Author: SKYNEWS

Boohoo, the struggling online fashion retailer, has renamed itself Debenhams Group.The company, which has been locked in a battle with its largest shareholder Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group over direction and performance, announced a strategic review last year after the departure of chief executive John Lyttle. His successor Dan Finley said on Tuesday that a turnaround of Debenhams was now complete and the online department store’s updated business model now accounted for the majority of group profitability.Money latest: Airline refuses refund to nut allergy sufferer refused travelBoohoo acquired only the name and website operations from administrators after debt-laden Debenhams, which had…

British actress Simone Ashley says she believes the industry has “come a long way” in terms of diversifying – but says the process is ongoing.The Bridgerton and Sex Education star says that growing up she loved watching Hollywood royalty Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz and Anne Hathaway take on romcom leads. But the 29-year-old – who is of Indian Tamil descent and grew up in Surrey – says she never really saw people like her in those roles.Ashley told Sky News: “I always wanted to play a character like that.”So, when we got the script, I just jumped on it -…

UK drivers are “confused” by the country’s electric car transition, ministers are being warned.Although most drivers are not hostile towards electric vehicles (EVs), many are confused about what changes are coming and when, according to new research from the AA. In a survey of more than 14,000 AA members, 7% thought the government was banning the sale of used petrol and diesel cars.Around a third thought manual EVs exist, despite them all being automatic.More than one in five said they would never buy an EV. The government’s plan for increasing the number of electric vehicles being driven in the UK…

Donald Trump has not ruled out a recession in the United States this year, saying the world’s largest economy is in “transition” through his trade war.Financial markets have been spooked by the implications of his early trade fights involving the country’s nearest partners Canada and Mexico through on-off tariffs of up to 25%. China has also been targeted and the European Union could be next, from 2 April, when Mr Trump has promised to ramp up his “America first” ambitions.Money latest: The financial advice the over-50s would give their younger selvesThe recession question first cropped up a week ago when…

Brian James, founding member of The Damned, has died aged 70.The guitarist, who was part of the group’s original line-up, wrote the first UK punk single New Rose and helped the band create their debut album, 1977’s Damned Damned Damned. A spokesperson for record label Easy Action said: “I can confirm that Brian passed away peacefully yesterday with his family present.” Image: The Damned in 1978. Pic: Sheila Rock/Shutterstock James’ fellow band member, bassist Raymond “Captain Sensible” Burns, said in an Instagram post: “The riffmeister, Brian has gone – that final act that happens to us all, for most is…

The Australian prime minister has warned there is “worse to come” after a low tropical weather system brought heavy rain, strong winds and flooding to the country’s east coast.Anthony Albanese said the impacts of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred are already being felt across parts of Queensland and New South Wales, with the hours ahead expected to bring more downpours. “We must remain vigilant. This is a very serious weather event,” he said in an update on Saturday morning.”The impact will be serious and will intensify over coming hours and coming days. [It will] still bring strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and…

The bosses of the Premier League and English Football League (EFL) have held secret talks aimed at reviving an industry-wide deal ahead of the launch of the government’s new football watchdog.Sky News has learnt that Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, his EFL counterpart, Trevor Birch, and executives from clubs including Arsenal, Brentford, West Ham, Lincoln City, Norwich City and Preston North End met this week to discuss a wide-ranging football industry agreement. Sources said this weekend that the meeting represented a fresh attempt by the sport’s key players to reach a deal on financial redistribution, its annual calendar,…

A drill rapper turned TikTok wildlife presenter hopes to “bridge the gap” between young people and climate change.Growing up in Ladbroke Grove, west London, former music star TY was stabbed four times. He had fallen “into nonsense”, he says, but he always wanted something different for his life. Wildlife and the environment are his real passions. Nowadays, you are more likely to see TY with a boa constrictor clamping on to his arm in the Amazon, or letting a tarantula crawl across his hands.He tells Sky News he wants to help people “understand the severity of the planet right now”,…

The Australian prime minister has warned there is “worse to come” after a low tropical weather system brought heavy rain, strong winds and flooding to the country’s east coast.Anthony Albanese said the impacts of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred are already being felt across parts of Queensland and New South Wales, with the hours ahead expected to bring more downpours. “We must remain vigilant. This is a very serious weather event,” he said in an update on Saturday morning.”The impact will be serious and will intensify over coming hours and coming days. [It will] still bring strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and…

Fujitsu has agreed to begin talks with the UK government on contributing to compensation for victims of the Post Office scandal.Hundreds of sub-postmasters were falsely accused of stealing from their branches between 1999 and 2015. Fujitsu developed the faulty Horizon computer system responsible for erroneous shortfalls in accounting which led to wrongful convictions. They also supported the Post Office in its prosecutions.More than a year ago, Fujitsu boss Paul Patterson said the company had a “moral obligation” to contribute towards redress for victims.Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Mr Patterson today held a “positive and constructive” meeting in Japan – where…