Author: SKYNEWS

Police are arresting 1,000 suspected paedophiles every month as the threat of child sex abuse worsens, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned.Rob Jones, the NCA’s director of general operations, said online groups had resulted in offenders’ behaviour being “rationalised”, as “like-minded” abusers are brought together by algorithms. While they are collaborating on the dark web, they are using mainstream social media as “discovery” platforms to “identify and abuse vulnerable children”.And with youngsters increasingly reliant on the internet themselves, they are at even greater risk.Mr Jones described the situation as “incredibly damaging”, and warned: “We want society to push back…

Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf has been arrested after allegedly assaulting two men in New Orleans amid Mardi Gras celebrations, police say.The Transformers star reportedly punched one victim several times, it is alleged. LaBeouf, 39, then reportedly assaulted another man, punching him on the nose, officers said.The actor, who found fame on the Disney Channel as a young teen in the early 2000s, was arrested and has been charged with “two counts of simple battery”.Sky’s US partner, NBC News, has contacted LaBeouf’s representatives for comment. The New Orleans Police Department said in a statement that they were called at 12.45am on…

The UK’s unemployment rate has increased again – to the highest level in nearly five years, according to new official figures. The jobless rate ticked up to 5.2% in December, the highest since the three months up to January 2021, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. The figure had stood at 4.1% when Labour took office in 2024, promising economic growth. More out-of-work people are now actively looking for a job, while the number of unemployed people per job vacancy is at a new post-pandemic high, the ONS said. Though there’s been little change in the number…

Parts of Britain could be at risk of further flooding for months to come because so much rain has fallen so far this year, according to new analysis.Latest official figures from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) show rivers in the south and southwest of England reached exceptionally high levels in January, with some breaking records. And the soil is so saturated in areas that have borne the brunt of the deluge that water is rising up through the ground – an invisible threat that could suddenly flood homes. Image: Flooding in Salisbury, Wiltshire The Environment Agency (EA)…

A man has been charged with terrorism-related offences over a plot to carry out an attack at a Taylor Swift concert in 2024. The now 21-year-old has been charged by Austrian prosecutors following his arrest shortly before the singer’s first Eras tour date in Vienna was due to take place. Swift cancelled her three-night run in the city less than 24 hours before it was set to begin in August 2024. Image: Police on patrol in Vienna after the concerts were cancelled. Pic: Reuters The suspect is accused of planning to carry out an Islamist militant attack, and the Vienna…

Take a good, hard look at the world and what do you see?It certainly feels unpredictable. Old friends are unreliable, and the rules no longer seem to apply. For many, the global neighbourhood is getting distinctly scary. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to the head of UK intelligence agency, MI6.”The frontline is everywhere,” says Blaise Metreweli, who used a recent speech to warn of “the menace of an aggressive, expansionist” Russia, as well as aggressive and expansionist individuals.Her worries have been restated in remarks made by a host of military leaders. “The situation is more dangerous than…

The government has announced a sweeping crackdown on tech firms to protect children from illegal content.It will include measures to eliminate “vile illegal content created by AI”, and could even open the door to an Australia-style age limit on social media, a Number 10 spokesperson said. It also promises to shut down the loophole that has allowed chatbots to produce illegal content.On Sunday Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said “no platform gets a free pass” from the new restrictions. Image: Keir Starmer insisted no platforms would be given a ‘free pass’ from the new measures Under the plans, ministers will…

Nearly four years on from the emotional finale of Derry Girls, writer and creator Lisa McGee has released her new project on Netflix.How To Get To Heaven From Belfast blends her trademark humour with mystery as a group of women reunite following the death of their childhood friend. “I’ve always loved murder mysteries from when I was a little girl,” McGee told Sky News.”I was obsessed with Jessica Fletcher and Murder, She Wrote, so it was really like whenever someone gave me the chance to do it, I was going to grab it.”But I knew I needed to do it…

The Premier League could receive a £750m annual revenue boost by centralising perimeter advertising sales and increasing the number of top-level commercial partners associated with the world’s most lucrative domestic football competition, its clubs have been told.Sky News has learnt that the 20 top-flight sides were informed at a shareholder meeting this week that the Premier League had begun exploring an overhaul of some of its commercial rights activities that would mirror a structure used by a number of elite US sports. One source familiar with the presentation made by Premier League executives said its initial modelling projected that selling…

Four new astronauts have arrived at the International Space Station to replace their colleagues who pulled out early over health concerns.SpaceX delivered the US, French and Russian astronauts to the orbital research laboratory 277 miles (446km) up in space, a day after they launched from Cape Canaveral. The new crew members include NASA’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrey Fedyaev.The last group of astronauts were forced to evacuate after one of them suffered what officials described as a serious health issue. Image: The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the astronauts approaches the International Space Station. Pic:…