Author: SKYNEWS

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is putting Matchesfashion, the luxury online clothing platform, into administration less than three months after buying it.Sky News has learnt that the company has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators after a number of brands terminated their relationships with the site, and amid heavy losses. Sources said a stock exchange announcement was expected to be made by Frasers on Thursday evening or Friday morning.It was unclear whether Frasers would seek to retain control through a pre-pack insolvency deal, although insiders suggested that was the likeliest outcome.It comes barely ten weeks since Mr Ashley’s high…

Natalie Portman has divorced her husband of 11 years, Benjamin Millepied.The Star Wars actress filed for divorce eight months ago and the proceedings have now been finalised in France, where they lived, People Magazine reported. The couple share two children.Their separation came after Millepied, a director and choreographer, faced allegations of infidelity last year.He and Portman, 42, declined to comment publicly on the matter. Two months after the allegation surfaced, they were spotted watching the Women’s Football World Cup final together in Sydney.Last month, Portman addressed rumours about her marriage in an interview with Vanity Fair. She told the US…

An influential committee of MPs has called on the government to legally mandate the inclusion of pay scales in job adverts and ban hirers from asking for employment history as efforts to tackle sexism in the City of London “are moving at a snail’s pace”.A litany of failings, including the “shocking” extent of misogyny, sexual harassment, assault and bullying and “an era of impunity”, were recorded in the Treasury Committee’s report on sexism in the City and the financial services industry which thrives there. It also recommended greater protections for sexual harassment whistleblowers and a ban on using non-disclosure agreements…

Rupert Murdoch is preparing to wed for the fifth time – 68 years after he first got married. The 92-year-old media mogul – who turns 93 on 11 March – is set to marry retired molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, 67, at his California vineyard. The engagement comes just months after the former Fox Corp chairman and Sky News founder called off his previous engagement, and two years after his most recent divorce.From his first bride in the ’50s to the wedding he called off and his latest fiancée, these are the women Mr Murdoch has married and been engaged to…

A minister has admitted that the government’s desire to scrap national insurance could take “several parliaments” to achieve as confusion over the policy mounts.In his budget earlier this week, Jeremy Hunt slashed national insurance by 2p and said the government intended to scrap payments entirely, branding them “unfair” and a “double taxation” on work. However, following a backlash and questions from Labour over how abolishing the tax would be funded, the chancellor admitted his plans would not happen “any time soon”.And speaking to Sky News this morning, Gareth Davies, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, conceded that enacting the policy may…

The Duchess of Sussex has revealed she received “hateful” abuse on social media while she was pregnant with both of her children, saying it was “cruel”.Appearing on a panel at the SXSW Conference in Texas to mark International Women’s Day, Meghan was asked how she dealt with “endless toxicity” online. The duchess said “for my wellbeing” she “keeps distance” from social media now, but added that she suffered “the bulk of the bullying and abuse I was experiencing” while she was pregnant with both Archie and Lilibet.With Prince Harry sitting in the front row of the conference, Meghan said: “You…

Plans to impose targets for electric heat pump sales on gas boiler manufacturers could be confirmed as early as next week, after fierce debate within government and intense lobbying from industry to abandon the policy.Sky News understands energy secretary Claire Coutinho had intended to ditch the policy, known as the Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM), but will now proceed following objections from ministerial colleagues, who argued that it is crucial to decarbonising home heating and meeting wider net zero policy. Manufacturers have warned the policy will increase the cost of boilers.In a concession to the industry, fines for missing electric…

Government investigations have found no evidence of alien technology, the Pentagon has said in a newly-released report.The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), set up in 2022 to investigate and record reports of unknown objects, examined government investigations from as far back as 1945 but found there was no evidence of the US having alien bodies or technology. In its report, the AARO said many “sightings” of UFOs were from people who unknowingly saw the testing or use of classified technology.Claims of an alien spacecraft crashing near the New Mexico town of Roswell in 1947, for example, were consistent with…

Liam Gallagher and John Squire have achieved their first number one album with their eponymous debut collaboration, Liam Gallagher & John Squire.The former Oasis frontman and The Stone Roses guitarist – both Manchester rock royalty – outsold their closest competition three-to-one, according to the Official Charts. They also topped the Official Vinyl Albums Chart, which made up 45% of their sales.Their record was the most-purchased album of the week in the UK’s independent record shops, claiming number one on the Official Record Store Chart, too.Gallagher and Squire told the Official Charts: “Thanks to everybody that went out and bought this,…

The owners of Riviera Travel, one of Britain’s biggest providers of escorted foreign tours for the over-55s, have hired bankers to prepare a sale of the company.Sky News understands that Silverfleet Capital, which has owned Riviera since 2017, has hired Baird, the investment bank, to oversee an auction later this year. Riviera runs river cruises as well as holidays to destinations in Europe, India and South Africa.Money latest: Why you should look out for candles at a house viewingFounded in 1984 by Michael Wright, it was initially backed by private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners in 2014. The value of…