Author: SKYNEWS

John Cleese has paid tribute to his Fawlty Towers co-star Prunella Scales, who has died aged 93, describing her as a “wonderful comic actress”.The star, who was living with dementia, was watching the sitcom the day before she died, her sons Samuel and Joseph West said in a statement confirming her death. “Our darling mother Prunella Scales died peacefully at home in London yesterday.”Her seven-decade acting career saw her in multiple roles from the 1950s, including in 1960s sitcom Marriage Lines, before featuring as the wife of John Cleese’s character Basil Fawlty, in two series of Fawlty Towers in 1975…

Pimco, the giant bond fund manager, has offloaded hundreds of millions of pounds of Thames Water debt as the crisis-hit utility limps towards a private sector rescue deal aimed at averting the threat of temporary nationalisation.Sky News has learnt that Pimco – run by the former Man Group boss Emmanuel Roman – has in recent weeks reduced its exposure to Thames Water’s mountain of debt by selling the majority of its holdings to fellow investors including Apollo Global Management, Elliott Advisors and Silver Point Capital. Further details of the trades were unclear on Tuesday, although one insider said they accounted…

Men with suspected prostate cancer will be able to get an NHS diagnosis within a day as part of a new trial.Artificial intelligence will be used to interpret MRI scans, meaning problematic legions can be detected in a matter of minutes. Should a scan conclude there is a high risk of cancer, it will be sent to a radiologist for priority review – with the patient booked in for a biopsy that same day. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 6:16 Sir Chris Hoy and Dermot Murnaghan on facing cancer NHS England says the technology will…

2026 will see Bon Jovi take centre stage once again when they return for their Forever Tour, four years after Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal cord surgery had the group’s future up in the air.Speaking to Sky News, he says he’s “excited, humble and grateful” to be back to full health. “The band and even the crew, they showed me a whole other level of brotherhood and commitment and love for three plus years when, you know, there’s no money coming in. And their families are waiting on that. And they never lost faith, which helped me to keep fighting,” he…

It’s not the start to the week that Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, would have been hoping for: more than 2,000 private sector jobs in Scotland at risk from the collapse of Petrofac, the London-listed oilfield services group.Its slide into insolvency was triggered by last week’s cancellation of a major contract by its biggest customer, but the failure of a company once valued at more than £6bn has been a long time coming. Money blog: ‘We protect UK from attack, our salaries can be limitless’Administrators at Teneo will now attempt to salvage what they can from Petrofac’s wreckage.”The group’s operations…

Apple has lost a landmark lawsuit over fees in the App Store, which could benefit around 36 million iPhone and iPad users in the UK.The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ruled that the US tech company abused its dominant position by “charging excessive and unfair prices in the form of the commission which it charges developers”. Lawyers for Dr Rachael Kent, the academic who brought the case, claim Apple had made “exorbitant profits” by excluding all competition for the distribution of apps and in-app purchases.It is argued Apple should pay around £1.5bn in damages for purchases made over the last…

Two men have been arrested following a robbery at the Louvre museum in Paris which saw thieves escape with priceless jewellery, including part of the French crown jewels.Confirming arrests had been made on Saturday night, French public prosecutor Laure Beccuau appeared furious with the way the arrests were announced. She said: “I deeply deplore the hasty disclosure of this information by informed individuals, without consideration for the investigation.”This revelation can only harm the investigative efforts of the hundred or so investigators involved in the search for both the stolen jewellery and all the perpetrators.” Image: Police officers near a basket…

The UK’s largest supermarkets are calling on the chancellor to exclude stores from a new business rates surtax, warning that shoppers will bear the brunt of higher prices.Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Morrisons, Asda, Aldi and Lidl are among the stores that have signed a letter addressed to Rachel Reeves, arguing that easing taxes on grocers would help curb food inflation. Industry group the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which organised the letter, said large shops could face higher business rates if included in the government’s proposed surtax on properties valued at more than £500,000.Smaller high street firms are expected…

Experts are warning that without “fast changes” the UK could run out of drinking water in the future.The first seven months of 2025 were the driest since 1976, with reservoirs across England only 56.1% full on average, according to the Environment Agency. “I think that we do need to worry about the fact that there is this possibility we could run out,” Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology from Reading University, told Sky News.”It’s only if we start thinking like that, that we’re going to start conserving our water, otherwise we just take it completely for granted.”It is all of our…

Kim Kardashian has revealed that she has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Footage from the latest season of The Kardashians shows the reality TV star going for an imaging scan. The 45-year-old appears to suggest her small aneurysm may have stemmed from stress.Brain aneurysms are relatively common, with data suggesting they affect about one in every 50 people.In many cases, patients may be unaware that they have one – as they tend to cause few symptoms when unruptured. Image: Brain aneurysms are common but often go undiagnosed. iStock file pic Should an unruptured aneurysm grow to a larger size,…