Author: SKYNEWS

Fed up with it getting dark at 4pm? Well after today, the days will start to get a little longer.The 21 December marks the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Daylight will last for almost eight hours in London, which is eight hours and 49 minutes shorter than the June solstice – the longest day of the year.The actual moment of the solstice will occur at 3.03pm in the UK, but most people mark the whole day. Solstice is recognised by holidays and festivals in many cultures around the world.…

The Bayeux Tapestry will be insured for around £800m when it comes to the UK next year.The Treasury will back the cover for the priceless artefact under the Government Indemnity Scheme – an alternative to commercial insurance that allows art and cultural objects to be shown in the UK. Indirectly backed by the British taxpayer, the indemnity will cover it for damage or loss during its transfer from France and while it is on display.The 70m fabric depiction of the 1066 Norman invasion and Battle of Hastings is not far off 1,000 years old.It depicts the battle which saw William…

Some of Britain’s biggest public sector pension schemes are in talks to take a stake in Center Parcs as its Canadian owner finalises a recapitalisation of the holiday parks giant.Sky News has learnt that bodies including the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF), the London-based Local Pension Partnership (LPPI) and the Edinburgh-based Lothian Pension Scheme are among those which have been in negotiations about buying between 15% and 20% of the company. The GMPF, which is part of the Northern LGPS, is the UK’s single-biggest biggest local government pension scheme, with well over £30bn under management and responsibility for the retirement…

Space is an alien environment for humans.Our bodies are built for gravity; take it away and there are profound changes to our biology.Muscles and bones that keep us upright on Earth become weak.Body fluid that’s normally pooled in our legs floods into our upper body, changing the shape of the heart and damaging the eyes.And genes that are inactive on Earth suddenly switch on.Others go silent.These are some of the lessons learned from 25 years of studying astronauts living and working on the International Space Station (ISS). Image: The International Space Station seen from a docking craft. Pic: NASA And…

American talk show host Jimmy Kimmel delivered an alternative Christmas message this year, taking aim what he said was the rise of fascism under Donald Trump’s government.Kimmel has a long-running feud with the US president which has escalated since his show was suspended in September by broadcaster ABC due to criticism he launched at Mr Trump and his “MAGA gang” over their handling of Charlie Kirk’s death. Mr Trump celebrated the suspension, saying Kimmel was “not a talented person”, and was “fired for lack of talent,” before calling for other left-wing hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, to face the…

The average person now has £38 less to spend each month after tax than they did at the end of 2024, following three consecutive quarters of falling UK living standards.The government made “improving living standards across all every part of the UK” one of their most high profile targets to achieve before the next election.The previous parliament, between December 2019 and July 2024, was the first in recorded British history to oversee a fall in disposable income in real terms.But disposable income is now £1 lower per month than it was in summer 2019 after adjusting for inflation, according to…

Uber and Lyft ‌are both planning to launch driverless taxi trials in London in 2026, in separate partnerships with Chinese tech giant Baidu.The move reinforces the UK’s role as Europe’s leading testbed for commercialising robotaxis, fuelled by the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 which provides a legal framework for driverless car ‌liability. It also sets the scene for the competing trials between US and Chinese autonomous giants for the first time in a European capital, following Alphabet-owned Waymo’s recent start of supervised tests in ‍London. Image: Lyft’s boss, revealed the trials would use Apollo Go RT6 vehicles that are “purpose-built for…

A judge has quashed a summons against comedian Reginald D Hunter, brought privately by Campaign Against Antisemitism, ruling it “abusive” and intended to get the comedian “cancelled”.The 56-year-old US comic had been accused of three counts of sending an offensive communication on three different occasions – 24 August, 10 September and 11 September last year – to Heidi Bachram on X. District Judge Michael Snow quashed the summons on Tuesday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court following an application by the defence.He ruled the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) charity’s motive in seeking to prosecute Hunter was “to have him cancelled”, and the…

The chancellor’s spring budget will take place in March, the Treasury has announced.Rachel Reeves will deliver the budget, known as the “spring forecast”, on 3 March 2026. She has asked the independent budget watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), to “prepare an economic and fiscal forecast” for publication on the same day.The Treasury said the government has committed to delivering only one major fiscal event a year, at the autumn budget.As a result, it said the spring forecast will “not make an assessment of the government’s performance against the fiscal mandate and will instead provide an interim update on…

The row between Europe and Washington about what you can do online just ramped up.On Christmas Eve, the White House imposed visa bans on five public figures in Europe. It’s all about what European officials describe as the regulation of online harm and what America’s officials consider censorship.”If you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you’re unwelcome on American soil,” said Sarah Rogers, the US under secretary of state for public diplomacy, as the bans were announced.The highest profile figure facing travel restrictions is Thierry Breton, a former EU commissioner responsible for regulating social media and a key…