Daniel Ek to Buy $50 Million of Spotify Shares, Predicts Streaming Growth Ahead

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMumbai-based Banijay Asia has struck a deal with ITV Studios’ Armoza Formats to bring an official adaptation of the award-winning Canadian mini-series, “Vertige,” to screen.The high-profile French-language show deconstructs the alleged suicide of a young girl, Daphne Roussel. Banijay Asia will reimagine the psychological thriller for the Indian audience.With a remit focused on India and, increasingly Southeast Asia, Banijay Asia is a joint venture between Banijay, Stéphane Courbit’s TV production and distribution powerhouse behind “Survivor” and “Peaky Blinders,” and veteran producer Deepak Dhar.The Banijay parent company this week announced that it is set to go public and launch on the Amsterdam stock exchange through a newly-created special purpose acquisition company or SPAC.

One lucky player could bag the UK's biggest ever jackpot on Tuesday with a heart-stopping £184m EuroMillions prize up for grabs.

Jessica Casano-Antonellis, a former senior exec at Disney who played a key role in the launches of Disney+ and ESPN+, has joined SiriusXM as SVP and head of communications.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCinema box office in China fell back to the lower depths over the weekend, with just $8.9 million of revenue across a country of 1.3 billion inhabitants.Business continues to be badly hit by COVID-related closures as the disease shows signs of spread around the country, while slowly diminishing in Shanghai where there was a full lockdown that lasted many weeks.Business appeared to spike upwards a week earlier, driven by the May Day holiday. But Chinese state media reports that the Sunday to Wednesday May day period was down 82% compared with last year.The latest weekend box office total (Friday to Sunday) was the second lowest this year.

Max Verstappen won the Miami GP on Sunday but fans were more occupied by the antics of Martin Brundle.The roving reporter had fans in fits of laughter before last season’s Formula One World Champion clinched first place in the States. Brundle made a huge gaffe during his pre-race grid walk before the inaugural Miami Grand Prix got underway.With the amass of superstars nearby, he thought he had spotted NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes. But in actual fact, it was NBA star Paolo Banchero who he had bumped into.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDevin Nunes, the former congressman who is now CEO of Donald Trump’s social-media rival to Twitter, claimed that his new boss “encouraged” tech mogul Elon Musk to acquire Twitter, to “take on these tech tyrants.”Musk says that’s false.“I’ve had no communication, directly or indirectly, with Trump, who has publicly stated that he will be exclusively on Truth Social,” Musk tweeted Friday, replying to a New York Post article about Nunes’ claims.In an appearance Wednesday on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co,” Nunes said, “President Trump, basically before Elon Musk bought it, actually said to go and buy it because the goal of our company is really to build a community where people are in a family-friendly, safe environment.” Nunes added, “we encouraged Elon Musk to buy” Twitter, because “someone has to take on these tech tyrants… Donald Trump wanted to make sure that the American people got their voice back and that the internet was open and that’s what we are doing.” Nunes, who is CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group, once sued Twitter, seeking $250 million in damages, alleging in part he was defamed by anonymous parody accounts “Devin Nunes’ Mom” and “Devin Nunes’ Cow.” A judge threw out the case.Musk has said he’s primarily interested in protecting “free speech” on Twitter, and he has criticized the company for allegedly having a left-leaning political bias. That stance has led right-wingers — who have long alleged Twitter (and other internet platforms) somehow stifle conservative viewpoints — to champion Musk’s $44 billion bid for Twitter.Twitter permanently banned Trump shortly after the Jan.

A dad of two from Bolton was in ‘great spirits’ the night before he drowned in a marina during a work holiday. Andrew Wallace, 54, was found dead hours after he disappeared from the bar he had been drinking at with his colleagues.

THE Great British Sewing Bee fans have all had the same issue with Esme Young - but have you noticed? The 73-year-old fashion designer has been a judge on the BBC series since 2016 and certainly knows her stuff. However, some viewers have picked up on a word she says on a regular basis which makes them cringe.

The 2022 Met Gala raised a record $17.4 million, museum officials said Tuesday.  The annual fundraising gala was held on the first Monday in May in New York City this year, as is tradition.This is the first time it has been held on its regularly scheduled date after nearly two years of a pandemic hiatus.  This year's theme was "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," the second installment of a two-part series paying homage to American stylists and designers.The approximately 400 celebrities and personalities in attendance were asked to abide by the "gilded glamour" dress code.  Kylie Jenner, Kris Jenner, Khloé Kardashian and Kim Kardashian attend The 2022 Met Gala. (Kevin Mazur Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue) Most recognizable attendees included Elon Musk, Hillary Clinton, the Kardashian-Jenner family and Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, who served as hosting co-chairs.  The first installment of the Met Gala — "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" — was held in September 2021.The galas brought in approximately $33.7 million, according to the museum.

The method behind the mega-purchase. Elon Musk made headlines around the world when he bought Twitter — and now he’s explaining why he did it.

Tesla stock has reversed its slump after Elon Musk said he is finished selling stock in the electric vehicle firm he runs as CEO in order to fund his pending $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

Elon Musk has responded to his fans after they begged him to buy McDonald's to fix all of the ice cream machines.The billionaire tech guru took to his account to give his reply to the request on Thursday (April 29) just days after Twitter accepted his offer to buy the social media platform for $43billion (£34billion).Clearly hoping that he would continue his big brand shopping spree, one user had since mocked up a fake tweet showing Elon Musk saying that he would now be making an offer for the fast food giant in order to mend the notoriously unreliable McFlurry machines.Sharing the photo himself, Musk — who is the world's richest man — gave a short and sweet retort, writing simply: "Listen, I can’t do miracles ok".The quip went down a storm on the social media site, with the official McDonald's Germany account commenting back: "My bad, but I thought you were the guy going to Mars."Another joked that he would find it an even more difficult task than his famous SpaceX missions, writing: "Fixing a McDonald's Ice-cream machine is harder than landing rockets".Someone else gave him yet another suggestion and penned: "OK, but can you buy Lucasfilm and fix Star Wars?"For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.Earlier the same day, Musk joked that he wanted to buy Coca-Cola to 'put the cocaine' back in the iconic fizzy drink.In 1885, when Coca-Cola was originally devised, cocaine was a fairly common ingredient in over-the-counter medicines.The Coca-Cola corporation is conservatively valued at a whopping $284bn (£226bn), with Musk’s current net worth believed to be in the region of $253bn (£201bn).McDonald's, meanwhile, has a value of about

A deposition from ACLU general counsel and chief operating officer Terence Dougherty was played during the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial.

Elon Musk has been making headlines after buying Twitter for a modest $44 billion cash on Monday.

Manchester United fans have begged Elon Musk to buy their club after the billionaire finally closed in on eye-watering £34.5billion Twitter takeover deal. Musk saw his initial bid rebuffed by the firm but made progress this week - and he is now the talk of the town.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTwitter, which this week accepted a deal to go private in a $44 billion sale to Elon Musk, reported income a touch lighter than Wall Street predicated in the first quarter of 2022. But the social network blew away forecasts on earnings and user growth.Q1 revenue was $1.20 billion, up 16% year-over-year, reflecting “headwinds associated with the war in Ukraine,” according to Twitter.

A CONTESTANT on The Great British Sewing Bee suffered a nightmare blunder just minutes into the latest challenge. The BBC One sewing competition returned this week with 12 new contestants hoping to be crowing the ultimate sewer.

GREAT British Sewing Bee fans had a simple message for its new host Sara Pascoe as she took over tonight. Many had feared the 33-year-old comedian would be too hard an act to follow -but many told her she'd done a superb job.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify shares closed down 12.4% Wednesday — hitting their lowest point in the company’s history as a public company — after the audio streamer’s paid-subscriber numbers disappointed investors. The chief concern pushing the stock down seemed to be that Spotify may be on the same trajectory as Netflix in hitting a wall in subscriber growth.The stock ended the day at $96.67 per share, giving Spotify a market capitalization of less than $19 billion.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNew York-headquartered documentary distributor Icarus Films has picked up all North American rights to Hong Kong protest film “Blue Island.” The film plays this week at the HotDocs Documentary Festival in Toronto, Canada.Directed by Chan Tze Woon (“Yellowing”), the film confronts the large-scale protests in Hong Kong, describing events through a mix of documentary footage and filmed reenactments. The distributor has not yet elaborated release plans, but says that it is taking booking requests from museums, arts organizations, film festivals and theaters across North America.“A new wave of young people took back the streets, as one generation after another has done throughout Hong Kong’s history.

Spotify said it is not experiencing any negative effects from blowback over podcast hosts like Joe Rogan, with the company’s first-quarter results exceeding Wall Street forecasts.