Author: SKYNEWS

Revolution Bars is close to finalising an emergency fundraising that would provide a stay of execution as it cobbles together plans that will result in the mass closure of its venues.Sky News understands that Revolution, whose shares were suspended last week after it said it was unable to publish its interim results, is hoping to announce as early as Tuesday that it has secured roughly £10m equity funding commitment from investors including Luke Johnson, the leisure entrepreneur. The cash call would pave the way for the cash-strapped operator of bar chains including Revolucion de Cuba to progress a restructuring plan…

Long COVID leaves distinctive signs in the blood which could potentially be targeted for treatment, research suggests.Findings from the largest UK study of patients admitted to hospital with coronavirus show long COVID leads to ongoing inflammation which can be detected in the blood. The analysis of more than 650 people who had been in hospital with severe COVID-19 found patients with prolonged symptoms showed evidence of their immune system being activated.How the activation happened depended on the type of symptoms they mainly had, for example fatigue or brain fog.The research, led by Imperial College London, suggests existing drugs which modulate…

Rapper J Cole says he feels “terrible” after releasing a diss track aimed at Kendrick Lamar and has vowed to delete it.The American musician released the song titled 7 Minute Drill on Friday, in which he branded fellow US rapper Lamar’s latest album “tragic”. The row began last year after Cole suggested he, Lamar and Drake were the “big three” of the modern rap scene in the song First Person Shooter.The trio have dominated the genre since the 2010s, with Lamar winning 17 Grammys, Drake five and Cole two.But Lamar rejected Cole’s suggestion they were equals when he featured on a…

Barclays has launched a legal challenge over a ruling that it unfairly paid commission to a car finance broker, underlining growing anxiety among Britain’s biggest lenders about the potential scale of an industry-wide compensation bill.Sky News has learnt that Barclays is mounting a judicial review against the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) over a decision last June that the bank “failed to act fairly and reasonably” in the case of a customer – known only as Miss L – who was not made aware that a loan agreement she entered into included a commission payment worth nearly £1,600. City sources said…

The total eclipse has made its way across the United States and towards Canada, after starting in Mexico. The highly-anticipated eclipse saw the Earth, the sun and the moon perfectly aligned, resulting in ‘totality’ – the moment when the face of the sun is completely blocked by the moon. The Mexican beach town of Mazatlan was the first place to witness the total eclipse, at around 7.15pm UK time, and cheers broke out on the promenade as it began.Follow live: Millions in the US plunged into darkness Image: People using protective glasses to watch the eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico. Pic:…

Neighbours veteran Harold Bishop is making yet another Ramsay Street comeback, it has been announced.One of the Australian soap’s most recognisable faces, played by actor Ian Smith, he will return once again some 15 years after his departure as a regular character, at the age of 85. “After 15 years of living away, the legendary Harold Bishop is returning to Erinsborough,” the show revealed in a statement shared on social media. Image: Where it all began: Kylie Minogue as Charlene Mitchell, Craig Mclachlan as Henry, Anne Charleston as Madge Bishop and Smith as Harold in the late 1980s “We are…

Ted Baker is to shut 15 of its stores across the UK within weeks, the retailer’s administrators have announced.Around 245 staff will be made redundant as part of the cost-cutting plans. It comes after Sky News revealed that hundreds of jobs at the fashion chain were at risk after it went into administration last month.In a statement, the administrators confirmed 11 UK stores will close by 19 April, resulting in the loss of about 120 roles.A further four stores will also shut within “weeks”, resulting in 100 additional redundancies. These shops had already been earmarked for closure prior to the…

Microsoft is set to open a new artificial intelligence hub in London – and is looking for “exceptional individuals” to work there.The hub will work on Microsoft products that use artificial intelligence (AI) and also carry out research into the technology. It will be based at the US tech giant’s offices in Paddington.The company recently announced the creation of Microsoft AI, a new team within the company that will focus on artificial intelligence, led by Mustafa Suleyman, the British co-founder of AI giant DeepMind, which is now owned by Google.Mr Suleyman has said Microsoft’s new AI hub will “drive pioneering…

Motorcyclists have taken part in a memorial ride in honour of the late Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers.Myers died in February aged 66 following a battle with cancer. Si King, the other half of the motorcycle-riding cooking duo, said Myers “would have loved” the event. X This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any…

English cricket chiefs will next week take another step towards a radical revamp of the sport’s ownership structure by launching plans to sell stakes in The Hundred’s eight franchises.Sky News has learnt that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will interview bankers in the coming days as they prepare to raise funds by recruiting private investors into teams including the Northern Superchargers and Welsh Fire. Insiders said on Saturday that Goldman Sachs, Raine and Rothschild were in contention to advise the ECB on the auction process.Under the governing body’s plans, each host venue would own 51% of their individual…