Author: SKYNEWS

The annual rate of shop price inflation has eased to its lowest level for almost two years, according to an industry reading that credits food and fashion prices.The British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Nielsen Shop Price Index showed the pace of price increases slowed to 2.5% over the 12 months to February from 2.9% the previous month. It was the lowest reading since March 2022, the BRC said.Money latest: How to get a pay riseIt was driven by a significant contribution from food, with prices 5% up on a year ago compared with the 6.1% figure registered at the end of January.…

An Australian photographer claims he was punched by Taylor Swift’s dad in Sydney following the singer’s concert.Ben McDonald said he told police the incident happened at Neutral Bay Wharf, where Swift and her dad had just come ashore from a yacht hours after the singer’s final show in the city. While officers did not release names, police said they are investigating an alleged assault by a 71-year-old man on a 51-year-old man at 2.30am local time.Swift’s representatives have not responded to a request for comment, but a spokesperson told Rolling Stone magazine two people were “aggressively pushing” to get to…

A record 93.4% of in-store card transactions up to £100 were made using contactless in 2023, according to data from Barclays.The figures are based on Barclays debit card and Barclaycard credit card transactions. Shoppers made 231 transactions on average, spending an average of £15.69 each time.This added up to the typical shopper making £3,620 worth of contactless payments over the year.While contactless is still more popular among younger age groups, the gap between older and younger people using the tech is narrowing, Barclays said. Last year, the proportion of active users among 85 to 95-year-olds passed 80% for the first…

The X account of Matthew Perry has been targeted by hackers, according to reports.A foundation set up in honour of the Friends star, who died last October, appeared to be the target of a link in a pinned post at the top of his profile urging people to donate. However, the post actually linked to duplicate site.An Instagram post from the Matthew Perry Foundation said: “We have received reports that Matthew’s official X page has been hacked and is directing users to a fraudulent site soliciting donations via cryptocurrency.”Please do not donate to this site or share the fraudulent posts…

Welsh singer Charlotte Church has said she is in “no way antisemitic” after taking part in a concert which featured a controversial pro-Palestinian chant.Church led a choir of approximately 100 people in a rendition of “from the river to the sea” at a gig she co-organised with a Welsh choir in order to raise money for charity, the Middle East Children’s Alliance. But the singer faced a backlash after using the chant, which is viewed by some pro-Israel supporters as a way to call for the eradication of the Israeli state.Some pro-Palestinian supporters reject this, saying it is simply expressing…

A major retailer has moved to cut the cost of baby formula after a Sky News investigation revealed the impact of high prices on families.Iceland has confirmed it will sell 800g of SMA’s Little Steps formula milk for £7.95 across its stores and online from Tuesday morning, which is £1.80 cheaper than its rivals. Last year Sky News revealed the dangerous steps some parents were taking to feed their babies due to spiralling costs.Richard Walker, executive chairman of Iceland Foods, said: “We have a moral obligation to take action.”The prime minister has said he is ‘sad’ families are watering down…

Amy Schumer has revealed she has Cushing’s Syndrome, two weeks after responding to people talking about her “puffier” face online.The actress and comedian has been making media appearances to promote her new TV series, Life & Beth, and earlier this month, she told fans that her changing face shape was due to endometriosis. Schumer, 42, has now shared more details on her health issues in an interview with the News Not Noise newsletter.After tests that involved being “in MRI machines four hours at a time [and] having my veins shut down from the amount of blood drawn”, Schumer was given…

The government has announced it will significantly increase the interim payment given to Post Office workers who have their convictions overturned, from £163,000 to £450,000.More than 900 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015, after faulty accounting software called Horizon, made by Fujitsu, made it seem like money was missing from their branch accounts. Some went to prison, others were bankrupt, and lost their livelihoods and their reputations. The Horizon scandal has been called one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.So far, 101 people have had their convictions quashed, but earlier this year the government…

Actor Gerard Depardieu is facing a new complaint of sexual assault, with a female movie decorator alleging he groped her during filming in 2021.In her complaint to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the 53-year-old woman accuses the French star of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist insults, her lawyer Carine Durrieu Diebolt said. The complainant claims the 75-year-old grabbed her and kneaded her waist, stomach, and breasts during filming for the movie Les Volets Verts.Ms Durrieu Diebolt says other people intervened to stop the alleged assault.Two lawyers for Depardieu did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment, and their offices…

After the Competition and Markets Authority launches an investigation into eight of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, Ian King is joined by its chief executive Sarah Cardell to discuss why.He also speaks to Andrew Hunter from the jobs search engine Adzuna about its monthly report into the number of vacancies in the UK.:: Listen and subscribe to The Ian King Business Podcast here. Source link