Author: SKYNEWS

Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick. Image: Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP Image: Val Kilmer in…

Sir Keir Starmer needs to choose between parents who want stronger action to tackle harmful content on children’s phones, or the “tech bros” who are resisting changes to their platforms, Baroness Harriet Harman has said.Speaking to Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour peer noted that the prime minister met with the creators of hit Netflix drama Adolescence to discuss safety on social media, but she questioned if he is going to take action to “stop the tech companies allowing this sort of stuff” on their platforms where children can access it. Sir Keir hosted a roundtable…

​​​​​​​The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running. The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure Image: One…

Actors, directors and celebrity friends have paid tribute to Val Kilmer, after he died aged 65.The California-born star of Top Gun, Batman and Heat died of pneumonia on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told the Associated Press. She said Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.Tributes flooded in after reports broke of the actor’s death, with No Country For Old Men star Josh Brolin among the first to share their memories. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:49 Watch: Val Kilmer in his most iconic roles He wrote on…

Conservation experts are urging homeowners not to mow their lawns over the coming months to help boost butterfly numbers, with more than half of UK species now in long-term decline.Last year was one of the worst on record for butterflies, with 51 of the UK’s 59 butterfly species showing a decline in numbers compared with figures for 2023. The fall is being driven by human activity, the use of pesticides and climate change, experts have said. Image: Human activity has destroyed many habitats for butterflies, experts say. Pic: PA The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, run by a coalition of conservation…

World leaders and governments have begun reacting to Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.The president imposed a 10% baseline tariff on all imports – but many of America’s biggest trading partners have been hit by a far higher rate. Speaking at an event he called “Make America Wealthy Again”, Mr Trump criticised foreign “cheaters” and held a chart detailing who would be paying what.Here is some of the latest reaction. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 6:39 Trump’s tariffs explained China, facing a 34% tax, said it would “resolutely” hit back and “take countermeasures to safeguard its own…

Val Kilmer, the actor who starred in Top Gun and Batman while earning a reputation as a Hollywood bad boy, has died aged 65.His daughter Mercedes told the Associated Press he died of pneumonia on Tuesday night in Los Angeles surrounded by family and friends.California-born Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered, she said.The actor, who played Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky in Top Gun alongside Tom Cruise in 1986, previously admitted he didn’t want the role which made him famous.But he said he begged to be part of the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, even going…

A Bitcoin tycoon has blasted off on a SpaceX rocket in what is the first manned spacecraft to circle Earth over the North and South poles.The fully automated Dragon capsule will take about 46 minutes to fly its pole-to-pole trajectory and roughly 90 minutes to go around the Earth completely. It launched from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Monday night on SpaceX’s sixth private mission – and is now orbiting 272 miles above Earth at 17,000mph.China-born Chun Wang, who made his fortune mining Bitcoin, paid an undisclosed amount for the bespoke mission.However, a spot in the reusable Dragon spacecraft…

Heathrow Airport bosses had been warned of potential substation failures less than a week before a major power outage closed the airport for a day, a committee of MPs has heard.The chief executive of Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee Nigel Wicking told MPs of the Transport Committee he raised issues about resilience on 15 March after cable and wiring took out lights on a runway. A fire at an electricity substation in west London meant the power supply was disrupted to Europe’s largest airport for a day – causing travel chaos for nearly 300,000 passengers, the committee heard.”I’d actually warned Heathrow…

Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan will play Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles films – with a Stranger Things star also portraying one of the Fab Four.The two Irish stars will be joined by London-born actors Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. The cast for the Sam Mendes project was revealed at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas, with all four actors appearing on stage and taking a bow together in Beatles style. Image: (L-R) Mescal, Quinn, Keoghan and Dickinson appeared together at the announcement. Pic: Reuters Mendes is making four interconnected…