Author: SKYNEWS

Premier League bosses are this weekend scrambling to finalise a landmark £836m financial settlement just days before the publication of legislation to establish English football’s first statutory regulator.Sky News has learnt that the 20 top-flight clubs, which include Aston Villa, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, will on Monday be asked to approve a revised version of a ‘New Deal’ with the English Football League (EFL) that will include proposals for an increased levy on player transfers. Industry sources said that if the New Deal was approved at the Premier League shareholder meeting, it would then be submitted to the EFL for…

Joe Biden has said he would sign legislation banning popular video-sharing app TikTok in the United States.Legislation passed through the US House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously on Thursday calling on China’s ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok or effectively face a US ban. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who supports the bill, has indicated it will soon come up for a full vote in the House. Image: Pic: Reuters “If they pass it, I’ll sign it,” Mr Biden said when asked by reporters about the legislation.The White House had provided technical support in the drafting of the bill,…

Goldie Hawn’s character in The First Wives Club summed it up best: “There are only three ages for women in Hollywood: babe, district attorney, or Driving Miss Daisy.”That was almost 30 years ago, but we’re still having the conversation. A land of airbrushed perfection, Hollywood has always had an issue with ageing – reflected in who wins what at the big awards. For decades, there has been an age disparity between Oscar-winning actors and actresses, with veteran male stars feted, while for women it has typically been the younger “ingenues” collecting the gongs.There has been much talk of change in…

Guy Ritchie’s first venture into creating a series since Snatch might feel like a moment of deja vu for his fans.The British filmmaker lends the same name of his 2019 film The Gentlemen to his new Netflix spin-off starring Theo James. Image: Kaya Scodelario says Guy Ritchie’s requirement for his actors to ad-lib is ‘anxiety-inducing’, Pic: Netflix The eight-episode series exists in the same world as the film which starred impressive names including Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Charlie Hunnam and Hugh Grant.Here’s everything you need to know about The Gentlemen series.What’s The Gentlemen about? Created, executive produced and…

The Post Office should be removed from involvement in the Horizon scandal compensation processes, a committee of MPs has demanded while piling further pressure on its chief executive.The Business and Trade Committee published recommendations for delivering faster and fuller payments to the hundreds of victims, describing efforts to deliver redress to date as an “abject failure”. Chairman Liam Byrne said it was a “national disgrace” that “only £1 in £5 of the budget for compensation has been issued” to sub-postmasters and legally-binding timetables were needed to restore urgency and confidence.The committee said an independent body should be appointed to lead…

Israel will be allowed to compete in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest after changing the lyrics to its song, organisers have said.Eden Golan will sing for Israel at the competition in Sweden, but her original song October Rain had caused controversy because it was thought to reference the 7 October Hamas attacks. It had included lyrics such as: “There’s no air left to breathe” and “They were all good children, each one of them” – apparent allusions to victims of Hamas’ killing.Eurovision bills itself as a non-political event and can disqualify contestants deemed to have breached that rule.There has been…

Nationwide Building Society has agreed terms for a takeover of Virgin Money in a £2.9bn deal that would create a larger rival to the UK’s major lenders.While nothing has been finalised, the offer on the table would see the two brands continue to be run as separate entities, with the Virgin Money brand retained for around six years. No material changes to the size of Virgin Money’s 7,300-strong workforce were expected “in the near term”, Nationwide said.The all-cash offer of 220p per Virgin Money share represented a premium of 38% to Virgin Money’s share price on Wednesday.Money latest: Use our…

Oscar-nominated actors like Cillian Murphy and Carey Mulligan might be the headline-grabbing stars you’ll hear mentioned everywhere ahead of this Sunday’s ceremony.Lesser known are the names of the “uber geniuses” who’ve made audiences sit-up and listen in what’s been a stand-out year for sound in film. Image: Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer. Pic: Universal Pictures From the small matter of recreating the noise of an atomic bomb going off for Oppenheimer, to the subtle but menacing churning of the concentration camp crematorium in The Zone Of Interest.Sound is typically one of the least discussed categories at the Academy Awards, but this…

There are two ways of looking at Nationwide’s blockbuster £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money.The optimistic, glass half-full, interpretation is that this is another heartwarming example of how the mutual business model – putting the benefits of members above payments to shareholders – continues to flourish. Money blog: Britons in two big salary groups have lost more from ‘stealth tax’ than they’ve gained from NI cut – use our pay calculatorUnder this perspective, some 6.6 million Virgin Money customers can now look forward to enjoying the kind of benefits enjoyed by more than 17 million customers of Nationwide, not least those…

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has paid tribute to the victims of the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, before singing Murder On The Dancefloor at the Bataclan concert hall where 90 people were killed.In coordinated attacks across the capital on the night of 13 November 2015, 130 peopled died and hundreds more were injured. By far the deadliest element of the IS-backed plot was the assault on the Bataclan when terrorists opened fire on the crowd who were watching the American band Eagles of Death Metal play.Performing at the 1,500-capacity venue on Tuesday night as part of her European tour, Ellis-Bextor acknowledged the sensitivity…