Author: SKYNEWS

Ministers are to kick off the hunt for a new chair of the communications regulator as Lord Grade of Yarmouth prepares to bow out after a single term at the helm.Sky News has learnt that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) – which now leads oversight of Ofcom in Whitehall – is drawing up proposals to launch a recruitment process in the coming months. Lord Grade, the veteran broadcast executive who held senior posts at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, has served as Ofcom chair since May 2022.His four-year term is not due to end for another…

Dozens of enormous wildfires have erupted across Canada, already forcing 21,000 evacuations and spewing toxic smoke into the air.The provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan have both declared a state of emergency, as several separate blazes raged out of control. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is sending in the military to help move residents and fight fires in Manitoba, where 17,000 people have been forced to evacuate.Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called it the province’s largest such exodus in living memory.In Saskatchewan, where 4,000 people have fled their homes, the conditions are “as severe” as “anything that we have faced for quite…

Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges as he appeared in court in London.The British comedian and actor, from Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, was charged by post last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault. The charges relate to alleged incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.The 49-year-old, who has been living in the US, was flanked by two officers as he pleaded not guilty to all the charges at Southwark Crown Court today. Image: Russell Brand appears at Southwark Crown…

Dame Elizabeth Corley, the chair of asset management giant Schroders, is joining the board of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) – a move which puts her in a strong position to take the helm there in the coming years.Sky News has learnt that LSEG plans to announce later on Friday that Dame Elizabeth will become a non-executive director of the company. While there is no process under way to find a successor to Don Robert, who has chaired LSEG since May 2019, people close to the exchange-owner speculated that she would be an obvious candidate to do so.Money blog: Glastonbury…

The name Elon Musk is perhaps one of the most recognisable in the modern day.The richest man in the world is known for being the owner of various companies including electric vehicle maker Tesla and Space X, his takeover of social media company Twitter – which he renamed X – and, until most recently, his work within the US government. After nearly 130 days as head of the Department of Government Efficiency – known as DOGE for short – Musk announced he is leaving his role within Donald Trump’s administration.His work within the department and his close relationship with Mr…

Donald Trump has reduced the sentence of Larry Hoover Sr, a Chicago gang founder, after lobbying from controversial hip-hop artist Kanye West.On Wednesday, the sitting US president commuted the six life sentences that Hoover, founder of the Gangster Disciples (GDs), was serving following a 1998 conviction, Sky News’ US partner NBC News reported. It followed a campaign by West, now known as Ye, who has lobbied Mr Trump in the Oval Office over the release, it was reported. Image: Larry Hoover Sr. Pic: AP/Chicago Sun-Times Image: Kanye West speaking to Donald Trump during a 2018 Oval Office meeting. Pic: Reuters…

This is a huge decision by an obscure Manhattan court. President Trump’s core economic policy has just been comprehensively undermined, he has been undermined, and he will be seething.Beyond the upending of his policy agenda, the ruling will electrify the deepening schism between the administration and the judiciary, furthering the sense of constitutional crisis in this country. Donald Trump’s tariffs encapsulate his identity. They are the centrepiece of his economic platform. They are the tool with which he has tried to exert a sense of global authority. They are the levers in his “art of the deal”.👉 Follow Trump100 on…

Neanderthals may have made art just like modern humans do, researchers in Spain have said.The findings, published in the Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences journal, challenge existing assumptions that art began with homo sapiens. Researchers said a pebble excavated from central Spain in 2022 seemed to have been made to look like a face by having a painted dot where a nose would be – suggesting it may be an early artwork. Image: The pebble (left) and a close-up view of the fingerprint (right) seemingly painted on it. Pic: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences/Alvarez-Alonso, de Andres-Herrero, Diez-Herrero et al “It has gradually…

Sean “Diddy” Combs kidnapped a former aide at gunpoint to join him as he attempted to confront love rival rapper Kid Cudi, his sex-trafficking trial has been told.Capricorn Clark, who worked for the Bad Boy Records co-founder in different roles on and off for several years, told the court he banged on her door and told her: “Get dressed, we’re going to kill Mescudi.” Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, last week testified himself about the alleged incident in December 2011.Ms Clark became tearful a few times as she gave evidence – which marked the start of the…

Thames Water, the UK’s biggest water provider, has been hit by a record fine by regulator Ofwat. The company has been fined £122.7m following Ofwat’s “biggest and most complex” investigation. It follows two investigations related to Thames Water’s wastewater operations and dividend payouts.Of the total fine, £104.5m – 9% of Thames Water’s turnover – has been levied for breaches of wastewater rules – just below the maximum 10% of turnover that Ofwat could have applied.Money blog: Inside the booming one-bed flat market Image: Pic: istock Another £18.2m penalty will be paid for breaches of dividend payment rules.It is the first…