Author: SKYNEWS

The Scottish Government has given approval for what is being called the world’s “biggest offshore windfarms” just days after US President Donald Trump pressured Scotland’s First Minister to scrap renewable projects.The US president branded the turbines a “con-job” and described those along Scotland’s coastline as “some of the ugliest you’ve ever seen”. Mr Trump raised the issue during face-to-face talks with Scottish First Minister John Swinney on the president’s visit to Aberdeenshire on Tuesday. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 6:30 What happened during Trump’s private Scotland visit? The lobbying by Trump appears to have failed…

Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs have called for him to be acquitted of prostitution-related offences, or given a new trial on the same charges.Combs, 55, was found guilty of two counts of transportation for engagement in prostitution at the end of his high-profile trial in New York earlier this month – for flying girlfriends and male sex workers around the US and abroad for sexual encounters referred to as “freak offs”. However, he was cleared of more serious charges of racketeering, conspiracy and sex-trafficking. Image: Marc Agnifilo is one of the lawyers on the defence team. Pic: Reuters The hip-hop…

The owners of the RAC roadside recovery service are preparing to offload the company in a deal which could value it at up to £5bn.Sky News has learnt that CVC Capital Partners, the Singaporean sovereign investment fund GIC and Silver Lake Partners have been in discussions about plans to launch an auction or a stock market listing of the company. The RAC, which was founded in 1897, is one of the world’s oldest roadside assistance companies.Money latest: Next benefits from M&S cyberattack disruptionIt now has about 14 million members, making it nearly as large in customer terms as the AA,…

The mother of a 10-year-old girl who died from complications of measles has urged parents to have their children vaccinated amid a surge of cases.Renae Archer was too young to have the MMR vaccine when she caught the infection at just five months old. A decade later, she was diagnosed with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a very rare brain disease. She died in 2023.Her mother Becky believes Renae might not have caught measles if more people had inoculated their children. Image: Renae and Becky Archer The warning comes as rates of vaccine uptake continue to fall. The recent death of a…

Disgraced hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has asked a judge to release him on a $50m bond as he waits to be sentenced for prostitution-related offences.Combs’s lawyer has argued that conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn are dangerous and noted that others convicted of similar offences were typically released before sentencing. “Sean Combs should not be in jail for this conduct,” Marc Agnifilo said in a court filing on Tuesday.”In fact, he may be the only person currently in a United States jail for being any sort of John, and certainly the only person in jail for…

J Sainsbury, the supermarket chain, was on Wednesday racing to resolve an issue with the card payments giant Visa which was impacting customers’ ability to pay for their online grocery orders.Sky News understands that Sainsbury’s is working with Visa to address the issue after a number of shoppers reported that their card payments had failed. The retailer ruled out the possibility of a cyberattack and said its website and app were functioning normally, with no direct impact on customers.Money latest: The best places to retire in Britain The issue nevertheless illustrates the extent to which the industry is on high…

Hundreds of thousands of people are protesting against the UK’s new online safety rules, with accusations of censorship being levelled at the government.Five days since Ofcom’s new internet regulations began being enforced, nearly 400,000 people have signed a petition asking for them to be repealed. In response to the petition, the government said it had “no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act”.Read more: New internet rules come into force – here’s what will changeReform UK’s leader Nigel Farage likened the new rules to “state suppression of genuine free speech” and said his party would reverse the regulations. In response,…

Ozzy Osbourne fans will be able to say goodbye to the heavy metal pioneer at a procession for his cortege through his home city of Birmingham tomorrow.The star’s hearse will make its way down Broad Street towards the Black Sabbath bridge and bench – where thousands of fans have left flowers, messages and other tributes since his death.Osbourne, 76, died less than three weeks after performing his “final bow” in the city – the Back The Beginning reunion with his Sabbath bandmates at Villa Park, which raised about £140m for charity. Image: Ozzy Osbourne on stage at Villa Park just…

The intense financial pressure facing Britain’s casual dining sector will be underlined this week when Gusto, the Italian restaurant chain, falls into administration.Sky News has learnt that Interpath Advisory is preparing a pre-pack insolvency of Gusto, which trades from 13 sites. Sources said that a vehicle set up by Cherry Equity Partners, the owner of Latin American restaurant concept Cabana, was the likely buyer.Money latest: Supermarkets report further food price hikes It is expected to take over most of Gusto’s sites although some job losses are likely. A deal could be announced in the coming days, according to insiders.The collapse…

Wildfires in several Turkish regions have claimed at least 17 lives in the past month, as record-breaking heatwaves and strong winds fuel devastating blazes across the eastern Mediterranean.The number of fatalities in fires outside the country’s fourth-largest city, Bursa, rose to four on Monday, as two volunteer firefighters died in hospital after being pulled from a water tanker that had overturned on the way to a forest fire. Another worker had died at the scene earlier, and a firefighter suffered a fatal heart attack on Sunday. Image: A drone view shows smoke rising from a wildfire in Harmancik in the…