A selection of meringues, boozy cherries, coffee mascarpone and whisky caramel to mix and match until Big Ben strikes and beyond

Your favourite cocktail is now a DIY pavlova party! Pile crisp coffee meringues high with espresso cream, boozy cherries, a drizzle of whisky caramel and a flicker of edible gold leaf, then shake, spoon and sparkle your way into the New Year. A few tips: arrange the toppings in glass bowls or on tiered trays for a beautiful display, add labels for fun and, if it’s sitting out for a while, keep the whipped cream chilled on ice.

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© Photograph: Rita Platts/The Guardian. Food styling: Aya Nishimura. Prop styling: Florence Blair. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke.

© Photograph: Rita Platts/The Guardian. Food styling: Aya Nishimura. Prop styling: Florence Blair. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke.

© Photograph: Rita Platts/The Guardian. Food styling: Aya Nishimura. Prop styling: Florence Blair. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke.

Global sales fall by 3% in third consecutive year of decline as distilleries scale back production or expand storage

The Scottish whisky market has slipped into a supply glut as US tariffs and falling demand weigh on the country’s distilleries.

Global scotch sales fell 3% in the first half of 2025, marking the third consecutive year of decline after decades of growth, according to the alcohol data provider IWSR.

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© Photograph: Tim Graham/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tim Graham/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tim Graham/Getty Images

Der Whiskey-Hersteller setzt die Produktion an seinem Stammsitz in Kentucky für das gesamte kommende Jahr aus. Medienberichten zufolge sollen eine schwächere Nachfrage und Trumps Zollpolitik das Unternehmen belasten.

Larry Ellison is throwing his personal fortune behind Paramount Skydance Corp.’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., agreeing to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4 billion in equity financing for the offer and any damages claims against Paramount. Paramount also offered to increase its regulatory reverse termination fee to $5.8 billion from $5 billion. Warner Bros. would have to pay $2.8 billion to Netflix if it backs out of its deal and goes with another suitor, according to terms of the agreement. Bloomberg's Chris Palmeri joined Caroline Hyde and Romaine Bostick on 'Bloomberg Businessweek Daily' to break it down. (Source: Bloomberg)

Larry Ellison is throwing his personal fortune behind Paramount Skydance Corp.’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., aiming to give his son’s company an advantage in a fiercely contested takeover battle with Netflix Inc.

Whiskey brand, owned by Japanese drinks group Suntory, to close main distillery amid tariff uncertainty

The maker of Jim Beam bourbon whiskey will halt production at its main site in Kentucky for all of 2026.

The company said in a statement it would close its distillery in Clermont until it took the “opportunity to invest in site enhancements”.

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© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/EPA

© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/EPA

© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/EPA

Images, undated and uncaptioned, include Nabokov lines written on woman’s body and show Bill Gates and Noam Chomsky

• US politics – live updates

• What we know so far about the Epstein files

Democrats on the House oversight committee have released a new batch of photos from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the deadline for the justice department to release its files related to Epstein looms.

The images, released on Thursday, are undated and lack captions or context. Among them are photographs of what appear to be lines from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita written on different parts of a woman’s body.

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© Photograph: House Oversight Democrats

© Photograph: House Oversight Democrats

© Photograph: House Oversight Democrats

Who ends up with the assets of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., the owner of one of Hollywood’s largest and most venerable film studios, is likely to impact the entertainment industry for decades to come. On Dec. 5, the company announced that Netflix Inc., the world’s dominant streaming platform, had agreed to purchase its streaming and studio assets in a $82.7 billion deal, including debt. Three days later, Paramount Skydance Corp. launched a hostile takeover bid for all of Warner Bros. The offer v

Traders are betting that what once looked like a potential bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is turning into a one horse race, with Netflix Inc. winning out over Paramount Skydance Corp.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., the parent of HBO and CNN, advised its shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance Corp. in favor of its original agreement with streaming giant Netflix Inc., deeming the Paramount offer “inferior” and “inadequate.” Geetha Rangathan joins to discuss the latest on the Warner Brothers bidding war with Paul Sweeney and Scarlet Fu. (Source: Bloomberg)

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is advising its shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance Corp. in favor of its original agreement with streaming giant Netflix Inc. Geetha Ranganathan of Bloomberg Intelligence has more on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)

The growing acrimony over the biggest deal in Hollywood is spilling into the open.

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners is exiting the takeover battle for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. in a political and financial blow to a foundering hostile takeover bid for the fabled studio.

Felix Gillette, Bloomberg Media and Entertainment Editor reports on the news  Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is planning to reject Paramount Skydance Corp.’s hostile takeover bid due to concerns about financing and other terms, people familiar with the matter said. This comes as, Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners is exiting from the takeover battle for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.  The private equity firm this month emerged as a participant in Paramount Skydance Corp.’s hostile bid for Warner Bros., which valued the media and entertainment company at $108.4 billion including debt. Paramount is seeking to scupper Netflix Inc.’s agreed $82.7 billion deal for Warner Bros. Affinity was helping to finance Paramount’s move. It now believes the dynamics ​of an investment have changed since it became involved in the process in October, a representative for the firm said.  (Source: Bloomberg)

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners is exiting the takeover battle for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. in a political and financial blow to a foundering hostile takeover bid for the fabled studio.

President Donald Trump expressed unhappiness with the owners of Paramount Skydance Corp. over CBS News coverage of his presidency.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is planning to reject Paramount Skydance Corp.’s hostile takeover bid due to concerns about financing and other terms, people familiar with the matter said.

Netflix Inc. co-Chief Executive Officers Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos tried to reassure employees’ concerns about the company’s bid for much of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., reiterating that there is no business overlap and therefore won’t be any studio closures.

Netflix Inc. co-Chief Executive Officers Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos tried to reassure employees’ concerns about the company’s bid for much of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., reiterating that there is no business overlap and therefore won’t be any studio closures.

Even if Paramount Skydance Corp. manages to take over Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. against the company’s will, it faces another high hurdle: coping with the colossal $54 billion of debt it’s planning to take on.