Author: SKYNEWS

He’s a muscle-bound blonde from Eternia battling to save the universe – and now a 29-year-old brunette actor from Hammersmith is about to bring him to the big screen.Nicholas Galitzine – who’s fresh from playing a boy band star who falls in love with an older woman in The Idea Of You – has been announced as the new He-Man in a live-action Masters Of The Universe film. Image: Dolph Lundgren in Masters Of The Universe in 1987. Pic: Rex Features He-Man was first made into a live-action movie in 1987, starring Swedish action hero Dolph Lundgren in the lead…

Red Bull has made its first foray into English football by buying a minority stake in Leeds United.The multi-year deal will see the company become the team’s new shirt sponsor, while it will also become the side’s “exclusive energy drink partner”. The firm’s branding will also be prominently displayed at Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium.Red Bull has attracted controversy over previous deals with football clubs – including in Austria where FC Red Bull Salzburg changed its name, crest and stadium name after being purchased by the company in 2005.However, in a club statement, Leeds United said its “name and logo…

A British insurtech company which provides protection against payment default has secured backing from one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms.Sky News understands Bondaval, which was founded in 2020 by Tom Powell and Sam Damoussi, has struck a deal to raise close to £15m from investors led by Dawn Capital, an early backer of iZettle, Quantexa and Tink. The new capital will be used to facilitate the launch of a reinsurance vehicle called Bondaval Re, which will diversify the start-up beyond its current status as a managing general agent.Bondaval operates in more than 30 countries, and has offices in London,…

A Canadian private equity firm has emerged as a leading contender to buy the British arm of Clear Channel, one of the world’s largest sellers of outdoor advertising space.Sky News has learnt Clairvest, which is based in Toronto, is among the parties which have expressed serious interest in acquiring the British and northern European operations of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings. Listed in New York, the billboard advertising group has been trying to offload its international assets for some time.Last autumn, it announced the sale of its business in France to Equinox Industries and said it had initiated a process to…

A Chinese national has been arrested for allegedly being the mastermind behind a huge botnet used to steal billions of dollars.The “911 S5” botnet was likely the world’s largest – and infected computers in nearly 200 countries and facilitated a whole host of crimes including financial frauds, identity theft and child exploitation, said FBI director Christopher Wray. Yunhe Wang allegedly made at least $99m (£78m) – buying luxury cars and properties all over the world – by selling access to criminals who used it for scams.A botnet is a network of infected computers that hackers operate remotely to conduct mass…

London’s Evening Standard is set to scrap its daily newspaper after almost 200 years, in favour of a weekly publication.The newspaper, first published as The Standard in 1827 before the introduction of its evening edition in 1859, is currently circulated for free at underground stations around the capital from Monday to Friday. But in an email to staff – seen by the PA news agency – the paper’s chairman Paul Kanareck said it had been making “substantial losses”, prompting the need for a change.The memo said fewer commuters travelling through London following the COVID pandemic, changing consumer behaviours, and the…

Dr Martens has reported another sharp fall in profits following a “challenging year” for the business.The struggling company said global pre-tax profits in the 12 months to March were £97m – a fall of almost 43% on the previous year. Revenue also dipped 12% to £877m – down from just over £1bn in 2022/23.The British brand blamed its disappointing performance on the US, its largest market, where it said there had been weak consumer demand and a 17% fall in sales of its boots.Kenny Wilson, who recently announced he would be stepping down as chief executive, said the results were…

Workers posing as Disney favourites such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Snow White in California have formed a union – Magic United.There are roughly 1,700 performers and assistants who help to bring popular characters to life at Disneyland near Los Angeles. Disney has faced allegations of not paying them a living wage, despite many facing exorbitant housing costs and commuting long distances.Parade performers and character actors earn a base pay of $24.15 (£19) an hour, up from $20 (£15.75) before January.The president of the Actors’ Equity Association, which will represent the group, called the workers the “front lines” of…

A former top executive at FTX has been jailed for more than seven years over his role in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.Ryan Salame, 30, is the first deputy at the company to be sentenced following the conviction of its “crypto king” boss Sam Bankman-Fried. FTX suddenly went bankrupt in November 2022 – leaving millions of users frozen out of their accounts and unable to make withdrawals.Bankman-Fried was jailed for 25 years in March after being found guilty of stealing billions of dollars from his customers.Salame was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison, plus three years of supervised release,…

Daniel Kretinsky is on the cusp of becoming the new man in charge of the Royal Mail.The board of its parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS), announced on Wednesday it had agreed to a takeover by Mr Kretinsky’s EP Group, which has valued the firm at £5.3bn. The deal must first be approved by IDS’s shareholders and regulators before it can go ahead.But who is Mr Kretinsky and what is his background?The 48-year-old is ranked 33rd on The Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated net worth of £6bn – up £2bn since 2023. Low profileHe is known as the…