola Ikumelo and Hammed Animashaun back as wannabe intelligence agents Dom and Kay. The listing says the former police community support officers are now proper employees of MI5, albeit extremely junior in the service. It describes the sitcom as likably

Culture

CBS renames Yellowstone spinoff 'Y: Marshals' to 'Marshals' ahead of premiere

Collider reports that CBS has quietly retitled its Yellowstone spin-off starring Luke Grimes from Y: Marshals to Marshals, a last-minute tweak announced just two months before the series' March premiere. CBS says the "Y" was always a working title and was apparently "silent" internally. Marshals

World

Rodríguez backs opening Venezuela’s oil to US as officials say Washington will control supplies

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, defended plans to open the country’s oil market to Washington on Wednesday, while US vice-president JD Vance reiterated that the United States would have complete control of Venezuela’s supplies. Rodríguez said America’s attack to remove her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, put a

Sports

Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr to meet in Riyadh derby on January 12, 2026

Goal reports that Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr will meet in the Capital Derby at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on Monday January 12, 2026, at 20:00. Al-Hilal are described as the most decorated club in Asia with 66 domestic and international titles, while Al-Nassr are noted for signings including Cristiano

Culture

Callum Turner frontrunner could set up a Daniel Craig-era Bond prequel

Movieweb reports that Callum Turner is the current frontrunner to play James Bond in the 26th film, and that his casting could be interpreted as setting up a canonical prequel to Daniel Craig's era. The outlet notes Denis Villeneuve is attached to direct and Steven Knight to write,

Business

Warner Bros. Discovery Urges Shareholders to Reject Paramount Offer

Warner Bros. Discovery advised its shareholders on Wednesday to reject Paramount’s latest takeover offer, arguing that even a personal commitment from one of the world’s richest men could not make up for the bid’s complex financing and saying the blockbuster deal it reached with Netflix last month

Culture

Kylie Jenner debuts new haircut in TikTok clip

People reports Kylie Jenner showed off a new haircut in a playful TikTok she posted on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Jenner, 28, lip syncs to Remy Ma's 2006 song "Conceited (Something About Remy)" while showing off her signature dark, long, layered locks and applying a Kylie Cosmetics

Crypto

Solana Accelerate to open Consensus Hong Kong on Feb. 11

CoinDesk and the Solana Foundation said the developer event Solana Accelerate will kick off Consensus Hong Kong on Feb. 11. The organisers described Solana Accelerate as a developer event that will open the conference in Hong Kong. They said the event will set the tone for a week focused on

World

Hundreds of UK schools closed as Storm Goretti brings snow and ice

Independent.co reports hundreds of schools across the UK will remain closed as Storm Goretti brings snow and ice, with the Met Office issuing yellow ice warnings for much of the country. Yellow warnings cover much of the UK including Northern Ireland, and a separate yellow warning for snow and

Politics

Trump’s Russia Approach Tests Courtship of Putin and Assertive U.S. Actions

President Trump’s efforts to court President Vladimir V. Putin have collided with displays of American power, most notably in a U.S. military operation that seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic, officials said. U.S. officials described the operation as enforcing a blockade of Venezuelan oil

Culture

Avengers: Doomsday teaser signals a more serious Thor

Collider reports the new teaser for Avengers: Doomsday — currently set as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's 39th film — points to a return to a more serious Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth. The roughly minute-and-a-half teaser eschews jokes and centers on Thor praying to his father Odin for strength, while

Sports

Arne Slot accepts Liverpool can be 'drab' and 'boring' but defends intent

Goal reports Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has admitted he partly agrees with comments that his team are "drab" and "boring", as the Reds prepare for their showdown with Premier League leaders Arsenal on Thursday night. The Reds travel to north London trailing the Gunners by

World

Storm Goretti brings snow, ice and yellow warnings across the UK

Independent.co reports heavy snow, ice and wintry showers are due to continue across the UK this week as an Arctic mass named Storm Goretti causes temperatures to plummet below zero in parts of the country. The Met Office has issued yellow ice warnings for most of the UK, including

Tech

Six Samsung TV settings to change for better picture and performance

ZDNET author Adam Breeden outlines six settings Samsung TV owners can change to improve picture quality and system responsiveness. First, Breeden advises disabling Eco Mode, which reduces brightness and contrast to save power; a recent study found Eco Mode can save as little as $7 a year. To turn it

Sports

10 charity challenges to try in 2026 across the UK, Europe and beyond

A selection of 10 charity challenges for 2026 offers options from island swims and multi-day cycles to team multisport races and a nonstop ski relay across the UK, Europe and beyond. Highlights include the Scilly Swim Challenge, a 15km island-hopping event broken into five swims and short island walks; the

Culture

Ginny & Georgia Tops Streaming Charts With 856.3M Hours in 2025

Collider reports that Netflix's Ginny & Georgia accumulated 856.3 million hours watched from January to June 2025, according to FlixPatrol, and also earned 85 million views in that period. For comparison, FlixPatrol recorded 335.6 million hours for Yellowstone in the same timeframe. Ginny & Georgia first

Culture

The Score: C Thi Nguyen on how metrics can replace what we truly value

Philosopher C Thi Nguyen’s new book The Score argues that the gamification of everyday life and our reverence for metrics lead people and institutions to mistake “points for the point” and to build lives around things they do not really want. Nguyen, writing from personal experience, describes learning Japanese

Sports

Soccer edges past baseball to become America's third-favourite sport

Goal reports that, according to a recent survey from The Economist, soccer has overtaken baseball to become the United States' third-most popular sport, behind American football and basketball. The Economist's survey lists American football as the most popular sport (the material shows it at about 36–37%

World

Questions remain over targeting and impact of US airstrikes on Lakurawa in northwest Nigeria

Two weeks after US airstrikes on Christmas Day in northwest Nigeria, questions persist over which group was targeted and the strikes' impact. The operation, coordinated with Nigeria, targeted an Islamist group known as Lakurawa, which extorts the mainly Muslim local population and enforces a strict version of sharia law.

Culture

Full trailer released for The Strangers – Chapter 3 ahead of Feb. 6 release

Movieweb reports that a full trailer for The Strangers – Chapter 3 has been released, and the film lands in theaters on Feb. 6. The movie is the final entry in Renny Harlin's trilogy, a bold approach that was designed to unfold like one continuous ordeal with each sequel