Author: SKYNEWS

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…

Singer Jessie J has announced she has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).The 36-year-old Price Tag singer said in a post on Instagram that she was diagnosed about three months ago after giving birth to her first son “exposed” the conditions more. She went on to describe her ADHD as a “superpower” which has “made her re-think” her whole life, including how she works.”It’s empowered me and honestly sometimes has overwhelmed me all at the same time,” the singer, whose real name is Jessica Cornish, said.”If there is one thing social media has…

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has said allegations of abusive behaviour on the show came as a “shock”.Last weekend, professional dancer Graziano Di Prima said he was leaving the BBC show after claims about his treatment of reality star Zara McDermott – including confirmed reports he kicked her during a rehearsal. There have also been allegations about the teaching methods of professional dancer Giovanni Pernice, which he has dismissed as “simply false”.Speaking to radio presenter Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales, Revel Horwood said he only found out about the allegations “through the press”.”For me it’s a shock,…

The NHS has warned of “continued disruption” to GP services into next week following the global IT outage – as airline passengers reported lengthy delays and lost baggage this weekend.The outage spread globally on Friday morning after an update from global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike knocked many Microsoft Windows PCs offline with a “blue screen of death” appearing on screens. The company’s founder confirmed it was caused by a bug in the update and not a cyber attack, as some had feared.NHS England reported its systems were “coming back online in most areas” on Saturday afternoon but were “still running slightly…