Author: SKYNEWS

The physical and emotional toll of menstruating is real and widespread for many women, but new research challenges the assumption that women perform worse when on their periods.Just the opposite, it has found women are quicker at reacting and make fewer mistakes while menstruating. However, the study by University College London and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH), found between ovulation and menstruation, a period known as the luteal phase, women showed slower reaction times and poorer timing anticipation.There were also more errors noticed around ovulation.The research is surprising as women tend to report feeling worse on their…

Are you ready for it? Because this week, Taylor Swift rolls into town for the first UK dates of her record-shattering Eras tour, to dominate front pages, social media, and a large proportion of the national conversation for the foreseeable.Something has shifted in the Swiftverse in the past few years. She now transcends even the highest echelons of pop fame, massively boosting everything from music sales to, well, the entire global economy. The Eras tour is a cultural and economic juggernaut; the first to cross the $1bn mark, according to Pollstar’s 2023 year-end charts, and already beating the record set…

The commitments offered by the Czech tycoon seeking to buy Royal Mail’s parent firm do not go far enough, according to the union leader representing its 112,000 UK frontline workers.Communication Workers Union (CWU) general secretary Dave Ward made his remarks following talks with representatives of Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group. International Distribution Services (IDS) revealed last week it had formally accepted a revised £3.6bn offer for the business, which includes the international parcels arm GLS.Money latest:Six signs you’re addicted to spending moneyUnder the full terms, the total value to shareholders represents a premium of more than 70% to the IDS share…

A number of procedures have been cancelled or redirected to other NHS providers after a ransomware attack struck major hospitals in the capital.King’s College Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’, including the Royal Brompton and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, and primary care services were hit by the attack on pathology partner Synnovis on Monday. Synnovis “was the victim of a ransomware cyberattack”, according to chief executive Mark Dollar.”This has affected all Synnovis IT systems, resulting in interruptions to many of our pathology services,” he said.The hospitals have declared a “critical incident” which is having a “major impact” on the delivery…

A statue of comedian Victoria Wood has been knocked over by a taxi driver in her hometown of Bury. Greater Manchester Police said the driver was taken to hospital after colliding with the two-metre-tall bronze sculpture shortly after 10pm on Monday. He was left with minor injuries, and no arrests have been made in connection with the incident.The statue of the As Seen on TV star was unveiled in May 2019 after the actress died aged 62 from cancer in 2016.’Terrible shock’ Her brother, Chris Foote Wood, said after the collision: “It’s a terrible shock to be told that your…

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…