Author: SKYNEWS

Before we get on to any of the numbers – from Rishi Sunak’s claim about Labour raising taxes by £2,000 to the more outlandish numbers going around today – here’s the most important thing you have to know right now.The parties fighting this election have yet to publish their manifestos. They might come as soon as next week, but until those documents, with their shopping lists of confirmed policies, actually land, we are in a kind of policy no man’s land where each side is guessing (and sometimes plain making up stuff) about what the other side actually wants to…

Manchester City – a Premier League club with deep pockets thanks to its Abu Dhabi owners – is taking the league to court. It’s over the current Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules which determine whether sponsorship deals are financially ‘fair’ and require independent valuation for such deals. The rules aim to prevent clubs from inflating sponsorship deals with companies linked to their owners, ensuring fair competition. Man City claim the rules restrict their ability to raise revenue, are unlawful and discriminatory. They argue that sponsors, like those with ties to their Abu Dhabi ownership, should have free rein to set…

Alec Baldwin and his family are set to star in their own reality TV show. The actor and producer has seven children, all under 10 years old, with his wife Hilaria. The couple married in 2012, and had their first child in August 2013. On Instagram on Tuesday, they announced they will appear on screen in a new TLC series in 2025.Hilaria teased in the video that “we have an announcement” – joking about another pregnancy – before Alec quickly said: “Good God no”.He then says: “We’re inviting you into our home to experience the ups and downs; the good,…

McDonald’s has lost the EU trademark for use of the term “Big Mac” in relation to chicken sandwiches.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) upheld a complaint against the US fast food giant from Irish rival Supermac’s. In 2017 Supermac’s attempted to revoke McDonald’s use of the term Big Mac, which the company had registered in 1996 for meat, fish and chicken sandwiches and a range of services at restaurants, including takeaway food and drive-through facilities.Generally the rights of a holder to an EU Trademark are revoked on an application to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) if it has…

ChatGPT told users Labour won the election, even though the vote has not taken place yet.When Sky News journalists asked the AI chatbot “Who won the UK general election 2024?”, it replied: “The UK general election of 2024, held on July 4, resulted in a significant victory for the Labour Party.” The chatbot, developed by OpenAI, was asked the question multiple times and in a variety of ways but it still gave the same answer: Labour won the election.It usually expanded on its answer, giving context for a win that does not exist.”Under the leadership of Keir Starmer, Labour secured…

Pop icon Lady Gaga has denied rumours she is expecting her first child with her boyfriend Michael Polansky in a TikTok video.The speculation started over the weekend after the 38-year-old Poker Face singer attended her sister Natali Germanotta’s wedding. A photo of her in a tight-fitting little black dress at the Maine gathering sparked the rumours – which the multi-Grammy Award winner addressed directly online. X This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend…

A director of Marks & Spencer Group (M&S) is quitting the retailer’s board after being blindsided about the poaching of its new finance chief from another company he chairs.Sky News has learnt that Andrew Fisher, a long-serving M&S non-executive director, only discovered late in the recruitment process that M&S intended to hire Alison Dolan from Rightmove, the listed digital property portal, as its chief financial officer. Mr Fisher, who has been chairman of Rightmove since 2020, resigned from the M&S board on Tuesday last week.The following day, M&S announced that Ms Dolan – a former executive at Sky News’ parent…

Boeing’s troubled space capsule has finally made it off the launchpad with two astronauts on board.The first crewed test flight of Starliner had been delayed by series of faults, either with the capsule or the rocket that fired it off pad 41 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Commander Butch Wilmore and colleague Suni Williams will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, where they will spend a week before returning to Earth.Suni is the first female test pilot of an orbital spacecraft.Three previous launch attempts this year were scrubbed, most recently on Saturday when mission control stopped the…

An extremely rare Star Wars action figure has become the world’s most valuable toy after it sold for a record $525,000 (£411,000).The hand-painted and missile-firing model of the bounty hunter Boba Fett was never released to the public after it was deemed a choking hazard in the 1970s. The toy, one of only two still in existence, comfortably beat what was previously the world’s priciest toy, a one-of-a-kind Barbie wearing a one-carat diamond, which sold for $302,000 (£236,000) in 2010.Heritage Auctions said the price of the figure more than doubled the record for the most expensive Star Wars action figure…

The next government is being urged to do more to help drive the transition to electric vehicles as private sales of new pure battery models go into reverse.According to data covering May released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), there was a 2% dip in UK sales of new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) among consumers when compared to the same month in 2023. The organisation’s chief executive said that was despite “very attractive offers” to lure buyers.Mike Hawes warned manufacturers could not sustain the level of discounting indefinitely and argued a fairer transition was needed with “carrots,…