Author: SKYNEWS

Former General Hospital actor Johnny Wactor has been shot dead by thieves who were trying to steal the catalytic converter from his car. He was 37.The shooting happened at about 3am on Saturday in downtown Los Angeles (11am on Saturday UK time) when Wactor approached three men by his car, according to police. One of the three opened fire, and Wactor died later in hospital.The suspects drove away, and no arrests have been made.The actor had just left a rooftop bar nearby, said his mother, Scarlett Wactor. When he saw the three by his car, he thought it was being…

Bruce Springsteen has cancelled a series of dates due to “vocal issues”, days after performing in what he described as “hellacious” weather in Sunderland.The US star, 74, postponed shows in Marseille, Prague and Milan over the next fortnight, with his European tour set to resume in Madrid on 12 June. In an Instagram post on Sunday, he said he was “recuperating comfortably” and he and the E Street Band “look forward to resuming their hugely successful European stadium tour”.With “further examination” and “consulting”, the statement also said, doctors determined Bruce “should not perform for the next 10 days”.Springsteen had played…

Pocket money is in decline, data shows – but kids are finding new ways to pay for their everyday “essentials”.Data from the NatWest pocket money index (looking at transactions from 308,000 children in the Rooster app), shared with our Money blog, shows only 30% of families now pay pocket money as part of a regular routine (down 2%), with children getting £3.78 on average a week (down 10p from last year). In fact, pocket money now makes up just 14% of children’s income.Instead, they’re finding new income streams – with a typical child netting £479.96 a year (£9.23 a week)…

A songwriter who created the soundtracks of some of Disney’s best-known films – including Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – has died.Richard M Sherman, one half of the award-winning pair of brothers who wrote more than 150 songs for Disney, died aged 95 on Saturday due to an age-related illness.Sherman and his brother Robert won two Academy Awards for the 1964 hit Mary Poppins – best score and best song for Chim Chim Cher-ee. Image: Richard M Sherman, right, and his brother Robert with their Oscars, alongside actress Debbie Reynolds in 1965. Pic: AP They…

An Indian pharmaceutical group is closing in on a deal to snap up Nicotinell, the anti-smoking aid, from Haleon, its FTSE-100 parent company.Sky News has learnt that Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories could be within days of acquiring the brand and a number of lesser-known European products from Haleon. Sources said a deal was likely to be announced as soon as this week.It was unclear on Sunday how much Dr Reddy’s might pay for the Haleon-owned assets, although it is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of pounds.Should it be completed, it will be the latest in a string…

Nicki Minaj fans who queued to see her in Manchester only for her arrest to lead to the concert being cancelled at the last minute have blamed the beleaguered venue for the fiasco.Ticketholders queued outside the Co-op Live arena from as early as 9am on Saturday and were allowed inside at 7pm. Minaj, however, had been arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on suspicion of possession of “soft drugs” and was not released until 9pm – when the gig was due to start.Once inside, her fans, also known as Barbz, claim security staff told them she was already in the building.…

A new rollercoaster touted as the tallest in the UK has shut one day after it opened.Hyperia at Thorpe Park is claimed to be the country’s tallest, at 236ft, and the fastest, with a top speed of 81mph. It was opened to the public on Friday, but on Saturday, the theme park posted an update on its X page.”Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are unable to open Hyperia between Sunday 26th-Wednesday 29th May,” the statement read.”We apologise for the disappointment this will cause and we are working hard to reopen Hyperia as soon as possible,” it added. Read more from…

Director George Miller says the Mad Max film franchise that exists today was borne out of limitations.Originally an emergency room doctor, the Australian director transitioned into film and created the story of a world where limitation is a central theme and abundance a dream. Image: (L-R): Taylor-Joy with Miller on set. Pic: Warner Bros/Domain Pictures The Australian director made his first Mad Max film in 1978 with a crew of 35 and a fresh-faced Mel Gibson as the lead.He says it was filmed on a discarded camera lens from a Steve McQueen film, and the lack of resources to create…

An album of “incredibly personal” new songs from Sir Elton John won’t be the singer’s last, according to his long-term songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. “It’s a pretty amazing project, very cool…it tells a lot of stories and it’s incredibly personal, but it’s certainly not final.” Few details are known about what fans can expect from Sir Elton’s new music, but the legendary lyricist says he thinks it will be released before Christmas. Image: Bernie Taupin speaking at an event earlier this week. Pic: Mark Allan “It’s all done, it’s all in the can and ready to come out, I think, at…

Music star Nicki Minaj has been arrested at an airport in the Netherlands hours before she was due to perform at Co-op Live in Manchester.The American rapper posted a series of messages on the social media site X – including one message in which she wrote “they said they found weed”. Asked about Minaj, Robert van Kapel, a spokesman for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, told NBC News: “We can confirm that we have arrested a 41-year-old American woman at Schiphol Airport because of possession of soft drugs.”It is unclear if Minaj’s show at Co-op Live has been affected.A post on…