Author: SKYNEWS

This spring, the most valuable commodity in agriculture is not sunshine or even rain, it is fertiliser.By some estimates, up to half of global production of crops and livestock depends on the magical combination of minerals and chemicals that make up synthetic fertiliser. But the Iran war is pushing up prices and squeezing availability of this fundamental element in the food chain at the start of the European and Asian growing season.British fertiliser importers, farmers and growers have told Sky News that rising costs are squeezing food producers, and, in time, will trigger a food inflation spike for consumers. Prices…

Scientists say they have discovered a new condition behind one of the most common genetic causes of severe epilepsy in children.The condition – named recessive RNU2-2-related neurodevelopmental disorder – leads to seizures and severe developmental delays before children are a year old.Experts estimate millions of people could be carriers of the faulty gene behind the disorder.Children with the condition suffer seizures that can cause them to jerk, stiffen, shake and lose consciousness.It can also take them longer to learn to walk and talk, and sufferers may have significant learning problems.Researchers from the University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation…

First a Grammy, then the Brits – now singer-songwriter Olivia Dean is queen of the MOBO Awards, picking up three of the top prizes.Dean was named best female act at the ceremony, held at Manchester’s Co-op Live, and bagged both the album and song of the year prizes for chart-topper The Art Of Loving and its hit track, Man I Need. The star, whose music blends pop, funk and soul, was also among the night’s performers, alongside acts including FLO, Aitch and Myles Smith, and a grime medley featuring Chip, D Double E, Nolay, Scorcher and Wiley, curated by DJ…

Former hedge fund manager Crispin Odey “bullied” colleagues not to introduce measures at his firm to protect women, a tribunal heard.The hearing on Thursday also heard accusations that the 67-year-old threatened to close the company, Odey Asset Management (OAM), in order to put pressure on its governing body. Mr Odey is taking legal action against the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after it fined him £1.8m and banned him from the UK finance industry last year over how he handled disciplinary processes into his alleged sexual misconduct at OAM.FCA lawyers told the Upper Tribunal in London that a report published by…

For months, the UK has felt like it’s barrelling towards banning under-16s from social media. Spurred on by Australia’s ban, campaigners and MPs have brought the idea of a teenage ban into the UK’s mainstream, and now the government is consulting the public on what it thinks should happen. Among adults, it’s a popular idea; a YouGov poll found that nearly three-quarters of UK adults want to ban under-16s from social media. It’s easy to understand why; we’ve reported on countless horror stories of parents finding their children dead in bedrooms after being exposed to harmful content. We’ve covered sextortion,…

The family of a musician who was seriously injured in a racist attack have criticised the police’s handling of the investigation, saying there have been “multiple failings” in communication.Boyan Chowdhury, a founding member of indie band The Zutons, was left with a significant head wound after being hit with what is believed to be a piece of wood, near to his home in Wavertree, Liverpool, on Saturday afternoon. Speaking to Sky News earlier this week, he said he could have been killed but that he did not have faith in the way the incident was being dealt with.He shared graphic…

Just Eat and the funeral provider Dignity are among the latest companies being investigated as part of an inquiry into fake online reviews. The competition watchdog said its expanded crackdown on false and misleading information for consumers also took in the motor sales platform Autotrader, customer review and feedback firm Feefo and dining chain Pasta Evangelists. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was looking into whether Just Eat’s ratings system had inflated some restaurant and grocer star ratings, giving a misleading picture of quality.Money latest: The most expensive supermarkets for branded products For Autotrader and Feefo, the CMA…

How BMI is calculated According to the NHS website, BMI is calculated by dividing an adult’s weight in kilograms by their height in metres squared. For example, if you weigh 70kg (around 11 stone) and are 1.70m (around 5ft 7in) tall, you work out your BMI by: 1. Squaring your height in metres: 1.70 x 1.70 = 2.89 2. Dividing your weight in kilograms: 70 ÷ 2.89 = 24.22 Your result will be displayed to one decimal place, for example, 24.2. For most adults, if your BMI is: Below 18.5 – you’re in the underweight range 18.5 to 24.9 –…

The Oscars ceremony is leaving Hollywood, organisers have announced.Coinciding with the previously announced broadcast switch to YouTube, the show will move from the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard to the Peacock Theatre about nine miles (14.5km) away, in downtown Los Angeles’s LA Live complex, in 2029. The Peacock Theatre has a capacity of about 7,000 – roughly twice the current amount. Image: The Peacock Theater is already home to the Emmys, where British actor and Adolescence star Owen Cooper won the award for outstanding supporting actor last year. Pic: Danny Moloshok/Invision for the Television Academy/AP It will come after more…

A benefit cheat who defrauded more than £23,000 by claiming she was too ill to go outside was caught surfing and ziplining in Mexico.Catherine Wieland, 33, claimed her anxiety was so severe it left her housebound. But the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it discovered she had been lying about her condition.The DWP said it found evidence of Wieland, from Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex, surfing in Cancun and visiting Thorpe Park three times while earning tens of thousands of pounds in Personal Independence Payments (Pip) over more than two years.It added she had also spent money from her disability…