Democrats took control of the Senate for the first time since 2015, as Vice President Kamala Harris swore in her appointed successor, Alex Padilla, as well as Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who won their races in Georgia earlier this month. “I need to catch my breath, so much is happening,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer
Business
Inflation rose to 0.6% last month as clothing prices edged higher following extended Black Friday discounting the month before. The consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation was up from 0.3% in November and a little higher than the expected figure of 0.5%. Clothes prices increased fractionally during December over a period when they usually
Tom Holland unveiled a handful of details about Disneyland’s newest ride inspired by his Marvel superhero, Spider-Man. In a video posted on Tuesday, the Cherry and Onward actor gave fans and theme park enthusiasts a rundown on what to expect when the upcoming attraction opens up for business. “Peter has started an initiative called W.E.B.,
HSBC has announced plans to shut 82 UK branches this year after a shift towards telephone and internet banking. The bank said it would “aim to redeploy all customer service colleagues who are impacted… into suitable nearby locations” but did not immediately say how many jobs were affected. HSBC said the decision reflected “local market
Fangoria is expanding its genre-driven empire with Fangoria Studios. The entertainment and publishing company is teaming with Circle of Confusion for the newly launched banner to develop and produce film, television, and podcasts using the Fangoria, Starlog, and Gorezone brands with a focus on sci-fi and horror projects with global appeal. Circle of Confusion is
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been urged by the CBI to extend the government’s furlough and business rates holiday schemes – and to act before March’s budget. The business group said firms needed to know whether financial lifelines that have helped them survive through the coronavirus crisis will be available as they plan for the months
EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump is facing possible expulsion from SAG-AFTRA. Deadline has learned that the union’s national board of directors will meet Tuesday morning in a special session regarding disciplinary action against him, which could lead to his expulsion. The former star of The Apprentice – and soon-to-be former president – has been a member of the
Joe Biden faces two economic challenges in taking office this week. The first and most immediate priority will be to get to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic and the damage it has inflicted on the US economy. The rollout of vaccines itself is way behind where those who run US health policy had hoped it
Implementation of a nationwide mask mandate, combined with complementary public health measures, could reduce the coronavirus’ spread to essentially zero and have a potential $1 trillion impact on the U.S. GDP, according to UCLA Fielding School of Public Health researchers. The team’s research “makes clear that even as vaccines are developed and new variants, like
China has confirmed its bounce-back from the coronavirus crisis as official figures revealed its economy grew by 2.3% last year. The expansion was the weakest since 1976 after the pandemic sent GDP into reverse at the start of 2020. But the country where COVID-19 was first identified will be the only major global economy to
Twitter has silenced Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Twitter… for now. The social media platform temporarily suspended the account of Greene after she violated new rules that went into effect following the events at the Capitol. The Georgia congresswoman has a history of bolstering QAnon conspiracy theories. Those came into play via a thread of
Interactive Investor, Britain’s second-largest direct-to-consumer share trading platform, is on the verge of another strategically compelling takeover with a deal to buy the retail business formerly known as Selftrade. Sky News has learnt that II is close to announcing the purchase of EQi, a division of the FTSE-250 support services group Equiniti. City sources said
Powerful gun lobby the National Rifle Association of America has filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Texas where it will reincorporate as a nonprofit, leaving New York State, where it was founded in 1871. In a bizarre statement Friday, the NRA, which has its physical headquarters in Fairfax, Va., said the plan “involves
EDF, the French state-backed energy giant, is drawing up secret plans for a stock market flotation of one of Britain’s biggest providers of electric vehicle charging infrastructure amid soaring demand from motorists. Sky News has learnt that EDF, which bought a controlling stake in Pod Point less than a year ago, has instructed investment bankers
Los Angeles county, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, has reached its grimmest milestone yet as officials confirm more than 1 million total cases of Covid-19. The county continues its trend of at least 100,000 new cases every week, with L.A. seeing a total of 1,003,923 cases to date. Saturday’s numbers confirm
Local authorities are losing tens of millions of pounds supporting struggling business tenants through the pandemic which could have dire and long-lasting consequences for local services, Sky News has found. Freedom of Information requests reveal English councils have already written off at least £19.7m associated with measures to support local businesses, including rent relief, rent
James Murdoch, the renegade son of Murdoch family dynasty who broke with the empire last summer, has publicly denounced “media property owners” whose election denialism helped lead to the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol last week that resulted in five death. “The sacking of the Capitol is proof positive that what we thought was
The proprietors of The Daily Telegraph have begun exploring plans for a £3bn-plus flotation of Very Group, their booming online retail operation. Sky News has learnt that the Barclay family is at the early stages of examining whether to take Very to the public markets in order to capitalise on exploding investor interest in digitally
On Friday afternoon, as the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors met behind closed doors to discuss new, stricter shutdown orders; as Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Governor Governor Gavin Newsom appeared together to try and jumpstart the region’s lagging vaccination efforts; one key reason for the urgency of those efforts became clear. Earlier in the
WhatsApp is delaying the rollout of new business features following a user backlash over the company’s data sharing practices. The delay is a setback for its plan to generate revenue by facilitating commercial exchanges on the messaging app, which Facebook acquired for $19bn in 2014 but has been slow to monetise. WhatsApp has said users