Author: SKYNEWS

TV presenter Jay Blades has appeared in court charged with two counts of rape.The 55-year-old appeared via video link at Telford Magistrates’ Court and spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth at the six-minute hearing on Wednesday. Blades, from Claverley in Shropshire, was granted conditional bail to appear at Shrewsbury Crown Court on 10 September.He was not required to enter pleas during his first appearance.The presenter found fame on the furniture restoration programme The Repair Shop after he started presenting in 2017.A furniture restorer, he was the face of the popular BBC show that featured people…

​​​​​​​New “hearing glasses” are being created that use artificial intelligence to help people hear conversations more clearly in real-time.Scientists in Scotland are developing a prototype set of glasses that combine lip-reading technology, artificial intelligence and cloud computing to clean up conversations in people’s hearing aids. The smart glasses are fitted with a camera that records dialogue and uses visual cues to detect the main speaker.The wearer’s phone then sends the recording to a cloud server, where the speaker’s voice is isolated and background noise removed.The cleaned-up audio is then sent back to the listener’s hearing aid almost instantly, despite travelling…

For around 700,000 teenagers on the treadmill that is the English education system, the A and T-level results that drop this week may be the most important step of all.They matter because they open the door to higher education, and a crucial life decision based on an unwritten contract that has stood since the 1960s: the better the marks, the greater the choice of institution and course available to applicants, and in due course, the value of the degree at the end of it. A quarter of a century after Tony Blair set a target of 50% of school-leavers going…

Taylor Swift has announced her 12th studio album during an appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast. The pop megastar, appearing on New Heights, did not say when the record, titled The Life Of A Showgirl, will be released. Fans can pre-order the album in various formats now, and Swift’s website says physical copies will be shipped by 13 October. Image: Pic: New Heights On Monday, Taylor Nation – an official branch of the singer’s marketing team – teased the release on TikTok with a slideshow of 12 images alongside the caption: “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next…

Rugby chiefs have admitted to Sky News their sport is not “incredibly safe” due to the “high risk of injuries”, while insisting players should be encouraged they are prioritising addressing concussion concerns.The candour on the dangers from head collisions comes ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup starting in England next week. At that tournament, for the first time at a World Cup, smart mouthguards will flash red if they detect potential concussions that require further assessment by measuring the force and movement from a head impact.”We could stick our head in the sand and pretend something doesn’t exist, but…

The world’s two largest economies, the US and China, have again extended the deadline for tariffs to come into effect. A last-minute executive order from US President Donald Trump will prevent taxes on Chinese imports to the US from rising to 30%. Beijing also announced the extension of the tariff pause at the same time, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Those tariffs on goods entering the US from China were due to take effect on Tuesday.The extension allows for further negotiations with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and also prevents tariffs from rising to 145%, a level threatened after tit…

A man has been charged in connection with theft from a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in Birmingham.Parviz Jafari, 45, was arrested on Saturday after police received reports tributes had been stolen from the city centre. Officers attended the scene, near Black Sabbath Bridge and a mural painted in Osbourne’s honour, and after making inquiries, identified Jafari as a suspect.He was arrested, charged with theft of flowers, and will appear before magistrates on 3 September, West Midlands Police said. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:15 Sharon Osbourne pays emotional tribute to Ozzy Image: Sharon Osbourne lays…

The best day to see the “most popular meteor shower of the year” is just round the corner.The Perseids shower can bring up to 100 meteors per hour at its peak – including bright streaks and fireballs – creating a spectacular site for stargazers. Here is everything you need to know, from increasing your chances of seeing meteors to why it happens in the first place. Image: Pic: Reuters Why does the Perseids meteor shower happen?The phenomenon has been recurring for centuries and is the result of Earth passing through a cloud of dust left behind the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The…

The long-term lease to the O2, London’s best-known live entertainment venue, has been sold to Britain’s biggest pensions insurance specialist.Sky News understands a deal was signed last week for Rothesay, the title sponsor of England’s home Test cricket matches, to acquire the landmark’s 999-year lease for about £90m. The agreement, which is likely to be announced within days, comes more than two months after Sky News reported that Rothesay was the frontrunner to clinch a deal.Rothesay has become one of Britain’s most successful specialist insurers, having been established in 2007. It now protects the pensions of more than one million…

Chris Hemsworth has told Sky News that finding out he had a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease was a “gear shift” in his life motivations.During a genetic test in season one of Limitless: Live Better Now, the Australian actor discovered that he is, biologically, eight to 10 times more likely than others to have the brain disorder during his lifetime as he carries two copies of the APOE4 gene. He had first taken part in the National Geographic show to be its “guinea pig” and face new experiences that challenge the body and mind.But after having the test, the…