Author: SKYNEWS

New Star Wars coins have been unveiled by the Royal Mint, with the latest collection including the Millennium Falcon and Death Star.The famous sci-fi ship may be coming to a wallet or purse near you as it lands on a 50p coin. It follows on from the initial success of the first Star Wars coin series, with the new one dedicated to the franchise’s vehicles.The first series of coins featured some of Star Wars’ most famous characters, including Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.The Millennium Falcon, the TIE Fighter, X-Wing, and Death Star II will all make it onto the new…

Legal & General (L&G) is drawing up plans to sell Cala Group, one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, marking the first significant strategic move by its new chief executive.Sky News has learnt that L&G is lining up bankers at Rothschild to oversee a sale of the company. City insiders said that Cala was likely to be valued at up to £750m in a sale.The move comes just weeks after Antonio Simoes, a former HSBC and Santander executive, replaced Sir Nigel Wilson, one of Britain’s most prominent business leaders, as L&G’s chief executive.Money latest: Primark adding stickers to bags to clamp down…

Five episodes of GB News programmes that were presented by Tory MPs have been found by Ofcom to have breached impartiality rules.The watchdog’s probe examined two shows presented by former House of Commons leader Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, and three jointly hosted by former pensions secretary Esther McVey and her husband – backbencher Philip Davies. Politics Live: Rishi Sunak ‘aims to steady Tory nerves’ with speechOfcom said that under the Broadcasting Code, news must be presented with due impartiality and “a politician cannot be a newsreader, news interviewer or news reporter unless, exceptionally, there is editorial justification”.It found there was no…

Every household must be engaged by the government in the shift to clean heating as uptake of heat pumps to replace boilers is running at less than half of expected levels, the public spending watchdog has warned.A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) described assumptions on consumer demand for heat pumps, which use electricity to draw heat from the ground, air or water for heating buildings, as “optimistic”. It also called into question public awareness of the availability of boiler upgrade grants to help smooth the transition from oil and gas-fired boilers amid the battle against climate change.Money latest:…

The first piloted flying taxi could take to the UK skies in two years.The Department for Transport (DfT) has released its Future of Flight Action Plan which also proposes flying taxis without pilots on board by 2030. It has also predicted regular use of crime-fighting drones and critical 999 care deliveries by the end of the decade.The “roadmap” – or more precisely flight plan – would mean the adoption of technology “once confined to the realm of sci-fi”, according to the DfT, with drone technology boosting the country’s economy by £45bn by 2030.Aviation and technology minister Anthony Browne said: “Cutting-edge…

David Seidler – best known as the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind the film The King’s Speech – has died at the age of 86, according to reports.The London-born screenwriter, who had a stammer as a child, was inspired to write about the true story of how King George VI, on the eve of the Second World War, overcame his speech impediment.Seidler died on Saturday during a fly-fishing trip in New Zealand, according to his manager Jeff Aghassi – US media reported.Mr Aghassi said: “David was in the place he loved most in the world – New Zealand – doing what gave…

We all have plenty on our To Do lists, but Japanese tidiness expert Marie Kondo has more ambitious aims than most.”My personal goal is to tidy up the world,” she tells Sky News, “to take these Japanese sensibilities and in a small way, improve the world around us.” Image: Pic: KonMarie Actively tidying from the age of five by putting things in order at home for her mother and in her classroom for fellow pupils, Kondo founded her own organising consulting business at 19 while still a student.Five years working as an attendant maiden at a Shinto shrine helped hone…

<a href='https://news.sky.com/story/kates-doctored-photo-is-a-huge-challenge-for-royal-family-and-for-mainstream-media-13096640' target='_blank'>Kate's doctored photo is a huge challenge for Royal Family – and for mainstream media</a> Source link

Shakira has said she put her “career on hold” for a long time to be with her former partner Gerard Pique while he played football. The Colombian popstar and former professional Spanish footballer were together for 11 years before announcing their separation in June 2022 and have two children. Shakira, 47, is due to release her first album in seven years – Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, which translates to Women No Longer Cry.Reflecting on the time that has passed since she released 2017’s El Dorado, she told The Times: “For a long time I put my career on hold, to…

Mountaineer and adventure filmmaker David Breashears, best known for an IMAX documentary about climbing Mount Everest, has died aged 68.Breashears was found unresponsive at his home in Massachusetts on Thursday and died of natural causes, said his business manager Ellen Golbranson. She added that “the exact cause of death remains unknown at this time”.Breashears was an experienced mountaineered who climbed the world’s most challenging peaks. As a cinematographer he worked on documentaries and feature films.According to his website, in 1983, he transmitted the first live television pictures from the summit of Everest, and in 1985 he became the first American…