An American journalist who has been held in Russia for more than a year will stand trial on espionage charges, authorities have said. The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is accused of “gathering secret information” for the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a facility that produces and repairs military equipment, Russia‘s Prosecutor General’s office said. This
Month: June 2024
Twenty-three sets of twins have graduated from a US middle school, making up about 10% of the eighth-grade year group. The identical and fraternal twins graduated from Pollard Middle School in Needham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday. Headteacher Tamatha Bibbo described the event as “quite unusual”. “We typically have anywhere from five to 10 sets at most.
Let’s party like it’s 1997. That could be the message from Labour’s 2024 general election. Back in ’97, the front cover of Labour’s manifesto showed a full-page photo of a mean and moody-looking Tony Blair. The title then was “New Labour, because Britain deserves better” and the campaign song was D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get
Thomas Edison didn’t invent baseball any more than Abner Doubleday did. But his interest in the game might hold the key to unlocking a surprising secret. The Deadball Era was a time when pitchers threw hundreds of innings, home runs were rare, and the game was played spikes up, a time marked by the consolidation
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he is “disappointed” after his aide Craig Williams bet on a July election. Mr Williams, who was the PM’s parliamentary private secretary (PPS), is facing an investigation after he “put a flutter on the general election” just days before the 4 July date was announced. A PPS is a
Tariffs are rarely a good idea. The imposition – or raising of tariffs – invariably invites retaliation from the country or countries whose goods or services you are targeting. They also, invariably, hurt consumers. Donald Trump‘s trade wars with China made for populist politics but ultimately pushed up prices for ordinary Americans. Worse still, they
Wayne Lineker has spoken out about a “disturbing” incident in Ibiza which left him with “stitches and a swollen lip” after he tried “to protect a girl from being harassed”. The 62-year-old, who is the younger brother of former England footballer Gary Lineker, shared an update on Instagram after a video circulated earlier this week,
A 16-time hot dog eating champion says he has been banned from a New York contest after signing a deal with a vegan food company. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, 40, is the reigning champion of the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, having won all but one of the competitions every year since
Sir Keir Starmer said he “rejects the argument” tax rises are required to rebuild public services – as he insisted there will be “no return to austerity” under a Labour government. The Number 10 hopeful told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby that he will “properly fund” the UK’s creaking infrastructure – despite very few giveaways
Americans will still be able to buy an abortion pill after the US Supreme Court threw out a bid by campaign groups to restrict access to it. The decision was made by the same court that two years ago overturned Roe v Wade – which had previously given women rights to terminate a pregnancy. The
The owner of some of London’s best-known restaurants, including The Wolseley, has called for fresh help from restructuring advisers more than two years after its parent company emerged from administration. Sky News has learnt that Minor Hotels has drafted in AlixPartners to advise on cashflow issues at Wolseley Hospitality Group. The project is said to
Actor Henry Winkler has praised Irish firefighters after a blaze at his hotel led to him being unexpectedly evacuated from his room. A selfie shared by the 78-year-old Happy Days star on X, which showed him smiling alongside three firemen from Dublin Fire Brigade, quickly went viral. Winkler wrote alongside the photo: “Dublin’s finest does
The coroner in the inquest into the death of Harry Dunn has recommended better driver training for Americans at the RAF base near where the 19-year-old was killed. Mr Dunn was hit by Anne Sacoolas in August 2019, after she drove her Volvo on the wrong side of the B4031 in Northamptonshire while he was
The Greek island of Rhodes has been hit by a 4.9 magnitude earthquake – as a heat warning remains in force. The Seismological Laboratory at the University of Athens and the United States Geological Survey confirmed the quake struck the popular tourist spot at about 8.20pm on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre
As G7 leaders meet in the idyllic Italian city of Bari the view is stunning. The Adriatic backdrop calm and serene. Don’t be fooled. The outlook for the Western alliance is anything but. The allies meet battered and weakened by storms back home and a sense of impending doom hangs over them. It says it
The number of people waiting for routine hospital treatment in England has risen for the first time in seven months, new figures show. An estimated 6.33 million patients were waiting for 7.57 million treatments to be carried out at the end of April, NHS England data shows. This is up from 6.29 million patients and