Bugs Bunny could soon have a new boss. Netflix has announced an agreement to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service and studios, potentially creating a new streaming powerhouse and drastically changing the entertainment landscape. But another player, Paramount Skydance, has also announced a hostile bid for the company. All the while, President Donald Trump is also weighing in on the possible merger that could alter Hollywood for years.

What did the commentators say?
Netflix’s potential $83 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery would “reshuffle the entertainment landscape, rounding up classics such as ‘Casablanca’ and beloved HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Sopranos’ under the streaming service's umbrella,” said USA Today. Beyond an expanded library, combining Netflix with Warner Bros. would also create a consolidated customer base by “adding HBO Max’s nearly 130 million streaming subscribers to Netflix’s 300 million or so.”

But even as Netflix claims the purchase is a done deal, Paramount’s $108.4 billion competing bid looms. Paramount has “repeatedly argued to the WBD board of directors that keeping Warner Bros. Discovery whole is in the best interest of its shareholders,” said CNBC. Paramount CEO David Ellison, a Trump ally, has long expressed interest in buying Warner Bros. Paramount has “accused Warner of ‘never engaging meaningfully’ with its six various proposals,” said NPR.

What next?
The dueling bids have “created a cupboard full of industry stakeholders” who “need to be pondering their next move,” said Forbes. Entertainment players from movie theater operators to various Hollywood unions have weighed in on the issue, as the “expected fallout will be enormous” no matter which company emerges victorious. The potential purchase has also “drawn criticism from bipartisan lawmakers and unions on concerns it could lead to job cuts and higher prices for consumers,“ said Reuters. 

The president has claimed the Netflix deal “could be a problem” due to antitrust laws. Trump has seemingly expressed interest in Ellison’s Paramount buying Warner Bros., which owns CNN. Affinity Partners, a private equity firm led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, is also part of Paramount’s bid, according to an SEC filing. Paramount is “telling WBD shareholders that it has a smoother path to regulatory approval than does Netflix,” said Axios, and Kushner’s “involvement only strengthens that case.”

A man has been declared HIV-free in a case that “upends our understanding of what’s required” for a cure, said The New Scientist. He was the seventh patient found to be clear of the virus after receiving a stem cell transplant and, significantly, the second of the seven to receive stem cells that were not actually HIV-resistant. And if HIV-resistant cells aren’t necessary to destroy the virus, scientists have greater options in their search for an effective but less risky cure. But even as researchers make these leaps forward in HIV/AIDS treatment, access to both preventive care and medicine for infected patients “remains far from universal,” said The Guardian.

How close is a cure?
The signs are increasingly positive. In addition to the stem cell study, a separate study published in Nature “shows a glimmer of hope” for controlling HIV without the current daily regimen of pills, said The Washington Post. A small group of patients were given “experimental immunotherapies” and then taken off their pills, and the majority were able to keep the virus at a “low level for months” afterward.

The standard daily antiretroviral therapy has had a transformative effect on managing HIV since its nadir in the 1980s. It works by preventing the virus from multiplying in the body. For many people with HIV, their viral load becomes so low as to be undetectable, hugely lowering the risk of them transmitting the virus to somebody else. But although antiretrovirals can keep the disease in check, it’s not a cure.

How have aid cuts impacted HIV/AIDS treatment?
Multiple nations are cutting foreign aid funding on which many lower-income countries depend to deliver health services. This has had a “devastating” impact on the fight against the disease and the accessibility of medication, said a UNAIDS report published on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day.

The cuts made by the U.S., in particular, have “disrupted HIV/AIDS care in many parts of the world,” said NPR. Since President Donald Trump began his second term and took an “America First” stance, his administration has slashed international aid programs. This year was also the first time the U.S. did not formally commemorate World AIDS Day.

A worker clears debris at a Hachinohe shopping center damaged by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake off the coast of northern Japan yesterday. The quake, which left at least 34 people injured, prompted tsunami alerts, destroyed roads, and left thousands without power in freezing temperatures.
Jiji Press / AFP / Japan OUT / Getty Images

It’s the year’s last dying breath, which means holiday rush, travel stress, last-minute gift purchases, and award-worthy films. Two of the latter are appropriately inspired by the turmoil of real events: one, a historical fiction based on Shakespeare’s life, and the other, a fast-paced sports dramedy inspired by the career of an American table tennis player. And another offers a fantastical respite from reality with James Cameron’s return to the lush jungles of Pandora.

‘Hamnet’
No, this title isn’t a clever misspelling. The real William Shakespeare had a son named Hamnet, whose death at the age of 11 inspired the playwright’s masterpiece “Hamlet.” This film, directed by Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”), focuses on parental grief over the loss of a child and the transformation of tragedy into art. It plays like a “more somber and realistic version of ‘Shakespeare in Love,’” said NPR. “Call it ‘Shakespeare in Grief.’” (in theaters now)

‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’
This movie from James Cameron promises a return to the jungle planet of Pandora. It will introduce the Ash people, or fire-themed Na’vi clan, who are more aggressive than the oceanic Metkayina clan that took center stage in “Avatar: The Way of Water.” (in theaters Dec. 19)

‘Marty Supreme’
Josh Safdie’s film stars Timothée Chalamet (pictured above) as Marty Mauser, a character “loosely inspired by Marty ‘The Needle’ Reisman, a real-life U.S. table tennis champ from the 1950s” with an affinity for “betting, hustling and showmanship stunts,” said The Guardian. The resulting flick is a “farcical race against time,” a “marathon sprint of gonzo calamities and uproar,” and a “sociopath-screwball nightmare.” (in theaters Dec. 25)