Author: SKYNEWS

The fastest object ever built by humans will fly within a whisker of the sun today.The Parker Solar Probe will race past at 435,000mph as it studies the sun’s surface and atmosphere. That’s so fast it would cover the distance between London and New York in just 29 seconds.It has picked up such an extraordinary speed because it is being pulled in by immense gravitational forces.Now in its closest orbit yet, Parker will pass just 3.8 million miles above the sun’s surface. It will be within the corona, the super-heated outer atmosphere that’s visible from Earth as bright whisps during…

Actor Amber Heard has said social media is where lie becomes truth after Blake Lively accused co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment.In a legal complaint, Lively, 37, also claims 40-year-old Baldoni, the film’s director, and the studio behind the movie It Ends With Us embarked on a subsequent “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation.The complaint stated Baldoni retained PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan, the same woman Johnny Depp hired during his high-profile defamation trial against ex-wife Heard.In a statement given to Sky News’s US partner NBC News, Heard said: “Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘a…

Japanese car giants, Honda and Nissan, have announced plans to merge. That would make them the third largest car maker by sales. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding, which would also include the smaller Nissan Alliance member, Mitsubishi Motors, in the talks on integration.Japan’s car makers have struggled to match their big rivals in electric vehicles (EVs) and are trying to cut costs.If the merger is finalised it could result in a company worth more than 50 billion dollars (£39.77bn) based on the market capitalisation of all three car makers. Honda would initially lead the…

A “blob-headed” fish and a semi-aquatic mouse are among 27 newly discovered species found in a remote region of the Amazon rainforest in Peru.Scientists also encountered a new species of dwarf squirrel, salamander and short-tailed fruit bat during their expedition to the remote forest of Alto Mayo, according to the findings published by Conservation International. The protected area in northern Peru is home to several ecosystems, indigenous territories and villages.Among the discoveries was a new species of spiny mouse, eight types of fish, 10 types of butterfly and two new dung beetles. The “blob-headed” fish that was found is “new…

Documents from actress Blake Lively’s legal complaint about her It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni claim to show how his PR team deliberately “planted pieces of how horrible Blake is to work with” in the press and on social media.The legal complaint, filed to the California Civil Rights Department on Friday, contains pages of text messages allegedly sent between Baldoni and his PR team. Lively, 37, claims that Baldoni, 40, who is also the director of the film, hired crisis PR management to engage in a “multi-tiered” plan to damage her reputation after she and her husband Ryan Reynolds,…

Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor, will join Rachel Reeves on a visit to China next month aimed at strengthening financial services trade ties between the two countries.Sky News has learnt that Mr Bailey and Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, will both accompany the chancellor on the January trip. Mr Bailey is expected to hold talks with Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China, although there was no confirmation of any meeting between them this weekend.The attendance of the Bank of England governor and City regulator’s boss underlines the importance that the summit,…

The Albanian government plans to block access to TikTok for a year after the killing of a 14-year-old boy led to concerns about social media’s influence on children.Prime Minister Edi Rama said the proposed ban will start early next year as he particularly blamed the video-sharing app for fuelling violence and bullying, especially among youths. The boy was stabbed to death last month, allegedly by a fellow pupil, with the incident reportedly taking place following an argument between the pair on social media.Chinese-owned TikTok says it has found no evidence that either of them had accounts on the platform.And it…

Presenter Fearne Cotton has said she is “healing well” and feeling “almost normal” weeks after having two benign tumours removed from her jaw.The TV, radio, and podcast host, 43, posted pictures of her scars on her Instagram page on Saturday. “The human body is incredible,” she wrote. “In less than three weeks you can barely notice where I had the tumour removed.”I feel almost normal. My ear is still quite numb and my face a little tender but other than that I’m feeling good.” Instagram This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To…

It would be easy to dismiss tabletop gaming as a “geeky” hobby played by young boys in the basements of their homes.For those who have never enjoyed the rush of playing a miniature wargame, it may come as a surprise that it is in fact a multi-billion-pound industry loved by people from all walks of life and is continuing to boom across the country. Tabletop gaming covers quite a lot of different things, including board games, card games, dice games, miniature war games, role-playing games and tile-based games.In this golden age of video games and comic book movies, experts say…

Tesla has recalled almost 700,000 of its electric vehicles because of an issue with the warning light on the tyre pressure monitoring system.Its warning light may not remain illuminated between drive cycles, failing to warn the driver of low tyre pressure and increasing the risk of a crash, the manufacturer said. The issue affects some Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck vehicles, Tesla added.It will be resolved through a free software update.Letters notifying owners of the affected cars are expected to be sent on 15 February next year. Read more:Incoming UK ambassador to US called ‘absolute moron’Two men charged over…