Author: SKYNEWS

A financial lifeline will not be thrown to troubled shipbuilder Harland & Wolff (H&W) by the government due to a “very substantial risk that taxpayer money would be lost”, it has been announced.The company, which employs more than 1,500 people across its operations including its main yard in Belfast, had been in talks with the Department for Business and Trade over support including a £200m Export Development Guarantee. In a written statement to MPs on Monday, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed that the application had been rejected, stating that such funding “would not necessarily secure our objectives.”Money latest:Most parents worried…

BT has been fined £17.5m over network disruption that affected 14,000 emergency calls and led to an “unacceptable risk”.Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, said the penalty was linked to a network fault on Sunday 25 June last year. The disruption lasted for more than 10 hours.It judged that while emergency services found no evidence of serious harm to the members of the public using the 999 emergency and 112 service during the disruption, there were a number of failures in BT’s handling of the situation.Money latest:Most parents worried they can’t afford a summer holiday “We found that BT did not have…

Ryanair has reported weaker profits than expected for its first financial quarter, blaming a need to “stimulate” flight sales amid heightened consumer caution. Europe’s largest carrier by passenger numbers said it had engaged in more discounting than expected in the three months to the end of June, with the average fare 15% down, and it saw no end in sight to the need for markdowns. Profit after tax came in 46% lower at €360m (£303m).Market analysts had expected a figure above €530m.The no-frills carrier reported revenue per passenger was 10% down as a whole, with so-called ancillary revenue – that…

A 17-year-old has become the first teenager in the UK to receive a “bladder pacemaker”.Jenny Allan, from Thanet in Kent, has a rare condition which means she is unable to pass urine and had to self-catheterise at least six times a day. But the treatment – known as bladder neuromodulation – has enabled her to have a “whole new freedom”.It is the first time the procedure has been offered to children and teenagers, having been available to adults with bladder conditions for more than 20 years.”I’m a very outdoorsy person and will be studying ecology at university in September, and…

Utilita, one of Britain’s top ten energy suppliers, is plotting to raise tens of millions of pounds to fund projects aimed at meeting net zero targets.Sky News has learnt that Utilita, which last season sponsored the Premier League football club Luton Town, has hired Alexa Capital to advise on the equity injection. Sources close to the company, which has about 850,000 customers and installed 1.5m smart meters, said the initial tranche of money – likely to be around £50m – was expected to be followed by a larger fundraising in due course.Industry insiders said infrastructure and climate change-driven funds were…

A Brazilian singer has died after being electrocuted on stage during a performance.Ayres Sasaki, 35, died almost instantly after making contact with a cable during a performance at the Solar Hotel in Salinopolis, Brazil, local media reported.While some reports suggest Mr Sasaki died as a result of hugging a wet fan in the crowd, others – including news outlet Diario do Para – said the musician was playing his guitar when he was electrocuted.Police in Salinopolis are investigating the death and experts have been requested to look into the incident, Brazilian news website Istoe Gente said.In a statement posted to…

A faulty software update that caused the global IT outage likely skipped checks before being deployed, experts have said – as a warning was issued about malicious websites offering to fix devices.An estimated 8.5 million Microsoft Windows PCs devices were affected worldwide by the update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, causing delays for airports, broadcasters, hospitals and businesses. Problems came to light quickly after the latest version of CrowdStrikes Falcon sensor software was rolled out on Friday.The update was meant to make systems more secure against hacking, but instead caused devices to display a “blue screen of death” due to faulty…

Nail bars and car washes will be targeted by immigration officers as they step up enforcement action over the summer, the home secretary has announced.Yvette Cooper said 1,000 civil servants working on the now-abandoned Rwanda scheme will staff a new “returns and enforcement programme”. Writing in the Sun on Sunday, she said the programme will “increase returns of those with no right to be here and to make sure rules are respected and enforced”.Raids on businesses suspected of employing illegal workers will be ramped up. Image: Yvette Cooper arriving in Downing Street. Pic: PA Labour made border security one of…

Actress Amanda Abbington has said she “would not have been able to live with myself” if she stayed silent about her Strictly Come Dancing experience.The Sherlock actor said she thought “long and hard” before making a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of former dance partner Giovanni Pernice due to the “backlash” she would receive. Pernice, who rejected “any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour”, will not return to the show this year, and said in a statement on Instagram in June that he is “cooperating fully” with an ongoing “BBC investigation”.Speaking to the Sun On Sunday, Abbington said:…

Rapper and singer Sean Kingston and his mother have been indicted on federal charges of committing more than $1m (£774m) worth of fraud. The Beautiful Girls singer, 34, and his 61-year-old mother Janice Turner are accused of participating in a scheme to defraud victims of high-end speciality vehicles, jewellery and other goods through the use of fraudulent documents. Back in May, a SWAT team in Florida raided the singer’s rented mansion in a suburb of celebrity-favourite Fort Lauderdale and arrested Turner over fraud and theft linked to the installation of a gigantic TV.Kingston was arrested later the same day at Fort…