Author: SKYNEWS

The Coca-Cola Company is brewing up a sale of Costa, Britain’s biggest high street coffee chain, more than six years after acquiring the business in a move aimed at helping it reduce its reliance on sugary soft drinks.Sky News can exclusively reveal that Coca-Cola is working with bankers to hold exploratory talks about a sale of Costa. Initial talks have already been held with a small number of potential bidders, including private equity firms, City sources said on Saturday.Lazard, the investment bank, is understood to have been engaged by Coca-Cola to review options for the business and gauge interest from…

Actor Noel Clarke has lost his High Court libel case against the publisher of The Guardian, over a series of news articles which featured claims from a number of women.The first article, published in April 2021, said some 20 women who knew Clarke in a professional capacity had come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. The 49-year-old actor, writer and director, best known for his 2006 film Kidulthood and starring in Doctor Who, sued the publisher and vehemently denied “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing” – but the court has found Guardian News and Media (GNM) successfully defended the legal action…

Dust scooped up from an asteroid by a NASA spacecraft 200 million miles from Earth has been found to contain material that is older than our sun.The first major study of the chemistry of the asteroid Bennu identified “presolar grains” – stardust that condensed around dying stars billions of years ago. An international team of scientists, including some from London’s Natural History Museum, say the samples are a snapshot of the early Solar System, more pristine than any meteorite on Earth. Image: Pic: Trustees of the Natural History Museum In one of NASA’s most audacious missions the spacecraft Osiris Rex…

The British-based bank Shawbrook is in talks to buy ThinCats, a lender to medium-sized businesses, in a deal worth about £180m.Sky News has learnt that the two companies are in exclusive discussions about a deal following an auction of ThinCats conducted by bankers at Fenchurch Advisory Partners. Sources said the exclusivity period was due to end shortly.A deal to buy ThinCats would strengthen Shawbrook’s alternative financing capabilities as it prepares for a £2bn flotation on the London Stock Exchange.Shawbrook’s plans to go public were revealed by Sky News at the start of this year, although the timing of a flotation…

Thirteen unreleased Beatles tracks are set to feature on a new Anthology compilation – almost 30 years since the last.The announcement comes following a big hint from Paul McCartney and the other official Beatles social media channels, which all shared a carousel of images containing the numbers one to four on Instagram the day before the announcement. Rarities including demos, outtakes and live performances featured in the three previous Anthology albums, which were released between 1995 and 1996. Instagram This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need…

The NHS will roll out a new treatment for advanced bladder cancer which doubles survival time.It’s estimated that 1,250 people a year could benefit from a combination of drugs called enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab. The first is an antibody-drug also known as Padcev, made by Astellas and Pfizer, while the latter is a PD-L1 inhibitor, also known as Keytruda, which is made by Merck.Clinical trials suggest the combo leads to improved survival compared to platinum-based chemotherapy – increasing from an average of around 16 months to almost 34.Researchers also found people survive for longer without their disease worsening, also known…

Retired women effectively go more than four months every year without getting a pension when their income is compared with that of men, new research finds.The Trades Union Congress (TUC) estimated women were losing the equivalent of £7,600 a year on average due to the gender gap. The union organisation said that compared to men, retired women effectively stop receiving a pension income from today.The income gap between men and women in retirement is now 36.5%, according to research from the Prospect union.The government has revived the Pension Commission to examine the causes of the gap, bringing together trade unions,…

A member of rap trio Kneecap has been released on unconditional bail after appearing in court charged with supporting a proscribed terror organisation – as hundreds turned out to support him outside.Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London in November last year. Demonstrators waving flags and holding banners in support of the rapper greeted him with cheers as he made his way into Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning. Image: The rapper was mobbed by supporters and media. Pics: PA Supported…

An investigation has been launched into the death of an internet streamer who was known for taking part in extreme online challenges.Raphael Graven, who went by Jean Pormanove, was found dead in Contes, near Nice, on Sunday night. Viewers of the Frenchman’s last live stream on the Twitch-like platform Kick had reportedly become concerned about him lying lifeless on a mattress, unresponsive to their comments.According to France24, prosecutors said the 46-year-old had been in accommodation rented for the purpose of broadcasting internet live streams. The broadcast had reportedly been running for 10 days.French newspaper Le Monde said Graven was known…

An AI start-up which claims to act as an ‘immune system’ for software has landed $17m (£12.6m) in initial funding from backers including the ventures arm of Alphabet-owned Google.Sky News has learnt that Phoebe, which uses AI agents to continuously monitor and respond to live system data in order to identify and fix software glitches, will announce this week one of the largest seed funding rounds for a UK-based company this year. The funding is led by GV – formerly Google Ventures – and Cherry Ventures, and will be announced to coincide with the public launch of Phoebe’s platform.It is…