Author: SKYNEWS

Britain’s biggest energy retailers have told ministers that they will provide more than £500m of extra help for households as the government tries to deflect criticism over the winter fuel payments row.Sky News has learnt that EnergyUK, the industry body, is planning to make a joint announcement with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in the coming days about an industry-wide package of support. Sources said it could be unveiled by Rachel Reeves as part of her inaugural budget next week.They added that the additional figure of over £500m would comprise both repayable and non-repayable measures, such…

An astronaut was taken to hospital shortly after returning to Earth from an extended mission on the International Space Station.The astronaut, who NASA did not name for privacy reasons, is suffering from an undisclosed medical issue. NASA initially said the entire crew was flown to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital out of precaution, but did not specify whether all or some of the crew had been experiencing issues.The other three crew members have left the hospital and returned to Houston, the space agency said.NASA said: “The one astronaut who remains at Ascension is in stable condition under observation as a…

Jeremy Clarkson has said he was told to cut down on work by his doctor after undergoing a heart operation.The 64-year-old revealed earlier this month that he was fitted with two stents – which improve blood flow to the heart – after a “sudden deterioration” in his health. Writing in The Sun on Friday, Clarkson said he didn’t find the operation scary, but “what is scary though is what came afterwards – the advice on how I must live my life from now on”.The former Top Gear host said “I am not allowed to have fun anymore” and that his…

The Premier League is drawing up plans to present its clubs with fresh proposals for a financial settlement with the English Football League (EFL) as soon as next month.Sky News has learnt that a meeting of the top flight’s shareholders on 22 November is expected to include a discussion on a range of new offers to be made to the rest of the professional football pyramid. The meeting will take place a month after the government introduced legislation paving the way for the creation of an independent football regulator that will have the power to impose a far-reaching financial deal…

Amid the hum of cooling fans and squelch of vacuum pumps, a new home for 12 quantum computers has opened in Oxfordshire, as part of a bid to put the UK ahead in a global race to harness the technology.Quantum computers promise to solve problems too hard for even the most powerful supercomputers – like those requiring vast numbers of parallel computations like complex weather simulations, the binding of drugs to their targets, or the vagaries of financial markets. While prototypes have proven that the weird world of quantum matter can be used to perform calculations – none are yet…

Rob Lowe has said he and actress Demi Moore “briefly had a thing” back in the 1980s, at the height of their Brat Pack fame.The 60-year-old West Wing actor was part of the hit coming-of-age movie St Elmo’s Fire alongside Moore, 61, in 1985. He told Kelly Ripa on the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast: “Demi and I briefly, I’m not telling tales out of school – we briefly had a thing.” Image: The cast of St Elmo’s Fire. Pic: Columbia Pictures/Shutterstock The St Elmo’s Fire cast featured a host of hot young eighties stars including Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy,…

Thames Water has secured a £3bn injection to avoid running out of cash.There were fears the UK’s biggest water supplier, which serves 16 million customers, could have run out of money by Christmas. But the cash injection secures its financial future for at least the next year, or possibly until the end of May 2026.The deal reached with creditors, however, is subject to court approval as it involves a restructuring of debt. An interest rate of 9.75% will be payable on the sum. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:53 Thames Water boss can ‘save’ company.…

A surgeon is removing brain tumours “the size of large apples” through patients’ eyebrows, in what is believed to be a world first.Consultant neurosurgeon Anastasios Giamouriadis, based in Aberdeen, has adapted an existing technique to remove the growths, leaving patients with only a small scar and black eye. The operation can be over in three hours, and some people can leave hospital just 24 hours later and return to work within days.”With this technique patients wake up straight way, they sometimes go home the day after the operation, where we know patients have quicker and better recoveries,” said Mr Giamouriadis.Dealing…

Banksy prints, handwritten notes, a pair of trainers – and even a collection of “burner phones” – are among scores of items set to be auctioned from “the most definitive archive” of his early work.Steve Lazarides, the anonymous street artist’s former agent and photographer, is auctioning artwork and other mementos amassed over more than 10 years of collaboration from the late 1990s. He has held on to his collection since he and Banksy parted ways, but told Sky News it is now time “to move on”. The sale is estimated to make $2m (about £1.54m).Julien’s, in California, will host the…

Boeing staff have rejected the latest 35% pay rise, committing to further strikes as the company faces massive losses and delivery delays. As many as 33,000 workers at Boeing plants in Washington state, Oregon and California have rejected a proposal to increase wages by just over a third over four years as their union said “after 10 years of sacrifices we still have ground to make up”. Just hours earlier the plane maker published results showing whopper losses of $6bn (£4.6bn) for just three months in part due to the industrial action as it deals with the fallout of a…