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Quantitative hedge fund Two Sigma Investments has halted efforts to raise $2B for its real estate investment unit and cut senior staff, as rising interest rates hobbled its fundraising efforts, according to a media report on Friday.
The unit’s partner
Rising energy costs are already affecting households across Northern Ireland.
The impact of the US-Israel war with Iran is one of the factors behind the increase.
The letter from the EA to head teachers said that “recent geopolitical events are expected to have a substantial impact on energy costs across the Education Authority (EA) during the 2026/27 financial year”.
It said that total school gas bills were expected to go up by 60% from £10.7m to £17m by March 2027.
Meanwhile, total school electricity bills are expected to rise by 5% from £23.8m to £25.1m by March 2027.
“Given the scale of the anticipated cost increases, we are asking all schools to review their energy usage and identify opportunities to reduce consumption wherever possible,” the EA said.
Among the measures the authority has suggested to schools are cutting heating use by an hour a day and switching off classroom lights to use natural daylight instead.
Staff and pupils have also been advised to “wear more clothes” rather than turn the heating thermostat up if it is cold.
But principals have told BBC News NI that it is not straightforward for schools to cut heating costs.
The principal of Tullygally Primary School in Craigavon, Kirsty Logan-Hall, said that the school was “committed to promoting responsible energy consumption and regularly reinforce good practice with staff and pupils”.
“However, our ability to achieve significant reductions in energy usage is constrained by the nature of our estate,” she said.
“The school operates from an older building which presents inherent energy efficiency challenges.
“In addition, our site is particularly spread out due to the accommodation and operational requirements associated with our specialist provision.
“This necessitates the heating, lighting and ongoing use of multiple areas across the site throughout the school day to ensure appropriate learning environments, accessibility and pupil welfare.
“It is important to recognise that there is limited scope for reducing energy consumption without adversely impacting the quality of provision, staff working conditions or the wellbeing of pupils, including those with additional needs.”
Emma Quinn from Rathcoole Primary told BBC Good Morning Ulster that the “lack of maintenance” has an impact on schools, adding that pupils have a right to come into a warm school after being outside.
“Putting this pressure onto us at the minute is ridiculous, when we are eco schools, we are doing all of these, we are turning off lights, but yet this lands in on our doorstep and we’re suddenly expected to jump and to fix a problem that is so systemic, it’s just not good enough.”
Paramount Skydance’s streaming chief Cindy Holland is exiting the studio, clearing the way for HBO Chairman Casey Bloys to claim a key role in the company once Paramount acquires Warner Bros. Discovery.
Holland announced her departure Tuesday in a memo to her staff. Her resignation is effective immediately.
She joined Paramount nearly 14 months ago as chairman of direct-to-consumer operations, in charge of Paramount+ and Pluto TV, after David Ellison’s Skydance Media took control of the media company long held by the Sumner Redstone family.
Holland, a respected former Netflix executive, was one of the few Paramount executives who lacked long ties to Ellison, who brought much of his Skydance team with him to Paramount.
Her resignation comes as Paramount is waiting for a federal judge to approve a settlement agreement that would allow Paramount to finalize its $111-billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, which also includes CNN, TBS and the Warner Bros. film and television studios.
The agreement, unveiled last week, was designed to end a lawsuit brought by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and 11 other Democratic attorneys general, who had argued Hollywood’s biggest merger in decades violated U.S. antitrust laws.
“As David readies for the next phase of his vision, we’ve discussed my role and the future of the combined businesses,” Holland wrote in the memo shared with her staff viewed by the Times. “David is optimizing for HBO stability as we move into this next chapter, and I fully support that.”
Ellison, in recent months, has signaled his intention to install Bloys in a pivotal role at the combined company.
Ellison months ago made a public commitment to protect HBO, which has long been a leader in prestige TV programming. The network has already undergone two ownership changes, and considerable management turmoil, during the last decade. Bloys has led HBO as its chairman since late 2022. He was one of the first Warner executives that Ellison met with this year after Paramount prevailed over Netflix in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The New York Times first reported Holland’s departure.
“Cindy has been a trusted partner to me and so many others, and I couldn’t be more grateful for her leadership, her relentless drive and everything she’s done for our company,” Ellison said in a statement.
Dolly Parton’s estate has reportedly accused the late singer’s nephew of extortion and threats against staff.
On Tuesday, Parton’s estate, She’s Alive, LLC, requested a restraining order against Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver, court records show. The request came after he was fired from his job as head of security, as TMZ reported.
She’s Alive is run by Parton’s former manager Danny Nozell.
The New York Times reviewed court records containing allegations that Seaver began making demands shortly before Parton died. The demands grew into more serious threats, according to the records the news outlet cited, which the plaintiffs saw as an attempt to obtain money from the Parton estate.
Here’s what to know.
Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, shared the news of his aunt’s death in a video posted to her Instagram account on Aug. 25.
In the video, Seaver, standing in front of a black background, introduces himself as the the son of Dolly’s sister Cassie Parton and says he is representing the Parton and Owens family in announcing his aunt’s death. The Owens are the maternal side of the country star’s family.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” he says in the video.
Seaver adds that he followed in his father Larry’s footsteps in becoming Parton’s head of security, a post he held for more than 20 years.
Seaver and his company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services, LLC, are the defendants in the lawsuit. They were reportedly terminated about three weeks after the country icon’s death.
Seaver did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
According to the New York Times’ reporting on the court records, the restraining order request, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville, sought to keep Seaver away from Parton’s properties and staff.
Nozell was Parton’s longtime manager. He has claimed credit for helping revive Parton’s international touring career.
He told The Times last month that Parton “worked up until the day she died” on multiple projects.
“She loved seeing her dreams come to life, and loved knowing her work brought people joy,” Nozell said in the statement. “Ever the planner, Dolly worked with the team that she handpicked, for the past several years to build a project roadmap that will guide us for decades to come.”
Nozell’s website described his work with Parton as “arguably his most notable achievements.”
The court records, according to the New York Times, include allegations that Seaver sent a profane threat to a Dollywood business partner, and that, separately, he referred to himself as a “killer” and “not an entertainment person” while corresponding with one of Parton’s longtime lawyers.
According to TMZ, Seaver and his team said in a statement that they were “dismayed by the … unexplained actions” following Parton’s death and “[w]e remain unshakably resolved to fulfill her final directive to protect her family, and we refuse to be intimidated by those whose actions we believe are being taken in bad faith and with the intent to profit from the life of someone who willingly gave so much.”
DAVID Walliams’ entire children’s book catalogue has been dropped by publisher HarperCollins.
The author and TV star, 55, was let go by the company last year after it had been reported that he “harassed” young female staff.
A junior employee had complained about Walliams’ conduct, prompting an internal investigation.
HarperCollins will now phase out physical copies in bookshops before removing ebook and audiobook versions.
His back catalogue of titles includes Billionaire Boy and Gangsta Granny.
In December 2025 the publisher said it would not publish any new titles by Walliams, saying it “takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously”.
Bosses at a Waterstones festival also cut ties and the BBC said it had no projects “directly involving” him.
Walliams began writing after finding fame as the star of BBC comedy Little Britain.
He went on to sell more than 60million copies, starting with 2008’s The Boy in the Dress.
In November 2022, Walliams quit as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent after lewd comments about contestants were leaked.
He apologised for the “disrespectful” remarks but later sued BGT makers Fremantle and secured a big payout.
A spokesman for Walliams had said in December: “David has never been informed of any allegations raised against him by HarperCollins.
“He was not party to any investigation or given any opportunity to answer questions.
“David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.”
