Author: SKYNEWS

A new warning system has been launched to monitor donated blood as fears grow of newly emerging viruses potentially reaching the UK.Health experts fear some diseases that are not currently present in the UK could pose a threat in the future due to climate change. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) researchers will examine samples taken from blood donors for tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), West Nile virus and Usutu virus.No human cases of Usutu or West Nile viruses contracted in the UK have been identified.But Usutu has been found in birds in the UK and mosquitos that can spread West Nile…

The leader of a church in New York where pop star Sabrina Carpenter filmed a provocative music video has been relieved of his duties.An investigation into Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Brooklyn was launched after he gave permission for US singer Carpenter to film the video to her hit song, Feather, last year. Mr Gigantiello has now been stripped of any oversight or governance role, after an investigation carried out into the video, which at the time “appalled” the diocese – a group of churches in an area led by a bishop.In the…

The boss of Harrods is to step down next year from the group which represents Britain’s luxury goods industry – one of a number of roles he will have relinquished since allegations emerged about years of abuse perpetrated by the Knightsbridge department store’s former owner.Sky News has learnt that Michael Ward will hand over the chairmanship of Walpole, whose members include the jeweller Boodles, Fortnum & Mason and Gleneagles, when his term ends in 2025. A recruitment process is underway to find his successor, with an announcement expected in the new year.Mr Ward, who has run Harrods for close to…

Salmonella could be engineered to help fight bowel cancer after research found the bacteria stops the body’s own immune cells attacking the disease. Experts have long known that salmonella – which can cause food poisoning – could help beat cancer, but when used in therapies it has not been as effective as hoped. But now, a study has discovered that salmonella could be engineered to allow T cells – a type of white blood cell that protects the body from infection and disease – to kill cancer cells.Using mice, the team of researchers found that salmonella typically stops T cells from…

Davina McCall has made an “enormous leap forward in the last 24 hours”, her partner has said on her Instagram.In an update, her partner Michael Douglas, said: “Update folks. Thanks so much to all the well wishers. She really has made an enormous leap forward in the last 24 hours. She is out of ICU She is ‘loving awareness’. Thank you xx Michael.” The post also featured an image, which said, “massive relief to see some light breaking through”.”Thanks for all the good vibes coming in from all angles. Up and up,” it added.The 57-year-old television presenter had revealed in…

Energy bills are to rise again next year, according to a respected forecaster.Costs from January to March are projected to rise another 1% to £1,736 a year for the average user, according to research firm Cornwall Insight. The energy price cap, which sets a limit on how much companies can charge per unit of electricity, is also expected to rise, costing typical households an extra £19 a year.It’s a further increase after energy costs rose 10% from October.After the latest hike, there were hopes of a fall in the new year, but volatile wholesale gas and electricity markets are still…

Climate change, the crisis in the Middle East, the continuing war in Ukraine, combating global poverty. All of these are critical issues for Britain and beyond; all of them up for discussions at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro this week, and all of them very much in limbo as the world awaits the arrival of president-elect Donald Trump to the White House. Because while US President Joe Biden used Nato, the G7 and the G20, as forums to try to find consensus on some of the most pressing issues facing the West, his successor is likely to take…

Standard Glastonbury Festival tickets for 2025 sold out in less than 40 minutes after organisers adopted a new booking system.The new system saw Glastonbury hopefuls get “randomly assigned a place in a queue” instead of having to refresh the holding page once they went live. Organisers said: “Thanks to everyone who bought one and sorry to those who missed out, on a morning when demand was much higher than supply. There will be a resale of any cancelled or returned tickets in spring 2025.”Earlier in the week coach tickets sold out within half an hour for the famous festival in…

A former Conservative cabinet minister has thrown his hat into the ring to become the inaugural chair of Britain’s new independent football regulator.Sky News has learnt that Chris Heaton-Harris, who stood down as an MP at July’s general election, is among those who applied for the role ahead of a deadline on Friday. Mr Heaton-Harris is himself a qualified football referee who has officiated at matches for decades.A former Northern Ireland secretary and chief whip under Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson respectively, he said in 2022 of his part-time career as a football official: “I took a [refereeing] course and…

The frozen remains of a sabre-toothed cat thought to be about 31,800 years old have been studied for the first time in history, according to a study.The cub’s mummified remains, including its head, front arms and paws, and part of its chest, were found well-preserved in Arctic permafrost on the banks of the Badyarikha River in Yakutia, in Russia’s Siberia region, in 2020. “Findings of frozen mummified remains of the Late Pleistocene mammals are very rare,” the researchers explained, referring to the period in which it lived.They added: “For the first time in the history of palaeontology, the appearance of…