Author: SKYNEWS

Labour is trying to persuade prominent business leaders to sign a public letter endorsing the party in a move underlining its encroachment onto general election territory traditionally occupied by the Conservatives.Sky News has seen a draft letter being circulated by Labour officials in the last 24 hours which urges them to back it ahead of the July 4 poll. The draft, which has been sent to a large number of corporate chiefs and investors, underlines the party’s move under Sir Keir Starmer to reposition itself as the natural party of business.At previous elections, the Tories have often won public support…

The US Justice Department (DOJ) is suing Live Nation, arguing the big concert promoter and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, have been “monopolising” the live events industry.The antitrust lawsuit was launched on Thursday by the DOJ, 30 US states, and the District of Columbia, with US Attorney General Merrick Garland saying: “It is time to break up Live Nation.” The entertainment company merged with Ticketmaster back in 2010. Through Ticketmaster, Live Nation now controls roughly 80% or more of big venues’ primary ticketing for concerts, the suit says.A Live Nation spokesperson said the company would defend itself “against these baseless allegations” and…

Retail sales fell sharply last month – even worse than expected – as official figures show that wet weather once again put shoppers off. Source link

Bruce Springsteen has become the first international artist ever to receive the Ivor Novello Awards’ biggest prize – presented on stage by a surprise guest, his friend Sir Paul McCartney.Receiving a standing ovation at the ceremony in London, Springsteen performed an acoustic version of Thunder Road on stage after being inducted into the Fellowship of the Ivors Academy. He follows in the footsteps of artists including Sir Elton John, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Sir Paul himself – the first recipient some 20 years ago.The pair are good friends, with Springsteen joining the Beatle on stage…

The average annual energy bill will be £506 cheaper than a year ago from July, the sector’s regulator has announced.The energy price cap – which limits what can be charged per unit of energy – is due to fall from the month after next. It means the average annual bill will be £1,568 a year, 7% less than at present.But while the July figure is a reduction, bills are still more expensive than before.Before the energy price shock, caused primarily by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a standard 12-monthly bill was £1,084. Money latest: Energy bills fall -…

These are the largest images of the universe ever taken.They come from the Euclid space telescope which is trying to create a 3D map of the universe. That map will help us understand how our universe formed and what is happening to it now. A huge treasure trove of information was released on Wednesday, based on just 24 hours of data gathering by the telescope.The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid mission, which blasted off in July 2023, uses one of the largest cameras ever sent into space to observe two billion galaxies. Image: Beta Phoenicis, a very bright foreground star…

A SWAT team has raided the rented Florida mansion of singer Sean Kingston and arrested his mother on fraud and theft linked to the installation of a gigantic TV.Detectives detained his mother, Janice Turner, 61, at the property in a Fort Lauderdale suburb, popular with celebrities and professional athletes, including Dwayne Johnson and Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill, on Thursday. Image: Kingston was thought to be out of town and not present during the raid. Pic: AP The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing and declined to release specific details about the charges against Turner or whether her 34-year-old…

If Paula Vennells’s first day in the witness stand was memorable for her tears and self-justifications at facing public scrutiny for the first time in nine years, the second was less dramatic but more substantial.During her seven years as chief executive, hundreds of sub-postmasters were sent to jail based on flawed evidence thrown up by the Post Office’s Horizon IT system. Ms Vennells’s defence is that despite her experience – she was in senior roles for five years before taking the top job – she just did not know.She spent much of day one establishing just how complete her ignorance…

UK scientists have discovered a new planet that could potentially support human life and it isn’t that far away… relatively speaking.The temperature on Gliese 12b is around 42C which means it could be liveable. In fact, it is one of the few known planets where humans could theoretically survive. “It’d be uncomfortable for a human but the way we define ‘habitability’ is that liquid water could exist on the surface of the planet, which in this case it could,” says Larissa Palethorpe from University of Edinburgh.Ms Palethorpe and a team of scientists from around the world used NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet…

Seinfeld star Michael Richards has revealed he was diagnosed with cancer and was forced to undergo surgery to remove his whole prostate – or risk dying within months. Richards, 74, opened up about the troubling time in his soon-to-be released memoir, Entrances And Exits, saying the diagnosis came after a routine check-up showed high PSA levels. The star recollected how he was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer back in 2018.He said in an interview with People on Thursday that his then nine-year-old son motivated him to find a way to live longer.”I thought, ‘Well, this is my time. I’m ready…