"Google uses anti-competitive practices to dominate the market for online advertising technology, a UK watchdog has provisionally found.

The potentially unlawful behaviour could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers, an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned.

It accuses Google of preventing rivals from "competing on a level playing field" with its own tech for the billions of pounds spent by UK businesses on online advertising.

Google said the watchdog's findings were "flawed" and said it would respond.

According to the CMA, the vast majority of businesses use Google’s services when placing digital ads on websites.

Google maintains it has a strong business incentive to help UK firms thrive, and argues that advertisers choose to use Google because its products work well and help their businesses grow.

The watchdog will now consider representations from Google before deciding what action to take..."

"The humble TV show is a difficult medium to make horror stories work in, but several series have managed to ascend the ranks of the genre. While countless incredible horror films have endlessly proven the potential of the horror story in movie format, the many constraints of network television have made the success of creative horror TV series far less common. That being said, there are a number of standout horror shows that have stood the test of time as genre-defining works of art.

The best horror shows take advantage of long-form storytelling to cast their protagonists deeper and deeper into despair over the course of a thoughtful story that puts character above all else. Conversely, TV is particularly suited to anthology stories when it comes to horror, with the episodic format of a series being the perfect platform to put forth a wide breadth of uniquely terrifying premises. In either case, it's become clear that a macabre fascination with scary stories has infiltrated both networks and streaming..."

"Welcome to Horror Explorer, a curated column showcasing the month’s best movies, series, books and everything else spooky worth checking out. I’m William Earl, the editor of Variety.com and the publication’s resident horror enthusiast. Please drop me a line at wearl@variety.com if there’s something I should check out for next month’s missive..."

"Police chiefs of America's largest cities have published the first guide about UAPs, which details chilling encounters and how officers can report such incidents.

The 11-page document warned that unidentified flying objects 'pose significant safety risks to law enforcement air support units,' urging teams to be vigilant when in helicopters.

The report also highlights stories from officers who claimed to confront UFOs, specifically one in 2023 where a law employee saw a 'triangle craft with green lights gliding through the sky' before a local resident said something 'ran' nearby.

The police executives created the reference because 'it's in the interest of law enforcement to be aware of trends and reporting on UAP due to the unknown threat they may pose.'

The organization, called the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), includes nearly 80 executives from major US cities who work together to advance public safety through a range of initiatives, including community outreach, research and policy development and now, UFO investigations..."

"With the domination of Shonen manga like One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach for years, a subgenre has also been discreetly thriving in the industry— horror. At the forefront of this genre stands Junji Ito, a master of eerie storytelling and grotesque imagery. Among his creations, Uzumaki is regarded by Ito as the “most complete demonstration” of his artistic ability, in addition to being one of the most terrifying horror stories ever written.

While this masterpiece manga first started its serialization in 1998, fans had to wait quite a long time for the anime adaptation to come to fruition. The long wait is finally over as Uzumaki‘s Adult Swim adaptation is set to premiere on 28th September...

... Horror as a genre has always thrived in visual mediums. Thus, the creepy imagery of Uzumaki is perfect for animation, where the spirals can take on a life of their own. In addition to this, the story’s exploration of cosmic horror, body horror, and psychological terror taps into fears that are universal, which are bound to resonate with viewers on a new level..."

"Rivers will be checked for sewage and other pollution by the general public this month in an attempt to assess the health of British waterways.

Cuts to the UK regulators and a change in the law to allow water company self-monitoring of pollution in England mean there is little independent monitoring of the state of rivers in the UK.

When the UK was in the EU, it was subject to the water framework directive, which meant it had to carry out detailed pollution analysis of waterways and report every year. There has not been a survey done under the WFD since 2019, and the Conservative government began the process of removing the EU standards from UK legislation. The Labour government has not indicated whether it intends to continue this deregulation.

’Citizen scientists’ have therefore been intensifying efforts to check rivers for pollution to try to find the true scale of the problem..."

"The plot has thickened on the mystery of the altar stone of Stonehenge, weeks after geologists sensationally revealed that the huge neolithic rock had been transported hundreds of miles to Wiltshire from the very north of Scotland.

That discovery, described as “jaw-dropping” by one of the scientists involved, established definitively that the six-tonne megalith had not been brought from Wales, as had long been believed, but came from sandstone deposits in an area encompassing the isles of Orkney and Shetland and a coastal strip on the north-east Scottish mainland.

Many experts assumed that the most likely place of origin was Orkney, based on the islands’ rich neolithic culture and tradition of monument building.

But a separate academic study has now found that Orkney is not, in fact, the source of the altar stone, meaning the tantalising hunt for its place of origin goes on..."

"One question repeatedly popped into my mind during “The Substance,” an outrageous and beyond bizarre horror movie that had its North American premiere Thursday night at the Toronto International Film Festival.

What’s wrong with these people?!

Our judgment begins with the damaged-to-deranged characters.

Elisabeth Sparkle, played to the hilt by Demi Moore (what’s wrong with her?!), is an Oscar winner turned fading fitness guru a la Suzanne Somers whose luxurious Hollywood home is plastered with giant portraits of her in her prime.

After Elisabeth is abruptly fired from her TV job, “Sparkle With Elizabeth,” the gutted actress learns of an underground drug called the Substance that promises to create a younger, sexier doppelgänger of a person. A certifiable California narcissist, Elisabeth signs right up.

This is when we start to wonder what’s wrong with the astronomically talented and created writer-director Coralie Fargeat, whose French nightmares this astounding film surely sprang from.

When Elisabeth injects the plutonium-green Substance, her back gorily splits open, and her nubile clone pops out like a xenomorph in “Alien.”

The one unbreakable rule, with gnarly consequences, is that the young counterpart can walk the earth for only seven days at a time — while Elisabeth basically hibernates — before they swap places again.

Almost immediately, Liz’s piggish former boss (Dennis Quaid at his funniest) casts the gorgeous clone, who names herself Sue, as his hot new workout show host of a program called “Pump It Up.”

Elisabeth awakens only to be taunted by billboards and posters of Sue, and develops a love-hate relationship with her popular counterpart.

Moore, at her most game and frequently unclothed, gives one of her best performances in years — going from It girl to Gollum in over two hours. Impeccable makeup and prosthetics help, but the true terror is created by her beneath the surface.

Qualley, by contrast, spends most of the film smiling and squatting — never boringly, mind you — but that shiny veneer conceals building resentment and darkness.

Opportunist Sue would rather not take a weeklong nap after seven days and goes to harmful extremes to stay awake. (Something is definitely wrong with her.)

That leads to a Grand-Guignol finale so weird, warped and funny that we sit in awe of the fact that investors actually said, “Sure, we’ll pay for that.”

As for the audience, something is wrong with us, too.

I enjoyed this ride of titillation, torment, insanity and exploitation to such a preposterous extent that I’ve considered signing up for online therapy to wrestle with it.

Perhaps that’s because, as jaw-droppingly odd as it is, “The Substance” is part of a grand, campy tradition. The movie is the hotter, younger offshoot of “Death Becomes Her” and, being set in a two-woman LA household stewing with envy, even “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”

By the end, it’s “Frankenstein” and “Young Frankenstein.”

Where Fargeat’s film distinguishes itself — and will send some viewers sprinting to the bathroom — is the amble body horror elements.

Hers is a provocative, gruesome, bloody and, for some, nauseating movie that will be hugely controversial when it hits theaters later this month.

Much like the title drug, it’s hard to broadly recommend it without listing off a host of side effects.

However, at the movies today, there is nothing wrong with unbound creativity, epic vision and some gonzo entertainment.

And, by the way, in its smart send-up of our youth-obsessed culture, there’s even a little substance, too."

"Every genre has its films that serve as the gold standard of the style, and that goes doubly true for horror movies. The best horror movies convey the best things about the genre while still being excellently made films on the technical side in their own right. It's safe to say that some of them are even near perfect, with little to no flaws that hold them back no matter how many years it may have been since they first debuted on cinema screens.

There are several aspects that horror movies have to succeed in to be considered near-perfect. For one, they must be sufficiently scary, able to summon genuine dread and terror without the use of cheap jump scares or fake-outs. They also have to be proficient films as a whole, avoiding the usual pitfalls of bad movies like poor acting, shoddy writing, low-quality production design or cinematography, and lackluster editing or sound design. When a horror film is able to succeed in all of these categories while also adding something new to the formula, it creates a truly legendary experience..."

"Robert Smith is convinced the aliens have won. "The invasion has happened—it's all over," says the University of Alberta space historian who teaches a course on the history of extraterrestrials.

It's not so much that Smith believes in their literal existence, only that aliens have staked their claim in the human imagination..."

"Area 51 isn’t the only weird thing in the Nevada desert, as our writer discovered when he drove the Extraterrestrial Highway to see if the truth really is out there.

‘That’s where they probe you,” the shop assistant said when I asked her what really goes on at Area 51. She followed this up with a raising of the eyebrows and a waggle of her extended finger. I got the message.

I was at the Alien Center, my first stop on a 600-mile road trip in rural southern Nevada, making a loop around the huge slab of desert that’s home to a US air force base shrouded in mystery. Built in the Fifties, the base has become a beacon for conspiracy theorists who believe the government uses it to store broken-down spaceships and little green men (with their apparently invasive interrogation techniques). The official line is that Area 51 is a training facility for military aircraft … but they would say that, wouldn’t they.

The Alien Center is really just a petrol station with your standard diner, gift shop and brothel attached. But since I’d been on Route 95 for a couple of hours after leaving Las Vegas, it seemed a good place to take a breather..."

"A month ago, we covered Forgive Me Father 2, a Lovecraft-inspired FPS with a unique art style and a sequel to Byte Barrel's 2022 Forgive Me Father. Currently in Early Access, FMF2 is set to receive a massive content update later this month introducing a variety of new locations, enemies, and weapons for players to enjoy.

Arguably the most unique weapon coming with the update is Obelisk, a powerful artifact described by the developers as an "eldritch railgun" – a description as precise as the weapon itself. Recently, in response to the community's excitement over Obelisk, the team shared a new gameplay demo focusing exclusively on this magical WMD:

Showcasing Obelisk in action, the latest demo fully captures the weapon's destructive power, showing the protagonist reducing demons to gibs and performing a ritual to reload the railgun. "Channeling the power of the cosmos through your enemies! Shoots a perfectly accurate, piercing beam of instant death that only the toughest of foes can survive! This one is an easy grab, though its elaborate 'reloading' procedure is not for the faint of heart," reads the team's description of Obelisk..."