In 2024, progress in streaming profitability and renewed deal talk helped the stocks of some Hollywood conglomerates. In 2025, mega-deals materialized, but questions about the sustainability of streaming profit gains, pressure on cable networks, which were once the sector’s huge profit engine, and the rise of AI caused investor worries. The U.S. stock market rose…
Volcano Engine, the cloud computing unit of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, said on Monday it has secured an “exclusive AI cloud partnership” with the Spring Festival Gala – a marquee slot that underlines the company’s ambition to turn its artificial intelligence cloud business into a national-scale platform. Volcano Engine said the deal – built on…
Maddy SavageBusiness reporter, Kalmar, Sweden BBC Pharmacy worker Yasmine Lindberg admits that she had been struggling with loneliness Staff at a major Swedish pharmacy chain are being given paid time off to spend with friends, as Sweden’s government calls on businesses to help play a role in tackling loneliness. Yasmine Lindberg, 45, is one of…
bluestocking/iStock/Getty Images plus Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Free Microsoft accounts can use passkeys instead of passwords. Passwordless sign-ins are more secure and highly phishing-resistant. Set up multiple sign-in and recovery options before going passwordless. These days, I’m very popular in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and even…
Barry Webb Barry Webb’s “Glistening Slime Mould” won the people’s choice in the macro category of the British Photography Awards 2025 Welcome to the world of slime mould. These images, captured by photographer Barry Webb, provide a close-up view of single-celled slime mould organisms. A view that would not be possible with the naked eye….
Getty Images Butter garlic naan topped Taste Atlas’ best breads list of 2025 A pillowy-soft naan – a leavened flatbread popular in South Asia – paired with rich, creamy butter chicken gravy is one of the most popular comfort foods in the region, and it’s also one of the most popular Indian dishes abroad. And…
Recent data on China’s external accounts presents a conundrum: while the country’s trade surplus has broken records, surpassing the US$1 trillion benchmark in the first 11 months of the year, growth in its official foreign exchange reserves has lagged. This seeming paradox prompts a question – where did the money go? Analysts said the gap…
AFP via Getty Images The deadly violence that followed Tanzania’s election shocked many October’s shocking events in Tanzania offer a snapshot of some of the tensions which have shaped a difficult year for African politics. Demonstrators were shot dead by police while protesting against what they saw as a rigged election – condemned by regional…
Olga IvshinaBBC News Russian BBC Murat Mukashev (inset) signed up for the army after he was given a 10-year jail term Over the past 10 months, Russian losses in the war with Ukraine have been growing faster than any time since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, BBC analysis suggests. As peace efforts…
Donald Trump said he hoped to reach phase two of the Gaza peace plan “very quickly”, as he warned Hamas would have “hell to pay” if it did not disarm quickly. The US president, whose 20-point peace plan requires the militant group to disarm, made the comments as he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…
