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MTV News to shut down as Paramount slashes US workforce

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

(CNN) — A major Paramount division announced Tuesday it will shutter MTV News and slash its US workforce by 25%, bringing to an end the iconic music video network’s news division that once covered a range of issues from pop culture to politics and became a household name for Generation X and Millennial adolescents.Chris McCarthy, who heads Paramount Media Networks, MTV and Showtime, said in a memo to staff Tuesday that despite the media giant’s “success” in streaming, the company continues to “feel pressure from broader economic headwinds like many of our peers.”“As a result, we have made the very hard but necessary decision to reduce our domestic team by approximately 25%,” he continued. “Through the elimination of some units and by streamlining others, we will be able to reduce costs and create a more effective approach to our business as we move forward.”Employees affected by the layoffs were to be notified in pers...

‘Beetlejuice 2’ is finally and officially heading to the big screen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

(CNN) — Putting to rest what may be one of the most rumor-generating movie possibilities in cinema history, the “ghost with the most” is finally getting his next big moment.“Beetlejuice 2,” the long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 macabre masterpiece, is set to be released in September of 2024, Warner Bros. confirmed to CNN on Tuesday. (CNN and Warner Bros. are both part of the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)The new film is said to feature the return of original stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, as well as the addition of “Wednesday” and “Scream VI” star Jenna Ortega.Starring Keaton, Ryder, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, “Beetlejuice” was a dark, funny and inventive original story that turned into a critical and bankable success, spawning cartoons as well as a recently-shuttered Broadway musical.The first film’s success was largely thanks to the cast, featuring Keaton as a fast-talkin...

‘Morally unacceptable’: Bishops blast Rishi Sunak’s asylum bill amid trouble in the Lords

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak’s plans for tackling cross-Channel migration are “morally unacceptable,” the Archbishop of Canterbury warned Wednesday — as Sunak’s landmark piece of legislation faced trouble in the House of Lords.Justin Welby, who is the most senior cleric in the Church of England and was intimately involved in the coronation of King Charles III this weekend, has previously criticized the U.K. government over its immigration policy. But his first, stridently critical, intervention on Sunak’s Illegal Migration Bill marks a public blow for the prime minister as he tries to pass the legislation unscathed in Britain’s unelected upper chamber.“Of course, we cannot take everyone and nor should we,” Welby said in the House of Lords. “But this bill has no sense at all of the long term … It ignores the reality that migration must be engaged with at source, as well as in the channel.”“It is morally unacceptable and ...

The politicization of Central Banking: Letter from the editor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

Dear readers,Welcome to POLITICO’s special report on central banking — a little taste of the things to come as we gear up to the launch of our dedicated coverage of European Central Banking on May 30 — the eve of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the European Central Bank itself! Suffice to say, there’s never been a more important time for the fourth estate to scrutinize the movers and shakers in the world of central banking. The extraordinaryamount of liquidity provided by last-resort lenders in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2008 is finally reaping what many feared it could sow: inflation, first rampant, then chronic.That leads to banking fragility and a fragmenting global economy rocked by protectionist forces. From labor, resource and innovation challenges to outright confrontation risk between hostile states, monetary policy was not...

QE and the central bank hangover that just won’t end

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

For 30 years after the end of the Cold War, it seemed central banks could virtually do no wrong. Well, they have now. With inflation at its highest in 40 years, the aura of infallibility enjoyed by the likes of Alan Greenspan and Hans Tietmeyer, former heads of the Fed and the Bundesbank, is gone forever.  Quantitative easing, and its increasingly obvious shortcomings, may not have destroyed the argument for central bank independence outright but it has badly shaken the credibility of institutions that a poorer and more precarious public desperately need to be credible and a bulwark against the crazier ideas of politicians. What if the gold bugs that serious economists love to hate were right all along? What if the sophisticated sounding operations central banks wheeled out in the wake of the global financial crisis and the pandemic to keep the system ticking over were really just a cover for something far more basic: “Money printer goes brrr.” It might be g...

Biden to meet with congressional leadership again on Friday as threat of national debt default looms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

(CNN) — President Joe Biden and top congressional leadership will meet again on Friday after they emerged from their hour-long meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday with little to show that they’re moving toward a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default that would have catastrophic economic consequences.House Republicans want to attach spending reductions to a debt ceiling increase and have passed a debt limit plan that does just that. But Biden and congressional Democrats have insisted on passing a clean increase on the debt limit before addressing a framework for spending.After the meeting, Biden told reporters that White House and congressional leadership staff will meet daily before Friday’s top-level meeting.The president said he “made it clear” during the meeting “that default is not an option,” adding that he’s “absolutely certain” the US can avoid defaulting on its obligations because an “...

East Hartford, CT Police release bodycam video of officers rescuing people from apartment complex filled with smoke

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

Police in East Hartford, Connecticut released bodycam video of officers rescuing people from an apartment complex filled with smoke on Monday.Police saw the smoke when they were at the building for a welfare check. Everyone made it out safely, including one resident in a wheelchair. Two officers were sent to the hospital, but have since been released. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Buddy Holly the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen wins best in show at Westminster Dog Show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

(CNN) — Buddy Holly the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen has been named best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. He’s the first of his breed to win the top prize at the prestigious dog show.The PBGV, who earlier in the day won the hound group, charmed judges with his confidence and calm demeanor.Westminster is one of the oldest sporting events in the US, second only to the Kentucky Derby. Since 1877 — before the American Kennel Club even existed — canines from the frequently winning wire fox terrier and prissy poodle to the bug-eyed boxer and devoted Doberman have vied for best in show.More than 3,000 dogs from 210 breeds were expected to compete this week, per the Westminster Kennel Club. The canine competitors first face off against other dogs of their breed, during which they’re judged against American Kennel Club breed standards, and the best of the breed goes on to group judging. Dogs are divided into seven gr...

Ravens returning to London in 2023 season with game against Titans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

The last time the Ravens played in London was in 2017 in what was a blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. Afterward, coach John Harbaugh said he had no interest in going back anytime soon.Six years later, the Ravens and Harbaugh are headed back overseas.The NFL unveiled its slate of five international games on Wednesday morning. The Ravens will play the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 15 in a Week 6 matchup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The game will kick off at 9:30 a.m. and be broadcast on the NFL Network.“We look forward to taking on the Titans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium,” Ravens president Sashi Brown said in a statement. “It’s exciting to witness and play a role in the NFL’s rise in popularity across the globe. This is an incredible opportunity to play in front of and connect with Ravens fans in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe.”The team’s full 2023 schedule, which also includes three trips to the West Coast to ...

NFL schedule news: Chicago Bears won’t play in Germany this year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:55:59 GMT

The Chicago Bears will not play in Germany during the 2023 season.The NFL announced its five-game international slate Wednesday morning, and the Bears were not part of the lineup.Rumors and news reports this spring suggested the NFL was considering sending the Bears to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany. But NBC Sports’ Peter King reported this week the Chiefs requested the Bears not be their international opponent.The Chiefs will play the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt on Nov. 5.And later this year, the Chiefs will host the Bears at Arrowhead Stadium. The date and time of that matchup will be announced Thursday when the full NFL schedule is released.The Bears’ opponents for the 2023 season already are set. At home, they will play the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. The Bears will go on the road to play the Lions, Packers, Vikings, Chiefs, New Orl...