Author: SKYNEWS

Decoding the entire genetic sequence of a child’s cancer should become standard practice in the NHS.That’s according to researchers who found it improved care in many cases – and provided more benefits than current tests.Doctors studied the whole genome sequence of cancers in 281 children. In nearly a third of cases, it provided additional information about their illness and future treatment. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:48 April: Brain cancer treatment for children For 20 children, it improved decisions about their care that couldn’t have been made without “gold standard” whole genome sequencing.Some kind of…

Pearl Jam have cancelled two more tour dates due to illness, after pulling out of a London gig last week.The rock group had been due to play in Berlin on Tuesday and Wednesday but called it off because “the band has yet failed to make a full recovery”. The type of illness, or which band members have been affected, has not been revealed.They said tickets would be refunded at point of purchase, adding that while they wished “a reschedule had been possible for this tour leg” they “hope to come back to Berlin soon”.On Friday, they cancelled their Tottenham Hotspur…

Hulme Grammar School in Oldham doesn’t feel like a bastion of privilege, but the children whose parents pay around £15,000 a year for them to attend are nevertheless among an elite minority.A selective fee-paying school, Hulme is one of around 2,500 independent schools that educate 7% of the school population, a minority that is the target of one of Labour’s few unapologetically tax-raising policies. If elected, Labour says it will end the VAT exemption on fees, making them subject to 20% tax, raising an estimated £1.6bn the party says will be used to hire 6,500 teachers in the state sector…

A security guard accused of a plot to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby went to “great lengths” to suggest to others his plans were not mere fantasy, a court has heard.Jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court heard on Monday that Gavin Plumb’s sexual motive was clear in his “appalling messages” to people online.Prosecuting, Alison Morgan KC said Plumb, 37, who went by the username Big Bear online, swore “it’s really happening” when an undercover police officer sent an image of a flight booking.”These, members of the jury, were the defendant’s words when he realised that another person, who he believed…

Inside Out has become the first film of the year to take over $1bn worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film of the year.It is the first to reach the milestone since Warner Brothers’ movie Barbie last year, gaining the accolade faster than any animated film in history. Image: Pic: Disney/Pixar It has held the top spot at the box office for the last three weekends, following its release on 14 June.The Pixar and Walt Disney collaboration is about a young girl called Riley, and the emotions she experiences as she learns and grows (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust).Following the…

A British data and analytics business founded 21 years ago was today snapped up for £2.55bn – four-fifths of which will go to its founder.Preqin, which specialises in providing data and information on the private equity sector and other alternative assets, is being bought by BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager. The sale will net approximately £2.04bn to Valhalla Ventures, the family holding company of Mark O’Hare, Preqin’s founder.The remaining £510m will be shared between management and employees at Preqin, which is based near London’s Victoria station and which employs more than 500 people in all of the world’s major…

Steve Varley, the former head of EY in the UK and Ireland, will this week be named as the chairman of the first law firm to list on London’s stock market.Sky News has learnt that Mr Varley, who stepped down as the audit firm’s chairman and managing partner in 2020, is to chair DWF, which is now majority-owned by the private equity firm Inflexion. His appointment will be announced on Tuesday, according to insiders.One said the recruitment of Mr Varley would underline the scale of DWF’s ambition, nine months after it was taken private by Inflexion.Money latest:’Bleak’ new security measure…

Sir Ian McKellen has pulled out of a national tour after falling from a stage in the West End while performing in a play.The 85-year-old actor was performing in Player Kings earlier this month at the Noel Coward theatre when he fell into the audience. Image: Pic: PA The production had been due to go on tour until 27 July but Sir Ian has announced his withdrawal with the “greatest reluctance” to “protect my recovery”.Shortly after the fall, Sir Ian had confirmed that he would not be returning for the remaining London dates of the show, to give him time…

Spirit AeroSystems was a company little-known outside the aviation industry until January this year.Then, however, the fuselage maker was flung into the spotlight when a Boeing 737 MAX jet operated by Alaska Airlines suffered a mid-air blow-out of a door plug. Spirit, whose operation in Wichita, Kansas, had made the fuselage for the jet, saw its shares plunge by as much as 20% and found the quality of its work coming under heavy scrutiny as Boeing scrambled to convince regulators and customers that its aircraft were safe.It subsequently emerged that the fuselage contained defective rivets but a preliminary report by…

The “deafening silence” on climate change during the election campaign has been criticised by major business group the CBI.But the next government cannot claim to be pro-growth without also being pro-green, Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI, will tell a conference in London today. With just three days to go until the general election, she will highlight the “deafening silence from all the parties about the issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, net zero and our planet”.But there is a risk in trying to “separate the economy from net zero”, she will say, adding: “Whoever forms the next government…