Author: SKYNEWS

Several billion pounds in spending cuts – including from the welfare budget – are expected in the spring statement later this month.The Treasury will put forward the proposed cuts to the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) on Wednesday, ahead of it providing a financial forecast on 26 March, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing her spring statement. Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates revealed on the Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast that welfare cuts are set to be part of the spring statement package to help the chancellor come within her borrowing limit.Politics latest: Ministers to make ‘blizzard of announcements’Coates…

Jay-Z has sued the woman who accused him of raping her, in a now-withdrawn complaint.Sky News’ US partner NBC News reported the 55-year-old music mogul had launched a defamation lawsuit against the woman. The American rapper reportedly said the woman and the lawyers representing her “were soullessly motivated by greed, in abject disregard of the truth” and alleged that they caused harm to his personal and professional reputation.Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, is reported to have filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Alabama, where the woman, referred to in the lawsuit only as “Jane Doe”, lives.The…

Warning: This article contains descriptions and animations of domestic abuse Sitting on the sofa over the Christmas break scrolling through social media, an advert popped up that made my bored thumb pause for a second. Picture this: a cartoon woman is sitting down, cutting her toenails when a man, presumed to be her partner, jumps up from behind her and throws a bucket of dust over her. Laughter ensues, the man clearly happy with the prank.But that “dust” he threw over her was her dad’s ashes.She runs to a salon for a “makeover”, upset, where she washes her father’s ashes…

Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have come into effect, as has an additional 10% on Chinese products, bringing the total import tax to 20%. The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US and European stocks down sharply. The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in…

Renowned Scottish painter Jack Vettriano has died at the age of 73, his publicist has said.The artist was found dead at his apartment in Nice, in the south of France, on Saturday.It is understood there are no suspicious circumstances around his death. Image: Pic: Neil Hanna/PA Image: The Singing Butler became a best-selling image in Britain. Pic: PA Vettriano was born Jack Hoggan on 17 November 1951 in Methil, Fife.He left school at the age of 15 to become a mining engineer but took up painting after a girlfriend gifted him a box of watercolours for his 21st birthday.The self-taught…

TikTok, Reddit and Imgur are to be investigated by the UK’s data protection watchdog over how they use teenage users’ personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it wants to look into how video-sharing app TikTok uses information from users aged 13 to 17 to deliver content recommendations to them. The investigations into online forum site Reddit and image-sharing site Imgur will focus on their use of age assurance measures, such as how they estimate and verify children’s ages, and how they use their personal information.The regulator is taking action amid growing concerns about how social media platforms use…

Cryptocurrency prices have jumped after Donald Trump revealed he would like Bitcoin and other lesser-traded tokens to be in a new US strategic crypto reserve.He said his January executive order on digital assets would create a stockpile of currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano (ADA). The names had not previously been announced.The American president said in a post on Truth Social: “A US Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a…

Hollywood’s biggest stars have begun arriving at the Oscars in Los Angeles. Demi Moore, Timothee Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Zoe Saldana and Kieran Culkin are among the A-list nominees, with the race to win this year’s top prizes wide open. Oscars 2025: Follow live updatesBefore the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre officially kicks off, the stars will put on their finest frocks and suits and take to the red carpet.Here are some of the first arrivals’ best looks: Image: And here’s your first best actress nominee… Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo. Pic: AP Image: She’s channelling her wicked witch of the west character…

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander has successfully touched down on the moon, in a pivotal moment for private space travel.The size of a compact car, the four-legged lander is carrying 10 scientific payloads and used 21 thrusters to guide itself to touchdown near an ancient volcanic vent on Mare Crisium, a large basin in the northeast corner of the moon’s Earth-facing side. It has on board a vacuum to suck up moon dirt for analysis and a drill to measure temperatures as deep as 10 feet. Also on board is a device for eliminating abrasive lunar dust – a scourge…

Rail fares in England and Wales are set to rise by 4.6% from Sunday.Railcards are also going to become more expensive, despite record-low reliability of services. Public transport campaigners cautioned that the fare hikes will “pile further misery on hard-pressed households” as some commuters will have to pay hundreds of pounds more per year for travel.Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander acknowledged passenger frustration.The UK government set the 4.6% cap for England’s increase in regulated fares. This will include season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance routes and flexible tickets for travel around major cities.Operators set rises…