Author: SKYNEWS

The cobbled streets of Newport in Middlesbrough survive from the Victorian era.The staggering levels of child poverty here also feel like they belong in a different time. Six out of every seven children in Newport are classified as living in poverty. Image: Six out of every seven children in Newport are classified as living in poverty The measure is defined by the Child Poverty Action Group as a household with an income less than 60% of the national average.More than half of children across the whole of the constituency of Middlesbrough and Thornaby East are growing up in poverty. As…

The Pope met with film stars and directors at a special Vatican audience to celebrate cinema.Welcoming dozens of Hollywood icons – including Spike Lee, Cate Blanchett, and Greta Gerwig, among others – to an audience hall, Leo XIV called film “a popular art in the noblest sense, intended for and accessible to all”. The Vatican’s culture ministry organised the occasion as part of its efforts to reach out to the secular world. Image: Pics: AP “When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges,” the Pope, who was elected earlier this year after the death of Pope Francis,…

Brazil was “a bit surprised” Britain hasn’t contributed to a new investment fund to protect tropical forests, despite having helped to design it, a senior official has told Sky News. The Amazon nation has used its role as host of the COP30 climate talks to tout its new scheme, which it drew up with the help of countries including the UK and Indonesia. With Britain’s budget day looming, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer decided against chipping in when he visited the Amazonian city of Belem this month.The news came out the day before Brazil was about to launch it.”The Brazilians were…

The future ownership of the Daily Telegraph has been plunged back into crisis after RedBird Capital Partners abandoned its proposed £500m takeover.Sky News has learnt that a consortium led by RedBird and including the UAE-based investor IMI has formally withdrawn its offer to buy the right-leaning newspaper titles. In a statement issued to Sky News, a RedBird Capital Partners spokesman confirmed: “RedBird has today withdrawn its bid for the Telegraph Media Group.”We remain fully confident that the Telegraph and its world-class team have a bright future ahead of them and we will work hard to help secure a solution which…

Three Chinese astronauts have successfully returned to Earth from their nation’s space station after their capsule was damaged.The team deployed a red and white striped parachute as they descended, before landing at a remote site in the Gobi Desert in Asia on Friday. The astronauts – Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie – had been due to return on 5 November to end their six-month rotation at the Tiangong space station. Image: Astronaut Chen Zhongrui. Pics: AP However, their journey back was delayed by nine days because the Shenzhou-20 return capsule they were due to travel in was found…

George Osborne, the former chancellor, has emerged as a shock contender to become the next chairman of HSBC Holdings, one of the world’s top banking jobs.Sky News can exclusively reveal that Mr Osborne, who was chancellor from 2010 until 2016, was approached during the summer about becoming the successor to Sir Mark Tucker. This weekend, City sources said that Mr Osborne was one of three remaining candidates in the frame to take on the chairmanship of the London-headquartered lender.Naguib Kheraj, the City veteran who was previously finance director of Barclays and deputy chairman of Standard Chartered, is also in contention.The…

Video footage has shown the moment singer and actress Ariana Grande was accosted by a fan at a film premiere.Grande was in Singapore for the debut of Wicked: For Good when the incident unfolded on Thursday. The video captured the moment the fan scaled the barricade and pushed past photographers towards Grande. Image: Pic: tacotrvck_vb/X/via REUTERS He then threw his arms around her, before co-star Cynthia Erivo intervened and security swoops in to stop him.The man, now identified as Johnson Wen, 26, is reportedly a notorious red carpet crasher. Wen, who has since been charged with being a public nuisance,…

Blue Origin has launched its huge New Glenn rocket with two spacecraft on board destined for Mars, as the firm makes a major step forward in its race against Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Saturday Night Live UK has announced its top creative team ahead of the series launching next year.An American pop culture institution, SNL launched the careers of stars including Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Eddie Murphy, Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell – and now a “new generation” of British comedians is set to be cast in the first UK spin-off on Sky. While the show’s stars are yet to be revealed, details of the creative team behind it have now been announced. Image: Kim Kardashian hosted the show in 2021. Pic: Sky UK/NBC Two-time Emmy winner James Longman will serve as lead…

The UK’s economic slowdown gathered further momentum during the third quarter of the year with growth of just 0.1%, according to an early official estimate that makes horrific reading for the chancellor.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a surprise contraction for economic output during September of -0.1% – with some of the downwards pressure being applied by the cyber attack disruption to production at Jaguar Land Rover. The figures for July-September followed on the back of a 0.3% growth performance over the previous three months and the 0.7% expansion achieved between January and March.Money latest: The £110 benefit 1.1…