Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is to hold meetings with energy bosses today to address rapidly rising gas and electricity prices. Mr Kwarteng will meet with the bosses of major energy suppliers who are likely to ask the government for tax cuts and the relaxation of green levies. Last week, the industry’s trade body Energy UK
The Taliban has said women in Afghanistan should not be offered long distance taxi services unless they are accompanied by a male chaperone. The Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice told drivers they should not admit women who do not follow a strict Islamic dress code by wearing the hijab. Women travelling
Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallée, who won an Emmy for directing the HBO series Big Little Lies and whose 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club earned several Oscar nominations, has died aged 58. Vallée died suddenly in his cabin outside Quebec City, Canada, over the weekend, his representative Bumble Ward said. The director was acclaimed for
Rogue planets have baffled astronomers for ages. Unlike regular planets which revolve around stars, these free-floating planets (FFPs) get ejected from star systems to move about in the galaxy on their own. In the latest discovery, astronomers found the largest cluster of rogue planets in a single star-forming region. With an approximate discovery of 100
The Justice Department has released a three-hour video of a battle between rioters and the police at the US Capitol Building on January 6 where rioters brandished weapons, officers were viciously beaten, and a member of the mob died on Capitol steps. CNN’s Jessica Schneider reports. #CNN #News
8:00 PM ET NFL NationESPN Week 16 of the 2021 NFL season should give some clarity to the playoff races in both conferences. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made history in the early game on Saturday, throwing his franchise-record 443rd career touchdown pass. Green Bay, which clinched a playoff spot last week, beat the Browns, dimming
Sarah Weddington, who won a landmark court case to make abortions legal across the US, has died at the age of 76. The Texas lawyer passed away in her sleep early on Boxing Day morning at her home in Austin, her former student and colleague Susan Hays said. She had been in poor health for
A week of memorial services has been planned to pay tribute to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The 90-year-old anti-apartheid veteran died at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town on Boxing Day. His funeral is set to take place in Cape Town on Saturday 1 January but plans are still in their “infancy”, a statement
Instead of giving you a list of the best tracks of 2021, we thought we’d ask musicians themselves. Sky News got in touch with dozens of artists to ask them for their favourite song of the year (other than their own). The outcome? A tribute to the great music that was released this year, despite
Around 8,000 flights were cancelled globally between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day as airlines experienced staff shortages due to COVID-19. Approximately 3,000 of the cancelled flights were in or out of the United States, where the highly transmissible Omicron COVID variant is causing a surge in infections, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com The website’s tally
Clean energy sources generated a record 834 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, or about 21% of all electricity generated in the US in 2020, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported yesterday. That includes wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal. UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for
More than 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccination appointments are now available between today and 3 January, as the government continues its booster jab drive to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant. Over 60% of UK adults have now received a top up, but the NHS’s top doctor has put out a fresh call asking those
Hundreds of flights have been called off for a third day in a row in the US as the Omicron variant of COVID continues to spread. More than 720 commercial flights going into or out of the US were cancelled on Sunday, according to a tally on flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. This meant thousands of people
The Omicron surge and Covid-19 have frayed nerves and pushed the physical and mental limit of medical professionals across the country. CNN’s Ed Lavandera reports on the toll it’s taking as many hospitals near capacity. #CNN #News
A man armed with a crossbow who was arrested after breaking into the grounds of Windsor Castle on Christmas Day has been detained under the Mental Health Act, police have said. The 19-year-old from Southampton was arrested on suspicion of breach or trespass of a protected site and possession of an offensive weapon at about
Jackie Weaver has revealed how her time in the spotlight this year “continues to feel like something that will not be here tomorrow” after going viral with a council meeting video. The 63-year-old became one of the most popular social media memes of the year after Handforth Parish Council’s infamous Zoom meeting went viral in
In the summer of 2008 I was asked to interview Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Salisbury International Arts Festival. Although I had met him and interviewed him several times when I was based in South Africa, I was a little nervous beforehand and I think he could see it. Five minutes before we began, in
Electric motorcycles are increasingly winning favor with armed forces all over the world. The latest example sees the popular Sur Ron Firefly trialed for use in military airdrops. The exercises are currently underway, being performed by the UK’s 16 Air Assault Brigade. Motorcycle New’s Laura Thompson had the chance to join the soldiers during a
People are expected to do more post-Christmas sales shopping online but spend more in previous years, a survey has found. Shoppers plan to spend on average of £247 each in the end-of-year sales, an increase of £85 on last year and £61 more than in 2019, in a reassuring sign for online retailers, according to
TV presenter Richard Osman has revealed that he has suffered from food addiction since he was a child and will do so for the rest of his life. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Osman said he wants to destigmatise the shame surrounding the addiction and opened up about his own behaviour. The