Author: SKYNEWS

Harland & Wolff (H&W), the shipyard-owner which built the Titanic, is closing on a government-backed rescue deal with a Spanish shipping industry group.Sky News can reveal that Navantia has won approval from Downing Street to acquire H&W’s four UK shipyards in a transaction which could be formally agreed as early as next week. If confirmed on the expected terms, the agreement would salvage more than 1,000 British industrial manufacturing jobs.Whitehall sources cautioned that a deal had yet to be finalised, and remained subject to change, but acknowledged that an outline agreement had now been reached.Under the deal, they said, Navantia…

TikTok has lost an appeal against plans to ban the video-sharing app in the US.The social media platform had argued the proposal was a breach of the US First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech. TikTok pushed to overturn a law that could lead to its ban in a few months.However, the petition was dismissed on Friday by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.Its judges ruled the government’s ban was constitutional because it was designed “solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on…

A BBC report into the conduct of former BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has been put on hold at the request of the Metropolitan Police.The report into what the corporation knew about the veteran hip-hop DJ’s alleged behaviour was commissioned in 2022 and was initially expected to be published before Christmas last year. A freedom of information request by BBC News earlier this year revealed the broadcaster had spent more than £3m on the review so far.Westwood faces historical sexual abuse allegations from multiple women.The 67-year-old “strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour”. The Met Police have submitted a…

Across Europe, car companies are cutting jobs and shutting factories – to the extent that some question their very existence. So it’s worth asking the question: what’s gone wrong with Europe (and for that matter America’s) car industry?While some will reach for their own pet conclusions (Brexit! Electric vehicle deadlines! Government regulations!) in practice there’s something bigger, deeper and less parochial going on here. As the world shifts from petrol and diesel cars to their electric counterparts, a seismic shift is taking place in the global motor industry. It is a shift which threatens to cause even more pain and…

Campaigners are warning the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create realistic but fake nude images of real women is becoming “normalised”.It’s also an increasing concern in schools. A recent survey by Internet Matters found 13% of teenagers have had an experience with nude deepfakes, while the NSPCC told Sky News “a new harm is developing”. Ofcom will later this month introduce codes of practice for internet companies to clamp down on the illegal distribution of fake nudes, but Sky News has met two victims of this relatively new trend, who say the law needs to go further.Earlier this year,…

Taylor Swift landed the biggest book launch of the year with the publication of her official Era’s Tour book – but fans were quick to notice multiple errors.Over 800,000 copies (814,000 to be precise) flew off shelves in the US over Thanksgiving weekend, according to Circana, which tracks the print market. The huge number of sales came despite Swift selling the book exclusively through American supermarket chain Target, snubbing the likes of Amazon and other retailers or using a traditional book publisher.Swift posted on social media to announce the book, which coincides with the end of the mammoth Eras Tour…

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has been valued at more than $100,000 for the first time, spurred on by Donald Trump’s latest nomination for his presidential team.The cryptocurrency was valued at $103,280 (£81,160) as of 4.10am UK time, leaping in value by 7.9% in the previous 24 hours, according to currency converter XE.com. It’s the high water mark of a surge in buying that started on 5 November, the day of the US election.Since then, the price has risen by around 45% from $69,374 (£54,608).The rally has also been stoked by a series of the president-elect’s appointments, with Paul Atkins…

The competition watchdog has approved the creation of the UK’s biggest phone network by allowing the merger of Three and Vodafone.Regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued the decision despite previously saying tens of millions could pay more as a result of the amalgamation. CMA approval is contingent on the new entity spending billions to improve 5G internet services across the network, it said.Legally binding targets have been set out for the combined Vodafone and Three to agree and meet.They must cap some mobile tariffs and offer preset contractual terms to mobile virtual network operators, mobile providers that do…

Singer Fuse ODG has released an “alternative” charity song to Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? after criticising the original for having potentially damaging effects on Africa.The single titled We Know It’s Christmas (Band Aid Reply) was released by the British-Ghanaian singer on Tuesday, in what he described as “not just a song” but a “statement”. Writing about his new song in The Guardian, the singer said he is “offering an Afrobeats alternative to Band Aid” as a “celebration of progress and a step toward reclaiming our narratives”.He said the Afrobeats genre has in the past helped to unite…

The first three railway companies to be nationalised have been named as part of the new Labour government’s plan to bring rail into public ownership. In May the service from London’s Waterloo station to southwest London, South Western Railway, will become the first to be nationalised, the Department for Transport said. It will be followed by the London to Essex route c2c in July and east coast operator Greater Anglia in autumn, the department said.Taking the businesses out of private ownership will reduce delays and cancellations that have plagued rail services across Britain, the government said, in turn encouraging more…