Author: SKYNEWS

Ian King discusses profit warnings, with nearly one in five UK-listed companies issuing one in the last year.He’s also talking about the average cost of comprehensive motor insurance as it’s risen by a third over the past year.And a mental health clinic, which specialises in the treatment of people in business, says it’s seen a spike in referrals of chief executives.:: Listen and subscribe to The Ian King Business Podcast here. Source link

Scientists have hailed the “exciting” discovery of a type of porous material that can store carbon dioxide.The material is made up of hollow cage-like molecules that have high storage capabilities for greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and sulphur hexafluoride – a more potent gas that can last thousands of years in the atmosphere. Dr Mark Little, who jointly led the research at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, said the discovery has the potential to “help solve society’s biggest challenges”.”Direct air capture of carbon dioxide is increasingly important because even when we stop emitting carbon dioxide, there’s still going to be…

Author CJ Sansom, who created the character of Matthew Shardlake, has died at the age of 71, his publisher has announced.Sansom first introduced readers to Shardlake – a lawyer who solves crimes while navigating the religious reforms and political intrigue of Tudor England – in the 2003 book Dissolution. The Scottish writer released six further novels featuring Shardlake, as well as two standalone historical novels, Winter In Madrid and Dominion.His works have just been adapted into the series Shardlake, which features The Innocents star Arthur Hughes as the main character and Game Of Thrones actor Sean Bean as Thomas Cromwell.The…

Strikes at Heathrow Airport are taking place over the next few weeks, with the first one already under way.Staff at the UK’s biggest airport are set to walk out during the early bank holiday in May, with their union warning planes could be “delayed, disrupted and grounded”. Here’s what you need to know about when all the strikes are, what disruption is expected and which airlines are affected.Border Force officersThey are walking out for four days from now until Thursday 2 May over changes to their working conditions, according to the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) trade union. The union…

Common and easily guessed passwords like ‘admin’ or ‘12345’ are being banned in the UK as part of world-first laws to protect against cyber attacks.As well as default passwords, if a user suggests a common password they will be prompted to change it on creation of a new account. It comes as a home filled with smart devices could be exposed to more than 12,000 hacking attacks from across the world in a single week, with 2,684 attempts to guess weak passwords on five devices, according to an investigation by Which?Password managing website NordPass found the most commonly used passwords…

The production is slick, the pundits are sharp and the players are gods.This is no traditional tournament though. This is professional gaming. Fans are watching the best players in the world playing their favourite game, in an arena, for a cash prize. Around 15,000 fans from across the world are in Birmingham watching pros go head-to-head (virtually) throughout the week, with many thousands more watching the competition online.The tournament, ESL One Birmingham, is being held at the Resorts World Arena near the city’s airport.While many people will have heard of some of the games that are played at big esports…

Blackstone, the American private equity behemoth, is this weekend finalising a revised offer to buy the company which owns the music catalogues of Shakira and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.Sky News has learnt that Blackstone is preparing to lodge an improved bid for Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) as early as Monday. Its offer will trump one recommended by HSF’s board last Thursday of $1.25-a-share from Concord Music, a larger rival, according to insiders.The latest salvo in an intensifying bidding war will underline the growing determination of the two bidders to triumph in a battle for some of the global industry’s…

Monzo, the fintech which has become one of Britain’s biggest consumer banking groups, is this weekend putting the finishing touches to an expanded fundraising involving one of the world’s best-known technology investors.Sky News has learnt that Monzo has agreed terms with Hedosophia, an early backer of Airbnb and Uber, for it to become a shareholder in the bank. City sources said on Sunday that Monzo could announce as soon as this week that Hedosophia and Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation (GIC) were participating in an overall fundraising worth close to £500m.The larger-than-expected round makes it one of the largest ever achieved…

Measles cases nearly doubled globally between 2022 and 2023, researchers say. There were 321,582 cases worldwide in 2023 – an 88% increase from the previous year, when 171,153 cases were recorded. Total cases for 2024 look on track to at least match last year’s numbers, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).Some countries could now lose their “elimination status” when it is reviewed in September, the WHO’s Dr Patrick O’Connor warned at the ESCMID Global Congress in Barcelona on Saturday.The UK was declared measles-free by the WHO in 2017, but had this status stripped from it in 2019 after a surge…

Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have had two new Welsh trains named after their home cities.The actors, who took over Wrexham Football Club in 2021, were honoured in recognition of the “positive work” and the impact the owners have had in the area, including helping local businesses. The Vancouver Red Dragon and Philadelphia Robin, named by Transport for Wales, were unveiled by Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething and Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates, ahead of the home game against Stockport.Since Canadian-born actor Reynolds and US star McElhenney, both 47, bought the then National League…