Author: SKYNEWS

Producers of a new Romeo and Juliet show starring Hollywood actor Tom Holland have condemned racist abuse posted online following the announcement of its cast.Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, best known for appearing in the comedy series Bad Education, will star alongside the Spider-Man actor in the West End production of the Shakespeare play, it was announced at the end of March.Since then, racist comments have been posted on social media sites for production company Jamie Lloyd.On Friday, the theatre company issued a statement condemning the “barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company”. Image: This will be…

The crisis engulfing Thames Water has deepened after its holding company announced it had been unable to meet a debt repayment.Kemble Water said it missed an interest payment that was due on Tuesday. The firm said it had asked its lenders to take no immediate action in order to “provide a stable platform while all options are explored”.The announcement paves the way for a potential restructuring of Thames Water, which serves nearly a quarter of Britain’s population.Sky News revealed last week that the company’s shareholders had decided not to proceed with a promised £500m equity injection amid an impasse with…

A company hoping to launch the first solar farm into space has passed a critical milestone with a prototype on Earth.Oxfordshire-based Space Solar plans to power more than a million homes by the 2030s with mile-wide complex of mirrors and solar panels orbiting 22,000 miles above the planet. But its super-efficient design for harvesting constant sunlight – called CASSIOPeiA – requires the system to rotate towards the sun, whatever its position, while still sending power to a fixed receiver on the ground. Image: The power generated by the solar panels would be beamed back to earth That’s now been shown…

Is ‘H’ from Steps really getting a statue near to where he grew up in South Wales?Earlier this week, the singer, whose real name is Ian Watkins, shared the news of plans for an 8ft statue in Cowbridge, saying he was “absolutely bowled over” and “super proud”. In an Instagram post, the 47-year-old star added: “It’ll be a little strange seeing myself across the street when I pop into town! If little Ian, from the Rhondda could see this, he would be blown away!” Image: Ian ‘H’ Watkins, who sits on Cowbridge Town Council, shared this on Instagram. Pic: @ianhwatkins…

Administrators to The Body Shop are drawing up plans to launch a further restructuring process in a bid to salvage a future for one of Britain’s best-known high street brands.Sky News has learnt that insolvency practitioners at FRP Advisory have outlined proposals to launch a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that would see The Body Shop entering talks with landlords about rent cuts, as well as other creditors. According to proposals sent to The Body Shop’s creditors on Friday morning, which lay bare the depths of the financial problems inherited by the investor which bought the company less than four months…

Prostate cancer cases are set to double by 2040, according to researchers who have called on authorities to “take action now” as the rise is “inevitable”.The study by the Lancet Commission on prostate cancer suggests that deaths are expected to double from 1.4 million in 2020 to 2.9 million in 2040 as life expectancy improves, increasing men’s chances of being diagnosed with the disease. Annual deaths are projected to go up by 85% to almost 700,000 over the same timeframe, mainly among men in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).In the UK, prostate cancer is the second most common cause of…

The singer Anastacia has revealed she feared she had a brain tumour – until further checks showed her symptoms were connected to menopause.The I’m Outta Love singer, 55, said she had “no idea” that her symptoms, which included exhaustion and brain fog, were “hormone-related”. Speaking to Kate Thornton on the White Wine Question Time podcast, she said: “I didn’t even realise I was going through such hell that it was caused by menopause.”I didn’t know my exhaustion; I didn’t know my brain fog. I didn’t know all the things – I just thought I was tired… I was diagnosing myself,…

British billionaire Joe Lewis has avoided a jail sentence after admitting he orchestrated an insider trading scheme that helped those around him make millions.The former Tottenham Hotspur owner, who lives in the Bahamas, tipped off his girlfriend, friends, and two of his private pilots with inside information on four publicly-traded companies, which they used to get rich, prosecutors in New York said. In January, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud, admitting in court he had known he was breaking the law.But prosecutors had said he deserved leniency because…

An Instagram post promoting a low-calorie diet by Katie Price has been banned by the advertising regulator, as have Nationwide ads featuring the actor Dominic West.Both campaigns cannot appear in their current forms again with Nationwide’s adverts found to be misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Money blog:10 richest people on Earth revealedKatie Price’s 755-calorie day adPrice’s post fell foul of rules that require marketing posts to be clearly flagged as ads, as well as health guidelines. Her promotional video for low-calorie food brand Not Guilty Food had “#ad” as the second last phrase, which the ASA judged was…

X has caused confusion by reinstating free blue ticks for some users – a year after it began charging for the service.For years, Twitter blue ticks effectively served as verification badges and were given to celebrities, politicians, journalists, and other influential accounts for free. However, months after Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44bn (£38bn) in October 2022, the platform stripped verification badges from accounts and instead began offering them as part of an $8-a-month premium service.The move caused confusion as a large number of fake accounts pretending to another person or an organisation obtained verification simply by purchasing it.On Wednesday…