Author: SKYNEWS

US singer Chris Brown has been released on bail by a judge in London – and must pay a £5m security fee to the court.The 36-year-old was granted bail by Judge Tony Baumgartner at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, but did not appear in person. The rapper was remanded in custody following an initial hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday – but is now free to leave ahead of his next court appearance in London on 13 June.He faces a charge of grievous bodily harm following an alleged assault at a London nightclub in 2023.His bail conditions allow him…

Marks and Spencer (M&S) has warned investors it is facing a £300m hit to trading profits as a result of last month’s ransomware attack.The company said it was aiming to reduce the figure significantly through management of some costs, including the prospect of insurance payouts, but added disruption to its operations could last into July. The continuing fallout from last month’s cyberattack is hanging over the retailer’s outlook as its online channels remain down for payments.Website sales are expected to resume, at least partially, in a couple of weeks’ time.Money latest: Reaction to inflation spike M&S said it could not…

Elon Musk has said he is committed to remaining as Tesla’s chief executive for at least five years, as the electric carmaker faces pressure from consumers and the stock market over his work with Donald Trump’s government.The world’s richest man said he will cut back on political spending after heavily backing the US president last year. During a video appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum hosted by Bloomberg, a moderator asked: “Do you see yourself and are you committed to still being the chief executive of Tesla in five years’ time?”Musk responded: “Yes.”The moderator added: “No doubt about that at…

A sculpture of Dame Judi Dench is being auctioned off to raise funds for lymphoedema research.The acting legend sat for royal sculptor Frances Segelman in front of an audience at Claridge’s in London on Monday night. Speaking to Sky News, Dame Judi Dench said she wanted to do something to help her friend, photographer Gemma Levine, who was diagnosed with the disease 15 years ago and organised the event.”Gemma photographed me a very long time ago and we got on very well, we hit it off,” she said.”I didn’t know about lymphoedema then but I have an assistant Jen, who…

The steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta is mounting a last-ditch bid to salvage his British operations after seeing an emergency plea for government support rejected.Sky News has learnt that Mr Gupta’s Liberty Speciality Steels UK (SSUK) arm is seeking to adjourn a winding-up petition scheduled to be heard in court on Wednesday. The petition is reported to have been brought by Harsco Metals Group, a supplier of materials and labour to SSUK, and is said to be supported by other trade creditors.Unless the adjournment is granted, Mr Gupta faces the prospect of seeing SSUK forced into compulsory liquidation.That would raise questions…

The Met Office has transferred to a new off-site supercomputer – which could make 14-day forecasts as accurate as seven-day equivalents.Operating using Microsoft’s cloud-based Azure system, the new computer could also help predict extreme weather further in advance and advance climate research. The weather agency used its first supercomputer 60 years ago, but until now it has almost always been run on site.For more than a month, Azure has been running off-site simultaneously with the Met Office’s previous supercomputer, which has now been switched off.Find out the forecast for your area Chief executive officer Penny Endersby said on the agency’s…

The Who’s drummer Zak Starkey has been sacked by the band, marking the second time he has left in the past month.The band’s guitarist Pete Townshend made a statement on Instagram on Sunday, saying: “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change. “A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”The announcement comes weeks before the iconic British rock group’s farewell tour.In response, Starkey, who had been a band member since 1996, said in an Instagram post he would “never have quit” and…

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has told bank bosses she is “open-minded” about reforming the industry’s ring-fencing regime amid a concerted push to abolish the most significant regulatory burden introduced after the financial crisis.Sky News has seen a letter sent last week by Ms Reeves to the chief executives of a quartet of Britain’s biggest banks, in which she acknowledges their view that adjustments to ring-fencing – which creates a firewall between groups’ investment banking and retail operations – “have not gone far enough”. “As I have said previously, I am open-aminded about the case for further reform,” the chancellor told…

A music video-streaming service whose shareholders include the U2 bassist Adam Clayton will this week announce that it has sealed a management buyout after months of talks.Sky News understands that the assets of MagicWorks, which trades as ROXi, have been sold to a new company called FastStream Interactive (FSI), with backing from two major US-based broadcasters. Sources said that Nasdaq-listed Sinclair and New York Stock Exchange-listed Gray Media were among the new shareholders in FSI, with the launch of new interactive TV Channels in the US expected to take place shortly.The deal, which has involved raising millions of pounds of…

TikTok will now show teenagers guided meditation sessions if they’re scrolling past 10pm. It is part of the company’s attempt to mitigate some of the mental health problems associated with social media, as Big Tech faces increasing pressure to prioritise young people. Now, if a teenager uses TikTok after 10pm, their feed will be interrupted by a meditation exercise aimed at promoting better sleep.If they choose to ignore that prompt, TikTok will later show a second, full-screen prompt that is harder to dismiss.It will also be available to adults using the short video app, but will be switched on by default…