Author: SKYNEWS

Water companies across England and Wales are asking for bills to be made even higher than they first requested, with one company seeking an 84% hike.The biggest water company in the UK, Thames Water, is now looking for bills to rise 53% and cost £667 a year by 2029/30, according to figures published by water regulator Ofwat. It would make them the most expensive water bills in the country.The biggest rise – 84% – is sought by Southern Water.Of all eleven English and Welsh water and wastewater firms only one utility, Wessex Water, is not seeking even higher bills than…

A meteorite four times the size of Mount Everest may have helped life to thrive after it smashed into Earth, research suggests.The S2 meteorite crashed into our planet around 3.26 billion years ago and such impacts are usually considered disastrous for life. But experts suggest the conditions caused by the impact of the space rock, which had a diameter of 37-58km, might have caused certain life forms to bloom.”We think of impact events as being disastrous for life,” said Nadja Drabon, an early-Earth geologist and assistant professor in the department of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of Harvard…

Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing new sexual assault and rape accusations, including one that involves a 13-year-old girl.Five new civil lawsuits, obtained by Sky News’s US partner NBC News, were filed on Sunday in the Southern District of New York by Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee. They include allegations the rapper, known as P Diddy, sexually assaulted or raped the claimants in separate incidents from 2000 to 2022.Two of the anonymous accusers are men and three are women, including one who alleged Combs raped her when she was 13 years old, according to the suits.Combs, 54, is also accused of drugging…

The prospects of a rescue deal being struck for a British hypersonic aviation pioneer appeared to recede this weekend when it emerged that talks with a Gulf-based state fund had stalled.Sky News has learnt that negotiations between Reaction Engines and the UAE’s Strategic Development Fund, the investment arm of the UAE’s Tawazun Council, about it anchoring a recapitalisation of the company have begun to falter. The reasons for the apparent breakdown in discussions with SDF were unclear on Sunday, although several people close to the situation said the situation was fluid and could be resolved.They added that Reaction Engines was…

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he underwent a heart procedure after a “sudden deterioration” in his health.The 64-year-old said a swim on holiday appeared to cause him difficulties using stairs, with symptoms worsening when he returned to the UK. Clarkson told The Sunday Times he felt “clammy”, a “tightness in my chest” and “pins and needles in my left arm”.The former Top Gear host said he went to see his doctor after hearing about Alex Salmond’s sudden death last weekend.He ended up going to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital via ambulance, but tests including an electrocardiogram (ECG) ruled out a heart attack.…

The amount of AI-generated child abuse images found on the internet is increasing at a “chilling” rate, according to a national watchdog.The Internet Watch Foundation deals with child abuse images online, removing hundreds of thousands every year. Now, it says artificial intelligence is making the work much harder.”I find it really chilling as it feels like we are at a tipping point,” said “Jeff”, a senior analyst at the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), who uses a fake name at work to protect his identity.In the last six months, Jeff and his team have dealt with more AI-generated child abuse images…

The health secretary has warned of “difficult and big choices” coming in the budget, as he refused to rule out freezing tax thresholds.Wes Streeting told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme the government “can’t fix 14 years in one budget” and there are lots of choices “we will have to make that we’d prefer not to have to”. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to prolong the freeze on income tax thresholds by two years to 2030 after the previous Conservative government froze them until 2028.Politics latest: Labour ‘can’t change 14 years in one budget’It means thresholds would not…

Liam Payne’s sister has paid an emotional tribute to her “best friend” as she spoke for the first time about his death.The singer died aged 31 on Wednesday after falling from a balcony on the third floor of the Casa Sur hotel in Argentina.Ruth Gibbins posted on social media: “I don’t believe this is happening. Many times have I poured my heart out publicly with pride about Liam but never much about life as his sister.”Liam is my best friend, no one could ever make me laugh as much as him, doing his impressions always had me creasing and he…

A company was hacked after it hired a North Korean cyber criminal posing as an IT contractor.The unnamed company fell victim to a new North Korean hacking tactic, according to cybersecurity company Secureworks, which investigated the incident. A North Korean cyber criminal posing as an IT contractor was hired for a fixed-term contract by the firm, which is based either in the UK, US or Australia.Secureworks is keeping the company’s location general in order to protect the company.Within days of starting work, the criminal “accessed and exfiltrated company data”, according to Rafe Pilling, who is the director of threat intelligence…

Niall Horan has paid tribute to his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne, saying he is “absolutely devastated” by his death.The 31-year-old pop star suffered “extremely serious injuries” after landing in the courtyard of the CasaSur Hotel in the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, police said. Image: Liam Payne in 2023. Pic: AP Payne had flown to Buenos Aires to attend the Horan’s concert at the Movistar Arena earlier this month.Paying tribute to Payne, Horan shared a photo of the pair as teenagers at the start of their One Direction journey, with his bandmate on his back and both smiling for…