Olivia Clayton, from Worcester, scooped the Bollinger Best Dressed prize at the Kildare venue on Wednesday, wowing judges with her DIY headpiece and Ireland-inspired look

An Englishwoman emerged victorious in the style competition at another glorious sunny day during the Punchestown Festival on Wednesday.

Olivia Clayton, originally from Worcester in England, claimed the Bollinger Best Dressed award at the County Kildare racecourse with her Irish-themed ensemble.

She incorporated the colour green throughout her outfit, drawing inspiration from a tree growing in her mother’s garden, while also demonstrating some resourceful creativity.

After failing to locate a suitable hat, Olivia fashioned her own headpiece from scratch, beginning with a foundation and embellishing it with silk cream and green hydrangea blooms to echo the garden motif.

Olivia, who frequently attends the Cheltenham Festival, commented on her victory: “Amazing, honestly, I feel so lucky not only to be a finalist but to come out on top. It’s such an honour.”

“The Irish girls really bring their absolute best, so it’s a privilege. Thank you very much.”

The Worcester native impressed lead judge Jess Colivet, who was accompanied by the In the Edit pair Hayley Nolan and Carol St John, alongside Marietta Doran.

Hayley Nolan remarked about Olivia’s ensemble: “It was actually a standout look. As soon as we saw her amazing hat just caught our eye. And it turns out she actually made it herself, which I think is incredible.”

Jess Colivet continued: “Olivia brought a really fresh, contemporary perspective and it was very fashion-forward. She wasn’t afraid to push the boundaries.

“There was a real sense of modern style in her look, and I just love the fact that she made the headpiece herself.

“I love the tailoring. When I looked closely at the print, it really stood out, and she wore her look with such confidence. What a gracious winner.”

The Bollinger Best Dressed competition carries on this Thursday, building towards its climax on Ladies Day this Friday.

The ultimate champion will be rewarded with a trip for two to the Bollinger Estate, including flights to Paris, a stay in a five-star hotel, Michelin-star dining, a private chauffeur, an exclusive Champagne Bollinger experience, and a year’s supply of Bollinger.

On the course itself, the headline event, the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup, had been promoted as a showdown between Willie Mullins’ stable stars Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File.

However, it was Cheltenham Gold Cup champion Gaelic Warrior who dominated proceedings once more, surging ahead to claim a commanding triumph under jockey Paul Townend.

Owner Rich Ricci reflected on the victory, saying: “We’ve never won this race before. It was very sporting of JP to run his horse, the ground probably didn’t suit him, but he’s a fantastic horse.

“I’m so pleased to win it. I’ve not been here since Ruby (Walsh) retired in 2019. I’ve been busy and we had coronavirus > covid and those kind of things.

“The people here are brilliant and I’m thrilled to win the race. I couldn’t be more delighted.”

This represented an uncommon positive outcome for those backing the favourite on a day that otherwise favoured the bookies, with numerous outsiders crossing the line first, leaving the majority of punters bewildered. Bookmakers celebrated as winners came in at odds of 33/1, 5/1, 18/1, 14/1 and 7/1, with Gaelic Warrior being the sole favourite to deliver on the day.

Racing action resumes on Thursday with eight scheduled races, headlined by the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Stayers’ Hurdle.

Jack Draper has confirmed his withdrawal from the French Open 2026 on social media

Jack Draper has confirmed he will not feature in the upcoming French Open as the Brit’s torrid 2026 rolls on. Draper had made his return to the court following an injury setback earlier this year, but was forced to sit out the ongoing Madrid Open with a knee complaint.

The British number two also announced he would skip the Italian Open in Rome shortly after Madrid, and had been holding out hope of getting back to full fitness in time for Roland-Garros. However, the 24-year-old took to social media to confirm his clay season is now over entirely, raising fresh concerns over his fitness ahead of Wimbledon later this summer.

Posting on social media, the 2025 Indian Wells champion said: “My knee is on the mend and I’ve started back hitting balls but unfortunately I have been advised not to play Roland Garros. As gutting as it is to miss another slam, the advice is not to rush straight back into playing five set tennis on clay.

READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka reacts to Madrid Open exit as tennis star says she is ‘proud’READ MORE: Morgan Riddle drops telling Taylor Fritz split hint in social media post

“Off the back of the arm injury I sustained last year, I’ve been restricted with my training and by giving myself the time to heal and build, I can be the player I want to be out there once again. See you soon !”

Britain’s second-ranked player is hoping to make his comeback during the grass court season, potentially at Stuttgart, where he is a former champion.

It is understood that risking his fitness on clay, particularly over best-of-five sets, simply wasn’t worth it.

Draper can now make the most of a training block before transitioning to grass.

Draper managed just a single outing on clay in 2026, with the world No.28 forced to retire injured from his first-round clash against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Barcelona Open.

That match was only his fourth ATP tournament appearance since the 2025 US Open, having withdrawn from the Grand Slam due to an arm injury.

This latest leg problem is yet another instance of Draper’s body letting him down at a critical point in the tennis calendar, and will mark the first Grand Slam he has missed since Wimbledon in 2023.

Since turning professional, Draper has struggled to string together a consistent run of good health, with the second half of 2024 being a rare exception.

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Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

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The potential for pitfalls was immense but the king has pulled off a balancing act, being friendly and respectful to his host while at the same time gently pointing out some brutal truths.

It was very brave to give a little history lesson to a president who likes to govern by decree about how executive power “subject to checks and balances” was enshrined in both UK and US law thanks to the Magna Carta.

Charles, in his plummy accent, spoke up for Nato, for Ukraine, for the Royal Navy, for Great Britain in two crafted speeches delivered deftly with humour. He even obliquely referred to the victims of the Epstein scandal.

Britain has been bruised and belittled by Mr Trump, by his wars, his tariffs and his belligerence, but the king has given him a gentle lesson in  statesmanship and civility.

Of course, Charles’ position as head of state is easy – he doesn’t, unlike the prime minister, have to make real decisions, like whether Britain should have joined a war that was unwise, to say the least. But this was one in the eye for those who wanted the visit called off.

The president lapped it all up, breaking protocol by touching the royal knee and by giving away the king’s thoughts expressed in a private conversation – “Charles agrees with me, even more than I do”, said Mr Trump in a marvellous mangling of the English language.

Whether the president was actually listening and taking it in only time will  tell – he may just have been topping up his tan by basking in the golden glow of the royal pageantry.

Manchester council said the venue’s licence has been temporarily suspended, pending a full review.

Staff at a Gorton pub will be questioned by police who believe a ‘deliberate attempt to hinder a serious ongoing investigation’ was made by ‘removing’ CCTV footage.

Greater Manchester Police visited The Angel, at 37 Wellington Street in Gorton, multiple times in early April to ask for CCTV recordings as they investigated a ‘suspected kidnapping’ in the area, council licensing papers say.

Each time officers visited they were unable to download the footage, according to a report published on Manchester council’s website. The report said the CCTV system used by the pub was later changed.

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GMP believe there was a ‘deliberate attempt to hinder a serious ongoing investigation by removing or destroying CCTV footage’, documents add. The pub’s premises licence has been temporarily suspended by Manchester council pending a full review.

It comes after police raised concerns ‘further crime will occur and place customers in danger’ and over ‘concerns in relation to the serious crime at the premises’.

The pub has not responded to the Local Democracy Service/Manchester Evening News following a request for comment. Details were published in a report on the council’s website for a licensing hearing on April 27.

According to town hall papers, GMP visited the pub on April 12 to speak to staff about downloading the CCTV footage for an investigation into a suspected kidnapping in the area.

The report reads: “The officers spoke with the manager at the premises, who was unable to assist the officers in downloading footage but did permit them to record some of the relevant footage from the screen using a mobile device.”

Another visit was arranged the next day from an imaging support officer, the report added. The officer was told the pub ‘did not have the password’ for the CCTV hard drive system, documents say.

Police noted during the visit the CCTV system was a ‘16-channel Maxxone DVR’ that appeared to be in ‘full’ working order, it was said.

A third visit was made on April 14 when the imaging support officer was ‘refused access to the CCTV system’ despite explaining the ‘the very serious nature of the investigation’, documents say.

During a fourth visit on April 21, officers found ‘the CCTV system was now a different model (a 4-channel Swann system) from the original one and that the earliest available footage was from 14th April 2026, after the first two CCTV requests’, the report says.

The report adds: “The original CCTV system has not been provided and its whereabouts are unknown.

‘As a result of these extensive CCTV enquiries and a belief that the management at the premises have made a deliberate attempt to hinder a serious ongoing investigation by removing or destroying CCTV footage, a further crime for perverting the course of justice has been recorded and is now also being investigated.

“In due course, management and staff from The Angel will be questioned about this offence. GMP now has no confidence in the management of the premises or the designated premises supervisor to promote the licensing objectives, we believe there has been a deliberate attempt by staff at The Angel to hinder a police investigation and that staff are now involved in serious crime.”

GMP declined to comment.

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Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk will submit an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over his four-year ban for a failed drugs test.

The 25-year-old was charged with anti-doping rule violations by the Football Association in June last year after a sample taken in 2024 produced an adverse finding for the prohibited substance meldonium, which can increase respiratory capacity and stamina.

Mudryk said that the failed drugs test came as a ‘complete shock’ as he had never knowingly used a banned substance.

The Ukraine international, who Chelsea signed in an £89 million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023, has not played for Chelsea since November 2024.

CAS has confirmed it has received an appeal by Mudryk against the FA’s ruling, filed on February 25, 2026.

The statement from CAs added: ‘The parties are currently exchanging written submissions, and a hearing is yet to be scheduled.’

The FA has never disclosed details of the case or confirmed the length of Mudryk’s suspension.

Mudryk has been aiming to return to football and has been training individually with the help of a private coach at non-league side Uxbridge FC.

Speaking this week, Shakhtar Donetsk CEO, Serhii Palkin, backed Mudryk to return and revealed the Ukranian side stand to lose €30m (£26m) if the winger is sidelined.

‘We have €30 million [of] bonuses in his contract and if he is not playing, if Chelsea [are] not reaching results, we are losing €30m. That’s a big financial impact for us,’ Palkin said.

‘Therefore, everybody believes that this story will finish as soon as possible with positive results and Mudryk will return to playing. Otherwise, we will be in a position to lose €30m.

‘I know Mudryk as a player and a person. I believe he will return and he will start playing. I know this because I’ve never met this kind of guy before in my life. He’s a very hard worker. And he will prove he’s in a position to play and bring results to team.

‘But as I understand at this moment, everybody is waiting for the court’s decision, and we don’t have any information about when this will take place and when the final decision will be issued. Therefore, everybody is waiting for information.’

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The future of Shakespeare may well lie beyond the English language. That was the striking message I took away from a talk by translation studies scholar Professor Susan Bassnett at the British Shakespeare Conference in Hull in 2016.

Her point was simple but powerful: Shakespeare’s works are likely to survive and flourish not only in English, but through translation, adaptation and reinvention across the world. Inspired by this, I asked six of my colleagues around the globe to share some Shakespeare adaptations in other languages that you might enjoy.

1. Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013)

Hindi, based on Romeo and Juliet

Ram‑Leela is as heady a mix as Shakespeare’s own play, in equal parts comic and tragic, tender and flamboyant. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali relocates the action of Verona to an Indian town riven by two criminal clans: Rajadis and Sanedas. Violence saturates daily life. Bullets spill from spice jars and a Rajadi child urinating on Saneda territory ignites a vicious brawl.

In such a world, can love bring peace? The leads’ scorching chemistry makes us hope. My students practically swooned during a screening. At the end, soulful lyrics such as “Tera naam ishq / Mera naam ishq” (“Your name is love / My name is love”) frame the film’s Romeo and Juliet – Ram and Leela – through love rather than their hate-fuelled lineage.

The film also gives depth to its Lady Capulet and nurse figures, while Leela is sensual, witty and brave. Juliet exactly as Shakespeare imagined her.

Varsha Panjwani teaches at New York University, London, and is the creator and host of the podcast Women and Shakespeare.

2. Otel·lo (2012)

Catalan, based on Othello

An award-winning work of Catalan cinema, Otel·lo transposes Shakespeare’s play to a contemporary film studio. Such a meta-narrative approach feels in line with the play’s focus on the enticing power of storytelling – famously embodied in the character of Iago as its arch-villain.

Blending documentary, mockumentary and thriller aesthetics, the film turns Iago into an unscrupulous filmmaker willing to cross every boundary in the name of art. With his role played by the actual director of the film (Hammudi Al-Rahmoun Font), the adaptation skilfully integrates form and content. We are, like Othello, manipulated into thinking that the fiction he has created is reality.

The film asks: To what extent are the images we absorb real? What purpose do they serve? And how do they affect our views on gendered and racialised minorities?

Inma Sánchez García is a lecturer in European languages and culture at the University of Edinburgh.

3. Throne of Blood (1957)

Japanese, based on Macbeth

The genius of Throne of Blood is that despite being set in 16th century Japan and changing almost everything about the original, it is immediately recognisable as the Scottish play. It’s considered by many to be the greatest Shakespeare film ever made.

The mist-swirled locations, the screeching flute and ominous drumbeats, the spooky old lady in the forest, and above all the samurai, barking orders and getting lost on their horses, can mean only that “Macbeth doth come”. The final scene when Washizu’s (Macbeth’s) soldiers turn on him with a hail of arrows may even represent an improvement on Shakespeare. Meanwhile his poker-faced lady clearly wears the kimono-trousers in their marriage.

Daniel Gallimore is a professor of literature and linguistics at Kwansei Gakuin University

4. Bhrantibilas (1963)

Bengali, based on Comedy of Errors

If you asked me to pick a favourite Shakespeare film, I’d probably surprise people by saying Bhrantibilas. It’s one of the earliest filmed Shakespeare adaptations in Indian cinema. It was also the inspiration for the globally popular film Angoor (1982).

What I love about it is how confidently it relocates Shakespeare’s farce into a Bengali urban world without ever feeling like a dutiful “literary” exercise. A huge part of its lasting appeal is Bengali superstar Uttam Kumar. It’s pure pleasure watching him play the twin roles – Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus, identical twins separated at birth, whose accidental reunion causes chaos. His comic timing is razor-sharp, and there’s also an ease and charm that makes the confusion feel human, never mechanical.

Decades on, audiences still return to Bhrantibilas, often knowing every gag by heart, which says a lot about its cultural afterlife. For me, it’s a perfect example of how Shakespeare survives not through reverence but through reinvention – absorbed into popular cinema and kept alive by star power, humour and sheer re-watchability.

Koel Chatterjee is a lecturer in English at Regent College, and the creator and host of The Shakespop Podcast and The Shakesfic Podcast.

5. Rahm (2016)

Urdu, based on Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure has long been regarded as a “problem play”. Disfavoured among Shakespeare’s works for centuries, it hit stages again in the 20th-century and reached new audiences through its resonances with the #MeToo movement.

A local leader tells a devout woman that if she loses her virginity to him, he will spare her imprisoned brother’s life. This film shifts the action from early modern, Catholic Vienna to an ambiguous period in Islamic Lahore. Moderate and extremist versions of faith contend, against the backdrop of the city. This film’s billing as a thriller, and status as the only big screen version of the play, help raise it from obscurity.

Sarah Olive is a senior lecturer in English literature at Aston University.

6. To The Marriage of True Minds (2010)

Arabic, based on Sonnet 116

This freely available short film expands on one of Shakespeare’s shortest forms: the sonnet. It riffs on Sonnet 116, heard at countless weddings: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds … admit impediments.” Here, its Arabic translation provides both the back story to – and future hope for – an asylum-seeking couple in a same-sex relationship, Falah (Amir Boutrous) and Hayder (Waleed Elgadi).

The story of their journey by sea, and shots of a tossed-about paper boat reference the poem’s sea-voyage imagery. Over 12 tense minutes, we hold our breath to see whether the Iraqi poet and his childhood beloved will overcome the impediments of religious conservatism, on one shore, and an apparently hostile asylum system on the other.

Sarah Olive is a senior lecturer in English literature at Aston University.

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City of York Council planning officers refused the application to change the use of a house in Compton Street, Clifton, so part of it could be rented out to tourists.

Applicants stated the changes would bring benefits to businesses in the area and the existing character and appearance of the street would be preserved.

But a neighbour and Labour Clifton ward councillor Danny Myers objected claiming approving another holiday let on top of the 13 already nearby would further deplete the supply of housing.

Council planning officers ruled the mixed residential and holiday let use could result in a material harm to nearby residents due to the comings and goings of a high turnover of guests.

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Plans for the change of use stated the property would be managed for short stays but the owners were also applying for permission to rent it out for longer periods.

They added clear rules would be in place for guests including not being allowed to hold parties or events and being required to check in and out by certain times.

Plans stated: “The reuse of an existing building for visitor accommodation supports sustainable tourism and the efficient use of existing housing.

“The use will be carefully managed to protect neighbouring amenity.”

31 Compton Street, in Clifton, York (Image: Google Maps)

But the neighbouring objector claimed adding more holiday lets to the area would erode its community atmosphere.

A council report on the objection stated: “There are concerns that the high turnover of guests will lead to increased noise, late-night disturbances, and disruption of the quiet nature of these residential streets.”

Clifton’s Cllr Myers said he was concerned about how the owners would manage potential antisocial behaviour and noise.

The ward councillor said: “In my experience, these assurances have never proven fruitful, details are not usually provided to local residents, and instances of anti-social behaviour by nuisance holidaymakers are put up with by residents and then have to be followed up after they have occurred.”

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