Business

A federal judge has dismissed Frances Fisher’s lawsuit against SAG-AFTRA, in which the actress accused the union and several of its former and current leaders of breaching their duty of fair representation over the raising of eligibility requirements for coverage under the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan . U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder dismissed the suit

British Airways owner IAG has returned to quarterly profitability for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, but blamed Heathrow for its current “operational challenges”. IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said the group’s best performing airlines were Iberia and Vueling, which were boosted by a recovery in the Spanish domestic market and routes to Latin

Kate Bedingfield plans to depart her post as White House communications director, according to White House officials. Bedingfield, who has been with President Joe Biden since the start of his term and, before that, was a senior official on his presidential campaign, plans to leave this summer and perhaps in the next few weeks. The

Octopus Energy has asked the government for a £1bn taxpayer funding package to seal a takeover of Bulb, its stricken rival. Sky News has learnt that privately owned Octopus is nearing a deal with ministers to acquire its smaller competitor, which collapsed late last year. City sources said this weekend that a deal would involve

A Spanish prosecutor is reportedly set to seek a maximum of 8 years in prison and a $23 million fine against superstar singer Shakira for tax evasion, according to documents seen by Reuters. The three-time Grammy winner is accused of not paying nearly $15 million taxes from 2012-2014. The superstar says she has already paid

With so much fog surrounding the prospects for the UK economy, results statements from the country’s main commercial banks this week were an ideal opportunity to make sense of things, as the big lenders tend to have a good idea of what is happening on the ground. The overall picture painted – and this is

Before the prolonged agony of his multimillion dollar defamation trial with ex Amber Heard, Johnny Depp had some fun doing what he does best: creating a delightfully eccentric character. The project was a trailer for a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game called Sea Of Dawn from Changyou, the Chinese company behind the hit free-to-play MMORPG Dragon

Credit card borrowing last month increased at the fastest annual rate since 2005, according to new figures from the Bank of England. At the same time, the amount of money being deposited into accounts plummeted, as concerns grow about the rapidly increasing cost of living. Consumer credit, which includes borrowing on credit cards, overdrafts, personal

Sony Pictures Entertainment has posted operating income of $381M (50.7BN yen) for the first quarter of this year, up 25.3% on the $232M posted in the same period last year on a currency basis. Revenues grew even more significantly: up a whopping 136.6% to $2.58BN (341.4BN yen), compared with last year’s $1.87BN. The numbers were

Tech giants Apple and Amazon saw dips in profits but still defied expectations as the US economy teeters on the edge of a recession. Apple, the world’s largest technology company, is dealing with manufacturing headaches and inflation pressures and saw its profit in the last quarter fall by 10%, while revenue was up 2%. The

The sports agency Excel Sports Management, representing talent, brands and properties, has hired Ryan Holcomb as its first-ever Head of Content. Holcomb will be LA-based as he join the agency’s media division, Excel Media, which has recently put out docuseries highlighting the careers of two Excel clients, Joe Montana (Peacock’s Cool Under Pressure) and Derek

The world’s largest economy has contracted for a second consecutive quarter, although the downturn is yet to be officially termed a recession. The US recorded a 0.9% decline in output on an annualised basis between April and June, when economists had forecast an increase of 0.5%. The early data would meet the international criteria for

With a decision expected tomorrow on whether Los Angeles County will re-impose an indoor mask-wearing mandate due to the rise in cases from the more infectious BA.5 variant, the city of El Segundo today added its name to the list of local cities that will decline to enforce such a rule if it is implemented

Train drivers at nine rail companies will strike on 13 August, the Aslef union has announced, as passengers faced further disruption today due to industrial action. Only around one in five trains ran on Wednesday, on about half the network, with some areas having no trains all day. Picket lines were mounted outside stations as

A federal judge has granted summary judgment to ABC, CBS, The New York Times, Gannett and Rolling Stone, rejecting libel claims by former high school student Nick Sandmann over an incident at the Lincoln Memorial that went viral in 2019. In a video, Sandmann, in Washington with other Covington Catholic High School students for the

Train drivers at nine rail companies will strike on 13 August, the Aslef union has announced. A separate walkout by drivers at seven rail operators is already planned for this Saturday. Both strikes will affect Chiltern, LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express, Arriva Rail London, Great Western, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains. Avanti West Coast and Cross

Rumors have swirled of late that the latest big name who may decamp to the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour is TNT NBA analyst and onetime owner of the worst swing in golf, Charles Barkley. PGA legend Greg Norman is the league’s CEO, and big name U.S. players like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson have already

Shop price inflation rose to 4.4% in July, up from 3.1% in June, according to new figures. The rise is the highest since the British Retail Consortium started its index in 2005. Food inflation was up 7%, compared to 5.6% in June. This was partly due to a 8% rise in fresh food inflation, up

EXCLUSIVE: Six finalists were announced today for the richest prize in documentary film—the 4th Annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. A grant of $200,000 will go to the winning film to support final production, distribution and marketing of the documentary. In addition, a runner-up will receive $50,000, and up to four finalists

The world’s lender of last resort has appealed for central banks to raise interest rates and for governments to take a responsible stance with public finances while warning of a harder impact from the global inflation shock. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) used its updated World Economic Outlook to take another red pen to growth