Silicon Valley Bank UK purchased for £1 by HSBC with plan to protect deposits

Silicon Valley Bank UK purchased for £1 by HSBC with plan to protect deposits
Silicon Valley Bank UK purchased for £1 by HSBC with plan to protect deposits
PM Images/Getty Images

(LONDON) — Silicon Valley Bank UK is being acquired by HSBC in a £1 deal that will protect deposits, the United Kingdom’s chancellor and HSBC said on Monday.

“This morning, the Government and the Bank of England facilitated a private sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said on Twitter. “Deposits will be protected, with no taxpayer support.”

The deal for the United Kingdom branch of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank comes as Washington considers how much help to extend to the U.S. institution, the 16th largest in the country.

After the bank failed on Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department, The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said they would make sure U.S. deposits were paid in full.

HSBC, which is headquartered in London, said in a statement that SVB UK had deposits totalling about £6.7 billion, or about $8 billion. The bank has loans totalling about £5.5 billion and had a pre-tax profit of about £88 billion in 2022.

HSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn said in a statement that the acquisition “makes excellent strategic sense.”

“It strengthens our commercial banking franchise and enhances our ability to serve innovative and fast-growing firms, including in the technology and life-science sectors, in the UK and internationally,” Quinn said.

Hunt, the U.K. finance minister, said, “I said yesterday that we would look after our tech sector, and we have worked urgently to deliver that promise.”

HSBC said it would update shareholders on the status of the acquisition in May.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Scoreboard roundup — 3/12/23

Scoreboard roundup — 3/12/23
Scoreboard roundup — 3/12/23
iStock

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Houston 5, Miami 1
Tampa Bay 10, NY Mets 4
Toronto 8, Philadelphia 3
San Francisco 4, Oakland 3
Oakland 8, San Diego 6

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 6, Boston 4
Detroit 8, Minnesota 7
Kansas City 7, Cleveland 6
Seattle 11, Texas 10
NY Yankees 3, Boston 3
LA Angels 1, Chicago White Sox 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 5, Washington 1
Atlanta 11, Pittsburgh 3
Milwaukee 5, Chicago Cubs 3
LA Dodgers 8, Cincinnati 1
Arizona 10, Colorado 9

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Cleveland 114, Charlotte 108
Philadelphia 112, Washington 93
Oklahoma City 102, San Antonio 90
New Orleans 127, Portland 110
New York 112, LA Lakers 108
Brooklyn 122, Denver 120

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Detroit 5, Boston 3
Pittsburgh 3, NY Rangers 2 (OT)
New Jersey 3, Carolina 0
Vegas 5, St. Louis 3
Winnipeg 3, Tampa Bay 2
Calgary 5, Ottawa 1
Nashville 5, Anaheim 4 (OT)
Arizona 5, Minnesota 4 (OT)

TOP 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Memphis 75, (1)Houston 65
(4)Alabama 82, (18)Texas A&M 63
(5)Purdue 67, Penn St. 65

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Los Angeles FC 4, New England 0

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

When it comes to inspirational hits, there’s “Standing Room Only” for Tim McGraw

When it comes to inspirational hits, there’s “Standing Room Only” for Tim McGraw
When it comes to inspirational hits, there’s “Standing Room Only” for Tim McGraw
Big Machine

Tim McGraw‘s new single, “Standing Room Only,” arrived Friday, just the latest in his string of inspirational hits like “Humble and Kind,” “Live Like You Were Dying” and “I Called Mama.”

So does the superstar set out to find life-affirming tunes with a message?

“I certainly try to find songs that I can find some deeper meaning in, and songs that can have a sort of a wide view in ’em,” he reflects. “But no, I don’t look for songs like that in particular, like sort of family/home/mama.”

“But maybe subconsciously I gravitate to ’em,” he admits. “Maybe they find me, I don’t know. I guess I’ve done enough of those kinds of songs throughout my career, certainly about life…  I’ve done enough of those now that probably I get more sent to me maybe than average. So maybe I run across ’em more often.”

Tim confesses some of his favorite finds don’t always work out for him. 

“I really try to find great songs,” he says. “And there’s plenty of great songs that I find that go on to find better homes than they woulda had with me that you’ll never hear that I’ve tried that didn’t work out.”

Craig Wiseman — the man behind “Live Like You Were Dying” — also co-wrote “Standing Room Only.”

It’s the title track of Tim’s 17th studio album, due later this year.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

‘Scream VI’ scares up #1 debut with $44 million at the box office

‘Scream VI’ scares up #1 debut with  million at the box office
‘Scream VI’ scares up #1 debut with  million at the box office
Paramount Pictures

Scream VI knocked out Creed III for the weekend box office’s top spot.

The Scream franchise’s sixth installment scared up $44.5 million in the domestic box office, which is an improvement over how the series’ fifth offering fared during its 2022 domestic debut. Scream V earned $30 million in its opening week. Overseas, the new film amassed an additional $22.6 million in ticket sales, which boosted its overall haul to $67.1 million. Scream VI sees the return of Courteney CoxJenna OrtegaHayden Panettiere and Melissa Barrera.

Falling to second place was Creed III, which is in its second week in the box office. The Michael B. Jordan film earned $27.1 million, which is a 53 percent decline from its opening numbers. Despite that, the film has surpassed the $100 million mark after factoring in its overseas totals. The movie has made $179 million in the global box office.

Landing in third place was 65 with a modest $12.3 million debut. The film, which stars Adam Driver as a futuristic pilot who crash lands on an unknown, primitive planet, was filmed on a $45 million budget.

Rounding out the top five was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Cocaine Bear, with a respective $7 million and $6.2 million global haul in the box office.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

QotSA’s Michael Shuman reflects on working with Mark Ronson on ‘Villains’ album

QotSA’s Michael Shuman reflects on working with Mark Ronson on ‘Villains’ album
QotSA’s Michael Shuman reflects on working with Mark Ronson on ‘Villains’ album
ABC Audio

As the wait for new Queens of the Stone Age music continues, we’ll see if the “No One Knows” outfit picks another unexpected producer this time around.

The group’s last album, 2017’s Villains, was produced by Mark Ronson, who’s known for his work with artists including Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse. If you ask bassist Michael Shuman, you can thank him for recruiting such a surprising collaborator.

“I think the argument’s still in play, but I’m pretty sure it was my idea to bring [Ronson] in to do something different for us,” Shuman tells ABC Audio.

As different as Ronson’s style may seem to be from QotSA’s, Shuman felt that the producer’s approach to working with the band helped bridge that sonic gap.

“‘I want you guys to make the record that feels like my favorite Queens record,'” Shuman recalls Ronson telling him. “I thought that was a great way to come in. He didn’t try and change us or make us do things that are out of our comfort zone too much, he just wanted to make sure that we were making the best Queens of the Stone Age record, and I thought that was a brilliant way to produce.”

While new music remains unannounced, Queens seems to be ramping up again, having announced festival sets for this year.

“There’s stuff coming,” Shuman teases. “We’ve started to announce a bunch of festivals for the summer, so if that’s any indication — without saying too much — that things are coming.”

Shuman, meanwhile, recently released a new EP, My Demons, with his solo project, GLU.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

“Naatu Naatu!” At Oscars, Lady Gaga and Rihanna lose out to Indian-language dance tune

“Naatu Naatu!” At Oscars, Lady Gaga and Rihanna lose out to Indian-language dance tune
“Naatu Naatu!” At Oscars, Lady Gaga and Rihanna lose out to Indian-language dance tune
ABC

While Lady Gaga and Rihanna are multiple Grammy winners, their star power wasn’t enough to bring either of them an Oscar for Best Original Song Sunday night.

Gaga and Rih were each nominated for co-writing songs for, respectively, Top Gun: Maverick and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but the Oscar went to “Naatu Naatu,” the first song from an Indian film ever to be nominated. The performance of the song on the Oscars telecast was the only one to earn a standing ovation Sunday night.

Still, both Gaga and Rihanna’s performances were memorable. Gaga performed her song, “Hold My Hand,” as simply as possible: She wore a black t-shirt and ripped black jeans and no makeup, and sang while sitting on a stool.

Gaga didn’t spare the glam on the carpet, though: She wore dramatic dark makeup and an updo, along with a sheer black dress that Gigi Hadid had just worn on the Versace runaway, People reported. The dress dipped low in the back, partially exposing her butt. 

Rihanna, meanwhile, kept it glamorous the whole night. For her performance of “Lift Me Up,” the pregnant singer wore layered diamond necklaces and diamond drop earrings, and partially concealed her baby bump under a curtain of sparkling crystals that hung off of her black bra top. Long black leather gloves and black pants completed her look, which was custom-made for her by Maison Margiela by John Galliano, reports Harper’s Bazaar.

On the red carpet, the mother-of-two-to-be wore an Alaïa leather band dress over a sheer mesh bodysuit, which also showed off her bump.

The other nominees were Diane Warren, going 0 for 14 in this category with her song “Applause,” and rocker David Byrne, who co-wrote “This Is a Life” for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jim Jones talks about rap career, says Drake is the G.O.A.T.

Jim Jones talks about rap career, says Drake is the G.O.A.T.
Jim Jones talks about rap career, says Drake is the G.O.A.T.
Matthew Eisman/Getty Images

Jim Jones has been in the rap game so long that he feels like he’s in his third career. After coming out with Cam’ron and then with The Diplomats, he embarked on his solo journey and hasn’t stopped since. Yet, he tells Complex, “I feel better than I ever felt musically, spiritually, mentally, and physically. I feel better than I felt when I was 22.”

To keep himself current, Jim says he perseveres and recreates himself every decade. The fact that he’s still living means he’ll “have something to talk about” in his music. “The more you see, the more you want to do and tap into your creative spirit,” the rapper says. He notes that “keeping a sound mind,” “not being stuck on yesterday” and learning from the young artists he’s advised have helped to “keep me here and keeps me sane.” 

Jim adds he’s not sure about retirement, noting he’d be “able to do music forever if I wanted to.” In fact, he just released his new album, Back on My Prime, exclusively produced by Hitmaka.

According to Jim, Hitmaka is “one of the few closer friends that I have in this industry,” along with Takeoff, who he remembers as a “very special individual” with “a big heart.” When it comes to Drake, however, Jim sees the rapper as family. “Drake is Young Money, Young Money is Dipset,” he says. “It’s one big family.”

Jim also reflected on joining Drake during his sold-out show at the Apollo Theater in January. “It was dope. He gave [Dipset] our flowers that a lot of people don’t give us. That we deserve. So, I really tip my hat to him,” he said.

He called Drake “the greatest of all time.”

 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Official ‘The Little Mermaid’ live-action trailer shows Ariel’s first meeting with Prince Eric

Official ‘The Little Mermaid’ live-action trailer shows Ariel’s first meeting with Prince Eric
Official ‘The Little Mermaid’ live-action trailer shows Ariel’s first meeting with Prince Eric
Walt Disney Pictures

The new, official trailer for the live-action film The Little Mermaid is finally here.

The trailer debuted during Sunday night’s Oscars televised broadcast and featured actress Halle Bailey as Ariel. The clip begins with her fateful first meeting with Jonah Hauer-King‘s Prince Eric, whom she saves from drowning.

The scene plays out nearly identically to the 1989 animated film, with her bringing Prince Eric to safety and him slowly opening his eyes to a blurry vision of Ariel. Unfortunately, he is unable to catch a clear glimpse of her face before she retreats.  

The trailer features plenty of scenes that mirror the animated classic, including the visually stunning moment Ariel finishes singing “Part of Your World” as a wave splashes behind her.

The trailer also highlights the rest of the cast, including a bigger but fleeting glimpse of Ursula, the antagonist played by Melissa McCarthy. The clip obscures most of what McCarthy looks like while playing out the moment Ariel trades her voice for a pair of legs so she can try to win Prince Eric’s heart. 

Other characters featured or making their first full appearance include Sebastian the crab, voiced by Daveed Diggs, Scuttle the seagull, voiced by Awkwafina, and Flounder the tropical fish, who is voiced by Jacob Tremblay. Fans also get to see Javier Bardem as a burly King Triton, who is seen angrily lecturing Ariel about her fascination with the human world and expressing his distrust of humans.

The Little Mermaid swims into theaters on May 26, 2023.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Peter Gabriel on releasing new music: “I may just keep going”

Peter Gabriel on releasing new music: “I may just keep going”
Peter Gabriel on releasing new music: “I may just keep going”
C Brandon/Redferns

Peter Gabriel is set to release i/o, his first new album in over 20 years, sometime in 2023. But until then, fans will be getting a new song with each new moon, which is far from a conventional approach to releasing an album. 

“I’m an awkward sod. I like doing things differently, if I can,” he tells Uncut magazine in a new interview. “I’m 72. At this point, it doesn’t matter what other people say. I listen, still, to people who I think are wise and smart and have good taste. Generally, though, I’ll end up doing what I think will be either fun or interesting.”

So far Gabriel has released three tracks from i/o: the lead single, “Panopticom,” along with “Playing for Time” and “The Court (Dark-Side remix).” It sounds like he has plenty more to share. 

Gabriel says he has a “surplus” of material just waiting for release, explaining “there’s probably 20 or so new things.”

“So I’ll see where we get to with those,” he says. “If I have the stamina, I may just keep going.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jason Mraz is turning ‘Live with Kelly & Ryan’ post-Oscars show into a dance party

Jason Mraz is turning ‘Live with Kelly & Ryan’ post-Oscars show into a dance party
Jason Mraz is turning ‘Live with Kelly & Ryan’ post-Oscars show into a dance party
BMG

Jason Mraz will be the musical guest on Monday morning’s After Oscar edition of Live with Kelly & Ryan, airing live from the stage of the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars will take place Sunday night. He’ll be performing his latest hit “I Feel Like Dancing” and tells ABC Audio it’s going to be quite the big production.

“I’ll have my fantastic band, we’ll be playing live,” he says. “And we have, I think, up to 10 dancers that are joining us from the music video, and maybe a few new ones to help us fill up the stage — maybe even create a little narrative where we dance around the venue a little bit.”

Jason says he appreciates invitations to perform at events like this, especially after doing this for 20-odd years.

“I’m honored to be at the Kodak Theater in front of a live audience at 6 a.m.,” he laughs. “But [I’m] honored to still be given the shot to be featured. You know, there’s only a billion artists out there. So [I’m] grateful that I’m still eligible for entertaining.”

“I Feel Like Dancing” is from Jason’s upcoming album, Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride, due out June 23. It marks his return to pop music and reunites him with the producer of his 2008 album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., which includes his signature hit “I’m Yours.”

In addition to Jason’s performance, Kelly and Ryan’s special After Oscar Show will also feature interviews with all the winners from Sunday night’s Oscars, as well as red carpet fashion commentary from Carson Kressley.

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