Politics

Winners of prestigious global awards including the Oscars, Grammys, BAFTAs and Golden Globes are among the categories of people who are now fast-tracked for U.K. visas. The U.K. Home Office revealed on Wednesday that people who have won any of these awards will be able to skip the endorsements previously required as part of the

The high profile Indian Premier League has been indefinitely suspended after players and officials from several teams tested positive for COVID-19. The tournament is the world’s richest cricket tournament and one of the biggest sports media properties in the world. Disney’s Star India, then owned by Fox, had bid $2.55 billion for tournament rights through

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was suspended from Facebook or Instagram over his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol seeking to overturn the 2020 election. Now, nearly four months later, Facebook’s Oversight Board said it will issue a ruling on whether he’ll be allowed back. Facebook temporarily froze Trump’s accounts on

President Joe Biden urged Congress on Wednesday to pass trillions in spending on infrastructure and social services, saying that the country faces an urgent test for democracy. Biden invoked the insurrection that shook the Capitol on Jan. 6 at the outset of his speech, calling it “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil

Stacey Abrams is top-tier talent, and not just in politics. In addition to launching the organization Fair Fight — shifting the nationwide narrative around voting rights — she starred in the documentary “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” has written numerous books and is endlessly featured as a panelist or keynote speaker. She is part

Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, who examined the ties between the international arms industry and Western political establishments in his recent documentaries, the award-winning “Shadow World” and “Blue Orchids,” is set to explore its impact in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in his new project, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.” Grimonprez and producer Daan Milius

Josefina López’s play about Latina seamstresses had 20 productions across the country, but she could not get a production of it in Los Angeles. To bring the play to its hometown she decided to rent a small theater in Silver Lake and produce it herself. It came to be adapted into the movie “Real Women

Caitlyn Jenner announced Friday that she has filed initial paperwork to run for governor of California in the expected recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom. “California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into

Chinese director Jia Zhangke has formally launched his new venture: a filmmaking school in his native Shanxi staffed by some of China’s top industry talent, including helmers Ning Hao and Bi Gan. Communist party officials presided over an inauguration ceremony for the Shanxi Film Academy that was attended by major firms seeking synergies between the

Danish director Phie Ambo, who opens this year’s Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX) with “70/30,” an up-close look at the creation of Denmark’s landmark climate law, is already at work on her next project, “Organized Wilderness,” a film about the rewilding of a forest in northern Jutland. The project is in line with some of

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked China fourth to last out of 180 countries on its 2021 World Press Freedom Index on Tuesday, while warning that Hong Kong journalism is also now under “grave threat.” China ranked 177th in 2019, 2020 and 2021, down from a period at 176th from 2015 to 2018. It currently rates

After former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on Tuesday of murdering George Floyd, stars took to Twitter to praise the verdict, but also called for lasting systemic change to prevent racially motivated violence at the hands of police officers. After the jury deliberated for over 10 hours, they found Chauvin guilty on

A jury on Tuesday convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the death of George Floyd, ending a three-week trial that has become the focus of a national movement for racial justice. The jury deliberated for about 10 hours before reaching the verdict. Chauvin was found guilty of all three charges: second-degree

Climate protection, the growing threats to ocean life, the FBI’s smear campaign against Martin Luther King Jr. and the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a Saudi death squad are just some of the wide-ranging topics examined at this year’s Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX), which kicks off Wednesday. Since its establishment

Walter Mondale, the former vice president to Jimmy Carter and staunch democrat who lost the 1984 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, has died. He was 93. Mondale’s family announced his death in a statement on Monday and did not mention a cause of death, according to the Associated Press. Mondale was a United States Senator,

Just over a week since his death, Prince Philip was laid to rest today (April 17) at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, where eyes around the world fell on the royal family, which was together in rare public view after an especially turbulent period. The funeral convened 30 members of the royal family, including Prince

A Hong Kong court sentenced the pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 14 months in prison Friday, after finding him guilty of “unauthorized assembly” during pro-democracy protests in 2019. A new, additional charge was also lobbed at him Friday: two counts of “colluding with foreign forces,” which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Beijing’s city government reviewed a new anti-drug bill tightening oversight of celebrity drug use on Wednesday, the country’s latest attempt to codify its unspoken practice of banning entertainers with drug history. The bill was discussed at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the municipal People’s Congress, the city’s top legislative body. China’s congresses are

China’s internet regulator has launched a hotline for citizens to report online comments that defame the ruling Communist Party and its approved description of history ahead of the Party’s upcoming 100th anniversary. The new hotline will enable internet users to stop the spread of “mistaken opinions” and create a “good public opinion atmosphere” to pave

Stacey Abrams has set the record straight: she was not offered a position in the Biden White House, nor has she made a decision about her next political campaign. “I know there’s a governor’s race coming up, but I’m working on making sure we have democracy in Georgia,” she said Friday during “Women in Focus:

Britain is slowly coming to terms with the death of Prince Philip on Friday, with major figures extending condolences and Britons reflecting on the royal consort’s enduring legacy. Married to Queen Elizabeth II for 73 years, the prince had been in and out of hospital in recent years with ill health, and retired from public

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband to Queen Elizabeth II, has died. He was 99. Buckingham Palace confirmed the death of the prince, who was married to the Queen for more than 70 years, on Friday afternoon local time. “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her

China is set to host the winter Olympics in February, but the extent of American involvement is on shaky ground. There’s plenty of precedent for Olympic-scale strife — in 1980 and 1984, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. engaged in respective boycotts of each other’s Olympics — but this Cold War is raising complicated questions for a

Paing Takhon, a prominent model and actor in Myanmar who has opposed the recent military coup, was arrested on Thursday. He is one of over 100 celebrities being sought by the military junta. “Some 50 soldiers with eight military trucks,” came to arrest him, his sister Thi Thi Lwin posted on Facebook. “As he’s seriously

Olympic champion and former reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner is exploring the idea to run for governor in California. The announcement, first reported by Axios, comes as current Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election. General GOP dislike of Newsom heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the state’s strict restrictions on the

California officials are eyeing June 15 as the day to fully reopen the economy and lose the four-color tiered system that has guided the state’s reopening process during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, state officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and health and human services secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, urge that life will not completely revert back

The Supreme Court has vacated a ruling that held that former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was a public forum, and that therefore under the First Amendment he could not block people from responding to his tweets. The court held that the dispute — involving a former president’s now-banned social media account — is moot,

Every cinema in China must schedule and actively promote at least two screenings of propaganda films per week beginning this week until the end of the year, Chinese authorities have declared, announcing the first batch of eligible titles Friday. Theaters that are part of the National Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas or the “People’s Cinema” circuit

Facebook has removed an interview between Donald Trump and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, from the latter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, with the social-media giant citing its suspension of the former president. On Jan. 7, the day after a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol, Facebook said it was suspending Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely.

John Sudworth, China correspondent for the BBC, has left the Chinese mainland and relocated to Taiwan. His move follows mounting East-West tension over Xinjiang and Hong Kong and accusations that the BBC in particular has defamed China. Sudworth’s move was announced Wednesday by the BBC in a Twitter message. “Our correspondent John Sudworth has relocated