Author: SKYNEWS

Shares in Meta, the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, have fallen sharply after the company revealed it had raised its cost forecast for the current year.Investors sent the stock 10% lower in after-hours trading in New York when Meta’s first quarter results showed further bills were expected to fund new artificial intelligence (AI) products and the infrastructure behind them. The company, founded and run by Mark Zuckerberg, said it now forecast 2024 capital expenditure in the range of $35 bn-$40bn.That was up from a previous range of $30bn-$37bn.It also raised its total expenses forecast to $96bn-$99bn – a rise…

Only two months ago Joe Biden joined the social media platform TikTok with a video captioned “lol hey guys”. Now, the US president is poised to sign a bill that could ban the popular app – unless its parent company sells it.The country is concerned that TikTok’s owner, Beijing-based tech firm ByteDance, could be forced by Chinese authorities to hand over the user data of almost 170 million American app users. On this episode, Niall Paterson unpicks the possible ban with Arthi Nachiappan, our technology correspondent. Plus, Chris Stokel-Walker, author of TikTok Boom: China’s Dynamite App And The Superpower Race…

Richard Gadd has urged fans of his hit show Baby Reindeer to stop speculating about who the characters in his show are based on in real life.The Netflix series is based on the real-life story of its writer Gadd, who also plays the lead character, and his warped relationship with a female stalker. Fans have been speculating online about the identity of the stalker played by Jessica Gunning in real life (spoiler warning), as well as who another character, seen sexually assaulting Gadd in the series, is based on.The character, played by Tom Goodman-Hill, is a TV writer who repeatedly…

Ryanair is suing air traffic control body Nats over last summer’s flight chaos when more than 700,000 passengers were hit by cancellations and delays.The low-cost carrier’s chief executive Michael O’Leary said his company had been forced to pay out around £15m in compensation following the widespread disruption around the August Bank Holiday Monday. An investigation into the meltdown found it was caused by a National Air Traffic Services (Nats) technical glitch during the processing of a flight plan.Regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the chaos had also been fuelled by a “lack of planning” and engineers working from home.Around…

Children with brain tumours will soon have access to drugs they can take at home, the NHS has announced. The treatment is a first of its kind and clinical trials have shown it to significantly slow the progression of the disease, allowing children a better quality of life for longer. The treatment is for children and young people with low-grade gliomas that have a specific genetic mutation. Image: Aaliyah has been taking dabrafenib and trametinib as part of a trial It means they can be spared the harsh side effects that can come with chemotherapy.It combines two drugs – dabrafenib…

Broadcaster Zoe Ball says her family are “bereft” following her mother’s death from cancer.The BBC Radio 2 presenter paid tribute to her mother Julia Peckham for “teaching us how to love unconditionally” and said: “Your grace & your smile that lit up every room you were in, will light the stars to guide us.”Ball, 53, shared news of her mother’s death on social media with a younger picture of her and the caption: “Sleep tight dear Mama.”Ball had announced her mother’s “heartbreaking” diagnosis in early March, saying it had been an “extremely tough” time but “mum is being incredibly brave”.At…

English football’s top flight is toasting a £40m sponsorship deal with Guinness after the Diageo-owned brand saw off competition from Heineken.Sky News has learnt that the Premier League has informed its 20 clubs, which include Everton, Manchester City and Sheffield United, that it is backing a £10m-a-year agreement beginning next season. The deal, which has not yet been formally signed, represents a big financial uplift on the Premier League’s existing partnership with Budweiser’s owner, AB InBev.Guinness has historically been more closely associated with promoting itself through an association with rugby union – through the sport’s Premiership and Six Nations competitions…

The possibility of a ban on TikTok in the US has moved a step closer after the Senate agreed a landmark bill to force its China-based parent company into selling the app.The bill gives ByteDance nine months to sell the popular social media platform – with the possibility of a three-month extension to finalise a deal – or the app will be blocked. The bill passed through the Senate on Tuesday as part of a larger $95bn (£76.2bn) package that provides foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel.It will now be sent to US President Joe Biden, who will sign it…

A guitar used by John Lennon in the recording of The Beatles album and film Help! is going up for auction after being found in a loft.Believed to have been lost, the 12-string acoustic guitar had not been seen or played for more than 50 years before it was rediscovered in the home of a British couple. It is now going up for auction where it is estimated to fetch between £485,000 to £647,000.Auctioneers believe it could set a “new world record for the highest-selling Beatles guitar”.The Hootenanny model, made by German firm Framus, was used by the Liverpool band…

The post office scandal extends “greatly beyond” faulty Horizon software, according to a lawyer for victims.Paul Marshall, representing former sub-postmasters, says problems with third party systems in branches, such as ATMs, have been “overlooked”. A 2013 report commissioned by the Post Office, and not made public at the time, states: “Removing the ATM reduces the risk of (the sub-postmaster) being suspended… as does the presence of lottery tickets, (banking) services, and DVLA processing.”It indicates there were issues known to the Post Office with third party systems within branches – separate to Horizon software.Barrister Paul Marshall believes, as a result, there…