Author: SKYNEWS

A member of Liechtenstein’s royal family is joining the ranks of backers of Octopus Energy, the £7.2bn utility which has become one of Britain’s most valuable companies.Sky News has learnt that Lightrock, which is chaired by Prince Max Von Liechtenstein but based in London, is acquiring an undisclosed stake in the UK’s second-largest domestic energy supplier. Lightrock and Galvanize Climate Solutions, a climate-focused investment firm based in San Francisco, are said to be buying shares in Octopus Energy from existing investors.The size of their investments was unclear on Tuesday, although one insider said the transaction would be announced publicly on…

The chief financial officer of global news outlet The Epoch Times has been arrested and accused of laundering $67m.Weidong ‘Bill’ Guan, 61, of New Jersey appeared before a judge in New York on Monday on money laundering and bank fraud charges after being arrested on Sunday. He pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said members of the Epoch Times’ Make Money Online team, which was managed by Guan, used cryptocurrency to “knowingly purchase tens of millions of dollars in crime proceeds”.This included funds from fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits that were loaded on to prepaid debit cards, according to prosecutors.Stolen personal information was…

Glastonbury has announced its full line-up, with the final acts added to the bill ahead of the five-day event kicking off later this month.Nigerian pop star Tems and indie rockers The Zutons will play on the Other Stage – the event’s second-largest performance space. It was previously announced that Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA will headline on The Pyramid stage.Country pop superstar Shania Twain will perform the Sunday afternoon “legends slot” on the festival’s famous Pyramid Stage.Scottish indie rockers The Snuts, Liverpudlian singer Jamie Webster, rock duo Soft Play and rising star Rachel Chinouriri are also among the acts who…

The headquarters of Toyota Motor has been visited in Japan as part of an investigation into official safety certifications that is affecting models across five major carmakers in the country.Hours after Toyota’s embattled chairman issued an apology for cheating tests on seven models, officials from Japan’s transport ministry descended on the offices in Toyota city to probe irregularities in applications for safety certificates. Production of three Toyota models in Japan – the Corolla Fielder, Corolla Axio and Yaris Cross – has been suspended.Money latest:’I quit well-paid job while seven months pregnant after men said I didn’t understand – now I’m…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being developed to watch every spoonful you eat and calculate how many calories you are consuming.Scientists in Canada are working on the new technology that analyses video footage of you eating to decide the nutritional value of your diet. “The current […] food portion estimation algorithms assume that users take images of their meals one or two times,” say researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada.”[This] can be inconvenient and fail to capture food items that are not visible from a top-down perspective, such as ingredients submerged in a stew.”Instead of looking at a picture…

The Irish comedian and actress Aisling Bea has announced that she is expecting her first child.The 40-year-old shared the news on Instagram, posting a series of photos showing her performing as a backing dancer for Sheryl Crow at a charity event in Kansas City – with her bump very much front and centre. A short video showed her dancing on stage at Big Slick ’24 alongside American comedian Seth Herzog, with both concealing their faces while dancing with their bare stomachs out, with cartoon faces drawn on in black pen.A host of other celebrities appeared with Bea in the snaps,…

Going on holiday is always a cause for celebration – and many travellers will toast the occasion with an alcoholic beverage before taking a nap on the plane.But according to a new study – holidaymakers may want to reconsider this ritual. German scientists have found the combination of in-flight alcohol and cabin pressure at cruising altitude may put strain on sleeping passengers’ hearts.They discovered that when people fall asleep after drinking alcohol at the low air pressures typically experienced during flights, blood oxygen levels drop and heart rates increase – even in those who are healthy and young.”We were surprised…

Janis Paige, a popular Hollywood and Broadway actress who danced with Fred Astaire, has died aged 101.Paige also toured with US comedy giant Bob Hope during her career which continued into her 80s. She died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles on Sunday, her long-time friend Stuart Lampert said on Monday.Paige made her Broadway debut opposite Jackie Cooper in mystery comedy Remains To Be Seen in 1951, and appeared with John Raitt in smash hit musical The Pajama Game three years later.In 1957 she appeared opposite iconic dancer Astaire in the film Silk Stockings. The movie is…

A 91-year-old man has become the first person in England to be fitted with a ground-breaking artificial cornea.Cecil ‘John’ Farley, 91, said his sight was now improving thanks to the procedure, which he underwent after 15 years of suffering from problems with his eyes. The cornea is the clear outer layer at the front of the eyeball – and is described by the NHS as the “window to the eye”.A person can suffer from vision problems and pain if the thin transparent covering is damaged by disease or injury – with those affected often left facing a long wait for…

Reality TV star Joey Essex has entered the Love Island villa as the show’s first ever celebrity contestant.The 33-year-old, who rose to fame on The Only Way Is Essex, has said he is taking part in the show because he is “extremely single right now” and hopes to leave the island “hand in hand with the love of my life”. The ITV dating series returned on Monday, introducing more contestants to the villa in Majorca, Spain, with host Maya Jama making an entrance in a white dress.Jama told the contestants: “Well it’s good to see you’re all settled in, as…