Culture

Kate Middleton left engagement ring at home for Charing Cross Hospital visit

People reports that the Princess of Wales left her engagement ring at home when she and Prince William made an unannounced visit to Charing Cross Hospital on Jan. 8, 2026. For the stop — their first royal appearance of the new year as joint patrons of NHS Charities Together — Princess Kate

Tech

CNET Group names 22 Best of CES 2026 winners; ZDNET highlights top picks

CNET Group, selected in partnership with the Consumer Technology Association, has announced its Best of CES 2026 winners after in-person evaluations at CES in Las Vegas, where ZDNET reporters went hands-on with hundreds of products. The awards were based on live demos and expert evaluation, and eligibility required that a

Politics

Trump says US may oversee Venezuelan oil for years

Independent.co reports President Donald Trump said the United States may oversee Venezuelan oil operations for an extended period, acknowledging it could take years to revive the country’s oil sector. In an interview with The New York Times, Trump said “I would say much longer” when asked how long

Culture

Daily Show's Ronnie Chieng mocks administration's interest in Greenland

On January 8, 2026, Daily Show host Ronnie Chieng used part of the Wednesday episode to react to the administration's stance on Greenland after reports that the territory was on Donald Trump's "shopping list". "The point is, we need Greenland," Chieng said.

Culture

Kier and Hayman Face Off in My Neighbor Adolf Over Hitler Suspicion

Two acting powerhouses, Udo Kier and David Hayman, square off in the domestic drama My Neighbor Adolf, directed and co-written by Leon Prudovsky, about a man who becomes convinced his neighbor is Adolf Hitler. Hayman plays Polsky, a solitary Holocaust survivor living in Colombia in 1960. A real-estate agent, Frau

World

U.K. aided U.S. in seizure of Russian-flagged tanker Marinera in North Atlantic

Time reports U.S. forces seized two tankers linked to Venezuelan oil exports on Wednesday, including the Russian-flagged Marinera (formerly Bella 1), which was apprehended in waters between Iceland and Scotland with assistance from the United Kingdom. The U.K. provided pre-planned operational support after a U.S. request, supplying

Culture

Shawn Levy to Direct Lucasfilm’s 'Starfighter' as Studio Seeks a 'Star Wars' Revival

Lucasfilm has hired director Shawn Levy to make Star Wars: Starfighter, a film being shot in and around London and scheduled for 2027, as the studio looks to restore momentum for the franchise. Lucasfilm hopes that Levy, who directed Deadpool & Wolverine and helped create and shepherd Stranger Things through

Crypto

Zcash developer exit fuels sell-off as funds appear to shift toward Monero

Beincrypto reports Electric Coin Company CEO Josh Swihart confirmed the entire ECC team resigned after what he described as a "constructive discharge," a development that coincided with a steep sell-off and eroded confidence in Zcash. Swihart said board decisions changed employment terms and undermined the team's

Business

U.S. Trade Deficit Falls to $29.4 Billion in October, Lowest Since 2009

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services shrank to $29.4 billion in October, down from $48.1 billion the prior month, data from the Commerce Department showed, the lowest monthly deficit recorded since June 2009. Imports in October fell 3.2 percent to $331.4 billion while

Crypto

Aptos (APT) Falls 5% from Wednesday

Aptos (APT) was an underperformer, down 5% from Wednesday. The decline was described in the source material as a 5% drop and identified Aptos specifically as an underperformer. No additional details or context were provided in the supplied source material. Key Topics Crypto, Aptos, Apt

Culture

Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista co-star in Prime Video’s The Wrecking Crew

Collider reports that Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista co-star as estranged half-brothers in Prime Video’s new action comedy The Wrecking Crew, and the first trailer has been released. Momoa plays Jonny, a loose-cannon cop whose life is a mess, while Bautista is James, a disciplined Navy SEAL family man.

World

Suspect in Brown and M.I.T. killings had years of isolation and resentment

Authorities identified Claudio Neves Valente as the suspect in shootings that killed two Brown University students and an M.I.T. professor and wounded nine others. He killed himself not long after the attacks, and the Justice Department released transcripts of four recordings found with his body in a storage

Tech

Top VPNs to stream soccer and sports in 2026

On Jan 08, 2026 Goal published a guide to the best VPN services for streaming soccer and other sports from anywhere in the world. The guide explains that a VPN routes internet traffic through external servers to bypass geo-restrictions, protect data and can be cheaper than subscribing to multiple services.

World

Lebanese military says it has completed first phase of disarmament plan

The Lebanese military said on Thursday that it had completed the first phase of a plan to demilitarize armed groups under the deal that ended Israel’s war with Hezbollah, as fears grew that Israel could be preparing a new offensive in Lebanon. The military’s statement did not mention

Tech

CES 2026 spotlights battery-free smart locks, generative AI on Google TV and smarter vacuums

At CES 2026, companies highlighted smarter, more autonomous smart-home devices, including battery-free smart locks, new generative-AI features for Google TV, and an AI-enabled robot vacuum and mop. Lockin showed the Veno Pro deadbolt and the V7 Max Mortise lock, both designed to avoid removable batteries by using Lockin AuraCharge — an

Culture

Jim Carrey Characters Appear in Stranger Things Fan Video

Movieweb reports a fan-made video shared on YouTube by Your_Kryptonite7 inserts Jim Carrey's most memorable characters into scenes from Stranger Things. The mashup places Carrey's figures into pivotal moments, including Ace Ventura replacing Eddie Munson's guitar and distracting Demobats in Season 4 with

Culture

Maury Povich says he 'couldn't do' his talk show today in ABC docuseries trailer

People exclusively revealed the trailer for ABC's three-part series Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV, in which veteran host Maury Povich, 86, says, "I couldn't do that show today. There's no way." The trailer chronicles some of daytime TV'

Culture

Box of Kodachrome slides reveals Heathrow photo of mother before Kolkata trip

When my sister handed me a box of old Kodachrome slides last summer, I set up my iPad as a makeshift lightbox and found, among the transparencies, a striking image of my mother and me on the tarmac at Heathrow, about to board an Air India plane to Kolkata. My

Culture

The Cribs' Selling a Vibe praised for punchy blend of experience and lost innocence

The Cribs’ ninth album, Selling a Vibe, is praised in a Guardian review for striking a punchy balance between songs of lost innocence and bitter experience. The review recalls a BBC podcast last summer, The Rise and Fall of Indie Sleaze, whose third episode heavily featured bassist and vocalist Gary

Business

Pubs welcome government U-turn on business rates but warn more help needed

Independent.co reports the government is set to U-turn on plans to scrap business rate relief for the hospitality industry, a decision welcomed by pub landlords across the UK. At the Budget the chancellor announced plans to scale back pandemic-era discounts from 75 per cent to 40 per cent and

World

Venezuela outcome warns against expecting U.S. pressure to topple Iran

Time reports that early accounts of the U.S. ousting of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela led some to speculate that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could suffer the same fate, but the piece says that assumption is deeply flawed and dangerous for Iranians seeking meaningful political change. Despite President

Culture

Sorbonne team uses A.I. to produce a play in Molière’s manner

Scholars and artists at Sorbonne University trained artificial intelligence to imitate Molière’s themes, structures and sense of humor, producing a new play called "The Astrologer, or False Omens." The A.I.-written work was developed by the collective Obvious with the Théâtre Molière Sorbonne; an excerpt will

Crypto

Illicit crypto receipts hit $154B in 2025 as stablecoins dominate

Beincrypto reports that illicit crypto addresses received at least $154 billion in 2025, a 162% increase from the previous year, according to a Chainalysis report. The report said the surge was driven in large part by a 694% rise in funds flowing to sanctioned entities and by stablecoins, which now

Tech

Ars Technica lists the eight best board game apps of 2019

Ars Technica’s Ars Cardboard column published a ranked list of the eight best board game apps of 2019, highlighting digital adaptations of tabletop titles that the author judged worth players’ time. The piece says tabletop games continued pushing into electronic devices in 2019, with at least a dozen digital

Culture

Rick and Morty Climbs Netflix Charts as It Leaves Service in Some Countries

Collider reports that Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty has surged on Netflix’s Top TV charts even as the series is set to exit the streamer in numerous regions. All eight seasons were made available in unaffected countries like Australia, helping bring the sci‑fi animated series back onto