Politics

India’s income tax department is conducting searches of the BBC’s offices in the country’s capital New Delhi, according to the Associated Press. Three BBC staffers informed AP about the searches, the agency said. Meanwhile, a team from the tax department also surveyed the BBC’s Mumbai offices, per the Press Trust of India quoting unnamed sources.

Disney will not fight a bill that gives Gov. Ron DeSantis broad powers over its Orlando theme parks, after the bill passed both houses of the Florida Legislature this week. The bill establishes a new district to assume the powers held by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which Disney has controlled since it was created

President Biden jousted with House Republicans and challenged them to work with him on a bipartisan “unity” agenda in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The president pitched a handful of small-bore policy initiatives — like combating credit card fees and capping concert ticket surcharges — and engaged in a back-and-forth with

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. President Biden will deliver his State of the Union on Tuesday night, addressing a joint session of Congress about his agenda for the coming year. The address starts at 9 p.m. ET and will

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has appointed a new culture secretary, Lucy Frazer. She becomes the eleventh culture secretary in the space of ten years. Frazer replaces Michelle Donelan, who was appointed last Fall under former Prime Minister Liz Truss. When Sunak replaced Truss he initially kept on Donelan. Today she was given the heave-ho

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would get to appoint all five leaders of Disney’s special tax district in Orlando, under new legislation that was released on Monday. The bill would make good on DeSantis’ promise last year to take over the district, after Disney criticized a state law that restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual

General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in Pakistan and supported the U.S. in the post 9/11 war on terror, died in Dubai on Feb. 5 after a long illness. He was 79. In June 2022, Musharraf’s family had revealed that he was suffering from amyloidosis, a rare disease that sees protein

The release of footage of the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police has sparked renewed outrage and nationwide protests over police violence against Black people. On Friday, Memphis police released nearly one hour of footage, taken from officer body cameras and street cameras. The disturbing images depict officers punching, kicking and using a

California is about to get its first truly competitive Senate race in a generation, as Rep. Adam Schiff announced his candidacy on Thursday morning. Schiff’s announcement comes two weeks after Katie Porter, the Orange County congresswoman, launched her campaign for the seat now held by Dianne Feinstein. Schiff, who is from Burbank, is best known

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) summed up the tenor and tone of today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry while directly addressing witness Joe Berchtold, president and CFO of Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Ticketmaster. Blumenthal asserted, “Mr. Berchtold, I want to congratulate and thank you for an absolutely

Newly-seated Republican congressman George Santos from New York has claimed a lot of things that turned out to be false — his employment at Goldman-Sachs, his education at NYU and Baruch College, and his supposedly Jewish heritage, to name just a few. But the latest wrinkle revealed about Santos might be the last straw. On

The Indian government has slammed a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dismissing it as “propaganda,” but the corporation is sticking to its guns. The first episode of the two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” aired on BBC Two on Jan. 17. The episode description on the BBC website says: “Narendra Modi’s premiership has

Prince Harry’s jaw-dropping memoir “Spare” – which details his drug-taking, sex life and spats with members of the Royal Family – has sold an equally jaw-dropping 1.4 million copies in the U.S., U.K. and Canada on its first day of sales. The figure includes all formats and editions, including e-books and print. According to publisher

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, made a virtual appearance during the Golden Globes telecast Tuesday evening. Zelenskyy was introduced by actor-director Sean Penn, best known for his Academy Award-winning performances in 2003’s “Mystic River” and 2008’s “Milk.” The “Gaslit” star met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv this past November to express his support for the war-torn

U.S. Representative Katie Porter of California has announced her intentions to run for Senate in 2024, seeking the seat that Senator Dianne Feinstein has held for more than 30 years. “California needs a warrior in the Senate — to stand up to special interests, fight the dangerous imbalance in our economy, and hold so-called leaders

The day has finally arrived. The publishing world’s most highly-anticipated Harry-themed tome since J.K. Rowling dropped “Deathly Hallows” in 2007 has finally hit bookshelves. Many of the revelations within Prince Harry’s memoir “Spare” – sibling jousts, frozen penises and a lot of drug use – have already been highly publicized after bookstores in Spain broke

Dr. Dre has made his feelings known about Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) using his song “Still D.R.E.” as the soundtrack for a new video in which she celebrates her part in helping get Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) finally elected as speaker of the House — and, not surprisingly, he didn’t mince words. “I don’t license my

Prince Harry has described an attack on him by his brother William, Prince of Wales, in his upcoming autobiography “Spare,” according to The Guardian, which claims to have seen a copy of the book. According to the publication, which quotes the book, Harry says that the siblings’ relationship fell apart because he married Meghan Markle.

Pope Benedict XVI has died at his residence in the Vatican after an extended illness. He was 95. Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, led the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013, when he resigned due to ill health. He was the first pope to do so since 1415. The former pope, who

The January 6th Committee concluded its work on Monday by referring criminal charges against former President Trump to the Department of Justice. The committee’s recommendation seeks to hold Trump accountable for “a multi-part scheme” to overturn the 2020 presidential election and to thwart the peaceful transfer of power to President Joe Biden. “The president has

Taraneh Alidoosti, one of Iran’s most renowned actors, was detained on charges of “spreading falsehoods” regarding the country’s ongoing protest movement, according to state media. The BBC reported that Alidoosti condemned the country’s recent execution of Mohsen Shekarim for his involvement with protests. The actor made her statements through a now-deleted post on Instagram. “His

Legislation seeking to ban TikTok in the U.S. has been officially introduced in Congress, in an effort led by GOP Sen. Marco Rubio. In announcing the legislation, Rubio’s press office cited the “risk of TikTok being used to spy on Americans” by the Chinese communist regime. TikTok, which boasts more than 1 billion users for

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday based on a sealed indictment. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Twitter that Bahamian authorities had made the arrest. “Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the

Karen Bass took the oath of office as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, making history as the city’s first female mayor and the first Black woman to hold L.A.’s top job. Bass’ inaugural speech focused on her vow to tackle the homelessness and crime that has spread across the city since

Karen Bass will break a glass ceiling on Sunday, when she becomes the first woman mayor of Los Angeles. To underscore the historic moment, she will be sworn in by the first woman vice president, Kamala Harris. But in a surprising choice, Bass will attend another event on Saturday that will be hosted and organized

Sen. Raphael Warnock has won reelection in Georgia, the Associated Press reports, giving the Democrats a 51-49 majority in the U.S. Senate. Warnock defeated first-time candidate Herschel Walker, whose campaign was beset by allegations that he paid two women to have abortions. Warnock finished ahead of Walker in the election on Nov. 8, but fell

Jiang Zemin, the former President of China has died. He was 96. News of his death was announced Wednesday by the Central Committee of the Communist Party. It reported that he suffered leukemia and died from multiple organ failure in Shanghai. Jiang was China’s top leader for almost 10 years from March 1993 to March

“Hillbilly Elegy” director Ron Howard admits he was “surprised” by J.D. Vance’s embrace of Donald Trump and the GOP’s conservative ideology during his recent successful campaign for Ohio senator. “To be honest, I was surprised,” Howard told Variety at the Academy’s Governors Awards Saturday in Los Angeles. “When I was getting to know J.D., we

Donald Trump has been allowed back on Twitter, Elon Musk has decided. Trump was kicked off Twitter on Jan. 8, 2021 — permanently, the company said at the time — for his role in the Jan. 6 deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. Twitter said it banned Trump because he posed a risk of inciting

Karen Bass has been elected the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles, and the first woman, the Associated Press projected on Wednesday. Businessman Rick Caruso called Bass to concede the race on Wednesday evening. “The people of Los Angeles have sent a clear message: It is time for change and it is time for urgency,” Bass