South West Water has agreed to pay a £24m penalty for wastewater spillages, the water regulator said. The company, serving 1.8 million customers in the South West part of England, failed to meet its legal obligations in managing the wastewater treatment works and network, Ofwat said. South West Water did not have adequate management systems…

A robot has performed realistic surgery on its own with 100% accuracy, researchers have announced.

Researchers say they have found a “powerful double weapon” that could help cancer patients keep their hair during chemotherapy. The new method combines scalp cooling – where patients use cold caps to reduce hair loss from cancer drugs – with a lotion, comprised of antioxidants – some of which are found in red grapes. Hailed…

A 23-year-old man who convinced his victim to attempt suicide and seriously self-harm online has become the first person sentenced under new internet safety laws. Warning: This story contains details of encouraging self-harm and suicide which some readers might find disturbing Tyler Webb, from Loughborough, Leicestershire, was sentenced to nine years and four months imprisonment,…

Octopus Energy Group, Britain’s largest residential gas and electricity supplier, is plotting a £10bn demerger of its technology arm that would reinforce its status as one of the country’s most valuable private companies. Sky News can exclusively reveal that Octopus Energy is close to hiring investment bankers to help formally separate Kraken Technologies from the…

UK farmers have “nothing more to give” as they fear the government will use agriculture to further reduce US tariffs in a trade deal with the White House. The UK is trying to reduce steel tariffs to zero, from a current reduced rate of 25%, but Downing Street refused to confirm if it was confident…

Mobile phones across the UK will be sent an emergency alert as the government tests the system nationwide. During the test, the second only of its kind, approximately 87 million mobile devices will ring out unprompted. The system was first tested in April 2023, but the government said some users reported that their phones did…

The chairman of Marks & Spencer has told MPs the company is still in “rebuild mode” – and will be for “some time to come” – following a cyber attack which led to empty shelves and limited online operations for months. Speaking publicly for the first time since the attack, Archie Norman declined to answer…

The first hosepipe ban for this year has been declared in the UK. Yorkshire Water said restrictions will come into force across the region later this week in an effort to protect water supplies. In a report earlier this year, the Environment Agency (EA) warned England as a whole is facing huge public water shortages…

Breathing has become “painful” for people in Indonesia after a large lava and ash cloud formed as a volcano erupted, causing flights to be cancelled, schools to close and sending people running for shelter amid difficult driving conditions. Thick volcanic ash covered roads and rice fields in villages in south-central Indonesia as lava and ash…