Author: SKYNEWS

Retired astronaut and the commander of the famous Apollo 13 mission, Jim Lovell, has died aged 97.Lovell was one of NASA’s most-travelled astronauts in the agency’s first decade and flew four times – on Gemini 7, Gemini 8, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13. Lovell helped turn the failed Apollo 13 moon mission into a triumph after managing to get back to Earth safely following an oxygen tank explosion. He was supposed to have become the fifth man to walk on the moon but the flight was thrown into jeopardy by the sudden explosion – which occurred when the spacecraft was…

The owners of Visma, one of Europe’s biggest software companies, are close to hiring bankers for a £16bn flotation that would rank among the London market’s biggest for years.Sky News understands that Visma’s board and shareholders have convened a beauty parade of investment banks in the last fortnight ahead of an initial public offering (IPO) likely to take place in 2026. Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are understood to be among those in contention for the top roles on the deal, City insiders said on Friday.Several banks are expected to be appointed as global coordinators on the…

Actor Gina Carano has settled her lawsuit with Disney and Lucasfilm after claiming she was wrongfully dismissed from The Mandalorian for expressing her political opinions.Carano was fired in February 2021 after starring as Rebel ranger Cara Dune in two series of the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian. According to court documents, it came after the 41-year-old referenced the Nazis’ treatment of Jewish people while discussing current political differences in the US.At the time, production company Lucasfilm said in a statement that her “social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable”.But late…

GPT-5, the long-awaited upgrade to the ChatGPT AI chatbot, has been released by its maker OpenAI.It has been one of the most highly anticipated launches in Silicon Valley after OpenAI’s first offering ChatGPT – powered by its GPT-3 model – kick-started the current AI boom in late 2022. “GPT-3 sort of felt like talking to a high school student,” said Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive.”GPT-4, maybe it was like talking to a college student. But with GPT-5, now it’s like talking to an expert, a PhD-level expert in anything, any area you need, on demand.” At the launch event, OpenAI…

The economy is stagnating and job losses are mounting. Now is the time to cut interest rates again. That was the view of the Bank of England’s nine-member rate setting committee on Thursday. Well, at least five of them.The other four presented us with a different view: Inflation is above target and climbing – this is no time to cut interest rates. Who is right? All of them and none of them.Central bankers have been backed into a corner by the current economic climate and navigating a path out is challenging.The difficulty in charting that route was on display as…

Oasis provided the most “ground-shaking” performance at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium when they last performed there in 2009, according to analysis of seismic data.The Gallagher brothers’ last Scottish gig has topped the chart for the most powerful seismic concert at the venue in the past 20 years, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said. Oasis’ June 2009 gig beat the Red Hot Chili Peppers in June 2004, Kings of Leon in June 2011 and Taylor Swift in June 2024 – when measuring the peak earthshaking power of each event. Image: Noel Gallagher. Pic: PA The measurements were taken from a seismic monitoring…

Donald Trump has announced 100% tariffs on computer chips and semiconductors made outside the US.The move threatens to increase the cost of electronics made outside the US, which covers everything from TVs and video game consoles to kitchen appliances and cars. No date has been set for when they might come into force. A previously announced hike of tariff rates on a range of global trading partners, ranging from 10% up to beyond 40%, comes into effect today. The announcement of tech tariffs came as Apple chief executive Tim Cook said his company would invest an extra $100bn (£74.9bn) in…

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been in contact with Donald Trump about a pardon, a source close to the rapper’s legal team has told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.A White House spokesperson said it “will not comment on the existence or nonexistence of any clemency request”. On Tuesday, the rapper was denied bail ahead of his sentencing in October, when he could face up to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of prostitution-related offences.The sentence will likely be much shorter than that, however.In July, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution – but…

Rachel Reeves will need to find more than £40bn of tax rises or spending cuts in the autumn budget to meet her fiscal rules, a leading research institute has warned.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the government would miss its rule, which stipulates that day to day spending should be covered by tax receipts, by £41.2bn in the fiscal year 2029-30. Politics Hub: Follow latest updatesIn its latest UK economic outlook, NIESR said: “This shortfall significantly increases the pressure on the chancellor to introduce substantial tax rises in the upcoming autumn budget if she hopes to…

America’s vaccine-sceptic health secretary has announced $500m (£375.8m) worth of cuts to their development in the country.The US health department is cancelling contracts and pulling funding for jabs to fight viruses like COVID-19 and the flu, it was announced on Tuesday. Robert F Kennedy Jr, known as RFK Jr, said 22 projects developing mRNA vaccines will be halted. It is the latest in a series of decisions to reduce US vaccine programmes.Read more: Who is Donald Trump’s health chief?The health secretary has fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, reduced recommendations for COVID-19 shots, and refused to endorse vaccines despite…