Bill: Last News

After weeks of planning and preparation World Book Day is here again.

TikTok.The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s 24 Republicans voted a bill through which could give the President powers to ban the video-sharing app over claims that it is a Chinese espionage tool, or any other app deemed a security risk.However, the 16 Democrats voted against the bill with Ranking Member Gregory Meeks saying he opposed the legislation because it would “damage our allegiances across the globe, bring more companies into China’s sphere, destroy jobs here in the United States and undercut core American values of free speech and free enterprise” [via The Independent]. Members of both parties have called for a ban on TikTok on the basis of its Chinese ownership, which means the company is legally obliged to turn user data over to the Chinese government upon request.The bill still needs to be passed by the full House of Representatives and the Senate before  it goes to Biden and it officially becomes law. Foreign Affairs Committee chair Michael McCaul said he expects the full House to vote on the measure this month.However, Jenna Leventoff, a senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, criticised the legislation in a statement.“We’re disappointed that the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to approve a bill that would effectively ban TikTok in the United States, in violation of Americans’ First Amendment rights.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer California has tried using carrots to encourage film and TV productions to hire a diverse workforce. Now, for the first time, it’s getting out the sticks. Under a proposal from the governor’s office, productions that fail to meet their diversity goals will lose 4% of their tax credit allocation. The provision is part of a five-year extension of the state’s $330 million tax credit. Productions that receive the credit will be required to submit a diversity “workplan,” under which they must commit to hire a crew that is “broadly reflective” of the state’s demographics.

The Idol is the most controversial show in town, and it doesn't even have a premiere date yet. But maybe that's how the creators like it.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Audible announced that Grammy-winning artists Sara Bareilles and Kelly Rowland have signed on to judge “Breakthrough,” billed as the first singing competition series launch exclusively as a podcast. Bareilles and Rowland will mentor and guide the performances as well as the artistic development of five artists through a season of musical challenges. The series is hosted by actor-singer Daveed Diggs, who narrate the contestants’ journeys over nine episodes. With the audio-only format of “Breakthrough,” the physical appearance of the performers is hidden from the audience and the judges — the idea is that the quality of the musical performance is the entire basis for the competition, which will culminate in one artist crowned the winner.

The campaign for Awaab's Law has passed its biggest test to date following a debate in the House of Commons. MPs across the political divide have given their backing to proposed law changes being made in memory of toddler Awaab Ishak.

Real Madrid could again be set to gazump Europe's top clubs and land two of the best youngsters on the planet in Jude Bellingham and Josko Gvardiol.

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Fighting to find the truth. In Hulu’s true crime drama Boston Strangler, Keira Knightley plays Loretta McLaughlin, a journalist who wants to find out why so many local women are being murdered — only to be told she can’t cover homicide stories.

An amateur football captain is receiving treatment in intensive care after a sudden and 'severe' accident.

A TV series adaptation of John Wyndham’s sci-fi classic The Day Of the Triffids has been put into fast-track development by Amazon Studios. According to sources, Johan Renick, Emmy winner for HBO’s Chernobyl, is attached to direct and executive produce. Don Murphy and Susan Montford executive produce for Angry Films.

Tara Karajica In Ralph Arlyck’s “I Like It Here” – his first film in 18 years – the U.S. documentary filmmaker reflects on his life while spending time with neighbors, friends, colleagues, children and grandchildren, and at the same time making peace with the physical and emotional obstacles of growing old, and pondering on the serenity and fulfilment that come with entering one’s final years. The film plays in the International Competition at the Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival on March 10. At first, Arlyck thought he would make a film about his neighbor Ernie, a Hungarian hermit who lived north of his farm, but “it quickly became clear that he wasn’t going to go for that,” he tells Variety. “At that point, I realized that it really wasn’t Ernie that was gnawing at me. It was what we all confront: aging and these questions that become very prominent in front of your face. You’re getting older and you can’t do what you used to do. You’re gonna die… All these questions. I really realized that’s what I wanted to make a film about.”

a turbulent relationship between the siblings.  Her 66-year-old brother's stay in the Michigan treatment center ended last week after he reportedly ripped out his feeding and breathing tubes, leading to his death Sunday.  Anthony had been staying at the rehab center as he tried to recover from years of alcohol abuse, but insiders said he passed away after knowing 'the consequences of removing the equipment', according to TMZ.

Renfrewshire residents are braced for a six per cent hike in council tax for the upcoming financial year.

It's always a nerve-racking wait to find out whether your child has got into their chosen secondary school and today families of Year 6 pupils will get the answer.

Madonna was reportedly paying for her troubled brother’s rehab treatment before he died. Despite years of animosity between the ‘Material Girl’ singer, 64, and her older sibling Anthony Ciccone, 66, she is said to have been footing the bill for the centre where sources say he passed away on Sunday. (26.

Manchester council is asking people to share their views on how it should spend £14m to transform Deansgate. The town hall wants to turn this city centre 'destination' from being a 'traffic dominated environment' to one that is safer at night with better air quality and more space for walking and cycling.

Dozens of people have been killed after two trains collided in northern Greece. Scores more were injured when a passenger train hit an oncoming freight train early on Wednesday.

Samantha Markle has been warned by a former US prosecutor that she could face ruin if Meghan Markle successfully dismisses her defamation lawsuit.

No retailer will take on Bolton’s M&S site after it closes in April, the borough’s council leader has claimed. The town centre was dealt a body blow in January when the high street giant announced the closure of the 100,000 square foot store on Deansgate.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic For more than half a century, John Fogerty stood as the poster boy for all musicians who’d ever signed away rights to their publishing or master recordings and been unable to buy them back. Over time, Paul McCartney and then Taylor Swift came to be symbols, as well, of artists who tried and failed to win full ownership of their own music. But even Swift’s radical decision to re-record all her old albums, to do an end run around her former label selling her masters, may not count as quite as bold as the stance Fogerty took for several decades, during which he refused to perform any of his classic late ’60s and early ’70s Creedence Clearwater Revival songs in protest of his inability to purchase publishing rights for that material.