Author: SKYNEWS

Vue International, Europe’s largest independent cinema operator, is finalising a fresh debt restructuring after the Hollywood actors’ strike halted the release of a string of blockbuster movies.Sky News has learnt that UK-based Vue, its shareholders and lenders are in the process of organising the company’s second debt-for-equity swap in 18 months in a bid to put the business on a sustainable long-term footing. Under the plans, hundreds of millions of pounds of existing debt will be converted to equity, with roughly £50m of new capital being injected into the company.This weekend, Vue’s founder and chief executive, Tim Richards, told Sky…

Online retailer eBay has agreed to pay a $3m (£2.4m) fine to resolve criminal charges over employees who harassed a couple by sending live spiders, cockroaches to their home.David and Ina Steiner also had a funeral wreath, a bloody pig mask, and a book about surviving the loss of a spouse, show up at their door, while their home address was posted online with announcements inviting strangers to yard sales and parties. Mr and Mrs Steiner, who live in Massachusetts, produced an online newsletter called EcommerceBytes, which had upset eBay executives with its coverage.The Department of Justice charged eBay with…

More than 450 props, gowns and sets from all six seasons of Netflix’s The Crown are to be sold in a live and online auction next month with proceeds funding a host of scholarship places for future filmmakers.Among some of the items, part of an exhibition now open to the public in London, is a replica of the so-called Princess Diana “revenge dress”. The infamous black silk gown made headlines in 1994 when Diana wore it the same evening Prince Charles admitted adultery in a television interview – and again when fans of the series saw Elizabeth Debicki recreate the…

The Post Office could be facing a £100m bill and insolvency after claiming tax relief for its compensation payments to sub-postmasters, a tax expert has claimed.Dan Neidle, the head of non-profit organisation Tax Policy Associates, said the Post Office claimed £934m tax relief for its compensation payments, and suggested it could be “unlawful”. The Horizon scandal saw more than 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses handed criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.Read More:Civil servants accuse ex-ministers of ‘cowardly’ blame game over Post Office scandalWho are the key figures in Post…

What lies 1,000 metres beneath the North Sea could help the climate of the atmosphere above. And I’m on my way down to see it.The rattly lift drops at 10 metres per second, the speed of a sprinter, ruffling the air and flapping my shorts as it plunges down. Yes shorts. I wear a lot of PPE on location in my job but this is the first time I’ve donned hi-vis beachwear accessorised with bright orange shin-pads. It’s needed because one danger the miners face is heat. This far below, you’re closer to the Earth’s core so the temperature climbs…

A pair of Friends scripts found in a bin 25 years ago have sold at auction for £22,000, despite their value previously estimated to stand at no more than £800.Auctioneers at Hanson Ross in Hertfordshire said they were “flabbergasted” by the “phenomenal global interest” in the scripts of The One With Ross’ Wedding, season four’s famous two-part finale. The saleroom’s head of operations, Amanda Butler, told Sky News their phonelines were swamped with bids far exceeding the initial valuation on Thursday, the day before the auction.But bidders “went crazy” for the scripts – which were meant to be destroyed after…

In 2007, Apple was credited with revolutionising the landscape for communications when it launched the first iPhone – a mobile phone that could play music and access the internet.The product laid the foundation for 17 years of smartphones and propelled Apple to become the world’s first company to reach a valuation of more than $3tn (£2.3tn) last year. In recent months, its fortunes have taken a turn. Image: Customers photograph themselves with the new Apple iPhone 15 in London in September Read more Apple stories from Sky News:Apple begins pay-outs over ‘slowed-down’ iPhonesApple watch import ban liftedThe company has faced…

Scientists have discovered a huge ring-shaped structure in outer space – and it’s so big that it challenges our current understanding of the universe.Dubbed the Big Ring, the ultra-large structure has a diameter of 1.3 billion light-years and a circumference of 4 billion light-years, making it roughly 15 times the size of the Moon, as seen in the night sky from Earth. The structure is made up of galaxies and galaxy clusters and is the second of such a huge size to be identified by Alexia Lopez, a British PhD student.She also found the Giant Arc – a structure spanning…

Sir Elton John is putting a piano, jumpsuit and a pair of platform boots up for auction in New York next month.A painting of the pop megastar and his partner, David Furnish, by Damien Hirst – titled Your Song after his hit track, and inscribed “xxx for Elton + David” – is expected to fetch $350,000 to $450,000 (£280,000 to £360,000). Also included is a portrait of the 76-year-old singer by American painter and Oscar-nominated director Julian Schnabel – valued at between $200,000 and $300,000 (£160,000 to £240,000). Image: Sir Elton John’s often outrageous stage outfits are represented in the…

A US regulator has reluctantly given its approval for funds holding Bitcoins to be traded on the US stock exchange.The approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – an independent agency which has a primary purpose of enforcing laws against market manipulation – will allow investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without owning the cryptocurrency directly. However, SEC said it was still deeply sceptical about cryptocurrencies and that the agency “did not approve or endorse Bitcoin” in its decision.It comes after hackers were blamed for a fake post on SEC’s X account that announced the financial market regulator’s…