Author: SKYNEWS

A course dedicated to studying Beyonce is coming to Yale University, allowing students to dig deeper into the “artistic genius” of the global superstar.Titled Beyonce Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music, it will kick off next spring. According to a description of the module, which is offered through the humanities and arts department, it will focus on her work from her self-titled album in 2013 to her current album, Cowboy Carter.The country album received 11 Grammy nominations on Friday, after being roundly snubbed at this year’s Country Music Association Awards. Its recognition has made…

Azerbaijan has to increase its gas production because of “commitments” to meet EU demand, its key official has implied, as it prepares to open the COP29 climate talks in Baku.In an exclusive interview with Sky News, lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev sought to dispel dark clouds gathering over the critical UN talks which begin on Monday. Fear has spread that the already shaky negotiations will struggle to make progress after the re-election of climate sceptic Donald Trump, a scandal around one of Mr Rafiyev’s colleagues and the news that many EU leaders won’t attend the Baku talks. Image: Azerbaijan is ‘determined’…

Jamie Oliver has withdrawn a children’s book he wrote from sale after criticism that it stereotyped First Nation Australians.In his book, Billy And The Epic Escape, the TV chef tells the story of a First Nations girl living in foster care in an Indigenous community who gets abducted by the novel’s villain. But the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation (Natsiec) blasted the book for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences”.The body’s chief executive, Sharon Davis, said the book “ignores the violent oppression of First Nations people” and that its depictions…

Azerbaijan, a major oil and gas producer accused of serious human rights abuses, is “perfectly suited” to host a critical global climate summit, according to its man in charge of it.Before the COP29 climate talks kick off in the capital Baku on Monday, the president of the talks, Mukhtar Babayev, told Sky News the country has plenty to bring to the table. Sandwiched between Russia and Iran, bridging Europe and Asia, Azerbaijan is “strategically located” to bridge differences between regions, he said, as countries assemble with wildly different ambitions, grudges and fears for the talks. But there’s another reason, said…

The UK could be spared the impact of Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariff increases on foreign imports, a US governor has told Sky News.In the aftermath of the Republican candidate’s decisive election win over Kamala Harris this week, attention is turning to what the former president will do on his return to the White House. Mr Trump has said he wants to raise tariffs – taxes on imported products – on goods from around the world by 10%, rising to 60% on goods from China, as part of his plan to protect US industries.Follow live: Trump wins Arizona – sweeping…

Tony Todd, the actor best known for his title role in the Candyman horror films, has died aged 69.The father-of-two died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. He featured in the Final Destination and Transformers films, as well as playing the Starship Enterprise’s Commander Kurn on several Star Trek shows in his four decade-career.He also appeared in films such as The Crow, Night of the Living Dead, and The Rock. Todd enjoyed a successful career on stage too, including a run in the Broadway production of the musical Aida. Image: Tony Todd in May.…

After a year of ever more extreme weather and continually rising global temperatures, it’s no wonder this year’s UN climate summit has been called – once again – the “last-chance saloon”.Yet swaggering out through its swing doors goes president-elect Donald Trump. The timing of his election win, with its promise to withdraw the US from the global climate process, couldn’t be worse.Next year is forecast to exceed 1.5 degrees of warming for the first time – something the Paris Agreement is designed to prevent from becoming the norm.Despite that and nearly 30 years of talks, man-made emissions of greenhouse gases…

Gladiator director Ridley Scott says he had to persuade Joaquin Phoenix to stay on the first movie, after the Joker star threatened to quit.Phoenix, 50, played the corrupt Roman emperor Commodus in the first film, and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Image: Paul Mescal and director Ridley Scott on the set of Gladiator II. Pic: Paramount Pictures Scott told The New York Times: “[Joaquin] was in his prince’s outfit saying, ‘I can’t do it’ – I said, ‘What?’ And Russell [Crowe] said, ‘This is terribly unprofessional’.”The 86-year-old filmmaker said he used his closeness to Phoenix to persuade…

The baby formula market needs a shake-up to help parents struggling to afford it, according to the UK’s competition watchdog.There are “limited incentives” for the industry to compete on price and parents have suffered the consequences of high prices, said an interim report by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The watchdog has previously reported a 25% increase in prices over the past two years, with just two companies, Nestle and Danone, controlling 85% of the market.Among its recommendations is a call for better public health messaging and clarity for parents trying to choose between different brands.The CMA also confirmed…

China says it’s a developing country, so it doesn’t have to pay into a major new fund to help poor countries cope with climate change. The United States disagrees.This is at the heart of an almighty row about to boil over at the UN COP29 climate talks next week in Azerbaijan. Or is it all just an elaborate “distraction”?Driving this brewing storm is something called “climate finance”.It’s been whipped up further by the re-election of Donald Trump, a climate denier expected to withdraw the world’s largest historic greenhouse gas emitter from global efforts to tackle climate change. Why do countries…