Business

The Senate voted to advance a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill, which includes direct payments to families and extends enhanced unemployment benefits, but it could be a long slog before there is a final vote. The vote was 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris voting in favor to break a tie. The legislation now move

The Scotch whisky industry has welcomed a deal between the UK and US governments that has seen damaging tariffs, imposed by the Trump administration in 2019, suspended for four months. The 25% tariff fell under a range of European products targeted as part of a historical row over government subsidies given to European aerospace firm

The official recall campaign against California Governor Gavin Newsom has now gathered more than 1,927,000 signatures, organizers announced on Wednesday evening. Organizers have until March 17 to gather signatures. A total of 1,497,709 valid signatures must be collected and verified to trigger the recall election. Election officials have until April 29 to verify them. The

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended his tax changes in yesterday’s budget as “a fair way to help solve the problems that we need to”. Among his revenue-raising measures at the budget, Mr Sunak announced the income tax personal allowance – the level above which people pay income tax – will be frozen at £12,570 from

A New York jury will not hear the profanity packed emails from original The Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont in the trial for the $300 million profits participation battle from the Shawshank Redemption director and CAA against AMC – at least for now. “The Court is not swayed by Defendants’ argument that, absent Mr. Darabont’s

Here are the key points from Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget speech: • Government will continue doing “whatever it takes” to support British people and businesses as well as starting to fix public finances and beginning to build the future economy • Economy expected to return to pre-COVID levels by the middle of next year, six

UPDATED: Starz CEO Jeff Hirsch said “mid-budget films play better on our service than anything else,” as per the exclusive first-window output deal for Lionsgate and Summit films announced this morning. “Movies are important to our service. Big box office movies drive a lot of acquisitions and conversions,” he said on a Q&A at a

Furlough will be extended until the end of September, the chancellor will announce, as he unveils more support for workers and the self-employed.  Ahead of the budget, Rishi Sunak has revealed that millions of workers will continue to have 80% of their wages paid until the end of September. More than 600,000 additional people, including

Greg Peters, the product chief at Netflix who was promoted to the additional role of COO last year, views the shrinking of theatrical windows as inevitable. “It’s what consumers want,” he said. “It’s hard to buck that trend for too long and I think that’s eventually where things go.” Long before Covid-19 forced an industry

The chancellor will promise to utilise his “fiscal firepower” to protect the jobs and livelihoods of Britons when he delivers his budget on Wednesday. Rishi Sunak will tell the Commons that he will do “whatever it takes” to help business and people through the “moment of crisis” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a lunchtime

Disney CEO Bob Chapek said Monday that despite how rotten it was to have theme parks closed for so long, the forced downtime was also an opportunity to tinker with technology and data to reopen better than before, for both guests and for shareholders. Speaking at a Morgan Stanley media conference, Chapek was cautious about

The booming online fashion empire Boohoo and many of its suppliers are facing the possibility of a United States import ban because of widespread allegations over the use of slave labour. US Customs and Border Protection has seen sufficient evidence to launch an investigation after petitions from a campaigning British lawyer. Duncan Jepson who runs

“You can’t reopen your economy unless you get your schools reopened,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom at the top of his press conference with legislative leaders on Monday to announce a multibillion-dollar deal aimed at enticing schools to resume in-person instruction for young students by April 1. The agreement, however, may end up penalizing districts

Rishi Sunak should use this Budget to ditch the government’s pensions triple lock, lift taxes on older voters and should be wary of raising corporation taxes, according to former chancellor Ken Clarke. The intervention from Lord Clarke carries some weight, since he was the chancellor who introduced tough spending limits and tax rises in the

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo apologized if comments he’s made to female aides were interpreted as “unwanted flirtation” but denied he ever touched or propositioned anyone. In a statement issued Sunday evening, he asked for an outside, independent review of allegations by two women. Last week, a former aide Lindsey Boylan in a blog post

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been told by MPs that “now is not the time for tax rises” – though a moderate hike in corporation tax could help the government without damaging growth. A report from the Treasury select committee acknowledged that the public finances are on an “unsustainable” path long term but argued that it

Screenwriter Nick Schenk has signed with Management 360 for representation. His next project, Cry Macho starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, wrapped production in December. Schenk is the first writer to pen three projects for Eastwood, his previous screenplays, Gran Torino and The Mule ranking as the veteran star’s #1 and #2 highest box office (in films with him

Rail fares in England and Wales are going to rise above inflation for the first time in seven years – with the government accused of “pricing the railways out of existence”. Increases had been based on the Retail Price Index since January 2014, but this policy has been axed because of the “unprecedented taxpayer support”

Coronavirus cases in Los Angeles county continue to climb down from the record-breaking highs of the fatal holiday surge. On Saturday Los Angeles Public Health recorded 1,730 new confirmed cases – a significant decrease from the 6,917 cases reported exactly a month ago. While the falling case statistics and rising vaccination rates seem to be