Author: SKYNEWS

The Who’s drummer Zak Starkey has been sacked by the band, marking the second time he has left in the past month.The band’s guitarist Pete Townshend made a statement on Instagram on Sunday, saying: “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change. “A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”The announcement comes weeks before the iconic British rock group’s farewell tour.In response, Starkey, who had been a band member since 1996, said in an Instagram post he would “never have quit” and…

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has told bank bosses she is “open-minded” about reforming the industry’s ring-fencing regime amid a concerted push to abolish the most significant regulatory burden introduced after the financial crisis.Sky News has seen a letter sent last week by Ms Reeves to the chief executives of a quartet of Britain’s biggest banks, in which she acknowledges their view that adjustments to ring-fencing – which creates a firewall between groups’ investment banking and retail operations – “have not gone far enough”. “As I have said previously, I am open-aminded about the case for further reform,” the chancellor told…

A music video-streaming service whose shareholders include the U2 bassist Adam Clayton will this week announce that it has sealed a management buyout after months of talks.Sky News understands that the assets of MagicWorks, which trades as ROXi, have been sold to a new company called FastStream Interactive (FSI), with backing from two major US-based broadcasters. Sources said that Nasdaq-listed Sinclair and New York Stock Exchange-listed Gray Media were among the new shareholders in FSI, with the launch of new interactive TV Channels in the US expected to take place shortly.The deal, which has involved raising millions of pounds of…

TikTok will now show teenagers guided meditation sessions if they’re scrolling past 10pm. It is part of the company’s attempt to mitigate some of the mental health problems associated with social media, as Big Tech faces increasing pressure to prioritise young people. Now, if a teenager uses TikTok after 10pm, their feed will be interrupted by a meditation exercise aimed at promoting better sleep.If they choose to ignore that prompt, TikTok will later show a second, full-screen prompt that is harder to dismiss.It will also be available to adults using the short video app, but will be switched on by default…

Adele, the Grammy award-winning artist, has joined the list of music superstars investing in Audoo, a music technology company which helps artists to receive fairer royalty payments.Sky News has learnt that the British musician and Adam Clayton, the U2 bassist, have injected money into Audoo as part of a £7m funding round. The pair join Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus as shareholders in the company.Changes to Audoo’s share register were filed at Companies House in recent days.Audoo, which was established by former musician Ryan Edwards, is trying to address the perennial issue of public performance…

A second man has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent after an incident at a London nightclub that allegedly involved US singer Chris Brown.The Metropolitan Police said Omololu Akinlolu, 38, will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday. Better known by his stage name HoodyBaby, the American rapper has been charged in connection with an alleged assault at the Tape nightclub in central London in February 2023.Brown, 36, was charged on Thursday with grievous bodily harm with intent and was remanded in custody by judge in Manchester until 13 June.He is accused of attacking music producer Abraham Diaw…

A baby born with a rare genetic disease is “growing and thriving” after getting bespoke gene therapy.It’s the first time anyone in the world has been given an experimental gene-editing treatment designed specifically for their disease and took scientists just seven months to develop. Nine-and-a-half-month-old KJ Muldoon, from Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, has a rare metabolic condition – known as severe carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 (CPS1) deficiency – that meant he has spent the first months of his life in a US hospital on a very restrictive diet.In February, however, the boy received the first dose of his bespoke treatment and…

Quintessentially, the luxury concierge service founded by the Queen’s nephew, is in talks to find a buyer months after it warned of “material uncertainty” over its future.Sky News has learned that the company, which was set up by Sir Ben Elliot and his business partners in 1999, is working with advisers on a process aimed at finding a new owner or investors. City sources said this weekend that Quintessentially was already in discussions with prospective buyers and was anticipating receipt of a number of firm offers.Sir Ben, the former Conservative Party co-chairman under Boris Johnson, owns a significant minority stake…

Singer Cassie is the key witness in the prosecution’s case against Sean “Diddy” Combs.The pair were in an on-off relationship for about 11 years, from 2007 to 2018, after she signed to his label, Bad Boy Records. She has alleged she was physically, sexually and mentally abused by Combs for most of this time, accusing him of forcing her into “hundreds” of drug-fuelled sex sessions with male escorts, known as “freak offs”, while he watched.But his lawyers argue the singer, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, was a willing participant who consented to a “swingers lifestyle”.Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Week…

Scientists have discovered key differences under the moon’s surface that may explain why its two hemispheres look so different.The moon’s near side, the side visible to Earth, is dark and covered in the remnants of ancient lava flows. Its far side, which we can’t see from Earth, is rugged and rocky.Scientists have long suspected the differences could be explained by what’s inside the moon but until now, couldn’t prove it.”We found that the moon’s near side is flexing more than the far side, meaning there’s something fundamentally different about the internal structure of the moon’s near side compared to its…