Ex-SNP minister calls for new independence approach as he brands government proposals 'crap'

It’s been a productive and exciting time for Rita Wilson — the esteemed actress, producer and singer-songwriter who has returned this awards season with her third Oscar-qualifying original song. 

The SNP has announced new plans to introduce a bill to allow Scotland to decide on independence. The party is pushing for the Scottish Parliament to hold its own referendum to “unlock Westminster’s denial of democracy”.

A Libyan suspected of playing a key role in the Lockerbie bombing is set to face trial after being handed over to US authorities. The development was welcomed by victims’ families and a policeman at the scene called for “justice to be served” 34 years on from the tragedy. Abu Agila Masud was detained by US officials charged with preparing the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988, as it flew from Heathrow Airport to New York.

Alex Salmond’s Alba Party have said the next Holyrood election should be used as a “vehicle” for the Scottish people to express their view on independence.

Los Angeles’ most famous mountain lion, P-22, has been featured in National Geographic, earned a segment on 60 Minutes and even got a 6,000-some word profile in The New Yorker.

Yul Vázquez is teaming up with Forest Whitaker in the upcoming third season of Godfather of Harlem as a new series regular.

UPDATE: Sony is changing-up its platform of the Tom Hanks movie A Man Called Otto. The pic will now go exclusive in LA and NY on Dec. 30 followed by limited break on Jan. 6, and a further wide on Jan. 13, the latter point always part of the plan. The studio is pivoting their release plan given the great word of mouth they received on the title. The Marc Forster directed movie made its premiere to LA audiences last night at the Academy Museum.

Scary Spice is not holding back her opinions on James Corden!

EXCLUSIVE: David Peter Bloom was a Wall Street whiz kid convicted of securities fraud for defrauding investors of almost $15M and earlier this summer was arrested on suspicion of 12 counts of grand theft in LA for a scheme run out of Hollywood hipster dive bar Frolic Room that entangled The Hills star Caroline D’Amore.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have a new studio named Artists Equity, and Affleck has high aspirations for it. How high? Deadline reports that at the New York Times‘ DeadlBook Summit in NYC yesterday, Affleck says he and Damon aim to produce commercial but quality films for streaming that “people remember 20 years later.” So, basically, not the “assembly line process” of Netflix and other streamers.

Keep calm and carry on? Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice claims to be all about the “namaste” — but radio host Billy Costa disagrees. 

The Kyrie Irving-boosted book and film Hebrews to Negroes: Wake up Black America will remain for sale on Amazon, CEO Andy Jassy confirmed, despite a celebrity-backed petition calling for their removal.

Ben Affleck says his newly minted studio Artists Equity, in partnership with Matt Damon, is going for films that are commercial but smart, that acknowledge popular tastes, but that “people remember 20 years later.”

The Scottish Government should ban the use of zero hour contracts in health and social care jobs if it wants to solve a recruitment crisis, campaigners have claimed.

Coming full circle. Jennifer Lopez opened up about the “painful” end of her initial relationship with Ben Affleck before their 2021 reunion.

The UK Government is "scared" of allowing a second Scottish independence referendum because it knows it will lose, the SNP's depute leader has claimed.