Author: SKYNEWS

Facebook and Instagram owners Meta is offering popular US creators from competitors’ apps such as TikTok the chance to earn $5,000 (£4,040) in bonuses to make content on its platforms. TikTok briefly went offline in the US on Sunday ahead of a ban put in place by Joe Biden, but hours later, it came back online with a message thanking his successor Donald Trump, who has suspended the ban for 75 days. The delayed ban spells uncertainty for creators on TikTok – many of whom make a living through the wildly popular app.Coinciding with the looming ban is Meta’s “Breakthrough…

Chris Brown has filed a $500m defamation lawsuit over a documentary which featured allegations of sexual assault.The US singer shared details in a statement from his lawyers, posted on social media, which announced he was suing Warner Bros and producers Ample, along with other individuals. It comes following the Chris Brown: A History Of Violence documentary, which was released in October last year.The lawsuit, seen by Sky News, accuses producers of airing a programme that was “full of lies and deception” after being “provided proof that their information was false”.Allegations by a woman referred to as Jane Doe in the…

The director of The Brutalist has defended his lead actors’ performances after it emerged that artificial intelligence had been used to “refine” their Hungarian accents.Brady Corbet insisted that the performances of Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones were “completely their own”. Brody leads the three-hour film, playing Hungarian architect Laszlo Toth, a man trying to rebuild his life in the US following World War Two. Felicity Jones plays his wife, Erzsebet.The film won three Golden Globes earlier this month, and is expected to receive nods at the forthcoming Oscar nominations.In a statement, shared with Deadline, Corbet said: “Adrien and Felicity’s performances…

There has been a surge in the pace of wage growth but a rise in the jobless rate following a big drop in the number of payrolled employees, according to the latest official figures.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that both basic pay excluding bonuses, and average weekly earnings, rose at an annual rate of 5.6% in the three months to November. That was up from a rate of 5.2% reported the previous month.The ONS said the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 4.3%.Money latest: Pound gets boost after Trump omission The employment figures were the first to take…

Dear White People star DeRon Horton says he was shot days before Christmas and is lucky not to have been killed or paralysed.The 32-year-old star shared photos of him being treated for his injuries in hospital, saying he had been shot at while he in a car. He said he was now out of the hospital and still “healing”.His co-star from The Last Days Of Ptolemy Grey, Samuel L Jackson, was among the celebrities posting to wish him well.Horton said in a message that he wanted to “give an honour to God for covering me and protecting me to make…

Donald Trump, who has long called climate change as a “hoax”, is to waste no time in his plans to strip nature protections, ban wind turbines and drain every last drop of oil from US soil.Some have likened him to a “wrecking ball” for climate action. But perhaps things won’t be as bad as they fear.Yes, he has vowed to stop new “windmills” – his disdaining term for wind turbines – from being built offshore “from day one”, despite it being among the cheapest energy sources in the US.And, yes, he wants to gut environmental rules, roll back Joe Biden’s…

TikTok has begun restoring service to the app in the US after Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order pausing its ban.A law signed by President Joe Biden last April required ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner by Sunday or face a ban. Some users reported that they lost access on Saturday night, and Americans opening the app on Sunday have been greeted with a message saying they “can’t use” TikTok “for now”.But in a post on Truth Social ahead of his inauguration, Mr Trump said he would issue an executive…

Director Claire van Kampen has died, aged 71, on the 65th birthday of her husband, Sir Mark Rylance. She died in the German town of Kassel on Saturday morning after being diagnosed with cancer. A statement, shared on behalf of Sir Mark and her daughter Juliet, described her as “one of the funniest and (most) inspiring women we have ever known”. It added: “We thank her for imbuing our lives with her magic, music, laughter, and love.”Ring the bell, sound the trumpets reverie, something is done, something is beginning. One of the great wise ones has passed.”Van Kampen was a…

Hotel pools on Greek islands could be filled with seawater this summer as politicians try to combat the country’s two-year drought.Proposed new laws debated in the Greek parliament this week could pave the way for pipes to be installed connecting swimming pools at coastal hotels with the sea. The aim is to save shrinking water reserves on many Greek islands and use the water in other areas facing shortages.Elena Rapti, a deputy minister of tourism, told a parliamentary committee on Monday the legislation “regulates the framework for carrying out seawater extraction and pumping it for swimming pools.”The focus, of course,…

TikTok users in the US are opening the app to find a message saying they “can’t use” the social media platform “for now” due to a law enacted in Washington.A ban on the app was due to take effect today after outgoing President Joe Biden signed a law last year requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban in one of its biggest markets. The app was no longer appearing on either Apple or Google’s app stores.”A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately that means you can’t…