All posts tagged: FourYear

Writers Guild Ratifies Four-Year Contract Deal With Studios

Writers Guild Ratifies Four-Year Contract Deal With Studios

Published by Daniella Wilson

Members of the Writers Guild of America gave the green light on Friday to a four-year deal with studios and streamers that will stem the bleeding of the union’s ailing health plan. The atypically long pact, which injects $321 million into the plan, was supported by slightly more than 90 percent of members and rejected by 9.6 percent in a ratification vote. “In the face of industry contraction and runaway healthcare cost inflation, writers were able to secure a contract that returns our Health Fund to a sustainable path and builds on gains from the 2023 strike,” WGA West president Michele Mulroney said in a statement as she thanked everyone involved in the process. The results arrived after union negotiators sought to convince members that trading a shorter deal for the largest-ever boost to annual health funding in the union’s history was a worthy bargain. “Agreeing to a four-year deal this time allowed us to get more and new funding for the health plan than we’ve actually ever gotten before,” the co-chair of the WGA’s …

Writers Guild Ratifies Four-Year Contract Deal With Studios

Writers Guild Reaches Tentative Four-Year Deal With Studios

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Writers Guild of America has reached a tentative four-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers group representing studios and streamers, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. On Saturday, Puck reporter Matt Belloni reported on the agreement, saying it adds one more year to the WGA’s usual three-year deal and that it includes “Health plan/pension increases, SVOD bumps [and] protection to police licensing for AI training.” THR understands from a source close to the discussions that those details are accurate.  A tentative deal still is subject to a ratification vote by members. Before talks began, the guild outlined its negotiation priorities for a new contract, including bolstering the union’s health plan, increasing AI protections and improving compensation. As THR has previously reported, the WGA’s health fund cumulatively lost $122 million in 2023 and 2024, according to tax returns, as a decline in Hollywood work and general health care inflation took their tolls. The union also sought to secure more protections against AI. Though the protections the WGA enshrined in its contract in …

Doc Martin star Martin Clunes loses four-year planning battle over traveller site

Doc Martin star Martin Clunes loses four-year planning battle over traveller site

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Doc Martin star Martin Clunes has lost his four-year planning dispute to prevent a permanent Travellers’ site from being established adjacent to his Dorset home. The Wuthering Heights actor, alongside several neighbours in Beaminster, had vocally opposed the proposals put forward by Theo Langton and Ruth McGill. The couple, who have resided in a 45ft by 16ft (13.7m by 4.9m) mobile home on their own land at Meerhay for a quarter of a century, had sought official planning permission to establish their permanent residency. Initially, officers at Dorset Council had recommended the plans for approval when they were first presented to its western and southern area planning committee in April 2025. However, the decision was subsequently deferred following significant concerns regarding the potential risk of flooding at the proposed site. A comprehensive flood risk assessment was then conducted, which ultimately concluded that any risk of …

Farmers mental health four-year low as 47 take own lives in year | Politics | News

Farmers mental health four-year low as 47 take own lives in year | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

Mental health at four-year low for farmers (Image: Getty) Farmers’ mental health is at its lowest level in four years as shocking figures reveal 47 people working in the sector took their own lives in a single year. The devastating toll, a 7% increase from 2022, has prompted a charity to launch an urgent suicide prevention campaign this week Research shows that mental health for British farmers has fallen behind the rest of the country with those over 40-years-old hitting a four year low. And the wellbeing of farmers more than 61 years of age has seen the biggest fall. Victoria Atkins, the Conservative Shadow Environment Secretary, told the Express: “Farming is not a job, it is a way of life – there is no such thing as a four-day week or sick leave in farming. Farmers have been put under enormous pressure by the bad decisions of this Labour Government – from the vindictive family farm tax, to the overnight closure of farming payments, to mindless and costly red tape. She added: “This government …

‘Finally, a renter’s market’: L.A. rent prices drop to four-year low

‘Finally, a renter’s market’: L.A. rent prices drop to four-year low

Published by Sam Flores

Sandra Gomez braced for impact as she opened the lease renewal offer for her East L.A. apartment in September. She paid $2,000 for the last 12 months, but since the unit wasn’t covered by L.A.’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, her landlord could jack up the price for the next lease. The new price? $1,950. “I thought it was a mistake,” Gomez said. “Since when does rent get cheaper in L.A.?” For years, L.A. has been one of the costliest cities in the country for renters. Annual price hikes seemed inevitable, and finding the perfect apartment felt more like a competitive sport. But data suggest that the market could be ever so slightly shifting. The median rent in the L.A. metro area dropped to $2,167 in December — the lowest price in four years, according to data from Apartment List that analyze new leases for one- and two-bedroom apartments in a given month. The median rent for L.A. County also dropped to a four-year low of $2,035. The last time L.A. rents were that low was January …

California lawmaker proposes a four-year ban on AI chatbots in kid’s toys

California lawmaker proposes a four-year ban on AI chatbots in kid’s toys

Published by skeptic

Senator Steve Padilla (D-CA) introduced a bill on Monday that would place a four-year ban on the sale and manufacture of toys with AI chatbot capabilities for kids under 18. The goal is to give safety regulators time to develop regulations to protect children from “dangerous AI interactions.” “Chatbots and other AI tools may become integral parts of our lives in the future, but the dangers they pose now require us to take bold action to protect our children,” Senator Padilla said in a statement. “Our safety regulations around this kind of technology are in their infancy and will need to grow as exponentially as the capabilities of this technology do. Pausing the sale of these chatbot-integrated toys allows us time to craft the appropriate safety guidelines and framework for these toys to follow.” The bill, dubbed SB 287, comes in the wake of President Trump’s recent executive order directing federal agencies to challenge state AI laws in court — though the order explicitly carves out exceptions for state laws related to child safety. The legislation …

BTS Announces March Comeback Date, Putting an End to a Nearly Four-Year Hiatus

BTS Announces March Comeback Date, Putting an End to a Nearly Four-Year Hiatus

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (AP) — They’re going to light up 2026 like dynamite: K-pop group BTS’ comeback has an official date. According to a note shared to social media by the entertainment company BigHit Music, the mega popular group will return on March 20. That’s after a nearly four-year hiatus, as all seven members of BTS — RM, Jin, Jimin, V, Suga, Jung Kook and j-hope — completed South Korea’s mandatory military service. “March 20th comeback confirmed,” BigHit Music wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Rapper Suga was the last group member to be released — from his duties as a social service agent, an alternative to serving in the military that he reportedly chose due to a shoulder injury. That was in June 2025. The six others, RM, V, Jimin, Jung Kook, Jin and j-hope, served in the army. BTS tiered their enlistments, giving ample time for its members to focus on solo projects while the group was on a break. Last summer, the group teased a world tour and announced that a new album would …