Author: SKYNEWS

Comedian Elaine C Smith has grazed cattle on Glasgow Green – a right that comes with being awarded the Freedom of Glasgow. The city’s highest honour, which she is one of the few women to receive, also allows her to fish in the River Clyde. The Rab C Nesbitt and Two Doors Down star said it was “quite the honour” to be granted the award in recognition of her contribution to the arts and her embodiment as an advocate for women’s rights and values.The official civic reception will take place on Friday, on the eve of International Women’s Day.Smith exercised some of her…

Scientists have discovered how aspirin may stop some cancers from spreading, describing it as a “Eureka moment”.The new research builds on existing evidence suggesting aspirin supports a boost in the immune system to help catch deadly cancer cells. Clinical trials in cancer patients, examining how aspirin could stop the disease coming back, are ongoing – but experts warn against routinely taking aspirin without speaking to a doctor.The new research suggests a path for aspirin to become a cancer treatment, alongside the development of more effective drugs to prevent cancer spreading.Researchers screened 810 genes in mice and found 15 that impact…

Barclays is expected to pay millions in compensation for recent IT outages which prevented customers from banking, a new letter to MPs has revealed.The lender said it expects to pay between £5m and £7.5m in compensation to customers for “inconvenience or distress” caused by days of disruption earlier this year, the influential Treasury Committee of MPs said. The glitch began at the end of January and lasted several days.Money blog: Tourists banned from driving in Spanish townThis was caused by “severe degradation” in the performance of their mainframe computer, a large computer used by big organisations for bulk data processing.…

Sky News has won News Channel of the Year and Sophy Ridge has been named Presenter of the Year at the Royal Television Society (RTS) Awards.Speaking about the News Channel of the Year award – which Sky News has won for the eighth year in a row – Jonathan Levy, Managing Director and Executive Editor of Sky News UK, said: “The recognition of this award is particularly encouraging in such a big news year – a general election and a summer of discontent here at home, the re-election of Donald Trump and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East…

Scientists trying to bring back the woolly mammoth have created a woolly mouse.Colossal Biosciences unveiled plans in 2021 to revive the woolly mammoth – and later the dodo bird – attracting investors, headlines and critics alike. The Texas-based biotech company has since focused on identifying the key traits of extinct animals with the goal of genetically engineering them into living animals, according to chief executive Ben Lamm.Read more: Why ‘de-extincting’ the mammoth won’t be like Jurassic Park Image: Pic: Colossal Biosciences/AP Alongside bringing back species that went extinct, the company hopes their work can be used to help with conservation…

Several billion pounds in spending cuts – including from the welfare budget – are expected in the spring statement later this month.The Treasury will put forward the proposed cuts to the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) on Wednesday, ahead of it providing a financial forecast on 26 March, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing her spring statement. Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates revealed on the Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast that welfare cuts are set to be part of the spring statement package to help the chancellor come within her borrowing limit.Politics latest: Ministers to make ‘blizzard of announcements’Coates…

Jay-Z has sued the woman who accused him of raping her, in a now-withdrawn complaint.Sky News’ US partner NBC News reported the 55-year-old music mogul had launched a defamation lawsuit against the woman. The American rapper reportedly said the woman and the lawyers representing her “were soullessly motivated by greed, in abject disregard of the truth” and alleged that they caused harm to his personal and professional reputation.Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, is reported to have filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Alabama, where the woman, referred to in the lawsuit only as “Jane Doe”, lives.The…

Warning: This article contains descriptions and animations of domestic abuse Sitting on the sofa over the Christmas break scrolling through social media, an advert popped up that made my bored thumb pause for a second. Picture this: a cartoon woman is sitting down, cutting her toenails when a man, presumed to be her partner, jumps up from behind her and throws a bucket of dust over her. Laughter ensues, the man clearly happy with the prank.But that “dust” he threw over her was her dad’s ashes.She runs to a salon for a “makeover”, upset, where she washes her father’s ashes…

Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have come into effect, as has an additional 10% on Chinese products, bringing the total import tax to 20%. The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US and European stocks down sharply. The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in…

Renowned Scottish painter Jack Vettriano has died at the age of 73, his publicist has said.The artist was found dead at his apartment in Nice, in the south of France, on Saturday.It is understood there are no suspicious circumstances around his death. Image: Pic: Neil Hanna/PA Image: The Singing Butler became a best-selling image in Britain. Pic: PA Vettriano was born Jack Hoggan on 17 November 1951 in Methil, Fife.He left school at the age of 15 to become a mining engineer but took up painting after a girlfriend gifted him a box of watercolours for his 21st birthday.The self-taught…