Author: SKYNEWS

The latest in a spate of corporate transactions in Britain’s estate agency sector will be unveiled this week when London-listed Property Franchise Group (TPFG) strikes a deal to buy the Fine and Country chain.Sky News has learnt that TPFG will announce to the stock exchange as early as Monday that it has acquired Fine and Country and the Guild of Property Property Professionals. The transaction will create a network of roughly 1,800 lettings and estate agents in the UK and overseas.TPFG is said to be paying approximately £15m for the two assets, which operate through a licensing model.They are being…

A new blood test can predict the return of breast cancer years before patients relapse, according to a new study.The ultra-sensitive test looks for signs that cancerous cells remain after treatment. It can detect tiny amounts of cells that may be too small for follow-up scans to pick up. Early detection means patients can be treated “without waiting for incurable, advanced disease to develop and show up on a scan”, according to the study’s authors from London’s Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).”Breast cancer is much easier to treat before it spreads to other parts of the body, so it is…

Rupert Murdoch has married for the fifth time at the age of 93.The media mogul tied the knot with Elena Zhukova, a 67-year-old retired molecular biologist, at a wedding at Moraga, his vineyard and estate in California. Ms Zhukova, from Moscow, wore a white dress while Mr Murdoch wore a dark suit and patterned yellow tie.The couple met at a family gathering last year. Image: Pic: News Corp The former Fox and News Corp chairman called off an engagement to former San Francisco police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith last year. Mr Murdoch divorced his fourth wife Jerry Hall in August…

Spending a fair chunk on going to see your favourite big artist is not new – but it certainly feels like concert prices have entered a new stratosphere.Fans of Bruce Springsteen have paid upwards of £120 for “rear pitch” standing tickets for his May 2024 tour, while some expressed disappointment recently over the £145 price tag of standing tickets for Billie Eilish’s 2025 UK leg. And while you could have nabbed Beyonce or Taylor Swift tickets in the UK for £50 (before fees) if you took a “nosebleed” seat, these had limited availability and quickly sold out. General admission standing…

People under 50 who have been obese for a decade are at greater risk of heart attack or stroke, early research suggests.Findings presented at Endo 2024 – the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts – suggest women younger than 50 who have been obese for 10 years increased their risk of developing these conditions by up to 60%. For men under 65, the increased risk is up to 57%, according to Alexander Turchin, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.The correlation was not seen, however, in women who were more than 50-years-old and men over 65,…

Concert promoter Live Nation says it is investigating a cyber attack at its Ticketmaster unit, days after experts urged customers to change their passwords.Hackers are allegedly offering to sell customer data on the dark web. The US entertainment giant said it had discovered “unauthorised activity” on 20 May in a third-party cloud database that mostly contained Ticketmaster data.Live Nation added that “a criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be company user data for sale via the dark web” on 27 May.It comes a few days after a little-known cybercrime group named ShinyHunters reportedly said it had stolen user…

A fancy dress manufacturer which traces its roots back to the 19th century is on the brink of insolvency after failing to find a buyer.Sky News has learnt that Smiffys, which is family-owned, is lining up PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as administrators, having tried to secure a sale in recent weeks. A notice of intention to appoint administrators was filed on Thursday.Smiffys, which was founded in 1894, ships more than 26 million items of fancy dress annually, according to the company’s website.It distributes 7,500 products to thousands of stockists around the world. The company is understood to have been beset by overstocking…

A battery-operated spoon has been launched which apparently enhances the salty taste of low-sodium food without the need for extra salt.The piece of cutlery – made of plastic and metal and being sold in Japan – is aimed at people struggling to reduce their salt intake, as researchers claim it promotes healthier eating. Excess sodium intake is linked to increased cases of high blood pressure, strokes and other conditions.In Japan, adults consume on average around 10g of salt a day – which is double the World Health Organisation’s recommended intake.The Electric Salt Spoon works by passing a weak electric current…

The daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has filed paperwork to legally change her name.Shiloh Jolie-Pitt submitted the petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court on 27 May, the day she turned 18, to change her name to Shiloh Jolie, the Los Angeles Times reported. Shiloh, who performs as a voice actor in the film Kung Fu Panda 3, is the third-eldest of the former couple’s six children.She is the first to file a petition for a legal name change, but some of the others have dropped the public use of their father’s last name in recent years, the…

Britain’s biggest water company has been told it faces a fine of more than £40m over the payment of a shareholder dividend in spite of its poor performance.Sky News has learnt that Ofwat notified Thames Water last month that it was minded to impose the penalty for breaching rules on the payment of dividends. The development will pile further pressure on Thames Water as it limps towards a potential temporary nationalisation under a debt mountain of more than £15bn.The fine being considered by Ofwat is notable because it is larger than the £37.5m payout made to shareholders last autumn, according…