Author: SKYNEWS

A “game changer” test could detect signs of motor neurone disease (MND) before symptoms appear, according to scientists.It can spot damaged cell proteins in samples of brain tissue – which are early indicators (biomarkers) of the disease. Motor neurone disease – also known as ALS – is an incurable condition that affects the brain and nerves and causes muscle weakness that gets worse over time.It can significantly shorten life expectancy and about 5,000 people in the UK are affected.The new test is known as TDP-43 aptamer and has been developed by experts from the University of Aberdeen. The university’s Dr…

Stephen Bear has been ordered to pay £22,305 over profits he made from a sex tape he posted of his former partner Georgia Harrison.The former Celebrity Big Brother winner was released from prison earlier this year having served 10-and-a-half months for posting on his OnlyFans page intimate footage of him and Harrison, a former The Only Way Is Essex star, without consent. Bear, 34, has now been ordered to pay the £22,305 that prosecutors said he earned from illegally sharing a sex tape during the Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court. He faces nine months in prison…

More than £1m of unexplained transactions were transferred in to Post Office profit at the height of the Horizon scandal, leaked documents have showed.The papers seen by Sky News show a snapshot of transfers from a Post Office “miscellaneous client” suspense account over a four year period, up to 2014. A suspense account is where unexplained, or disputed, transactions remain until they are able to be “reconciled”.Unaccounted-for transactions were transferred out of the Post Office suspense account and into their Profit and Loss account after three years.Money latest: Further fall in energy bills expected in summer Ian Henderson, director of…

“Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!” wrote poet John Betjeman in 1937.The scruffy trading estate west of London may only have got uglier since. But it’s definitely not somewhere you’d want to obliterate. Slough is now Europe’s largest data hub and the second largest in the world.Nearly every foreign exchange transaction passes through a single data centre here.Others handle 95% of card purchases in the capital, not to mention the majority of data traffic on the global internet, from AI models to cat videos. And that demand is growing – by around 35% a year according to industry data.But…

Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan will receive a knighthood, documents published by the government show.His wife, movie producer Emma Thomas, is to receive a damehood. British filmmaker Nolan won a best director Oscar this month for his biopic Oppenheimer, which also won the prize for best picture and swept the awards season.He had previously been nominated for six Academy Awards.Born in London to a British father and American mother, Nolan read English at University College London, choosing the school because of its filmmaking facilities. It is also where he met his future wife, Thomas, with whom he has four children.Nolan and…

High margins for fuel retailers may mean drivers are still paying over the odds at the pump, according to the competition regulator.In a monitoring report, following its fuel market study of 2022, the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) said fuel margins – the difference between what retailers pay for their fuel and the price they sell it at – remained “concerning”. The watchdog previously found motorists were overcharged by £900m in 2022 due to supermarkets failing to pass on cuts from falling oil prices.In its latest update covering the end of October last year to the end of February, the…

Sam Bankman-Fried was breathlessly described as a wunderkind – a boy wonder transforming the world of finance.Renowned for his messy hair and unkempt appearance, he graced the covers of Forbes and Fortune, who pondered whether he could become the next Warren Buffett. The 32-year-old was the founder of FTX, which had quickly become the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange – a place where investors could buy and sell digital assets like Bitcoin. Image: Larry David appeared in an advert for FTX during the Super Bowl in 2022 Star-studded adverts featuring the tennis player Naomi Osaka and the comedian Larry David added…

The war between Mickey Mouse and Ron DeSantis appears to be over.Allies of the outspoken Florida governor and Disney have reached a settlement in their court battle over how Walt Disney World in the Orlando area is developed in the future. The agreement brings to an end almost two years of litigation sparked after Mr DeSantis’ takeover of a special tourism district from Disney supporters following the company’s opposition to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. Image: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Pic: AP The controversial 2022 law bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades and…

Speaking with Chris Weston this morning, it was striking just how confident the Thames Water chief executive seems to be that a deal will eventually be struck between his shareholders and Ofwat, the industry regulator.The former are refusing to go ahead with what was a planned injection of fresh equity to the tune of £500m which was due by the end of the month because of the latter’s imposition of conditions which, they say, makes the business uninvestable. It is difficult to see why Mr Weston, a turnaround specialist who only took on the role in January, is quite as…

Disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of stealing billions of dollars from his customers. He was the chief executive of FTX, which suddenly went bankrupt in November 2022 – leaving millions of users frozen out of their accounts and unable to make withdrawals. The 32-year-old could have faced up to 100 years behind bars – but last month, his lawyers argued such a sentence would have been “barbaric” and a five-year term would be more appropriate.Initial reports said he had been sentenced to 20 years – but this has since…