Author: SKYNEWS

Zootropolis 2 is now Hollywood’s highest-grossing animated film of all time, earning $1.7bn (£1.3bn) at the box office globally. The Walt Disney Animation Studios’ film has surpassed the former record holder Inside Out 2, which earned $1.69bn (£1.26b) following its 2024 release. The film, also known as Zootopia 2 in some countries, is now among the top-10 highest-grossing films of all time worldwide, along with Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Titanic.”This milestone belongs first and foremost to the fans around the world whose enthusiasm made it possible,” said Alan Bergman, co-chairman, Disney Entertainment.”Zootopia 2 is an extraordinary achievement,…

The private equity firm which owns a controlling stake in Asda is closing in on a £275m deal to buy a division of the listed cybersecurity company NCC Group.Sky News has learnt that TDR Capital is in late-stage talks to buy Escode, which has been the subject of acquisition talks since last summer. Banking sources said a deal between TDR and NCC for Escode, which specialises in software escrow and verification services, could be struck in the early part of this week.TDR is said to have seen off competition from a string of rival suitors, with other buyout firms which…

Sting has paid £595,000 to his former The Police bandmates since facing legal action over unpaid royalties, the High Court has heard.Drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andrew Summers contend they are owed more than $2m (£1.49m) in “arranger’s fees” by bassist Sting and his company Magnetic Publishing. Their barrister claimed that arranger’s fees – an arrangement where a songwriter would give 15% of publishing income to the other two bandmates – had not been paid from money generated through streaming, according to court documents filed in December 2024.Their case hinges on the interpretation of various agreements made between the band’s…

NASA’s enormous rocket that will soon carry astronauts around the moon has reached its launch pad.The painstaking 11.5-hour journey from the hangar saw the rocket move upright for four miles, loaded on to the back of a Crawler Transporter 2. Image: The Space Launch System rocket, with the Orion crew capsule, rolls to the launch pad. Pic: Reuters The transporter itself weighs 3 million kilograms and is roughly half the size of a football pitch, while the rocket is taller than Big Ben.The transporter burned a litre of diesel every 3.5m of the trip, travelling at just one mile per…

It’s hardly a Love Actually moment of brave UK defiance in the face of a domineering US president – but Sir Keir Starmer has clearly decided it’s time to start pushing back.Donald Trump, he has said, is “completely wrong” to slap tariffs on the UK and other European countries “for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies.” He’s not going as far as President Macron, who has pledged never to change course in the face of “intimidation or threat”.But while the PM has previously been clear about the UK’s staunch support for Denmark – he’s usually very cautious in his…

Actor Timothy Busfield, who starred in the hit shows The West Wing and Thirtysomething, has been charged with child sex abuse.The Emmy Award-winning actor, 68, made his first court appearance on Wednesday over allegations he sexually abused two boys on the set of a ​television series.Busfield appeared remotely via a video link from jail a day after turning himself in – when he was taken into custody in Albuquerque on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse.The judge ordered Busfield to be held without bond.Prosecutors allege Busfield groomed and sexually abused the…

Scientists have dismissed warnings from Donald Trump linking paracetamol use during pregnancy to autism.The US president made the allegation in September as he claimed there had been a “meteoric rise” in cases of autism. Identifying the medication – known as Tylenol in the States – as a potential cause, Mr Trump suggested pregnant women should “tough it out”. You need javascript enabled to view this content Enable javascript to share Share Trump links autism with paracetamol Now, after reviewing dozens of studies on the topic, experts have concluded there is “no clinically important” link between paracetamol use and autism.For the…

Wholesale natural gas prices have risen by more than 40% this month as a raft of pressures, described by one analyst as a “perfect storm”, threaten to raise energy bills ahead.Day-ahead prices for UK delivery were at a six-month high on Friday, a rise of more than 14% on the day, as contracts across Europe rose according to LSEG data. Europe has witnessed a price spike this year as cold weather and low gas storage levels combined with slowing deliveries of liquified natural gas (LNG), mainly from the US.Money latest: The area where £10m lottery prize is unclaimed Contracts for…

Julio Iglesias has denied abusing two former domestic employees behind a criminal complaint against him, calling the accusations “completely false”.Prosecutors with Spain’s High Court have opened preliminary proceedings into the complaint lodged by women who used to work for him in the Caribbean. In a post written in Spanish containing his signature and published on his Instagram page, the Spaniard said he denied “having abused, coerced or disrespected any woman. These accusations are completely false and cause me great sadness”.He said messages of support had given him “great comfort”.The women said he was guilty of human trafficking for ​forced labour…

Even though it’s high summer in the Antarctic, the ocean around the Rothera research station is -1 Celsius.As some of the most productive oceans on the planet – a soup of microscopic plant and animal plankton – it’s murky to boot. Not everyone’s idea of the perfect scuba spot.But the divers I’m with seem positively excited about tipping themselves backwards into the depths. Image: A seal swims by icebergs off the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera base. File pic: Reuters “You can get these big starfish with 40 arms that you don’t see anywhere else, they’re my favourites,” said Pati Glaz,…