Billy Preston Documentary Hit With Fraud Lawsuit By Sam & Dave Singer And Others Ahead Of SXSW Premiere

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently confirmed that State Pension and benefit payment rates will rise from April 8, 2024. State Pensions will go up by 8.5 per cent, under the Triple Lock, while most working age and disability benefits will increase by the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate of 6.7 per cent.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief In these culturally sensitive times, having an American director and showrunner on a quintessentially Japanese series is sure to raise the issue of cultural appropriation. But the Dave Boyle-directed “House of Ninjas,” which Netflix launched in February, stands out not only as a hit, but as a seemingly happy blend of East and West. An original story about the last living ninja family in modern times, the show ranked as the streamer’s top non-English show in 16 countries and regions, as well as reached the top ten list in 92 countries.In an interview with Variety, Boyle (“The Man From Reno,” “Big Dreams, Little Tokyo”) said that surprising career left-turns brought him to the series and helped him keep the show authentically Japanese.

A callous fraudster who conned an Army veteran and a company boss out of £200,000 has been jailed for three years.

Karen Huger has been charged following her car crash earlier this week.

who famously played Lando Calrissian in the “Star Wars” movie franchise, sort of praised Donald Glover, who inherited the role, in comments he made to the Radio Times in the UK.“I had a nice little lunch with him. He’s a delightful young man.

Lise Pedersen Swiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel has unveiled its program for film professionals, VdR-Industry, which includes 29 projects in various stages of production. These will be pitched during the four-day event that runs April 14 through April 17, alongside the fest.

Sam Fender has been teasing new music online, hinting to fans that a collaboration with The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel is on the way.Speculation around the Geordie guitar icon has been building over recent weeks, particularly following him joining forces with Noah Kahan on the hit single ‘Homesick’ and releasing the solo single ‘Iris’ in January.Now, the singer, songwriter and guitarist has been teasing fans online, sharing footage of himself in the studio with The War On Drugs frontman Adam Granduciel – suggesting a new collaboration is set for the near future.Taking to his Instagram page this morning (March 14), Fender is seen sitting alongside Granduciel in a studio in America, alongside a team of producers, sound engineers and other musicians.Brief snippets of the seemingly collaborative track are also shared on the Stories, hinting that the song is going to be just as anthemic as expected, and dominated by upbeat riffs. You can check out the posts on Fender’s Instagram page now, although the stories are set to expire later today.The update around new music from Sam Fender comes after the artist shared special editions of his commemorative St James’ Park picture discs – made in celebration of his huge 2023 Newcastle shows.He teased the limited run of records via posters and QR codes scattered across his hometown, each showing a Newcastle United shirt that made a nod to his albums.

Lloyds Banking Group which includes the Bank of Scotland has set out plans to axe another 53 high street bank branches which will include sites in Scotland.

New electric buses operating in Greater Manchester are subject to a safety notice because of fears they could catch fire.

Heavy rain is expected to fall on Manchester and around the North West - with a string of flood warnings in force. Areas including Warrington and the Lancashire coast have been hit by a number of flood warnings by the Environment Agency today (March 13).

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Fresh off her recent stint hosting “Saturday Night Live,” Sydney Sweeney made her way to Austin and SXSW for the world premiere of her new religious horror film “Immaculate” — and on Tuesday night, she had the crowd screaming (and laughing at their own reactions) at the Paramount Theatre. The jump scares, in particular, had the entire theater jumping — and then giggling at their own fear. “Immaculate” leans into horror but also has plenty of moments of dark humor.

Lise Pedersen Berlin-based Rise and Shine World Sales has picked up the rights for “E.1027 – Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea,” which is vying for the top Dox:Award at Copenhagen’s CPH:DOX, one of Europe’s leading documentary festivals. Variety is debuting the trailer and poster, below.

Jonathan Ross, the host of ITV's Oscars coverage, has faced a wave of criticism after making an awkward mistake about Cillian Murphy, who is from the Republic of Ireland. Despite the actor proudly speaking in Irish as he accepted his first- ever Oscar award, presenter Jonathan repeatedly referred to the Peaky Blinders star as British, much to the annoyance of viewers. Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer was the big winner at the Oscars, taking home seven awards.The movie, which tells the story of J Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the atomic bomb, won best picture.

Love never dies, but a lot of people do in Alice Lowe’s gloriously bloody valentine to the romantic comedy. Spanning so much time that it practically goes back to the beginning of it, Timestalker is an ambitious project that not only works, it coheres in a way that cements Lowe as a genuine and quite visionary comedic talent. It recalls classic Monty Python — it’s often very, very stupid and the same time very, very clever — but most of all it’s an idea of what might have been if that all-male team had ever had a woman or two in its core lineup.

Dave Grohl has teamed up with Epiphone to launch a signature version of his DG-335 guitar.The collaboration between the Foo Fighters frontman and the manufacturer pays tribute to Grohl’s legendary axe, which has accompanied him on tours around the world and comes in Pelham Blue, complete with a host of premium features.Epiphone has partnered with Gibson Custom on the release, and the model features a combination of ES-335 and the Trini Lopez model features that Grohl requested.The signature model is available to purchase now for £1,249 via the Epiphone website.Features listed in the product description include a semi-hollow body, bound diamond-shaped F-holes, one-piece mahogany neck with an elliptical profile, Trini Lopez-style headstock and Gibson USA Burstbucker pickups.An Epiphone Dave Grohl hardshell case, embossed with his signature, is also included.“This is one of the most requested models in Epiphone’s history, so we are X-Static to offer this exceptional guitar to players worldwide,” the manufacturer wrote on their website.Grohl is the latest musician to partner up with a guitar manufacturer to drop a custom release.

Selome Hailu Comedian Mike Birbiglia has set a documentary special at Peacock. Titled “Good One: A Show About Jokes,” it premieres on March 26. Adapted from the Vulture podcast “Good One: A Podcast About Jokes,” the special follows Birbiglia through his process as he travels from Providence, R.I.

Jim Sheridan has dispelled rumors around a possible return to acting by Daniel Day-Lewis, who gave an Oscar-winning performance in the Irish director’s drama My Left Foot and also starred in his subsequent films In The Name Of The Father and The Boxer.

As the weekend rolls in, football fanatics are eagerly anticipating one of the Premier League's most anticipated fixtures: the clash between Manchester City and Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium this Sunday. Two weeks ago, Manchester City's title defence seemed to be faltering after a 1-1 stalemate with Chelsea. However, they've since regained their stride, securing two hard-won 1-0 victories against Brentford and Bournemouth in turn.

Billie Eilish is sharing the reason why she decided to split from her boyfriend. The acclaimed singer was recently interviewed ahead of her Oscar performance, and while she didn’t reveal who she was dating at the time of her cryptic dream, Billie says that dreaming about Christian Bale made her “[come] to her senses.”Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo’s friendship: How she inspired her saddest songBecky G will be singing at the Oscars: Billie Eilish, Ryan Gosling and more to performThe singer was talking about superheroes and mentioned ‘The Dark Knight,’ which caused her to remember her dream about the actor.

Big Thief, Sampha, Sleaford Mods and Jon Hopkins have been announced as headliners for this year’s edition of Green Man festival.The Brecon Beacons festival will return for its 22nd edition on August 15-18. Also on the bill are Ezra Collective, Arlo Parks, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Black Country, New Road, Moonchild Sanelly, SHERELLE, Sofia Kourtesis, Loraine James, Model/Actriz, Bar Italia, Blondshell, Lambrini Girls and more.Tickets for Green Man Festival 2024 have already sold out, but you can find out more information about this year’s event by heading here and see the full line-up so far below.Last year’s edition of the fest saw the likes of First Aid Kit, Devo and Spiritualized headline.