I first became acquainted with Freida McFadden’s New York Times bestselling thriller ​‘The Housemaid’ earlier in 2025, when I stumbled across a YouTube video entitled ​“Is this the worst book ever written?”. Intrigued by the title I clicked – the reviewer gave a detailed review of McFadden’s book, which concerns a young ex-con who takes a maid position in an affluent upstate New York household only...

Emily MaskellFive personal favourite films of 2025Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)Sorry, Baby (Eva Victor)April (Dea Kulumbegashvili)Flow (Gints Zilbalodis)On Falling (Laura Carreira)Cinematographer of the year Darius Khondji (Mickey 17)Below the lineLéo Silly-Pélissier (Animation director, Flow)Old guardStellan SkarsgårdNew schoolChase InfinitiIt’s f***kin’ trash but I loved itBridget Jones: Mad About the BoyGreat picture… I hated it!KPop Demon HuntersPhysical media release of 2025The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Criterion Collection)A wish for the cinema of 2026…For...

When Kevin Hartz’s security system failed to alert him as an intruder rang his doorbell and tried to enter his San Francisco home late one night, the serial entrepreneur decided existing solutions weren’t good enough. His co-founder Jack Abraham had experienced similar frustrations at his Miami Beach residence. In 2024, they launched Sauron — named after the sinister, all-seeing eye...

The Apple Watch helps people track their health and fitness, but it can also be a great tool to help people stay productive and get work done. This is especially true for people who get easily distracted by their phone. Although the Apple Watch comes with simple built-in productivity apps like Reminders and Calendar, it’s worth exploring some third-party apps...

French startup Ÿnsect shot into the spotlight when “Iron Man” star Robert Downey Jr. touted its merits on the “Late Show” during Super Bowl weekend 2021. Now, nearly four years later, the insect farming company has been placed into judicial liquidation — essentially bankruptcy — for insolvency.  The company’s demise is hardly a surprise, as Ÿnsect had been embattled for...

You have full access to this article via your institution. Download the Nature Podcast 24 December 2025In this episode:00:40 What a trove of potato genomes reveals about the humble spudResearchers have created a ‘pangenome’ containing the genomes of multiple potato types, something they believe can help make it easier to breed and sequence new varieties. The potato’s complicated genetics has...

Jaroslav LukivandMakuochi OkaforBBCOne strike hit a field near a village in Sokoto stateThe US has launched strikes against militants linked to the Islamic State group (IS) in north-western Nigeria, where militants have sought to establish a foothold. Camps run by the group in Sokoto state were hit near the border with Niger, the US military said. Casualty numbers are unclear,...

A man is dead after being hit by a vehicle in Richmond on Christmas Day. Source link...

(RNS) — A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in a lawsuit brought by current and former church members who challenged senior pastor the Rev. Kevin Johnson’s 2024 election and sought to remove him. Johnson succeeded the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who served as a minister at the historically Black...

Something unexpected is happening inside a material called platinum-bismuth-two (PtBi2). According to a new study from researchers at IFW Dresden and the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, this shiny gray crystal may look ordinary, but the electrons inside it behave in ways scientists have never observed before. In earlier work published in 2024, the team showed that only the top and...