He created Grand Theft Auto. Dan Houser was one of the masterminds behind revolutionary video game series Grand Theft Auto. Now, after leaving Rockstar Games and launching his own company, he's released a debut novel about a very different type of game. A Better Paradise is a dystopian vision of the near future in which an AI-led computer game goes rogue. Set in a polarised world, it finds Mark Tyburn attempting to create a virtual haven for people to find sanctuary and reconnect within themselves against an all-consuming social media hellscape.

'Tis the season to slob out on the sofa and demolish a packet of mince pies in front of a good movie, or a bad movie - or a movie that's so bad it's good. This year, as ever, a crop of new Christmas films are hoping to be part of our festive viewing - and perhaps even join the ranks of enduring classics alongside the likes of Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually and Die Hard (don't start). So, in an effort to bring you a vital public service by sorting the crackers from the turkeys, and in an attempt to get myself into the Christmas spirit, I binged as many new Christmas films as possible in a day. This is the only 2025 release on Rotten Tomatoes' list of the greatest 100 Christmas movies of all time. The Jonas Brothers find themselves stuck in the UK after wrapping up their world tour and must get home for Christmas.

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Ex-Trump DOJ lawyers say'fraudulent' UC antisemitism probes led them to quit Data centers for AI could nearly triple San José's energy use. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . The county seat of Santa Clara is touting its partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric, claiming the city is "the West Coast's premier destination for data center development."

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Times Investigation: Ex-Trump DOJ lawyers say'fraudulent' UC antisemitism probes led them to quit This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . Nine former DOJ attorneys investigating UC antisemitism told The Times they felt pressured to conclude that campuses had violated the civil rights of Jewish students and staff. The attorneys resigned during the course of their UC assignments, some concerned that they were being asked to violate ethical standards. UC says it is open to talks with the Trump administration to protect $17.5 billion in federal funding.

A unique mating call led biologists to this newly discovered pint-sized amphibian. 'Brachycephalus lulai' is a tiny pumpkin toadlet measuring less than 14 millimeters in length. It is sitting on a pencil tip for scale. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. A new pumpkin toadlet species was recently discovered in the mountains of southern Brazil. is just over one centimeter (only 0.39 inches) long and the size of a pencil tip.

At least three people have been killed and nine others wounded, when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a drone attack on a central Sudanese city, as fighting intensifies across the vast strategic region of Kordofan that could determine the war's outcome. The strike hit a square near a police station in the Tayba neighbourhood of el-Obeid on Saturday afternoon, military sources told Al Jazeera. Several of the wounded are in critical condition, they said. Military sources reported that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) had earlier struck RSF positions in the town of Um Adara in South Kordofan, while RSF forces shelled the city of Um Rawaba in the north, causing civilian casualties. An RSF drone also targeted army positions in Kosti city in White Nile state, in southeastern Sudan, destroying a military vehicle and injuring its crew, the sources added.

Russian attacks have left thousands without power in Ukraine, while a drone attack killed two people in Russia, as United States-led peace talks on ending the war, deep in its fourth year, press on. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russian night-time attacks damaged more than a dozen civilian facilities, disrupting power in seven regions. "They still aim to destroy our state and inflict maximum pain on our people." Kyiv and its Western allies have repeatedly said Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call "weaponising" the cold. Russian attacks left parts of the Kherson region, including the regional capital, Kherson, without power, according to regional head Oleksandr Prokudin.

A Russian drone strike hit a Turkish-owned commercial vessel at Ukraine's Chornomorsk port. Ukraine said Odessa port was also hit and a total of three Turkish ships were damaged. Kyiv said Russian attacks on Black Sea shipping showed it wasn't serious about ending the war. Were South Africans lured into fighting for Russia's Ukraine war?

I thought I'd struck lucky on a dating app but invited a monster into my life Handsome, charming, a gentle giant - Katie Yates believed Jason Smith was a real catch after meeting him on a dating app. But within months he had subjected her to relentless physical and mental abuse before raping her and attempting to drown her in the bath just before Christmas. Katie, 42 and from Cardiff, has waived her anonymity as a victim of sexual assault to warn women to be wary of strangers they meet on dating apps who may pose as nice guys in an attempt to lure them in. You scroll on all the profiles with smiling photos and slick words but there are some people who should be looking for a therapist, not a girlfriend, she said. Katie had been single for five years when she signed up to a dating app in February 2018.

Ukraine's health supplies hit in series of Russian strikes on medical warehouses Warehouses supplying the vast majority of Ukraine's pharmacies have been destroyed in a series of Russian attacks over recent months. Medical supplies worth about $200m (£145m) were destroyed in just two strikes in December and October. A large warehouse storing medicines in the city of Dnipro was destroyed in a Russian air strike on 6 December. As a result, about $110m worth of medicines were destroyed - estimated at up to 30% of Ukraine's monthly supply. It was a missile and drone strike against our facility.