Author: SKYNEWS

Mel B says she was told to straighten her hair for the video of Wannabe – The Spice Girls’ break-out hit – because her “big hair didn’t fit the pop star mould”.But the 49-year-old star said she defied the stylist “and danced as me, with my big hair, my brown skin and I was totally proud of who I was”. Image: The Spice Girls in 1997. Pic: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock The singer, who rose to fame as “Scary Spice”, is one of the high-profile black British stars calling on the government to make the UK the first Western country to introduce…

Representatives of Britain’s army of small businesses will hold talks with ministers this week amid a mounting backlash against radical government plans to reform workers’ rights.Sky News has learnt that Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, and Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, will meet private sector bosses at 10 Downing Street for the second roundtable summit on the issue. A meeting last week saw the two cabinet ministers hold discussions with larger employers including BT Group, John Lewis Partnership and J Sainsbury. On Wednesday, they will meet SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) representatives including executives from the British Chambers of…

Actress Ali Bastian says she has been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and is receiving chemotherapy ahead of a mastectomy and radiotherapy.The Hollyoaks star, who played teacher Becca Dean from 2001 to 2007, discovered a lump while breastfeeding her daughter, Isabella. Image: Ali Bastian has two daughters, Isla and Izzy. Pic: PA Bastian, 42, told OK! magazine that “it was a total shock” when she was told the news in June, adding, “I have mornings when I wake up and I’ve forgotten… and then suddenly I remember. I’m still trying to process it”.The actress moved to West Cork, Ireland,…

Giving children a solution made up of salt and water can cut the duration of a cold by two days, researchers have suggested.A study found that cold symptoms lasted for an average of six days after using salt water nasal drops – also known as saline solution – compared to eight days after using typical cold medicine. It could also cut the chance of passing colds on to other family members.Professor Steve Cunningham, from the University of Edinburgh who worked on the ELVIS-Kids randomised controlled trial, said: “Children have up to 10 to 12 upper respiratory tract infections – what…

Elon Musk is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to a new global wealth report.Musk, 53, is currently the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $251bn (£191bn), according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. However, according to Informa Connect Academy’s findings, his wealth has been growing at an average rate of 110% a year.It means that – providing his wealth continues to grow at the same rate – he could reach the trillionaire mark within the next three years, according to the findings.The same report – the 2024 Trillion Dollar Club – puts…

Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which has been plagued with problems, has returned to Earth, leaving two astronauts behind on the International Space Station (ISS).The spacecraft – running on autopilot – parachuted into the New Mexico desert six hours after setting out. Cameras caught the capsule as a white streak coming in for the touchdown at 11.01pm local time (5.01am on Saturday UK time), which drew cheers from Boeing’s Mission Control.NASA judged it too risky for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to get back into the spacecraft.It means they’ll remain on the ISS until February, more than eight months after blasting off…

A clearing bank launched just three years ago is raising tens of millions of pounds of fresh funding just days after it was served with a winding-up petition by the UK tax authorities.Sky News understands that The Bank of London, which attempted to rescue Silicon Valley Bank UK last year, is progressing plans for the capital-raising, which one person close to the company said could secure “up to £50m”. The precise figure was unclear this weekend.The new funding is understood to be being lined up from a number of investors including an entity called Aphorism Holding, according to the person.Nada…

Sir Elton John looked in good spirits as he made his first public appearance since revealing a severe eye infection had left him with limited vision.The 77-year-old singer smiled and gave the thumbs-up as he arrived on the back of a buggy at Toronto International Film Festival alongside his husband David Furnish. The Rocket Man star was at the red carpet event for the world premiere of a documentary about his life. Image: The singer appeared in good spirits. Pic: AP Directed by RJ Cutler and Furnish, Elton John: Never Too Late looks back over the musician’s decades-long career and…

The Starliner space capsule which developed faults as it transported two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) is to be flown back to Earth unmanned on Friday.It should be taking test pilots Sunita “Suni” Williams and Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore back to Earth, but the pair are staying on the ISS instead after NASA decided it would not risk having them on board as planned. The capsule suffered thruster failures and helium leaks on its way to the station in June, leaving the US space agency’s bosses to decide whether to bring the pair home or leave them…

The Aston Martin Formula One team is to set a new valuation benchmark by selling a large stake to two of the world’s most prominent investment funds.Sky News can exclusively reveal that HPS Investment Partners, a US-based firm which manages roughly $115bn (£87.6bn) in assets, and Accel, one of the giants of the Silicon Valley venture capital sector, are on the verge of investing hundreds of millions of pounds into the team’s holding company. Money latest: Best paying jobs after universitySources close to the sport said an investment by Accel and HPS was expected to value Aston Martin F1 at…