Author: SKYNEWS

A healthcare software company which helps medical professionals manage patient data has clinched a £10m-plus funding boost from a string of prominent technology investors.Sky News understands that Semble, formerly known as Heydoc, is close to announcing its largest funding round to date. Octopus Ventures and Mercia are backing Semble for the first time, while Smedvig Capital and Triple Point Ventures, both of which are existing investors, are also participating in the round, according to insiders.Launched in 2018, the company provides software to medical practitioners to help them overcome the administrative challenges posed by legacy technology systems.One source said that Semble…

A new pioneering Alzheimer’s drug has been rejected for widespread use in the NHS in England.The announcement comes as the UK’s medicines regulator said that donanemab could be licenced for use in the UK. However the health spending watchdog, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), said that it “does not currently demonstrate value for the NHS”.It is the second time a new Alzheimer’s treatment has been rejected by NICE in a matter of months.Manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, donanemab is a targeted antibody drug that slows down the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Along with another new…

A new interactive space – offering visitors hands-on access to over half a million creative objects – will open in east London next spring.V&A East Storehouse will open its doors on 31 May 2025, and will offer items spanning 5,000 years of history – from costumes belonging to Sir Elton John and the Sex Pistols, to Roman frescos and Mid-Century furniture, through to the journey of the iPhone and vintage football shirts. Image: The David Bowie Centre opens on 13 September 2025. Pic: Victoria And Albert Museum The vast warehouse space sits across four levels, and at 16,000 square meters…

Water companies across England and Wales are asking for bills to be made even higher than they first requested, with one company seeking an 84% hike.The biggest water company in the UK, Thames Water, is now looking for bills to rise 53% and cost £667 a year by 2029/30, according to figures published by water regulator Ofwat. It would make them the most expensive water bills in the country.The biggest rise – 84% – is sought by Southern Water.Of all eleven English and Welsh water and wastewater firms only one utility, Wessex Water, is not seeking even higher bills than…

A meteorite four times the size of Mount Everest may have helped life to thrive after it smashed into Earth, research suggests.The S2 meteorite crashed into our planet around 3.26 billion years ago and such impacts are usually considered disastrous for life. But experts suggest the conditions caused by the impact of the space rock, which had a diameter of 37-58km, might have caused certain life forms to bloom.”We think of impact events as being disastrous for life,” said Nadja Drabon, an early-Earth geologist and assistant professor in the department of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of Harvard…

Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing new sexual assault and rape accusations, including one that involves a 13-year-old girl.Five new civil lawsuits, obtained by Sky News’s US partner NBC News, were filed on Sunday in the Southern District of New York by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee. They include allegations the rapper, known as P Diddy, sexually assaulted or raped the claimants in separate incidents from 2000 to 2022.Two of the anonymous accusers are men and three are women, including one who alleged Combs raped her when she was 13 years old, according to the suits.Combs, 54, is also accused of drugging…

The prospects of a rescue deal being struck for a British hypersonic aviation pioneer appeared to recede this weekend when it emerged that talks with a Gulf-based state fund had stalled.Sky News has learnt that negotiations between Reaction Engines and the UAE’s Strategic Development Fund, the investment arm of the UAE’s Tawazun Council, about it anchoring a recapitalisation of the company have begun to falter. The reasons for the apparent breakdown in discussions with SDF were unclear on Sunday, although several people close to the situation said the situation was fluid and could be resolved.They added that Reaction Engines was…

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he underwent a heart procedure after a “sudden deterioration” in his health.The 64-year-old said a swim on holiday appeared to cause him difficulties using stairs, with symptoms worsening when he returned to the UK. Clarkson told The Sunday Times he felt “clammy”, a “tightness in my chest” and “pins and needles in my left arm”.The former Top Gear host said he went to see his doctor after hearing about Alex Salmond’s sudden death last weekend.He ended up going to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital via ambulance, but tests including an electrocardiogram (ECG) ruled out a heart attack.…

The amount of AI-generated child abuse images found on the internet is increasing at a “chilling” rate, according to a national watchdog.The Internet Watch Foundation deals with child abuse images online, removing hundreds of thousands every year. Now, it says artificial intelligence is making the work much harder.”I find it really chilling as it feels like we are at a tipping point,” said “Jeff”, a senior analyst at the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), who uses a fake name at work to protect his identity.In the last six months, Jeff and his team have dealt with more AI-generated child abuse images…

The health secretary has warned of “difficult and big choices” coming in the budget, as he refused to rule out freezing tax thresholds.Wes Streeting told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme the government “can’t fix 14 years in one budget” and there are lots of choices “we will have to make that we’d prefer not to have to”. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to prolong the freeze on income tax thresholds by two years to 2030 after the previous Conservative government froze them until 2028.Politics latest: Labour ‘can’t change 14 years in one budget’It means thresholds would not…