Chancellor Jeremy Hunt agrees new mortgage rules with banks to help struggling households

Disney has been the Teflon movie studio, remarkably adept at withstanding the tectonic changes impacting the film industry, and well fortified by its arsenal of key properties such as Marvel, Lucasfilm and Pixar. But this year, the long-reigning titan of the box office has shown cracks as four of its biggest releases from those brands and others have struggled in theaters. There was the dispiriting release of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” a rare Marvel movie to likely lose tens of millions in its theatrical run; “The Little Mermaid,” a remake of the 1989 classic that fell drastically short of expectations; “Elemental,” an original story that tried and failed to recapture Pixar’s magic; and most recently “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” a nearly $300 million investment in one of cinemas’ most venerable franchises, which no longer appears to have the same hold on today’s audiences. On paper, these films seemed like they had all of the makings of huge hits, but somehow the Disney sparkle was lacking this time, in terms of filling movie theater seats.

With the dog population of the UK booming, it stands to reason that pubs that welcome dogs should start more actively catering for them. While many hostelries offer dog treats and even dog beer, one pub in Didsbury is going the extra mile.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music When the Recording Academy announced its latest updates to the Grammy Awards rules last month, there was a frantic, last-minute tweak to the wording of a new rule governing the eligilibity of recordings that used AI — so last-minute that a rep was contacting journalists beginning at 4:30 a.m. Pacific time. A new rule governing music that used AI technology, which the Academy had hoped to keep simple by saying that only human-generated music would be eligible, had been extensively revised, although the upshot remained the same: Yes, recordings that use one of the multiple types of AI technology will be eligible, but “we’re not going to be giving a nomination or an award to AI computer or someone who just prompted AI,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. clarified to Variety late last month. “That’s the distinction that we’re trying to make. It’s the human award highlighting excellence, driven by human creativity.”

Naman Ramachandran As three separate investigations involving serving politicians also acting as newsreaders are underway, Melanie Dawes, chief executive of U.K. media regulator Ofcom, has clarified the body’s position on the matter. In an article originally published in the Telegraph and subsequently on the Ofcom website on Tuesday, Dawes wrote: “The Broadcasting Code is clear that serving politicians cannot be a newsreader, interviewer or reporter in any news program, unless there is an exceptional editorial justification. And in those exceptional cases, their political allegiance must be made clear to the audience. News programs will usually involve newsreaders directly addressing the audience, and may include reporter packages or live reports, with a mix of video and reporter items.”

Justin Bieber has had periods of closeness — and times of estrangement — with his mom, Pattie Mallette, and dad, Jeremy Bieber.

Fox News has settled a lawsuit filed by a former producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight who claimed harassment based on her gender and Jewish religion, and that she was coerced in deposition testimony in the Dominion litgation.

Outlander fans have had an emotional ride since the beginning of season 7.

Charna Flam At the “Biosphere” premiere on Tuesday, Sterling K. Brown teased his television series reunion with “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman. It has been reported that the new series will be a thriller with Brown starring as the head of security to a president. Brown earned an Emmy for his work as Randall on “This Is Us” in 2017. “It’s not Randall. The character is completely different, completely different milieu.” Brown said of the new series. “But you know Dan — he can’t help but throw some heart in there. There is always going to be heart.” Brown also touched on working with Jennifer Lopez in the sci-fi thriller, “Atlas,” not long after she married Ben Affleck.

Seth Meyers just announced his latest project.

. When the co-hosts announced the news via their social media pages and released a final episode of the bi-weekly podcast, they promised their audience, «This is not goodbye… We're gonna find it, we're gonna get it together.

Is Katie Holmes no longer single???

Beyonce very nearly had a wardrobe malfunction during a recent stop on her Renaissance Tour, but a dancer swooped in to save the day!

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The decision to realign “variety talk” and “variety sketch” this year into “talk” and “scripted variety” didn’t do much to change that. If anything, it further narrowed the field, as perennial variety talk winner “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” has now been kicked over to scripted variety. As a result, my colleague Clayton Davis counts only 14 series eligible for the outstanding talk nomination. And it’s not much better in scripted variety, where just 10 shows appear to be eligible.

Trevor Noah has his sights set on the world of podcasting.

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, plans to plead guilty to tax and gun charges following a Justice Department investigation.

Slowdive have revealed that they will be releasing new music next week.On their social media channels, the band said a new track called ‘Kisses’ will arrive on Tuesday (June 20).They also shared the single’s artwork and a link to a YouTube video which contains a countdown clock to the song’s release. You can check that out, along with the band’s social media post here:New Music.

The Academy Awards are facing much criticism after implementing new diversity and inclusion guidelines for 2024.  The guidelines must be adhered to by any film in the running for a "Best Picture" Oscar. Several voting members sounded the alarm after the Academy Awards released its Aperture 2025 initiative -- a sweeping set of regulations designed to make Hollywood more equitable and diverse.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is beholden to new inclusivity standards. Starting with the March 2024 awards, movies will not be considered for a Best Picture nomination unless they feature a lead or significant supporting character from an “underrepresented racial or ethnic group,” have a main storyline that focuses on an underrepresented group, or at least 30% of the cast comes from two or more underrepresented groups (women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ or the disabled).It’s got some voting members of the Academy up in arms.“It’s completely ridiculous,” one director fumed to The Post.

Doja Cat has released a vicious new rap single ‘Attention’ alongside a creepy music video – check them out below.‘Attention’ is the Grammy Award winner’s first solo offering since she released her chart-topping third studio album, 2021’s ‘Planet Her’. She has since dropped the Top 10 Billboard track ‘Vegas’ from the Elvis soundtrack and appeared on the remix for SZA’s Number One-peaking single, ‘Kill Bill’.Today (June 16), Doja Cat released ‘Attention’, a haunting track that sees her addressing her exit from The Weeknd’s ‘After Hours’ stadium tour, rapping: “My taste good, but I just had to redirect my cookin’ / I could’ve been an opener, I redirect the bookin’.”In May last year, Doja Cat had to cancel the tour due to tonsil surgery.She also commented on rap heavyweights who “fall in the beef” with artistss who looked up to them: “I’m sorry, but we all find it really entertainin’ / ’Cause we don’t wanna see them steppin’ forward on their faces / And we all wanna be the one that see the devastation / Nothin’ in it, but ain’t the bad press good?”The Tanu Muino-directed accompanying music video meanwhile, reveals Doja Cat’s new character Scarlet. Doja’s use of the drop of blood emoji in the announcement may offer some clues about the song buried in some of her other recent tweets.

James Bond franchise so explosively in No Time To Die. Even before he announced his fifth and final 007 movies, speculation was rife over who his successor would be from Tom Hardy to Idris Elba. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, star of Kick-Ass and Bullet Train, leads the bookies' favourites with odds of 9-4 but he's way down the pecking order of who UK fans want to be the next Bond.