Author: SKYNEWS

PEN America has called off their annual awards ceremony after nearly half of the authors and translators nominated for a prize withdrew their books from consideration.The literary and free expression organisation, who hand out hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes each year, had been due to hold the ceremony in New York next week. “This is a beloved event and an enormous amount of work goes into it, so we all regret this outcome but ultimately concluded it was not possible to carry out a celebration in the way we had hoped and planned,” PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel…

Investors in Getir, the grocery delivery app which at one point attained a valuation of almost £10bn, are to inject yet more money into the company to fund its exit from the UK and Europe.Sky News has learnt that shareholders in the company have drawn up provisional plans to commit tens of millions of pounds more into Getir in the coming weeks, even as its retrenchment poses a threat to thousands of jobs. Sources close to the situation said that leading investors, who include Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi state-backed fund, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global, were understood to have agreed…

Ryan Reynolds appears to have confirmed that Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer is in his next film, Deadpool 3.The Hollywood star, an owner of the Welsh football club, shared the trailer on social media, writing: “Found the guy who killed Bambi’s mom”. Image: A still from the Deadpool 3 trailer. Pic: Marvel/Disney An eagle-eyed Wrexham fan, who calls himself Beardy on Twitter, quickly noticed a man wearing a denim jacket in the background of one of the scenes, identifying him as “one Ollie Palmer”.A podcast dedicated to the football club, Fearless In Devotion, backed up his claim, sharing the still from…

NASA’s longest-running spacecraft Voyager 1 is sending information back to Earth again for the first time since November.Scientists have managed to fix a problem on the probe, which was launched 46 years ago, after five months of silence. On 14 November last year, Voyager 1 stopped sending usable data back to Earth, even though scientists could tell it was still receiving their commands and working well otherwise. 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…

Profits at the UK’s third-biggest supermarket chain grew 24% in 2023, topping more than £1bn in a year where households struggled with the cost of living.Asda said its bottom line was boosted by growing supermarket sales, with 5.4% growth – excluding fuel and the effect of new Asda shops opening. Pre-tax profit reached £1.1bn over 2023, up 24% compared to 2022.The value of those total sales, also leaving out fuel, hit nearly £22bn during the year.Why are profits up? It’s thanks to roughly six million customers who now use the Asda loyalty app, the chain said.Around half of all sales…

Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway has described a “gross” past audition where she had to “make out” with 10 men.The 41-year-old star described the experience which she said happened in the early 2000s as “a very different time”. She told V Magazine: “Back in the 2000s – and this did happen to me – it was considered normal to ask an actor to make out with other actors to test for chemistry, which is actually the worst way to do it.”I was told, ‘We have 10 guys coming today and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to make out with all of…

Promotional offers by supermarkets were a major factor behind a further easing of grocery inflation over the past month, according to industry data.Kantar Worldpanel, which compiles price and sales data from the major chains, noted a 14th consecutive slowing in the annual pace of price rises at the tills in its latest report on the sector. It found that savvy shoppers took advantage of the intense competition for business among rival supermarkets by saving £1.3bn through purchases on discounted items over the four weeks to 14 April.That amounted to a saving of £46 per household, Kantar said.The rate of grocery…

A London pub mentioned on Taylor Swift’s new album said the sudden international recognition was “surreal” – and had received “thousands of requests” from fans wanting to buy merchandise.The Black Dog in Vauxhall was name-checked on the US singer’s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and fans have already been flocking to the pub with many buying pint glasses as souvenirs. The pub said its security had been increased and expects more fans to visit during June and August when Swift is set to perform at Wembley Stadium as part of her Eras Tour.Staff also urged the US singer to visit the…

Doubts have been raised over the government’s ability to unveil tax cuts ahead of the next general election after official figures revealed borrowing was higher than expected in the past year.The Treasury borrowed £120.7bn in the financial year ending March 2024 – down £7.6bn from the year before, according to provisional estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, the figure is £6.6bn more than forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) only a month ago.Overall, government debt was around 98.3% of the UK’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) in March – up 2.6 percentage points from the…

Gogglebox star George Gilbey had been working on a roof when he fell to his death through a plastic skylight, an inquest has been told.The 40-year-old suffered traumatic injuries to his head and torso and died at the scene in Shoeburyness, Essex, on 27 March, the hearing in Chelmsford was told. The inquest was opened on Monday and suspended after a request from Essex Police pending the outcome of a criminal investigation.Essex senior coroner Lincoln Brookes granted the request and said the matter would be reviewed in four months’ time.Gilbey was best known for appearing on the Channel 4 show alongside…