June 26 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- Billionaire activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point LLC hedge fund has taken its largest-ever initial bet on a public company, with a $3.5 billion stake in Nestle SA piling pressure on the world's largest packaged-foods company to find ways to accelerate growth. on.wsj.com/2scxMEa - Takata Corp filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and the U.S. and said it would sell most of its operations to a rival, capping the steep decline of an 84-year-old Japanese company nearly nine years after it began a global recall of rupture-prone automotive air bags. on.wsj.com/2scjvrr - Facebook Inc is talking to Hollywood studios and agencies about producing TV-quality shows with an eye toward launching original programming by late summer, people familiar with the matter said. … [Read more...]

By Riham Alkousaa and Lisa Fernandez | NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO Large crowds turned out for Pride marches on Sunday in New York City and San Francisco, the two U.S. places most associated with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement, with the East Coast city bringing a more political flavor to the event sparked by events there almost 50 years ago. A group of marchers heading down New York's Fifth Avenue carried photographs of Trump and his press secretary, Sean Spicer, as others waved banners bearing the word 'RESIST' and the rainbow flag of the Pride movement.In contrast, a smattering of anti-Trump signs in San Francisco was drowned out by a desire to let loose. "It's too good a day to be upset about Trump," said Richard Babb, 66, of San Francisco. In New York, Brad Hoylman, a Democratic lawmaker in the New York State Senate, said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were "under assault" by the Trump administration."He … [Read more...]

By Paul Sandle | GLASTONBURY, England GLASTONBURY, England Barry Gibb brought some Sunday afternoon fever to the legends slot at Glastonbury Festival when he entertained a huge crowd with Bee Gees hits "Stayin' Alive", "How Deep is Your Love", "Night Fever" and "Tragedy".The songs all featured on the soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever", released 40 years, and festival goers at the Pyramid Stage were dressed up and ready to play homage to the movie and music that defined disco."Stayin' Alive", the first of a string of hits Gibbs played from the movie, had the whole field of revelers and the stage's security team disco dancing in the afternoon sunshine. Gibb formed the Bee Gees in 1958 with his two brothers Robin and Maurice, who have both died. The group has sold more than 220 million records.The Sunday afternoon "legends" slot has become one of the most popular at the festival, and previous occupants including Dolly Parton and Lionel Ritchie have drawn huge audiences … [Read more...]

Patients are being “belittled and bewildered” as access to NHS care is worsening, leading doctors have warned. The British Medical Association (BMA) said the Government wanted a world-class NHS but was only offering it a “third-class” financial settlement. It said that the health service was at “breaking point” and concerns were being “wilfully ignored” by ministers. The NHS was “running on fumes”, the BMA said, as it called on ministers to increase health spending to match that of other leading EU economies. It comes after Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said in an exclusive interview with The Independent that the Government had failed to respond to clear and alarming signals another Mid Staffs hospital scandal was “inevitable”.  Ms Davies pointed to the collapse of foreign arrivals in the profession due to Brexit, chronic low pay and high … [Read more...]

The buccaneering Sir Francis Drake, who liked a bit of gold and glitter, would undoubtedly be pleased to know that the great barn at his old home, Buckland Abbey in Devon, is once again full of wheat – this time towering golden stalks stretching up towards the medieval roof timbers, installed by the artist Andrew Logan. The Alternative Miss World – in pictures Read more The real jackdaws perched in the stone windows chatter their delight at the piece, which incorporates giant mirrored butterflies suspended from the rafters, and tiny shimmering field mice climbing the swaying stalks. The exhibition of Logan’s work, threaded through the house and grounds of the National Trust property, officially opens on 1 July. However, once installed in the huge barn his Goldfield is impossible to conceal: visitors are enchanted, returning repeatedly to sit on the benches and just watch the piece change with the light and shiver in every breeze. Logan’s … [Read more...]

How many days have now passed since the horrific night of Wednesday 14 June, when at least 79 were killed in London’s Grenfell Tower fire? In that time, how many incriminating emails and documents may have been deleted or shredded? We are concerned that, up until now, and as far as we are aware, there have been no arrests, seizure of documents, sealing of offices or freezing of accounts. It took two days for arrests to be made in the 2004 Morecambe Bay disaster, and one day only in the 2012 Costa Concordia sinking. Both led to successful prosecutions. We artists and curators, colleagues of the gifted photographer Khadija Saye, who worked with her in the Diaspora Pavilion in Venice this year, were devastated to learn that our treasured and beloved sister was killed in the Grenfell fire (Report, 17 June), along with her mother Mary Mendy. We were heartened by the bravery and skill of the emergency services, as well as the outpouring of love and support from citizen volunteers … [Read more...]

By Seth Kelley LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - It seems the "Transformers" franchise is rusty.As of Sunday morning "Transformers: The Last Knight," the fifth installment directed by Michael Bay, looks to bring in $69.1 million from 4,069 domestic locations during its five-day opening weekend. That's a franchise low for the sequel from Paramount and Hasbro, behind the first in the modern series, which earned $70.5 million in 2007. "The Last Knight" carries an estimated $217 million production budget.This makes "Transformers: The Last Knight" the latest summer blockbuster to bank on overseas ticket sales to have a shot at turning a profit. In China, the big-budget action sequel made $41 million in its opening day alone. The projected international come through Sunday is $196.2 million, powered by $123.4 million in China."The Last Knight" comes at a time when Paramount could have used an all-around hit, following recent misses "Baywatch" and "Ghost in the Shell." While the latest … [Read more...]

More than a million households living in private rented accommodation are at risk of becoming homeless by 2020, a new report suggests.  A report by homelessness charity Shelter shows rising rents, benefit freezes and a lack of social housing are leading to higher levels of evictions and homelessness, exacerbating the housing crisis.  There are rising numbers of families on low income, who are unable to buy their own home and are struggling to pay even the lowest available rents in the private sector, according to the report which will be published on Monday but has already been seen by The Guardian.  The report also points to a shortage of affordable homes across England.  Shelter found that in 83 per cent of areas in England, people living in the private rented sector are seeing a growing gap between the housing benefits they receive and the price of the cheapest available rents.  This lack of properties is tilting the balance more in … [Read more...]

GEMMA Atkinson is swapping sheep for blood, sweat and tears after leaving Emmerdale as she now wants to be a cage fighter. The super-fit northern actress practises Thai boxing three times a week and is now keen to move into MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and UFC championship contests. After playing gentle and kind soul Carly Hope on Emmerdale, it’ll be a major change of tack for Gemma, who’s always been known for her gym addiction. The stunning telly star, who’s studied karate since the age of 10, said: “To master one martial art, in my opinion, is very difficult. “Someone whop can do floor work and grappling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as regular boxing and wrestling, just all in one, for an MMA fight, I think that’s fantastic. “I started with kickboxing and when you see UFC on TV and you see these guys doing amazing stuff, you realise ‘Oh my gosh, there’s actually so much more I can learn’.” She added that she will be using … [Read more...]

By Paul Sandle | GLASTONBURY, England GLASTONBURY, England Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn got a rock star reception at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, telling a headliner-sized crowd that millions of young people who voted for him would not be silenced or sidelined.Dismissed as a left-wing no-hoper before elections on June 8, Corbyn attracted a surge of support from 18-24 year-olds that helped his Labour Party deny Prime Minister Theresa May a parliamentary majority.The 68-year old's popularity at Worthy Farm in south-west England could be measured by the number of pro-Corbyn banners on display and Corbyn T-shirts.They easily outnumbered those for the biggest names on the musical bill - Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran - and the chant "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn" rang round the world's biggest greenfield festival.Appearing between British singer-songwriter Craig David and U.S. rap act Run The Jewels, Corbyn - who promised during campaigning to abolish tuition fees - said … [Read more...]

By Paul Sandle | GLASTONBURY, England GLASTONBURY, England British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn got a rock star reception at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, telling a headliner-sized crowd that millions of young people who voted for him would not be silenced or sidelined.Dismissed as a left-wing no-hoper before elections on June 8, Corbyn attracted a surge of support from 18-24 year-olds that helped his Labour Party deny Prime Minister Theresa May a parliamentary majority.The 68-year old's popularity at Worthy Farm in south-west England could be measured by the number of pro-Corbyn banners on display and Corbyn T-shirts.They easily outnumbered those for the biggest names on the musical bill - Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran - and the chant "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn" rang round the world's biggest greenfield festival.Appearing between British singer-songwriter Craig David and U.S. rap act Run The Jewels, Corbyn - who promised during campaigning to abolish tuition … [Read more...]

In April, 2000, Teju Cole woke up in his room in a writer’s colony in upstate New York to find that he could not see clearly. He was taken to the small town of Hudson nearby, where an ophthalmologist advised him to see a specialist in Manhattan. Walking to the train station, Cole became aware that his sight was deteriorating dramatically. “Darkness encroached by degrees,” he later wrote, “and, in the afternoon sun, I could hardly see out of my right eye, and not at all out of the left. I had become almost totally blind.” He stumbled onwards somehow making it back to Manhattan that evening. A few days later, he was diagnosed with papillophlebitis, a temporary and sometimes recurring condition caused by blood vessels bursting behind the retina. It is more commonly known as big blind spot syndrome. If there is a personal touchstone for this kind of cross-fertilisation, it is surely the late John Berger The final piece in Cole’s 2016 essay … [Read more...]

Born and raised in south-east London, Iwona Blazwick has been the director of Whitechapel Gallery since 2001 and led its expansion in 2009. She gave Damien Hirst his first solo show at a public art gallery and has helped the careers of many other contemporary artists. She has been a judge on a number of award panels, including the Turner prize, and was on the advisory board for the Trafalgar Square fourth plinth commissions. Blazwick, who is also an art critic and a lecturer, was appointed OBE in 2008 for services to art. This year’s Art Night festival, a collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery and Phillips in which 11 artists transform buildings across London, takes place on 1 July. 1 | Exhibition Disobedient Bodies: JW Anderson Curates the Hepworth Wakefield Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Folds and contours, voids and textures that you never noticed before’: Disobedient Bodies at Hepworth Wakefield. Photograph: Marc … [Read more...]

London-born director Asif Kapadia is known for his “true fiction” documentaries: 2010’s groundbreaking Senna, about the Formula One icon Ayrton Senna; and Amy, on the short life of Amy Winehouse, which won the Oscar for best documentary feature in 2016. He is currently working on a film about another troubled genius, Diego Maradona. Before factual films, Kapadia made narrative dramas. His first feature, The Warrior, will be screened this summer as part of a Bafta Debuts tour, which showcases a handful of Bafta-winning debut films from leading British directors, such as Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold and Steve McQueen. The Warrior won two Baftas – for best debut and for outstanding British film in 2003 – but it’s been seen less than some of your other films. Do you think it stands the test of time?I’ve not seen it! I genuinely haven’t seen it on the big screen for many a year, if not a decade. It’s probably healthy that you don’t … [Read more...]

Hannah Khalil’s new play, The Scar Test, set in Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, is based on two years of research. The award-winning Palestinian-Irish playwright grew up in Dubai and the UK, and her work includes the James Tait Black prize-nominated Scenes from 68* Years (Arcola), The Deportation Room (Radio 4) and the Meyer-Whitworth award-nominated Plan D (Tristan Bates). The Scar Test, which is produced by Untold Arts, has been nominated for a Kevin Spacey Foundation Award. What is The Scar Test about? It tries to give a snapshot of what life is like in detention. I want the audience to come out thinking, “I can’t believe this is England.” There are brilliant documentaries about Yarl’s Wood and detention, but with theatre you can get into people’s hearts in a more visceral way. What did you find out in your research? I was shocked and upset at every single stage. I felt privileged to meet some women being detained: they were strong, … [Read more...]

There’s a long-standing rivalry between surfers and climbers as to who is the greenest. For my money, surfers have the edge. They’ve influenced environmentalism at large, making their issues – sewage and plastic – ours. Greenpeace has found noxious chemicals in the air around outdoor clothing shops The influence of climbers is restricted to our wardrobes. As mountaineers swapped heavy smocks and knitted leggings for high performance durable water repellent (DWR) apparel, innovation has trickled down. When you reach for a waterproof during a downpour, you are covered in the same per- and poly-fluorinated chemicals as the elites. Unfortunately these chemicals represent a horror show to the natural world. Once created they are virtually impossible to get rid of. Greenpeace, which has long slammed outdoor apparel brands for using these chemicals, has found them in the air around outdoor clothing shops. They have a long biological half life and have a … [Read more...]

Blades of glory Georgia May Jagger is pretty stoked to have created a range for cool sports brand Volcom, inspired by skate culture and 70 styling. Available now. Volcom x GMJ range from £35, zalando.co.uk Vinyl albums Sounds of the city Feel like you’re losing your edge? Try these vinyl reissues of New York scenesters LCD Soundsystem’s four albums. Buy one for all your friends. Vinyl albums £15.99, store.hmv.com Going coconuts The world’s first sparkling coconut water. It is micro-filtered, with either a splash of ginger and lemon, or raspberry, and is lightly carbonated, so whether as a mixer or alone, it tastes like a treat. Jax Coco £3.99, selfridges.com Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sequin decorations Rainbow nation Get in the mood for Pride Month with these shiny, celebratory sequin decorations from Face Lace. Pride Face Lace £10.95, face-lace.com … [Read more...]

I don’t know much about art, but I like Antony Gormley’s “Iron Men” statues (official name: Another Place) on the sands at Crosby, Merseyside. There’s a sombre dignity, a sense of permanence, about them, and it’s great that the public is able to interact with them. Except perhaps when the public interacts too much. Someone has been “vandalising” them – by which I mean they’ve painted a polka-dot bikini on one (a tad jarring when teamed with the pronounced male anatomical details? I’ll let you decide) and shorts, shirts and the words “I am art” on others. This isn’t the first time that the Iron Men have been “embellished”– by whom remains an enduring mystery, though previously Everton and Liverpool football shirts were involved. Gormley has now politely requested that the statues be cleaned and left alone, which is fair enough. Doodling beach-grundies on to his artwork is no way to … [Read more...]

THERE’S more to Asheville than meets the eye. Trek through stunning scenery, get your adrenaline pumping on a zipline and cool off with one of the region’s craft beers. Sound like an ideal break? We think so. Hit the beer trail Thanks to its many craft breweries, Asheville’s been crowned Beer City USA. Join a two-hour walking tour with Brew-ed for £28. Hosted by Greg, a certified cicerone (“beer sommelier”), you’ll learn about the science of brewing and sample lots, including Catawba’s quirky Peanut Butter Jelly Time brew. Then hit the Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar to sip fizz surrounded by thousands of books. Or try Sovereign Remedies for delicious artisan cocktails. Scoff bourbon pie There’s serious hiking to be done nearby, so you’ll work up an appetite. Nightbell’s creations are a must. Try the devilled egg with corn sabayon, £3, and a slice of bourbon-pecan pie, £7. Fancy something more … [Read more...]

EASTENDERS bosses have signed up an award-winning theatre star in a deal worth more than £200,000. They hope George Maguire can revive the soap’s flagging fortunes. He won an Olivier Award for his role as The Kinks’ guitarist Dave Davies in musical Sunny Afternoon. A soap insider said: “Everyone at EastEnders is very excited about George joining the cast. “He is hugely talented and well-respected in the West End so it’s a real coup to have signed him. Furious Dom Lever storms out of the Love Island villa after finding out Jess slept with Mike HOURS after kissing him goodbye Glastonbury fans left fuming after 'being conned out hundreds of pounds for tickets' they never received Binky Felstead and boyfriend Josh 'JP' Patterson finally reveal their baby's … [Read more...]