Entertainment

LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – “Spider-Man: No Way Home” unwrapped the best Christmas gift of all, becoming the first pandemic-era movie to cross $1 billion at the global box office.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Paul McCartney has said he wanted to continue performing with the Beatles when the band famously split in 1970 and that John Lennon instigated the breakup.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Royal drama “The Crown” and feel good comedy “Ted Lasso” nabbed the top prizes at television’s Emmy awards on Sunday on a night dominated by streaming shows, British talent and rare wins by women.

 (Reuters) – Willard Scott, the ebullient former “Today” show weatherman, venerator of centenarians, pitchman extraordinaire and the original hamburger-hawking Ronald McDonald, died yesterday, his successor on the morning show Al Roker said.

 (BBC) Pop group Abba have teased a major announcement for next week, as fans await their first new music in 39 years.

MUMBAI,  (Reuters) – An Indian court today extended the custody of Raj Kundra, a businessman married to popular Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, police said, in a pornography case that has stunned the country’s film industry.

MUMBAI,  (Reuters) – Dilip Kumar, who won worldwide fame playing tragic heroes in Bollywood films, died today aged 98 and was cremated with state honours in India.

 (Reuters) – Bill Cosby was freed from prison and returned home today, less than two hours after Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction, saying he never should have faced charges after striking a non-prosecution deal with a previous district attorney more than 15 years ago.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – American singer Diana Ross expresses her gratitude in new single “Thank You” released today, the title track from her first studio album in 15 years.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Gavin MacLeod, who played a wise-cracking news writer on the classic 1970s U.S.

LONDON,  (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Award-winning “Pose” star Billy Porter announced he was HIV-positive today, adding that he was healthy and unashamed of having a disease that has long been stigmatised.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – London’s Court of Appeal today refused Johnny Depp permission to challenge a verdict last year that concluded the Hollywood actor was a “wife beater”, meaning his attempt to restore his reputation will shift to U.S.

 (Reuters) – Yaphet Kotto, an American actor known for his roles in movies including “Alien” and “Midnight Run” and as a villain in the James Bond film “Live and Let Die,” has died at age 81.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish took the top prizes at the Grammy Awards yesterday but Beyonce was the big winner on a history making night marked by multiple wins for women.

MUMBAI,  (Reuters) – Controversy in India over Amazon’s political drama “Tandav” has put Bollywood and global video streaming giants on edge, prompting a closer scrutiny of scripts for possible offence to religious sentiments in a key growth market.

LOS ANGELES,  (Reuters) – Drama “Nomadland” and satire “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” won movie honours at the Golden Globes yesterday in a mostly virtual bicoastal ceremony that was marked by impassioned calls for more diversity and the dominance of Netflix.

PARIS,  (Reuters) – French actor Gerard Depardieu strongly contests rape and sexual assault charges leveled against him, his lawyer said today, and asked that the associated investigation be allowed to proceed away from the public eye.

LAGOS,  (Reuters) – Indian-Nigerian restaurant owner Hamisha Daryani Ahuja gave up her long-running business to pursue her dream of making movies.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Mary Wilson, a founding member of The Supremes, has died at the age of 76, her publicist has said.

 (Reuters) – Christopher Plummer, a patrician Canadian who starred as widower Captain von Trapp opposite Julie Andrews in the blockbuster 1965 musical “The Sound Of Music” and in 2012 became the oldest actor to win an Oscar, has died at 91, his longtime friend and manager said today.