Author: SKYNEWS

How to sum up a year like 2023?Perhaps the best thing to say is that it was considerably less exciting – as far as the economics went – than 2022. And that’s probably no bad thing, because in 2022 much of what passed for excitement was extremely painful: the onset of a cost of living crisis which caused the biggest fall in British standards of living in modern record, a financial meltdown in the wake of Liz Truss’s mini-budget.The plan, when Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt came into office, was always to make the economy boring again, and to some…

Young people today are demonised for being “too colloquial” with language, despite William Shakespeare being praised for doing the same thing 400 years ago, a theatre director has said.Intermission Youth Theatre combines 400-year-old language with the modern day, remixing the bard’s work through the lens of youth culture. This year it celebrated 15 years with a rendition of Taming Of The Shrew, re-titled Taming Who?The fast-paced Shakespeare remix interweaves old verses with new dialogue to give fresh relevance to the Bard’s original.The adaptation challenges gender stereotypes and explores identity and coming of age. Tre Medley played the role of Hortensio,…

Rishi Sunak has been accused of a “desperate” briefing on inheritance tax (IHT) after reports suggested it would be slashed ahead of the next election. It comes as the government confirmed the date of the next spring budget, which will be delivered on 6 March. With a general election looming next year, Mr Sunak will be under pressure from Tory MPs to announce tax cuts to boost their chances of victory.On Wednesday, The Daily Telegraph reported that Downing Street is considering axing IHT as part of a “gear change” on tax, having made halving inflation rather than reducing the tax…

It’s been another eventful year.From Israel’s bombardment of Gaza after the Hamas attacks on 7 October, to the continuation of the war in Ukraine and several natural disasters, the world hasn’t felt particularly stable.As if the scale of these events wasn’t clear enough, many of them have also been captured from space.We’ve picked out some of the most striking images – and don’t worry, they’re not all bad news.Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine Image: Pic: Maxar This picture was taken above the snow-covered towns of Soledar and Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on 10 January, showing bomb craters scattered across the area…

Actor Iwan Rheon hopes his new film Men Up will encourage men to speak out about the impact erectile dysfunction can have on mental health and relationships.The BBC drama is inspired by the real-life medical trial that took place at Morriston Hospital in Swansea in 1994, for the drug that would become Viagra. Rheon, known for his roles in Game Of Thrones, Misfits and Wolf, plays one of a group of Welshmen who volunteer for the trial, starring alongside Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk), Phaldut Sharma (Eastenders), Paul Rhys (Napoleon), Steffan Rhodri (Gavin And Stacey), and Mark Lewis Jones (Gangs Of London).…

Chocolate giant Hershey is being sued by a disgruntled customer who said its Halloween-themed peanut butter treats didn’t match the packaging.Cynthia Kelly, from Florida, argues she bought them because she liked the “artistic designs” of the holiday sweeties. She was especially fond of the “cute looking” eyes and mouth shown on the packets of the peanut butter pumpkins, prompting her to spend $4.49 (£3.52) on them at an Aldi supermarket.When she opened the bag, she found not only were the facial features missing – there were no carvings whatsoever.Her legal case, a class action lawsuit seeking at least $5m (£3.9m,…

A Tesla engineer was injured by a robot that pinned him to the wall at the company’s giant factory in Texas, according to reports.The 2021 incident came to light through an injury record filed to regulators. It noted the injury type as “laceration, cut, open wound” and recorded the “cause object” as a robot.The robot “pushed its claws” into the man’s body and drew blood from his back and arm, two witnesses told US technology website The Information. Image: The Tesla giga factory in Texas After another worker hit the emergency stop button, the engineer managed to escape the robot’s…

Witnesses in the case of a man charged with orchestrating the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur may be the target of a kill order, prosecutors have warned.Duane “Keffe D” Davis, an ex-gang leader from Compton, California, is the only person still alive who was in the vehicle from which shots were fired towards the hip-hop icon. He is also the only person ever charged in connection with the case, and has denied involvement in the killing. Image: Former gang member Duane Davis Ahead of his trial, prosecutors have alleged that members of his family have been handed a list of…

More vinyl LPs were bought this year than at any time since 1990 and are growing at their fastest rate this decade.With just a few more days to go to year-end, the vinyl market has increased by nearly 12%, rising for the 16th year in a row, according to analysis of Official Charts data by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Over a quarter of a million vinyl albums were sold in the week before Christmas, the highest sales for the format this century.Continuing her domination of the music industry and pop culture as a whole, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version)…

Apple has won the right to import two of its most popular smartwatches into the United States, after the appeals court paused a previous ban on imports.The tech giant was ordered in October to stop importing and selling Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches, following a complaint from medical-monitoring technology company Masimo that it had infringed patents. Masimo accused Apple of hoovering up its employees, stealing its pulse oximetry technology and incorporating it into Apple watches.US President Joe Biden’s administration declined to veto the ban by Boxing Day, allowing it to come into effect.Apple had appealed the ban that was…