Author: SKYNEWS

SpaceX has announced it has acquired artificial intelligence start-up xAI in a deal that that brings together two companies owned by Elon Musk. In a statement, Mr Musk said the deal would create “the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world’s foremost real-time information and free speech platform”. The world’s richest man, who also owns Tesla, social media platform X, and satellite communications company Starlink, said the combination would aim to develop AI data centres in space, and called the move “not just the next chapter, but the…

One of the screenwriters of an Oscar-nominated film has been arrested in Tehran days after signing a statement condemning Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime’s violent crackdown on protesters.Mehdi Mahmoudian, who co-wrote the script for the Iranian drama It Was Just An Accident, was arrested on Saturday, representatives of the film said in a statement. It is unclear what he is charged with. In the statement, Mahmoudian and 16 others wrote: “The mass and systematic killing of citizens who bravely took to the streets to bring an end to an illegitimate regime constitutes an organised state crime against…

Gold and silver costs are taking further punishment on Monday following record routs seen at the end of last week.Both precious metals had stood at record values on Thursday but fell sharply after Donald Trump revealed his nomination for the chair of the US central bank. The announcement on Friday that he wanted Kevin Warsh to succeed Jay Powell from May calmed market nerves over Federal Reserve independence.Money latest: MP shares secrets of the job Image: Keven Warsh is not seen as the advocate of blanket interest rate cuts that markets had feared would be appointed. Pic: Reuters This was…

“There was lots of bullying, harassment, exclusion from the team, from projects. A lot of things were going on.”For the first time, former TikTok worker Lynda Ouazar is speaking out to expose what she says was an environment of bullying, harassment and union busting at one of the world’s biggest social media companies. “I was finding it really hard to sleep at night, having flashbacks, feeling tired, losing my motivation,” she tells Sky News.Along with three of her former colleagues, she is now launching legal action against TikTok. This is the second court case the video app is facing from…

“He’s powerless, he’s being gaslit… a lot of people feel that way” – Riz Ahmed on why his “fresh” adaptation of Hamlet speaks to our “unfair” times.For Ahmed, “a musical chairs of… studio execs leaving” meant it’s taken 13 years to bring his modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet to the screen. While the wait has clearly been frustrating for the Oscar-winning actor, he says he’s come to realise “this is the time for this story”.”Hamlet is feeling the way a lot of us are, you know, he’s feeling the world’s an unfair place,” he tells Sky News. “He’s powerless about it. He’s…

Anthony Joshua, JK Rowling and Mo Salah have been named among the UK’s 100 biggest taxpayers.The billionaire brothers behind gambling giant Betfred topped the rankings of The Sunday Times Tax List 2026 for the first time, surpassing musicians, entrepreneurs and sports stars. Fred and Peter Done, who founded the Warrington-based business in 1967, paid out an estimated £400.1m in tax over the past year, according to the annual list.It came after their tax bill climbed by almost half from £273.4m a year earlier. Image: JK Rowling. Pic: Reuters Financial trading entrepreneur Alex Gerko ranked second on the list with £331.4m…

What other nicknames do full moons have? The Snow Moon is just one of the many names given to each full moon of the year, predominantly by Native Americans. Here are some of the others, according to the Royal Observatory Greenwich: January: Wolf Moon This one is named after the howling of wolves struggling for food in midwinter. February: Snow Moon March: Worm Moon Native Americans named this after the worm trails that would appear in the thawed ground as it warmed up when winter made way for spring. April: Pink Moon This one was named after a species of…

The Queen was among a list of well-known faces who paid their respects to Dame Jilly Cooper at a memorial in London on Friday.The legendary author died unexpectedly in October at the age of 88 from injuries sustained from a fall. On Friday, stars from the film, sport and literary worlds turned out to pay their respects. Image: Queen Camilla with Dean of Southwark Mark Oakley. Pic: PA In attendance were actors Danny Dyer, David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Bella Maclean and Victoria Smurfit, who star in Disney TV show Rivals. The show is adapted from Cooper’s 1988 novel of the…

Donald Trump has revealed his pick to become the world’s most powerful central banker, declaring Kevin Warsh “may be the best” ever.Mr Warsh, a former member of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, will “never let you down” as chair of the country’s central bank, the president said in a Truth Social post. It ends months of speculation on whether he would choose a puppet to force through US interest rate cuts.Rumours around his potential appointment played out on financial markets overnight and contributed to a strengthening of the Trump-hit dollar and downwards shifts in many dollar-priced commodities such as…

NASA is poised to send astronauts around the moon and back for the first time in more than 50 years.The space agency’s Artemis II mission will take the crew further than humans ‍have ever ventured in space before. The mission is planned for as soon as 6 February, but take-off depends on some pretty important factors.Here is everything you need to know.What is the Artemis programme? Artemis is NASA’s lunar exploration programme.It aims to return humans to the moon for the first time since the last lunar landing in December 1972, which was the last mission of the Apollo programme.The…