Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is on track for European Union approval, with the buyer prepared to allay concerns over film distribution flagged by the bloc’s competition chief Teresa Ribera.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized the Trump administration for clearing Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., as several states mull a possible challenge to the deal.

Paramount Skydance Corp.’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. just won crucial US approval — but with many hurdles remaining, traders still see opportunity to profit from how this $110 billion transaction will play out.

President Trump has long been at odds with European leaders over trade, Ukraine and NATO, but he has lashed out in recent weeks over their refusal to support the U.S. war with Iran.

© Eric Lee for The New York Times

• Czech billionaire to increase his stake from 27% to 43%

• Kretinsky and Gold ‘deeply concerned’ by revelations

Daniel Kretinsky, the owner of Royal Mail, is set to overtake David Sullivan as West Ham’s largest shareholder after agreeing to buy an additional stake in the club from the Gold family. The Czech billionaire has moved to increase his power at West Ham after Sullivan stepped down as a director and co-chair of the club last Saturday, before a joint investigation by the Times and Panorama reporting on seven women accusing him of abusing his power and preying on them for sex in claims that date back to the 1980s and 90s.

Kretinsky will increase his stake from 27% to 43% after agreeing to buy a portion of shares from Vanessa Gold, who inherited her 25% stake after the death of her father, David Gold, in January 2023.

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© Photograph: Mike Hewitt/PA

© Photograph: Mike Hewitt/PA

© Photograph: Mike Hewitt/PA

The US Justice Department has closed an antitrust probe into Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., saying the deal “is not likely” to hurt consumers or competition in the film and television industry.

The US Justice Department has closed an antitrust probe into Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., saying the deal “is not likely” to hurt consumers or competition in the film and television industry.

Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is being reviewed under the European Union’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation, with regulators probing involvement of Middle Eastern funds helping to bankroll the takeover.

Britain’s merger watchdog has opened a probe into Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Paramount Skydance Corp. is prepared — if necessary — to divest some children’s TV network assets to help win European Union approval of its $110 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

The deal with 279 former students is the latest in the long-running case at the university. In all, nearly 600 people who said they were abused by an athletic department doctor have settled.

© Angie Wang/Associated Press

Sky News Arabia to retain name in brand licensing deal after criticism of its coverage of atrocities in Sudan

Sky is exiting its TV news joint venture with the United Arab Emirates, Sky News Arabia, which has been criticised for its coverage of the war in Sudan, with accusations of genocide denial.

Sky and its partner IMI – the investment vehicle controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the vice-president of the UAE and owner of Manchester City – have announced a new commercial deal in which the UK-based broadcaster will relinquish all strategic and operational ownership of the 24-hour Arabic language news and current affairs service.

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© Photograph: Sky News Arabia

© Photograph: Sky News Arabia

© Photograph: Sky News Arabia

Paramount Skydance Corp. stretched, then stretched, then stretched again in its audacious $110 billion takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

It began as a concession in private conversations to assuage wary credit analysts looking at Paramount Skydance Corp.’s blockbuster takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.: a verbal pledge by the Ellison family to do whatever it takes to slash debt at the combined company.

For nearly two decades, the prolific puzzle maker, a retired urologist, charmed solvers with his penchant for witty, waggish puns.

© Photo illustration by The New York Times. Photo, via Megalo Media, Inc.

Serbia, the Kremlin’s closest Balkan friend, is warming its ties with another would-be EU member, Ukraine – despite the two states’ very different relations with Moscow.

Serbia, the Kremlin’s closest Balkan friend, is warming its ties with another would-be EU member, Ukraine – despite the two states’ very different relations with Moscow.

Veteran broadcaster accuses channel of ‘clear violations’ of Ofcom’s due impartiality rules

• UK politics live – latest updates

The former Sky News political editor Adam Boulton has said GB News should lose its broadcasting licence as he accused Britain’s media regulator of failing in its duty to protect impartial television news.

Boulton, who was Sky News’s political editor for 25 years after the channel launched in 1989, said he believed it was too late to revoke GB News’s broadcasting rights, despite bringing a partisan brand of coverage to British television since its debut in 2021.

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© Photograph: Adrian Green/Persuasion Communications/PA

© Photograph: Adrian Green/Persuasion Communications/PA

© Photograph: Adrian Green/Persuasion Communications/PA

Brussels has already gone cold on a scheme to allow some aspirant countries like Albania and Serbia second-tier membership – but that doesn’t mean that other creative approaches to European enlargement are off the table.

Brussels has already gone cold on a scheme to allow some aspirant countries like Albania and Serbia second-tier membership – but that doesn’t mean that other creative approaches to European enlargement are off the table.