New Chair Appointed Of UK Broadcaster Channel 4, Ahead Of Government Decision Over Privatization

Nicky Wheatley has watched her fresh start crumble around her as her sex worker past comes back to haunt her in Coronation Street. The character, played by Kimberly Hart-Simpson, returned to Weatherfield this year as she applied for a job as a teaching assistant at Weatherfield High.

Six years ago Manchester City found themselves facing then 10-times Champions League winners Real Madrid in a first ever semi-final in the competition for the club.

Brits are being urged to use travel vouchers for Covid-cancelled holidays before they expire later this year. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says there is £85 million worth of unused refund credit notes given to customers by travel firms for package holidays cancelled due to the pandemic.

Two RRS Sir David Attenborough crew members have made history after becoming the first same-sex couple to marry in the British Antarctic Territory. Stewards Eric Bourne and Stephen Carpenter, 41 and 49, are both experienced seafarers and have travelled the world together on a variety of ships.

Residents have been told that they can return to their 'normal routines' after an ammonia leak sparked a huge emergency service response on a nearby industrial estate.

A historic post box dating back more than 70 years has been knocked to the ground by a van driver who 'got out to look then drove off'. The iconic red Royal Mail post box on Greenside Lane in Droylsden, Tameside, was left on its side after being shunted out of place on Monday morning (April 25).

Though news of Elon Musk buying Twitter just broke, the jokes are already stale.

Law enforcement officials released a trove of video evidence Monday in the ongoing investigation of a fatal October shooting of a cinematographer by actor and producer Alec Baldwin on the set of a Western movie.

Viola Davis doesn’t have time for social media trolls.

Uber is launching a new service which will allow passengers to book journeys while their pets accompany them. The minicab app company has announced that the service will be available in the UK from Tuesday.

A second man accused of the murder of Neri Morse in Ancoats has appeared in court. Meshai Newby, 23, appeared in the dock at Manchester Magistrates Court this morning (April 26).

The Mummy director Alex Kurtzman has called the 2017 film the “biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally”.Tom Cruise starred in the Universal franchise film, which was shunned by critics and underperformed at the box office with a $410million (£345m) global taking.“I tend to subscribe to the point of view that you learn nothing from your successes, and you learn everything from your failures,” Kurtzman recently said on The Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast.“And The Mummy was probably the biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally.”Kurtzman went on to say “there’s about a million things I regret” about the film, but he also said “it gave me so many gifts that are inexpressibly beautiful.“I didn’t become a director until I made that movie, and it wasn’t because it was well-directed – it was because it wasn’t.

Cannes Film Festival section Un Certain Regard, part of the Official Selection, will open with Mathieu Vadepied’s World War One film Father & Soldier.

She’s best known for appearing alongside her brother, Pete, on hit Channel 4 show, Gogglebox, but Sophie Sandiford has a new man in her life as she’s introduced her hunky new Irish boyfriend to the world. In a picture posted to her Instagram account on Sunday, Sophie, 26, revealed her new boyfriend, Ben McKeown, in the sweet snap which also featured Pete, 28, and his wife, Paige, at a wedding.The fan-favourite brother and sister duo’s famous great uncle, Paul Elliot, 74, or Paul Chuckle as he was known as part of the Chuckle Brothers, also attended the wedding, and has given her boyfriend the seal of approval.

Selling Sunset’s Chelsea Lazkani is the newest star of the show to light up our screens on series five of the Netflix real estate show.The mum of two met her husband Jeff Lazkani in Los Angeles in 2015 after she visited for a holiday.The pair are doting parents to son Maddox, three, and two year old Melia. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Chelsea was raised in North West London. She studied at the University of Birmingham and also has a masters degree in oil and gas economics from The University of Dundee.

Model and mum-of-one Gigi Hadid has just celebrated her birthday and has answered the question: what better way to ring in another year than by changing up your look? Stepping out for her star-studded birthday party in New York with her model sister Bella Hadid, the 27 year old revealed that she has recently taken her hair to silvery new heights with a much cooler and lighter shade of blonde, for a look that’s giving us modern day Daenerys Targaryen vibes. In a post shared by makeup artist Patrick Ta, Gigi can be seen with her new, cooler-toned hair slicked into a half-up style, paired with a dramatic winged eyeliner encrusted with pearls.

Kevin Hart announced on Tuesday he is merging his Laugh Out Loud and HartBeat Productions to form HartBeat, a global, multi-platform media company. HartBeat launches with a $100M investment from private equity firm Abry Partners, which took a minority investment in the new company. As part of the deal, Abry Partners partner Nicolas Massard will be joining the HartBeat board.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBrussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired pair of French movies, “The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou” and “Magdala,” which will world premiere in the Cannes sidebar, ACID. “The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou” is the feature debut of Lucas Delangle, who previously worked with Claire Simon on “The Competition,” among other films. Set in a small village in the French Alps, the film follows a young man, Jacky Caillou, who lives with his loving grandmother Gisele, a magnetic healer.Produced by Charles Philippe and Lucile Ric at Les films du Clan, the film stars newcomer Thomas Parigi and rising French talent Lou Lampros (“The French Dispatch,” “Peaceful”).

Lindsay Lohan is balancing many projects at the moment following her return to the spotlight, and there's no stopping her!MORE: Lindsay Lohan dotes over baby as she gives incredible insight into family lifeThe actress recently announced that she would be launching her own podcast, meaning she won't be in character - but instead herself - making it all the more personal.What's more, her proud mom Dina Lohan has paid tribute to her daughter in a heartfelt post alongside a preview of the podcast.VIDEO: Lindsay Lohan's the voiceover for Lovestruck High"So proud of you sweetheart," she wrote, alongside a love heart emoji.MORE: Where are the Mean Girls stars now?MORE: Lindsay Lohan shares exciting news about her careerThe Parent Trap star also shared information on the podcast on her own Instagram feed, which launches today.She wrote: "Excited to share my new podcast with you! Swipe left to hear what it’s all about! Also, click the link in my bio to subscribe so you get notified when it comes out on Tuesday, 4/26."A post shared by Dina Lohan (@dinalohan)Lindsay Lohan's mom showed her support for the star ahead of her debut podcast In an audio accompanying her message, she said: "Hello world, it's me, Lindsay Lohan, and I'm here to tell you about my brand new podcast, The Lohdown.MORE: Lindsay Lohan shares amazing personal news - and fans are thrilled for herMORE: Lindsay Lohan shares snapshots of beautiful engagement party and extravagant cake"I want the Lohdown to be a place where you get to know me, the 100% authentic me."Having starred in dozens TV shows and movies, I'm usually the one being interviewed, but now it's my turn to ask the questions, to dig deep and hear all about the fascinating and wonderful things that my

plans to sell Channel 4 don’t “make any business sense” and undermine the channel’s “tremendous economic and cultural achievement”.The Scottish filmmaker criticised the government’s proposals to privatise the publicly owned channel, which he clarified does not cost the taxpayer any money as Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries wrongfully claimed last year, because it’s paid for by ad revenue.Iannucci, known for TV shows including The Thick Of It and I’m Alan Partridge as well as feature films such as The Death Of Stalin (2017), wrote in a The Guardian op-ed that the move has been ill-thought-out as he questioned why a broadcaster that “puts billions into the economy and promotes British culture and values internationally” should be sold off.“It doesn’t make any business sense, and it’s certainly not patriotic,” he wrote. “I regularly get asked by international broadcasters why the UK government has such a destructive agenda against the country’s main television networks.“Dorries tweeted yesterday that ‘government ownership is holding Channel 4 back’, which perhaps explains part of the problem, that she sees the network as some manifestation of the Big State.

stop the privatisation of Channel 4 has reached over 50,000 signatures.On Monday (April 4), Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted her intentions to privatise the broadcaster under the belief that government ownership is “holding Channel 4 back” from competing against streaming platforms.She said selling the channel to a private owner would give it “the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive as a public service broadcaster long into the future”.The government is hoping to raise close to £1billion by selling the channel, with the money potentially being used to boost creative training and independent production companies.A Change.org petition has been launched in response by E.L McNally to stop the plans, which has received over 50,000 signatures at the time of writing.https://t.co/7WAxfcwBBn pic.twitter.com/WOpVXzjiYk— Matt Lucas (@RealMattLucas) April 4, 2022The petition, which has been shared by Matt Lucas, Edgar Wright and Neil Gaiman, reads: “I am appalled at the Government’s intention to privatise Channel 4.”It adds: “To privatise Channel 4 would seriously undermine programming aimed at all the communities, across generations, that make up this country.

Tory plans to sell-off Channel 4 are facing a furious backlash led by former Scottish party leader Ruth Davidson.

Channel 4, which would result in the broadcaster being sold off after 40 years in public ownership.As reported by The Guardian, the government is hoping to raise close to £1billion, with the money potentially being used for creative training and for independent production companies.Last year, former Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that the privatisation of Channel 4 was “needed” in order for it to “compete with the streaming giants”.“Without [more money], Channel 4 won’t have the money to invest in technology and programming, and it won’t be able to compete with the streaming giants,” he said, according to Sky News.Earlier in the year Ricky Gervais spoke out against the potential sale of Channel 4, calling it “a real shame”.“For almost 40 years, Channel 4 has been a launch pad for new ideas and new talent,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s been able to do that because of its remit and not-for-profit structure and it would be a real shame if that was destroyed by selling off the channel.”Channel 4’s chief executive, Alex Mahon, revealed the news to staff on Monday (April 4): “We have been informed in the last hour that the government will shortly announce that the secretary of state has decided to proceed with the proposal to privatise Channel 4,” she wrote in an email.“In our engagement with the government during its extended period of reflection, we have proposed a vision for the next 40 years which we are confident would allow us to build on the successes of the first 40.

Channel 4 is to be privatised by the Tory government in a move set to spark furious backlash.

The UK government is pushing ahead with plans to privatize Channel 4.

Naman Ramachandran June Brown, who memorably played the role of Dot Cotton in long-running BBC soap “EastEnders,” died on Sunday. She was 95.Brown’s family said she died “very peacefully” at her home. A cause of death was not provided.An “EastEnders” spokesperson said: “There are not enough words to describe how much June was loved and adored by everyone at ‘EastEnders,’ her loving warmth, wit and great humor will never be forgotten.

Naman Ramachandran Veteran businessman Ian Cheshire has been appointed the next chair of U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, media regulator Ofcom revealed on Sunday. Cheshire will join the broadcaster’s board on Apr.

Despite heavy lobbying, the UK government has confirmed the closure of the £500M ($657M) Film & TV Production Restart Scheme at the end of this month.