Author: SKYNEWS

Gyles Brandreth says he blames himself for the death of Rod Hull, who died in 1999 when he fell from the roof of his home while attempting to adjust his television aerial.The 63-year-old entertainer was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital with a coroner later recording a verdict of accidental death. Image: Hull and Emu were popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Pic: Rex Features Speaking to John Cleese on the latest episode of his Rosebud podcast, Brandreth said: “‘I killed a man – it was Rod Hull, the emu man”.The 76-year-old former GMB presenter went on to explain he…

Barry Manilow has become the latest singer to book out the AO Arena in Manchester in case the Co-op Live fails to open later this month.Manilow, 80, is due to perform at the Co-op Live on 19 May but there is uncertainty over whether the concert will be able to go ahead there after Manchester’s newest venue delayed its launch yet again on Thursday. The Co-op Live arena will be the UK’s largest indoor arena accommodating 23,500 people at a cost of £365m – but it’s yet to officially open its doors, cancelling tours from Peter Kay, A Boogie Wit…

Official figures have raised fears of a deepening public sector drag on the the UK’s economic recovery from recession.Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that productivity in the public sector, dominated by education and healthcare, deteriorated between the third and fourth quarters of 2023. It measured a 1.0% decline over the period, leaving the figure 2.3% lower than a year ago and even further away from recovering pre-pandemic levels.Money latest: The best breakfast to keep you full until lunch – without paying a fortuneThe gap was put at 6.8%. Public sector productivity measures the volume of services…

Britney Spears has downplayed concerns about her health, after paramedics were called to the Chateau Marmont, a boutique hotel in LA.The 42-year-old singer shared several posts on social media, addressing the incident in the early hours of Thursday morning at the luxury venue on Sunset Boulevard. Photographs taken by paparazzi appeared to show Spears wearing pyjama shorts outside the hotel, while wrapped in a blanket and clutching a pillow.In a lengthy Instagram post, Spears wrote: “Just to let people know… the news is fake!!!,” adding, “I am getting stronger every day!!!”She went on to detail an injury she had suffered…

Novo Nordisk, the maker of anti-diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, today displayed again why it has become Europe’s biggest company by stock market value during the last year.The Danish company, for many years the world’s biggest insulin producer, issued another stellar trading update in which it beat investor expectations on a number of fronts. Money latest: Aldi’s market share falls as people head back to traditional supermarketsNovo Nordisk now expects its sales growth to rise this year by between 19% and 27% – up from the 18% to 26% it was forecasting as recently as January – while…

Archaeologists have been able to piece together the skull of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton.Researchers from Cambridge University and Liverpool John Moores unearthed the skull at the Shanidar Cave site, 500 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. As part of a new Netflix documentary, Secrets of The Neanderthals, they were able to put the skull back together and recreate the face of the woman it once belonged to.The skull was first found in 2018, where it had been flattened to around two centimetres thick.It had been crushed, possibly by rockfall, soon after death and compacted further by tens of thousands of years…

Hit sitcom Gavin & Stacey will return for its “last ever episode” on Christmas Day, James Corden has announced.Corden posted a picture on his Instagram of himself and co-creator Ruth Jones holding a script. The text on its cover reads: “Gavin & Stacey: the finale. Written by James Corden and Ruth Jones 2024.”In the caption, Corden added: “Some news…It’s official!””We have finished writing the last ever episode of Gavin & Stacey. See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. Love Ruth and James.” The series, which is primarily filmed in South Wales, first aired in 2007 and lasted for three series,…

Goldman Sachs is removing a cap on bonuses for London-based staff, paving the way for it to resume making multimillion pound payouts to its best-performing traders and dealmakers.Sky News can exclusively reveal that the Wall Street banking giant notified its UK employees on Thursday that it had decided to abolish the existing pay ratio imposed under European Union rules and which the government recently decided to scrap. Money latest: Seven tips for getting an upgrade on a planeIn a video message to staff, Richard Gnodde, chief executive of Goldman Sachs International, which comprises its operations outside the US, said it…

Apple is trying to fix a problem which caused some iPhone alarms to not go off.Users have been complaining they were missing their alarms. “This has probably been the third or fourth day in a row that my alarm clock has not gone off,” one TikTok user Reid Manning said.It is unclear how many people have been affected.It has also not been confirmed if the bug is restricted to particular iPhone models or a specific version of its iOS software. Read more from Sky News:FKA Twigs reveals she has created an AI cloneGoogle appears to add ‘audio emoji’ feature -…

Comedian Dane Baptiste has apologised to the “Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans” following criticism over a now-deleted social media post.The stand-up star, who has appeared on TV shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Live At The Apollo, and Mock The Week, has been dropped by his talent agency Insanity. The company said the contents of a deleted post were “completely at odds with our values and what we stand for”.The Metropolitan Police said it is investigating. In a statement, the force said: “Enquiries are being made in relation to a post reported to police by…