The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Donald Trump‘s birthday next year which also happens to be Flag Day but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.
The new list of free admission days for Americans is the latest example of the Trump administration downplaying America’s civil rights history while also promoting the president’s image, name, and legacy.
Last year, the list of free days included Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth which is June 19 but not June 14, Trump’s birthday.
The new free-admission policy takes effect Jan. 1 and was one of several changes announced by the Park Service late last month, including higher admission fees for international visitors.
The other days of free park admission in 2026 are Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, President Theodore Roosevelts birthday (Oct. 27) and the anniversary of the creation of the Park Service (Aug. 25).
Eliminating Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans were emancipated, removes two of the nation’s most prominent civil rights holidays.
Some civil rights leaders voiced opposition to the change after news about it began spreading over the weekend.
The raw & rank racism here stinks to high heaven, Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, wrote on social media about the new policy.
Kristen Brengel, a spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association, said that while presidential administrations have tweaked the free days in the past, the elimination of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is particularly concerning. For one, the day has become a popular day of service for community groups that use the free day to perform volunteer projects at parks.
That will now be much more expensive, said Brengel, whose organization is a nonprofit that advocates for the park system.
Not only does it recognize an American hero, it’s also a day when people go into parks to clean them up, Brengel said. Martin Luther King Jr. deserves a day of recognition For some reason, Black history has repeatedly been targeted by this administration, and it shouldnt be.
Some Democratic lawmakers also weighed in to object to the new policy.
The President didnt just add his own birthday to the list, he removed both of these holidays that mark Black Americans struggle for civil rights and freedom, said Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. Our country deserves better.
A spokesperson for the National Park Service did not immediately respond to questions on Saturday seeking information about the reasons behind the changes.
Since taking office, Trump has sought to eliminate programs seen as promoting diversity across the federal government, actions that have erased or downplayed America’s history of racism as well as the civil rights victories of Black Americans.
Self-promotion is an old habit of the president’s and one he has continued in his second term. He unsuccessfully put himself forward for the Nobel Peace Prize, renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after himself, sought to put his name on the planned NFL stadium in the nation’s capital and had a new children’s savings program named after him.
Some Republican lawmakers have suggested putting his visage on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill.
David Klepper, Associated Press
IBM announced on Monday it is acquiring Confluent for $11 billion, sending shares of the data streaming platform up about 29% in morning trading.
By midday trading, at the time of this writing, Confluent (NasdaqGS: CFLT) stock was holding steady, up 29%. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) stock was up about 1.5%.
Confluent provides a leading open-source enterprise data streaming platform that connects, processes, and governs reusable and reliable data and events in real time, foundational for the deployment of artificial intelligence.
The deal is an example of how IBM is actively engaging in the increasingly competitive, high-stakes AI arms race that’s now dominating technology companies.
Why is this a big deal?
The deal is one of the largest in recent memory for IBM, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company is paying $31 a share for Confluent in an all-cash deal.
Confluent will continue to operate as a distinct brand and business within IBM after the close of the deal (which is subject to regulatory approval).
“Data is at the heart of what companies need to do to harness AI, modernize their operations, and build the next generation of applications; and Confluent is at the heart of what companies need to harness their data,” Confluent CEO Jay Kreps said in a statement. “IBM sees the same future we doone in which enterprises run on continuous, event-driven intelligence, with data moving freely and reliably across every part of the business.”
IBM and Confluent together will enable enterprises to deploy generative and agentic AI better and faster by providing trusted communication and data flow between environments, applications, and APIs [application programming interfaces], IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a press release. With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide the smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI.
IBM financials
At the time of this writing midday Monday, IBM had a market capitalization of $292.12 billion, while Confluent had a $10.44 billion market cap.
For the third quarter of 2025, IBM beat Wall Street’s estimates for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS). Its AI book of business surpassed $9.5 billion, up from $7.5 billion during the second quarter.
The Nordic countries are no strangers to the long, dark winter.
Despite little to no daylightplus months of frigid temperaturespeople who live in northern Europe and above the Arctic Circle have learned how to cope mentally and physically with the annual onset of the winter blues, which can begin as early as October and last into April for some.
The winter solstice will occur Dec. 21, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. While sunlight increases daily after that, winter won’t be over for a while yet.
The Associated Press spoke to experts in Norway, Sweden, and Finland about the winter blues. Here’s how they suggest looking for light, literally and figuratively, during the darkest months of the year:
Maintaining sleep and social habits are key
Dr. Timo Partonen, a research professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said the dark winter affects our circadian rhythm.
With limited daylight, our internal body clocks cannot reset or synchronize properly and it throws off our sleep. We may sleep longer in the winter, he said, but we don’t wake up refreshed and can remain tired the rest of the day.
Partonen recommended trying a dawn simulator, sometimes known as a sunrise alarm clock, to gradually light up your bedroom and ease you awake.
In addition to being more tired, we’re more likely to withdraw from others socially in the wintertime. We’re more irritable, Partonen said, and more prone to fights with friends.
It’s important to maintain our relationships, he said, because symptoms rarely improve in isolation.
And since keeping up with exercise is also key to combating the winter blues, consider inviting a friend along for a workout.
It could also help keep off the wintertime weight gaintypically 2 to 5 kilograms (4 to 11 pounds) a year, Partonen saidthat’s fed by cravings for carbohydrates, especially in the evenings.
Light therapy encouraged for a range of symptoms
Millions of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from seasonal depression. Also known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, patients typically have episodes of depression that begin in the fall and ease in the spring or summer. A milder form, subsyndromal SAD, is recognized by medical experts, and theres also a summer variety of seasonal depression, though less is known about it.
Scientists are learning how specialized cells in our eyes turn the blue wavelength part of the light spectrum into neural signals affecting mood and alertness. Sunlight is loaded with the blue light, so when the cells absorb it, our brains alertness centers are activated and we feel more awake and possibly even happier.
Researcher Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without SAD to see how their eyes reacted to blue light. As a group, people with SAD were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially during winter months. That suggests a cause for wintertime depression.
In severe cases, people need clinical support and antidepressant medications. Christian Benedict, a pharmacology professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, suggests light therapy for people with SAD as well as those who have a milder case of the winter blues.
Its not like its a fate, an annual or a seasonal fate, and you cannot do anything about it, Benedict said. There are possibilities to affect it.
A routine of morning light therapy, using devices that emit light about 20 times brighter than regular indoor light, can be beneficial for both people with and without SAD.
The light therapy helps to kickstart your circadian rhythm and increases serotonin in your brain, Benedict said.
Research supports using a light thats about 10,000 lux, a measure of brightness, for 30 minutes every morning. Special lights run from $70 to $400, though some products marketed for SAD are not bright enough to be useful. Your insurance company might cover at least part of the cost if youve been diagnosed with SAD.
Partonen recommended using both a dawn simulator and a light therapy device each day before noon.
Yale has tested products and offers a list of recommendations, and the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics has a consumer guide to selecting a light.
Prioritizing a positive outlook as a survival strategy
And don’t forget to, well, look on the bright side. It’s crucial to embrace winter instead of dreading it, according to Ida Solhaug, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Troms, also known as the Arctic University of Norwaythe world’s northernmost university.
Prioritize a positive outlook as a survival strategy and learn to appreciate the change in seasons. It’s a typical Norwegian way of thinking, she said, that can make all the difference when there’s very little daylight for months.
It’s part of the culture, she said.
And don’t forget to take advantage of both outdoor and indoor hobbies, she said. Inside, channel hyggethe Danish obsession with getting cozyand snuggle up on the couch with blankets and a movie.
But don’t hibernate all winter. After the film finishes, head outside with a thermos for fika, the traditional Swedish coffee break. Even during cloudy days, a quick walk in the fresh air will help, she said. And if you’re brave enough, do a cold plunge like many people in the Nordics.
Solhaug tries to jump into the frigid waters off the coast of Troms, an island 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, at least once a week, adding that it makes her feel revitalized during the long winter.
Challenge yourself to look for light in the darkness, she said.
After all, as many Nordic people say, theres no such thing as bad weatheronly bad clothing.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, too, had some tips for how to tackle Nordic winters. When asked in an interview with The Associated Press last month how to survive the cold season, he had some very specific advice.
Take an ice bath and then followed up by a sauna and do one more ice bath, one more sauna, then a shower and go out there. Youll manage, Stubb said.
Stefanie Dazio, Associated Press
Letterboxd, the movie tracking app and social media platform for cinephiles, first announced its new online film rental platform earlier this year at Cannes Film Festival. Now, more details about the launch date and titles have been revealed.
The Video Store will officially launch on Wednesday, December 10, and will feature nine films across two curated shelves, which includes titles from nine countries. Heres some of what film fans can expect: Think a Todd Haynes deep cut, to a restored version of a Filipino classic, and more, including Chile and Indonesias submissions for the upcoming 98th Academy Awards, a hit from the 2025 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, and an Indian neo-noir thriller that was previously unavailable since its 2023 Cannes debut.
The platform will operate on a transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) model with no subscription requirement, and the shelves will be programmed by the Letterboxd team using millions of watchlists, reviews, and behavioral signals. Each title was chosen based on member demand, while also leaving room for discoveries the community has yet to find.
The Video Store will be available in 23 countries, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, and Cyprus.Pricing and availability vary by film and country, and will be shown directly within the Video Store at launch. Viewers will be able to watch on their TV via Apple TV 4K, Chromecast, and AirPlay, and through web, iOS, and Android.Were incredibly proud of what we and our community have built, Letterboxd CEO and cofounder Matthew Buchanan said in a statement. We take their lead, and believe that has been integral to Letterboxds success. They tell us what’s really happeninga 1980s action film suddenly trending, a festival title from two years ago still being added to watchlists.
A focus on film discovery
While Letterboxd plans on rolling out more titles in weeks and months to come, the first two shelves made available at launch will reflect the platforms core mission of film discovery.The first shelf, “Unreleased Gems,” features exclusive films from festivals that havent had releases yet in specific countries, and will only be available in the Video Store for a limited time.
Those titles include Alexander Ulloms 2025 directional debut It Ends, which made waves at this years SXSW, about recent graduates trapped on an infinite nightmarish background; Yandy Laurens 2025 sci-fi romance A Wife From The Future, about a woman who travels back in time to change her husband’s destiny, which has been selected as Indonesia’s submission for the Best International Feature Film for the upcoming Oscars; Anurag Kashyap’s 2023 neo-noir thriller Kennedy, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2023; and director Diego Céspedes’ 2025 feature film debut The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, about a young girl protecting her town’s queer community from superstitious panic, which won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
Meanwhile, the second shelf, “Lost & Found,” features a slate of underdog films. Availability of films varies by country, with many titles exclusive to Letterboxd where they are shown.Those titles include Lau Kar-Leungs 1988 action-comedy film Tiger on the Beat starring Chow Yun-Fat; Mike de Leons 1981 Filipino classic Kisapmata about a young woman living under her domineering father’s suffocating control; Elia Suleimans It Must Be Heaven, which won the Special Mention from the Main Competition Jury and FIPRESCI Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival (but was delayed theatrically because of the COVID-19 pandemic); Todd Haynes 1991 Sundance Film Festival hit Poison; and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s alien invasion film Before We Vanish, based on a cult Japanese stage play, which previously screened at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.Video Store lets us act on [real] demand, whether its helping a distributor unlock value from a forgotten gem in its vault or giving a filmmaker direct access to the audience theyve been building on our platform, Letterboxd CEO Buchanan said. Its our way of saying to the industry: lets harness this interest to get films to the people who want them most.
The launch of Letterboxd Video Store comes during a time when the platform has seen significant growth and found more of a mainstream audience over the past four years. In mid-2020, Letterboxd had 1.8 million members. Now, it currently has over 17 million, with around six million joining within the last year.
On November 26, a water leak at Paris Louvre Museum damaged between 300 and 400 historical books in the Egyptology and scientific documentation section. Then, on December 8, workers at the museum voted to initiate a strike over poor working conditions.
And thats only a drop in the bucket compared to the Louvres overall woes so far this year.
For years, the Louvre has been struggling with a combination of old, weathered infrastructure and increased foot traffic brought about by mass tourism. But in 2025, the museum has been hit by the full consequences of operating out of a relatively un-updated building to house some of the worlds most influential (and valuable) art.
Heres everything you need to know about the Louvres horrible, no good, very bad year.
A leaked memo reveals the extent of the problem
The year began with a letter that foreshadowed what was to come for the Louvre.
Near the end of January, a private document, written by museum director Laurence des Cars for the French culture minister Rachida Dati, was leaked to the media. In it, des Cars described a museum struggling to accommodate its daily influx of visitors and protect its artwork due to deteriorating spaces, lack of crowd flow measures, and poor environmental controls.
Visiting the Louvre is a physical ordeal; accessing the artworks takes time and is not always easy, des Cars wrote. Visitors have no space to take a break.
Around the same time, the Louvre announced plans for a massive renovation designed to address these challenges. French President Emmanuel Macron said that the overhaul would include a new entrance on the Seine river, a stand-alone room to house the Mona Lisa, and several new underground rooms to control foot traffic.
Changes to the museum were slated to begin in 2026 and take around a decade to completebut, as later months would prove, the situation at the museum had already reached a boiling point.
The Louvre shuts down in June
The first major disturbance at the Louvre took place on June 16, when the institutions own staff members rallied to shut it down. That day, thousands of ticketed patrons waited outside the museums iconic glass pyramid, to no avail.
It was a rare occurrence for the Louvre, which has only closed a few other times during war, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a few brief walkouts.
The strike came due to staffs concerns around mass tourism and overcrowding.
A crown jewel heist fit for the big screen
Perhaps the most memorable calamity at the museum came in October. In a stunt that flummoxed the public (and is likely destined for Netflix adaptation), a group of thieves broke into the Louvre in broad daylight via a basket lift, cut its window panes with a glass cutter, stole nine pieces of priceless jewelry in less than seven minutes, and escaped on motorbikes.
Since the stunning scene, at least eight people have been arrested in connection with the heist, but none of the jewelryworth more than $100 millionhas been found. For obvious reasons, the event has resulted in widespread criticisms of the museums security measures.
Water damage and yet another strike
Now, the Louvre has taken two more blows just before the end of the year.
On November 26, a water leak damaged between 300 and 400 books that date from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, in the museums Egyptology and scientific documentation section.
A spokesperson for the museum told CNN that the leak happened when a valve, which forms part of a now defunct plumbing system, was opened by accident. The system was shut off earlier this year in anticipation of the coming renovations. The spokesperson added that while the books in question are used regularly by readers, they arent the only copies in the world.
And this morning, workers at the Louvre announced that theyre planning this years second strike to hold the museum accountable for difficult work conditions and security weaknesses.
In a letter announcing the action, addressed to Dati and viewed by the AP, the unions involved said the museum was in crisis, noting that visiting the Louvre has become a real obstacle course for millions of visitors.
Fast Company has reached out to representatives from the Louvre for comment on the issue.
The strike is scheduled to begin next Monday, December 15.
A Cinnabon worker in Wisconsin has been fired after a racist outburst directed at two customers went viral, the Georgia-based cinnamon roll chain said.
Cinnabon posted a statement on social media that the worker, who it did not identify, was immediately terminated by the franchise owner over a disturbing video of the incident.
Their actions and statements are completely unacceptable and in no way reflect the values of Cinnabon, our franchisees, or the welcoming environment we expect for every guest and team member, the company added in a follow-up statement to The Associated Press on Sunday.
The video was posted on TikTok and showed a white, female employee cursing at and taunting the customers from behind the counter as one of them recorded the encounter. At one point she is seen on video uttering a racial slur and saying, I am racist and Ill say it to the whole entire world. Dont be disrespectful.
The employee is also recorded giving an obscene hand gesture at customers and exchanging expletives with one of the persons at the store.
The TikTok user who posted video said the incident happened while she and her husband were taking a break from shopping Friday at a mall in Ashwaubenon, a suburb of Green Bay.
The customer said she ordered a caramel pecan cinnamon roll and had asked the worker to add more caramel as it didn’t appear to have enough.
She said she began recording after the worker snapped at her and derided her hijab.
An online fundraising campaign to support the customers described them as a black Somali Muslim couple that’s been traumatized by the incident.
A competing campaign to purportedly benefit the fired worker, meanwhile, has raised tens of thousands of dollars. That effort appears on the same Christian crowdfunding platform where hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for a Minnesota woman who admitted to using a racist slur against a Black child at a playground earlier this year.
President Donald Trump on Sunday hosted the Kennedy Center Honors and praised Sylvester Stallone, Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford, and George Strait, the slate of honorees he helped choose, as being legendary in so many ways.
Billions and billions of people have watched them over the years, Trump, the first president to command the stage, said to open the show.
The Republican president said the artists, recognized with tribute performances during the show, are among the greatest artists and actors, performers, musicians, singers, songwriters ever to walk the face of the Earth.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has made the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which is named after a Democratic predecessor, a touchstone in a broader attack against what he has lambasted as woke anti-American culture.
Trump said Saturday that he was hosting at the request of a certain television network. He predicted the broadcast scheduled for Dec. 23 on CBS and Paramount+, would have its best ratings ever.
Before Trump, presidents watched the show alongside the honorees. Trump skipped the honors altogether during his first term.
Asked how he got ready for the gig, Trump said as he moved along the red carpet with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, that he didnt really prepare very much.
I have a good memory, so I can remember things, which is very fortunate, the president said. But just, I wanted to just be myself. You have to be yourself.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, one of several Cabinet secretaries attending the ceremony, said his boss “is so relaxed in front of these cameras, as you know, and so funny, I cant wait for tonight. Lutnick arrived with his wife, a member of the Kennedy Center’s board.
Trump appeared on stage three times to open and close the show, and after intermission. He also talked up each artist in prerecorded videos that played before their tributes.
Trump was both gracious and critical in the comments he delivered from the stage, lavishing the honorees with effusive praise but at times showing a mean streak. After returning from intermission, he said hed toured some of the construction projects he has launched to renovate the performing arts center. And he said it was a fantastic night.
Well, were really having a good time tonight, Trump said. So many people I know in this audience. Some good. Some bad. Some I truly love and respect. Some I just hate.
Since 1978, the honors have recognized stars for their influence on American culture and the arts. Members of this year’s class are pop-culture standouts, including Stallone for his Rocky and Rambo movies, Gaynor for her I Will Survive feminist anthem and Kiss for its flashy, cartoonish makeup and onstage displays of smoke and pyrotechnics.
Strait is a leader in the world of country music and Crawford, a Tony Award-winning actor, is best known for starring in Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show in Broadway history.
Trump said persistence is a trait shared by the honorees, several of whom had humble beginnings.
Some of them have had legendary setbacks, setbacks that you have to read in the papers because of their level of fame, he said from the stage. But in the words of Rocky Balboa, they showed us that you keep moving forward, just keep moving forward.
He said many of the politicians, celebrities, and others in the audience shared the trait, too.
I know so many of you are persistent, Trump said in his opening. Many of you are miserable, horrible people. You are persistent. You never give up. Sometimes I wish youd give up, but you dont.
The ceremony was expected to be emotional for the members of Kiss. The bands original lead guitarist, Ace Frehley, died in October after he was injured during a fall. During the tribute to Kiss, a lone red guitar that emitted smoke was placed on stage in remembrance of Frehley, who was known for having a smoke bomb in his instrument.
The program closed with a rousing performance by Cheap Trick of Kiss’ Rock and Roll All Nite” that brought the audience to its feet.
Stallone said receiving the honor was like being in the eye of a hurricane.
This is an amazing event, he said on the red carpet. But youre caught up in the middle of it. Its hard to take it in until the next day. ..: but Im incredibly humbled by it.
Crawford also said it was humbling, especially at the end of a career.
Gaynor said it feels like a dream to be honored. “To be recognized in this way is the pinnacle,” she said after arriving.
Mike Farris, an award-winning gospel singer who performed for Gaynor, called her a dear friend. She truly did survive, Farris said. “What an iconic song.
Trump has taken over the Kennedy Center
Trump upended decades of bipartisan support for the center by ousting its leadership and stacking the board of trustees with Republican supporters, who elected him chair. He has criticized the centers programming and the buildings appearance and has said, perhaps jokingly, that he would rename it as the Trump Kennedy Center. He secured more than $250 million from Congress for renovations of the building.
Asked Sunday night about a possible renaming, Trump said it would be up to the board. Still, he joked at one point about the Trump Kennedy Center.
Presidents of each political party have at times found themselves face to face with artists of opposing political views. Republican Ronald Reagan was there for honoree Arthur Miller, a playwright who championed liberal causes. Democrat Bill Clinton, who had signed an assault weapons ban into law, marked the honors for Charlton Heston, an actor and gun rights advocate.
During Trumps first term, multiple honorees were openly critical of the president. In 2017, Trumps first year in office, honors recipient and film producer Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump stayed away during that entire term.
Trump has said he was deeply involved in choosing the 2025 honorees and turned down some recommendations because they were too woke.” He said Sunday that about 50 names were whittled down to five. While Stallone is one of Trump’s Hollywood special ambassadors” and has likened Trump to George Washington, the political views of Sunday’s other guests are less clear.
Honorees’ views about Trump
Strait and Gaynor have said little about their politics, although Federal Election Commission records show that Gaynor has given money to Republican organizations in recent years.
Simmons spoke favorably of Trump when Trump ran for president in 2016. But in 2022, Simmons told Spin magazine that Trump was out for himself and criticized Trump for encouraging conspiracy theories and public expressions of racism.
Fellow Kiss member Paul Stanley denounced Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, and said Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were terrorists. But after Trump won in 2024, Stanley urged unity.
If your candidate lost, its time to learn from it, accept it and try to understand why, Stanley wrote on X. “If your candidate won, its time to understand that those who dont share your views also believe they are right and love this country as much as you do.
Darlene Superville and Hillel Italie, Associated Press
President Donald Trump said Sunday that a deal struck by Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery could be a problem because of the size of the combined market share.
There’s no question about it, Trump said, answering questions about the deal and various other topics as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors.
The Republican president said he will be involved in the decision about whether the federal government should approve the $72 billion deal. If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the worlds biggest streaming services under the same ownership and join Warners television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with Netflixs vast library and its production arm.
The deal, which could reshape the entertainment industry, has to go through a process and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
Netflix is a great company. Theyve done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man, he said of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, noting that they met in the Oval Office last week before the deal was announced Dec. 5. “I have a lot of respect for him but its a lot of market share, so well have to see what happens.
Asked if Netflix should be allowed to buy the Hollywood giant behind Harry Potter and HBO Max, the president said, Well that’s the question.
They have a very big market share and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot so, I dont know, he said. “I’ll be involved in that decision, too. But they have a very big market share
Sarandos made no guarantees at their meeting about the merger if it is approved, Trump said, adding that the CEO is a great person who has done one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things.
He repeated that a merger would create a big market share for the company.
Theres no question about it. It could be a problem, Trump said.
Darlene Superville, Associated Press
Associated Press writer John Carucci contributed to this report.
The robots wont be replacing us, but we will increasingly be working side-by-side with artificial intelligence tools that can then learn from our human expertise.
Thats one conclusion of researchers and engineers who are applying AI to the physical world in transformative ways, from autonomous vehicles to microscopes for detecting malaria to the design of wholly new materials.
And theres a balance to be struck between automation and human expertise, according to K.T. Ramesh, the Alonzo G. Decker Jr. professor of science of and engineering at Johns Hopkins University and a senior advisor to the universitys president for AI.
We can develop autonomous researchwhich is the way we are going, our research labs are becoming autonomousbut what questions do you ask? Ramesh said during a panel discussion at last months World Changing Ideas Summit, cohosted by Fast Company and Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. Thats where the human comes in.
A WORLD OF COEXISTING
Humans are likewise crucial for Cephla, which is deploying AI-powered microscopes in life science research, drug discovery, and diagnostics, said Hongquan Li, cofounder and CEO of the biotech company.
Starting with malaria detection, humans are collecting data for training, annotating images, and providing input on relevant clinical metrics, he said.
When those machines are deployed, humans operate those microscopes and interact with patients and make the critical clinical decisions, Li said.
And humans play a critical role at Waymo, which is arguably the most mature manifestation of AI in the physical world today, said Smitha Shyam, the self-driving car company’s senior director of engineering.
AI systems for the physical world must be built to act safely, given the likelihood of chaos or uncertainty, which is why Waymo relies on human safety operators before expanding its fleet of fully autonomous vehicles to new markets, she added.
AI is informing the choice, but the humans are making the assessment if the driver is ready for the public roads, Shyam said. So I think it’s a world of coexisting and leveraging the best of each other.
Mixed nuts are a common staple in many houses around the Christmas holidays. Their saltiness is a nice contrast to all the sweet festive treats that our kitchens fill up with at this time of year.
But now the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that two mixed nut products have the potential to make you very sick. Heres what you need to know.
FDA announced mixed nuts recall
On December 5, the Food and Drug Administration posted a notice announcing the recall of two mixed nuts products. The nuts were sold under the Wegmans brand. Wegmans is a popular chain of grocery stores in the eastern United States.
The nuts were manufactured by Mellace Family Brands California, Inc. of Warren, Ohio, which initiated the voluntary recall.
According to the notice, testing found that some raw pistachios used in the mixed nuts products had the possibility of being contaminated with Salmonella, a potentially deadly bacterium. Wegmans has also posted a recall notice for the products on its website.
What mixed nuts products are being recalled?
Two mixed nuts products are currently listed as being part of the recall, according to the notice posted on the FDAs website. Those nut products are:
Wegmans Deluxe Mixed Nuts Unsalted 34 oz (964 grams)
packaged in a plastic tub
UPC 077890421314
Lot code: 58041 BEST BY: JUL 28, 2026
Wegmans Deluxe Mixed Nuts Unsalted 11.5 oz (326 grams)
packaged in a plastic bag
UPC 077890421352
Lot code: 58171 BEST BY: AUG 10, 2026
Photographs of the recalled nuts packaging can be found here.
When were the recalled nuts sold?
The recalled nuts were sold between November 3 and December 1, 2025.
Where were the recalled nuts sold?
The recalled nuts were sold at Wegmans stores in the following locations:
Connecticut
Delaware
Maryland
Massachusetts
North Carolina
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Washington, D.C.
What is Salmonella?
Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause severe and possibly life-threatening illness in people who consume contaminated products.
In an otherwise healthy individual, Salmonella often causes abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, nausea, and vomiting. However, individuals who are elderly, very young, frail, or have weakened immune systems can sometimes develop infections that are deadly.
In rare cases, a Salmonella infection can cause arterial infections, arthritis, and endocarditis.
Has anyone been harmed by the recalled nuts?
As of the time of the FDA notices posting, no individuals are known to have been made sick in association with the recalled nuts.
What should I do if I have the recalled nuts?
Check your house to see if you have the recalled nuts. The nuts have long expiration dates, with one of the recalled products good until July 2026 and the other until August 2026.
If you have the recalled products, you should return them to the service desk for a full refund.
Complete information about the recall can be found in the notice posted on the FDAs website here.
