Author: SKYNEWS

On a bright but chilly February morning, around a dozen volunteers gather by the beachfront at Minster, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. In bobble hats and walking boots, they carry blue plastic bags and litter pickers. They wander slowly past the dog walkers and brightly painted beach huts, combing the pebbles for waste. But the rubbish they’re looking for isn’t normal litter; it’s builders’ rubble and shredded household waste.It was dumped en masse by the lorry load, at an illegal dump site further up the coast by Eastchurch Gap, between 2020 and 2023.”It’s lots of guttering that washes…

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has achieved the highest-ever opening for a romcom in the UK and Ireland, according to Universal.The fourth movie in the franchise, set around the titular unlucky-in-love heroine, took $15.5m, (£12.3m) in its first weekend, beating Marvel’s first release of the year, Captain America: Brave New World. Image: Zellweger and Leo Woodall in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Pic: Universal Pictures It overtakes the second film in the franchise, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason – the previous record holder, which took $13.1m (£10.4m).Less of a household name in the US, Bridget’s latest adventure…

A waiting game on tariffs is beginning to play out between the UK and the United States on tariffs, amid warnings that Donald Trump’s latest strategy could hit the UK especially hard.The US president on Thursday revealed he has asked his government to consider what tariffs should be applied to other nations – and to include the VAT applied to US goods in those countries in the calculations. It is the latest step in Mr Trump’s attempts to bring production back to the US and charge other nations for access to the American market. He has asked for a report…

It’s more than 10 years since Tinder launched its way into our phones – and our love lives – promising romance at the swipe of a thumb. Just under five million adults in the UK visited an online dating service (app and websites) last year, according to Ofcom’s Online Nation Report.But analysts are questioning whether the novelty is starting to wear off, as usage of the 10 biggest apps dropped 16% between 2023 and 2024.Tinder revolutionised romance as the first dating app in 2012 – and it is still the largest one in Match group’s portfolio. But even it lost…

Conclave has taken the top prize at this year’s BAFTA film awards, winning best film as well as outstanding British film.Based on Robert Harris’s 2016 novel of the same name, and centred around the selection of a new pope, the movie also won best adapted screenplay and best editing. Thanking his ensemble cast as he accepted the award, director Edward Berger said: “What you did to me on set when I watched you was pure magic, it was beyond my grasp or understanding.”It’s not the first BAFTA success for the German filmmaker, who swept the board two years ago with…

The private equity backer of Motor Fuel Group (MFG), one of Britain’s biggest petrol forecourt empires, is exploring the sale of a stake in a deal that could value it at about £7bn.Sky News has learnt that Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CDR), which has built MFG from a mid-sized industry player over the course of more than a decade, is working with advisers to examine options for selling a large minority shareholding. City sources said this weekend that CD&R was expected to run a process during the coming months, with a deal anticipated later this year.A stake of roughly 25-30%…

A British astronaut has been cleared to become the first person with a physical disability to take part in a mission on the International Space Station, the European Space Agency (ESA) has said.John McFall, a former paralympian sprinter from Cardiff, has been medically certified to undertake a long-duration space mission, the agency said at a news conference on Friday. Mr McFall told Sky News’ science and medical correspondent Thomas Moore: “It’s great to have completed the feasibility study and demonstrated there is no technical showstopper for me flying to the International Space Station.”He went on to say “today’s announcement is…

Laura Whitmore has shared the last text messages between her and Caroline Flack on the five-year anniversary of her death.Flack, who was best known for presenting ITV’s Love Island, took her own life on 15 February 2020, aged 40. The Irish TV presenter shared a photo of the pair together, along with a series of screenshots of their WhatsApp conversation, in which she told Flack she had been offered the Love Island presenting role. Instagram This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use…

Regulators have proposed sweeping changes for the baby formula industry, saying high prices and branding are leading to “poor outcomes” for parents.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found many brands cost more than the weekly value of people’s benefits, leading some parents to forgo food to buy formula. The report was released nearly two years after Sky News revealed how a black market for baby formula had evolved as desperate families struggled to feed their children.Parents openly described having no choice but to steal products, no longer able to afford formula as prices soared above inflation.Read more:Desperate parents are stealing…

Ancient Egyptian mummies smell “woody,” “spicy” and “sweet”, according to researchers who took part in a unique new study.Researchers used what they described as “trained, human sniffers” and equipment like an electronic, artificial nose of sorts to study the scent of nine mummified bodies. They said smell was a key consideration for ancient Egyptians when it came to the mummification process, meaning that even 5,000 years later, conservators widely consider the aroma “pleasant” due to the use of resins and oils such as pine, cedar, and juniper.The findings, researchers said, which were published in the Journal of the American Chemical…