The King, speaking inside the Great Court of the British Museum, said the opponents depicted in the tapestry – the Normans and Anglo-Saxons – would have been glad to see this togetherness between France and the UK – “two great nations, which share such fundamental values”.

“The tapestry’s story is one of ambition and uncertainty, of oaths and journeys, of ships, councils, kings, comets and consequences,” said the King.

“Yet it is not merely an English story, nor only a Norman one. Indeed, from the moment of its creation, it may have brought together our two peoples.”

George Osborne, director of the museum, described the displaying of the Bayeux Tapestry as the “most ambitious exhibition we’ve ever mounted”.

President Macron said a loan of this “masterpiece” had first been proposed in the 1930s, but he was delighted that the idea had come to fruition.

He spoke of the loan of the tapestry as an example of how “we are united” and a “reminder of what our countries can do if they join forces”.

Along with the King and Queen he had a chance to see the historic embroidery in the atmospheric darkness of the British Museum.

The 70m (230ft) tapestry, originally embroidered in England but kept for centuries in France, tells the story of the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

King Charles and Queen Camilla, Burnham and his wife Marie-France van Heel, and Macron and wife Brigitte were shown key scenes in the tapestry, including the Coronation of King Harold and his death in battle.

Sending the tapestry to the British Museum had been announced by Macron during the French state visit to the UK in July 2025, as an emblem of the strong partnership between the countries.

There had been some worries that moving the fragile tapestry could risk causing damage, but French government sources said ahead of the royal preview: “The display conditions at the British Museum are ideal.”

The French authorities welcomed the way that visitors in London would see the tapestry lying flat, rather than upright, with this believed to be better for the conservation of the fibres, sewn more than 900 years ago.

It is believed the final scenes of the tapestry have been lost or destroyed, as it has not always had such careful owners. In the 18th Century, during the French Revolution, it was rescued from being cut up to make covers for soldiers’ carts.

At a state banquet hosted by King Charles in Windsor, Macron had said the missing end of the tapestry was a symbol that “in the great mural of Franco-British history, the end is yet to be written – it is up to us to do it”.

Germans in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt will go to the polls on September 7 to elect a new parliament.

With forecasts indicating that the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is on course to win around 40% of the vote, which would double its support there compared to five years ago, there is a real chance the far-right party could take over a state government for the first time.

Former East Germany, which was under Communist rule between 1949 and 1989, has proven fertile ground for the far right. The AfD won 34.6% of the vote there in the 2025 federal election, while in Saxony-Anhalt that figure was 37.1%. This was far higher than mainstream parties on the left and right.

Much has been written about the reasons for far-right success in eastern Germany. Deindustrialisation, demographic change and depopulation, especially in rural areas, are all drivers. So too is the fact there is far stronger disagreement in the east with Germany’s support for Ukraine in its war with Russia than is in evidence in the west, as well as higher levels of opposition to refugees.

Perhaps above all, there is a strong sense in the east of feeling “second-class citizens” in modern Germany, even more than three decades after reunification. Unemployment in Saxony-Anhalt is above the German average, standing at 8.2% in August compared to a national average of 6.5%. The median wage in full-time employment was also around €48,300 (£41,400), below the national level of about €52,000.

The election in Saxony-Anhalt takes place at a time when the AfD is already leading nationwide polls, and when the federal government and chancellor Friedrich Merz are vastly unpopular (with around 85% of voters dissatisfied). It is also happening in a part of the country where the far right tends to do best.

The AfD has come top in a state election once before, in Thuringia in 2024. But it did not get a majority of seats. Mainstream parties rallied around and formed a government between the centre-right Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), left-populist Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

They rely on the support of Die Linke (the Left Party) to function and pass legislation. The CDU has long ruled out any cooperation with the Left Party at the state or national level because of the latter’s historic links to the communist regime in East Germany and continued ideological disagreements. But in practice, in Thuringia and the national parliament, this anti-cooperation line has softened.

In Saxony-Anhalt, as in most other states in Germany, parties need at least 5% of the vote to win any seats in the state parliament. If they fall below that level, they don’t get any. So all eyes will be not only on the result of the AfD, the CDU (which polling suggests is set to take 23% of the vote) and the Left Party (forecast to take 13%) but also smaller parties.

Polling has had the SPD hovering around the 5% mark, although its support seems to have picked up. The same goes for the Greens, while the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) looks set to miss out. If the only parties making it over 5% are the AfD, CDU and Left Party, the AfD could win an overall majority of seats. The BSW, which is hovering around the 5% mark, has also made it clear it would not block the AfD entering government.

The AfD’s proposals

The AfD’s manifesto in Saxony-Anhalt is extremely right-wing. Proposals such as ending the right to asylum and a moratorium on non-EU immigration could not be implemented. They are matters for the national not state government.

But other AfD proposals are legally feasible. These include changing the school curriculum to downplay the significance of the Nazi era – a programme one AfD politician, Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, sums up as: “More Bismarck, less Hitler”. This was a reference to Otto von Bismarck, who oversaw the unification of Germany in 1871.

The AfD has also suggested introducing the routine singing of the German national anthem in school assemblies and ending what it calls “inclusion” in mainstream education for children with special needs. Defunding the protestant church, which the AfD has accused of being too focused on social not theological questions, would also be a real possibility.

A particular worry is around Germany’s “constitutional protection” or secret services. There is consideration being given to setting up parallel offices in Saxony-Anhalt to protect sensitive operations in the event of an AfD administration. Many branches and elements of the AfD are under observation by German intelligence agencies on the basis of suspected extremism.

There will almost certainly be wider political ructions from this election if the AfD tops the poll, and even more so if it wins outright control of the state government. Any major changes at the top of German politics will probably wait until after elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg West Pomerania later in the month.

Mainstream parties will want to keep some appearance of unity until then for fear of losing yet more votes. But, at the very least, rumours of an early challenge to Merz are likely to step up a gear.

Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) finding out about his affair with Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) will be the least of Max Branning’s (Jake Wood) concerns in EastEnders after he was taken captive by an enraged Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara).

Ravi, as viewers know, has been on the hunt for clues for weeks, hellbent on finding out who it is that Priya was seeing while they were separated.

After spotting a cosy moment between Priya and boss Max earlier this week the penny finally dropped for Ravi, who responded by kidnapping Max on the night of his stag do, bundling him into the Boxing Den where he intends to exact his revenge.

After years of betrayals and affairs, have Max’s sins finally caught up with him?

Elsewhere on the Square, Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington) agreed to let the Hawkins clan stay at No. 1, despite having discovered that they set fire to their own home in a bid to claim on the insurance – to no avail.

And Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) struggled to hide her feelings for Max – that is, until Clive (Jason Durr) fixed the electrics at the community centre, which led to sparks of a very different kind.

With the credits having rolled on tonight’s visit to Walford, check out what Thursday (September 3) edition of the BBC One soap has got in store for you.

What happens next in EastEnders? New spoilers for Thursday, September 3

Oscar Branning (Pierre Counihan-Moullier) eagerly awaits Max’s arrival so that the stag do proceedings can commence, unaware of the danger his dad faces just around the corner at The Boxing Den.

With Ravi having waited weeks to confront the man Priya has been sleeping with, will he exact revenge on Max? He’s made it clear on at least two occasions previously that he would kill the man in question if he ever found him, so Max is certainly in peril.

However, we know he is still very much alive come New Year’s Day – courtesy of the flashforward episode – so while death may not be on the cards at this moment in time, one can’t help but wonder just how far Ravi will go.

And speaking of Max, has Linda finally put her feelings for the lothario aside in a bid to move on with Clive? As she prepares for their date, she very much feels ready to move on – that is until Kim (Tameka Empson) lets slip that Max played a key role in saving the community centre.

When Clive shows up, he reveals that the centre is secure, with Linda left reeling as a result. Now that her wish has come true, the question is: can she and Clive move on with their lives together?

Or is Max still lingering in the back of her heart?

EastEnders airs these scenes Thursday September 3 at 7:30pm on BBC One or stream from 6am on BBC iPlayer

If you’ve got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us soaps@metro.co.uk – we’d love to hear from you.

Join the community by leaving a comment below and stay updated on all things soaps on our homepage.

MORE: EastEnders New Year shooter ‘confirmed’ as fans are on the case

MORE: Major EastEnders death ‘confirmed’ as new spoilers reveal what happens next

MORE: Cindy and Max’s EastEnders wedding erupts into catastrophe as secrets are blown

People from Belfast have helped fund three maternity mobile units, which are being refused entry into Gaza

A debate and proposal at Belfast City Hall about three Irish maternity vehicles sent to help pregnant Palestinian women in Gaza has descended into a slanging match over the word “genocide”.

A motion to lobby against the blocking of the maternity units turned into an intractable culture war row at the September meeting of the full Belfast City Council on Tuesday with unionists on one side of the debate, and the rest of the parties on the other.

In the end the “Mobile Maternity Units for Gaza” motion, proposed by Independent Councillor Paul Doherty, and seconded by Independent Councillor Paul McCusker, both of them former SDLP representatives, was passed, but without the support of the DUP, the UUP and the TUV. Representatives from the Gaels Against Genocide volunteer group gave a deputation at the start of the meeting on the issue.

READ MORE: Greens fail to hold up Belfast Council’s £4.6million artificial intelligence plan

READ MORE: Fleadh bliss, then back to business…Belfast Council in August

Practically, the successful motion means the council will write to all the NI Executive ministers, calling on them to make “urgent” representations to the Irish Government, UK Government and other relevant international bodies to secure the immediate and unrestricted entry of three mobile maternity units, sent by Irish volunteers Gaels Against Genocide, to Gaza.

The motion states: “This council notes with grave concern the continuing genocide and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the devastating impact on pregnant women, newborn babies and families requiring urgent medical care. It further notes that three mobile maternity units have been developed to provide safe and secure maternity and newborn care for women and babies in Gaza.

“(We) commend the extraordinary fundraising efforts of Gaels Against Genocide and communities across Belfast, the North and across Ireland which have made these three mobile maternity units possible.

“Many Belfast residents have contributed directly to this humanitarian effort, demonstrating the depth of solidarity in our city with Palestinian women, babies and families. (We are) deeply concerned that, despite these efforts and the urgent humanitarian need, the units have not been permitted to enter Gaza, and believe that humanitarian medical aid must never be blocked, and that pregnant women and babies must be protected in all circumstances.”

Representatives from the DUP, the UUP, and the TUV all said that they supported the maternity units entering Gaza, but would not support the motion over the use of the word “genocide.” On a poll in the chamber, 14 elected representatives voted against the motion, from the DUP, UUP and TUV, while all the other parties, including two independents, that is 38 councillors in all, voted to support the motion, and it was passed.

Councillor Doherty said: “This motion tonight is not about politics, it is not about creating division, it is about a basic question of humanity. Three mobile maternity units have been built, and they are ready.

“They were created for women giving birth in conditions that no woman should ever endure. As representatives of Gaels Against Genocide have clearly outlined, these units were created because their maternity hospitals have been damaged and destroyed, because medical supplies have been restricted and doctors and nurses are trying to provide care in circumstances that are almost impossible for us to comprehend.

“Above all of that, women are giving birth in the midst of a genocide. And still these units are being prevented from reaching people they were built to help. That should shock all of us, and should be absolutely deplorable.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Micheal Donnelly said: “The Israeli genocide has already claimed the lives of over 73,000 Palestinians. Over 38,000 of these have been women and children, and 21,700 specifically children.

“The denial of Palestinian national human rights has been the most totemic national democratic struggle of our era. Netanyahu and the Israeli right wing are intent on trying to annihilate the Palestinian people and the full colonisation of all their lands.”

He added: “There can be no justification for preventing life-saving maternal care from reaching pregnant women. Mobile maternity units must be allowed into Gaza urgently, safely and without obstruction.”

DUP Alderman Dean McCullough said: “I would respectfully ask the proposer if he is willing to remove the reference to genocide. It is obviously a contested term, and I appreciate members will hold very strong opposing views on it. The deputation at the outset of the council was a very sincere one, which I don’t even think mentioned genocide.

“(He could drop the word) for the sake of getting the consensus, which I think would be quite something in Belfast City Council. Because we are very clear, any right-thinking person or party wants maternity units in Palestine or any other conflict zone. If we focus on humanitarianism, we need not even debate.”

He asked Councillor Doherty to omit the word from the motion, to which Councillor Doherty replied: “No I will not accept that. This is absolutely a genocide.”

Alderman McCullough said he was “disappointed” with the reply, and added: “The loaded language, which is unnecessary, leaves us no option but to oppose that aspect. But we absolutely support the humanitarianism.”

He added: “I do not accept that Israel is committing genocide, and I reject that allegation. I appreciate the sensitivities of the subject. The International Court of Justice has not found that Israel is committing a genocide, so I will not support Belfast City Council pretending that we can make a ruling when the international court itself has not.”

TUV Councillor Ron McDowell said: “By and large the motion as it stands is a largely inoffensive motion. I don’t think anyone would be against the sentiment.” He asked: “So why will you not adopt a motion of consensus, by focusing on the things that we agree on, and dropping the political element.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Ryan Murphy made a “point of order” and asked if there was “a conflict of interest with Councillor McDowell’s speaking on the subject.” Councillor Murphy raised a “fact finding mission” by Councillor McDowell as an official guest of the Israeli government which took place last year.

Councillor Murphy said: “I am interested around when he went out to Palestine, was this issue of trying to diminish, or to not use the word genocide, discussed when he was doing that visit?”

Amidst calls across the chamber from Alderman McCullough, the Lord Mayor Róis Máire Donnelly said such declarations were “down to the individual.” Councillor McDowell said he was “looking for consensus not division” and said Councillor Murphy “lowered the tone of the debate.”

People Before Profit Councillor Michael Collins said: “I think there is something really cynical about the unionist parties trying to suggest it is all on the rest of this chamber, somehow, to get this motion over the line.

“You can nitpick on whether it is a genocide, but the Genocide Convention has deemed it a genocide, Amnesty International has deemed it a genocide, and the UN itself has deemed it a genocide.

“We know the DUP and Ron willingly go over to do meet and greets with Zionist ministers, and whoever else. We know you don’t have a problem with apartheid, with bombing innocent civilians in Gaza, and you have defended every action Israel took, and defended them to the hilt. We know you have no problem with illegal settlements.

“I don’t understand you saying you just want to be humanitarian, the reality is you have a motion before you about three maternity mobile units that are being denied access to Gaza, and you can’t bring yourself to vote for it. That is on you, it is not on anybody else.

“The party that claims to be pro-life, and chastises everyone in this chamber, can’t bring themselves to support three maternity units for babies in Gaza.”

Councillor Ron McDowell said he was “misrepresented” and added: “I have a problem with apartheid, I see something wrong with illegal settlements, I support ambulances going into Gaza, I don’t support the wording of this motion and I have to separate the two.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Kim Kardashian has left some fans groaning with dismay over what appeared to be a heavily-filtered video of her 13-year-old daughter North West.

North, whose father is Kardashian’s third ex-husband Kanye West, posted a clip this week to the TikTok account she shares with her mother.

Wearing a long blue wig, trendy goth makeup and a black leather outfit, the budding musician – who is fond of experimenting with cosmetics on herself, family and friends – joyfully danced around to the classic 2006 Rihanna single SOS.

However some viewers found their attention drawn to North’s nose, sharing their scandalized reactions in the comments section.

‘Her contouring her beautiful nose is making me really upset. What is happening here??’ wrote one observer in a comment viewed by The US Sun.

‘Poor kid that she got influenced by her relatives to believe her face is not pretty enough as it is /: Bad parenting,’ sniffed another. 

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Kardashian for comment.

North, whose father is Kardashian’s third ex-husband Kanye West, posted a clip this week to the TikTok account she shares with her mother, whom she is pictured with in 2023

North was firmly defended by her fans, one of whom wrote with a set of praying hands emoji: ‘be nice guys she has the comments on.’

‘I also had a Hot topic phase,’ one giggled as another wrote: ‘Man i wish i had that budget at 13 when i had an alt phase, yall dont get it.’

Still another mounted a spirited argument in favor of the look, writing: ‘y’all obviously didn’t have an alt phase when u were 13 and it shows. imagine having an alt phase as a 13 year old with UNLIMITED BUDGET AND CONNECTIONS. of course she wants to express herself let her be. nothing about this is inappropriate.’ 

North, who has embarked on her own music career, ignited a social media firestorm when she revealed in August 2025 that she had obtained a dermal piercing consisting of two small metal balls under a knuckle of her right hand middle finger.

Dermal piercings are distinct from other piercings in that a tiny anchor hooked under the skin is used to keep the jewelry in place.

As a result, they come with risks like keloid scarring, infection and – if improperly looked after – even rejection by the wearer’s body. 

North’s mother, who has spoken often about being her primary guardian, was thus raked over the coals for allowing her to get a dermal piercing so young.

However North responded by posting a TikTok in December in which she mimed to the sound-byte: ‘Why are you crying? How old are you? Just pull it together,’ with a caption that read: ‘this is for everyone that’s mad over a finger piercing.’

Wearing a long blue wig, trendy goth makeup and a black leather outfit, the budding musician joyfully danced around to the classic 2006 Rihanna single SOS

However some viewers found their attention drawn to North’s nose, sharing their scandalized reactions in the comments section

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North, who has embarked on her own music career, ignited a social media firestorm last year by revealing she had acquired a dermal finger piercing 

However North responded by posting a TikTok in December in which she mimed to the sound-byte: ‘Why are you crying? How old are you? Just pull it together’ 

In May she dropped a music video for her song #N0rth4evr in which she appeared to have two facial piercings that were in fact faux 

Undeterred by the brickbats her mother was receiving, North then apparently unveiled two further dermal finger piercings on her Insta Stories in January. 

Then this May, in the music video for her first solo single #N0rth4evr, she was shown strolling through a graveyard with two stick-on piercings under one of her eyes and another one placed near the top of her nose.

Much of the video was grainy and choppy, in a nod to ‘found footage’ horror movies like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. 

Her follow-up single was a collaboration with a fellow ‘nepo baby‘ – Lil Novi, the 16-year-old son of rap legend Lil Wayne and R&B songstress Nivea.

Lil Wayne and Kanye worked on a number of songs together in the 2000s, including the 2007 release Barry Bonds and the 2008 single See You in My Nightmares. 

Their children’s new effort, entitled MULA THA ROOT OF ALL EVIL, is a cacophonous piece of music with a frenetically edited music video to match.

North materializes in the middle of the video with blue hair, seemingly wearing a set of grillz as well as a pair of spiky gauntlets.

North is one of the four children Kardashian and West welcomed into the world together – the others being Saint, 10, Chicago, eight, and Psalm, seven. 

Megan Lannigan and her husband, Scott, took part after her dad, Bobby McGinty, had three heart attacks while on holiday in Florida.

A Carluke couple completed a mammoth fundraiser for a great cause last month.

Megan Lannigan and her husband, Scott, took part in the Scottish Half Marathon in August to raise money for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.

They were inspired after a “really tough year” in 2025 which saw Megan’s dad, Bobby McGinty, have three heart attacks while on holiday in Florida.

Photographer Megan said: “I was crying going over the finishing line.

“I think it’s because of all of the work you put in, the money you raise, knowing we had it for CHSS, and seeing my wee boy, my mum and my dad at the finishing line was such a mixture of emotions that just hits you. We were on such a high after it.

“We were both aiming to go under two-and-a-half hours and we managed it in two hours and 19 minutes so we’re chuffed with that.”

Megan, 33, added: “At the time of the first cardiac arrest, myself, my mum and my husband all had to provide CPR. Thankfully, all of us are CPR trained, because we knew what to do, as chaotic as it was. He went down very quickly.

“That was followed by two heart attacks, and then he was in ICU in Florida for seven days before waking up. He stayed in intensive care until his surgery.

“He had his cardiac arrest on 25 August and a triple bypass in September. By some miracle and somebody watching out over us, my dad is here to tell the tale now and has been signed off by cardiology, which is amazing.

“That bit of time is a bit of a whirlwind in my mind. He was in multi-organ failure, there were questions about flights home to the UK, we had to get my brother out to America. As a family, we made the decision that Scott and I would come home with our wee boy Mason – that was the right call for our own priorities at the time. My mum and brother stayed out there with him.”

At the same time, Megan’s uncle, Frank Robertson, died of a stroke. The family was advised by doctors not to say to Bobby as he was awaiting surgery.

Megan added: “We couldn’t tell my dad because he was so unstable and waiting for surgery. We couldn’t risk high blood pressure or the stress of it. He was asking why Frank was not messaging him back, and we had to protect him from that news until it was safe.”

As the dust settled and Bobby came home, Megan turned to running “as a form of therapy” and used Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) service to help deal with the mental impact of what had happened.

Megan said: “I read a lot of Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s information online, because so much of my trauma stemmed from the CPR and the fight or flight response after my dad had gone to hospital.

“I started doing a wee run here and there when I came home to try to clear my brain. I knew there was support there for people who had given CPR, or people affected by it, not just the people who had gone through it. Reading and listening to other people’s stories, and knowing people had got through this, helped.”

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After Bobby returned home, Megan’s thoughts turned to using her new hobby of running to fundraise. That led her to signing up for the Scottish Half Marathon.

It isn’t the family’s only fundraiser this year. Bobby, along with friends and family, is taking on the Edinburgh Kiltwalk on September 13. So far the group has raised more than £10,000 for CHSS.

Megan said: “We have both got this hobby now and we are already thinking about what we might sign up to next. It has come from a really awful time, but we have created a positive from something negative.”

And Elaine Thomson, community events and corporate fundraiser at CHSS, said: “We’re so thankful for Megan and Scott for taking part in the Scottish Half Marathon for CHSS.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with the family and friends involved in this year of fundraising for CHSS. They have been able to create a lot of great memories in 2026 from a difficult 2025.

“Watching everyone come together for one cause has been very inspiring.

“Fundraising for CHSS helps us to support the one in five people across Scotland living with one of our conditions.”

To support Megan’s fundraiser please go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/megan-lannigan.

If you’re living with the effects of a chest, heart or stroke condition or long Covid and are looking for advice and information, please contact Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Advice Line on 0808 801 0899. You can also text ADVICE to 66777 or email adviceline@chss.org.uk.

*Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.

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The Crown‘s Clare Foy was a world away from the Queen’s tweeds and headscarves tonight – the star of the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival in a bold red dress, complete with old-school movie star diamonds.

Foy, 42, plays a fictional newspaper executive at The Sun, Jules Davies, in Danny Boyle‘s Ink, which is about the mogul’s take over of the newspaper in 1969.

The actress channelled old Hollywood glamour in a custom Bottega Veneta gown and matching glasses, Christian Louboutin heels and opera gloves while making her show-stopping arrival.

She was joined at the premiere by leading men Guy Pearce, 58, who portrays Rupert Murdoch, and Jack O’Connell, 36, who stars as Larry Lamb.

Meanwhile, George Clooney, 65, was dressed to the nines in a Giorgio Armani tuxedo while his dazzling wife Amal, 48, looked a picture of elegance in a Tom Ford gown.

Foy said today that she found her adventure in the world of 1960s tabloid journalism ‘really intoxicating’ and felt jealous of reporters.

‘They had power at their fingertips,’ she said. ‘They knew what they wrote would be what people read and what people believed.’

Pearce revealed that he had reached out to Murdoch via his daughter Elisabeth, and that Murdoch was quite pleased by the casting. The film is based on a stage play which Murdoch himself came to see twice.

George Clooney, 65, and his dazzling wife Amal, 48, looked picture perfect in matching black tie outfits as they descended on the red carpet for the opening night

She was joined at the premiere by leading men Guy Pearce (L), 58, who portrays Rupert Murdock, and Jack O’Connell (R), 36, who stars as Larry Lamb

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Pearce said: ‘I had some messaging with Elisabeth [Murdoch], his daughter, and she said ‘Dad’s very happy that you are playing him.’ But he hadn’t seen the film at that point.’ 

Director Danny Boyle said that at the time Murdoch, now 93, ‘represented at the time a breath of fresh air in what was a very rigid British society. It begins with something that’s fun and different, challenging a rigid order.’

The media was also on the mind of actor Clooney – whose father Nick is a retired news anchor and journalist. 

Clooney is in Venice to accept a Lifetime Achievement award, given before the premiere.

After posing for pictures with wife Amal he jokingly took up a place among the bank of press photographers and pretended to take pictures himself.

Clooney joked that he’s been getting nostalgic in the run up to the festival. 

He said: ‘I’m 65 years old — everything is melancholy. You brush your teeth and you’re like, ‘My teeth used to be so much better.’ Everything about getting older…’

He added: ‘I also feel very lucky. I have an incredible wife whom I love very much and she loves me. I have great kids. I think life is pretty good.’

He explained that he is working less as he gets older, and has stepped away from directing movies as it takes up too much time.

Foy channelled old Hollywood glamour in a custom Bottega Veneta gown and opera gloves while making her show-stopping arrival

Foy plays a fictional newspaper executive at The Sun, Jules Davies, in Danny Boyle’s Ink, which is about the mogul’s take over of the newspaper in 1969

Foy said today that she found her adventure in the world of 1960s tabloid journalism ‘really intoxicating’ and felt jealous of reporters

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All eyes were on Foy as she descended on the red carpet in front of an army of photographers

Amal was a picture of elegance in a ruched black Tom Ford gown

Clooney is in Venice to accept a Lifetime Achievement award, given before the premiere

The couple wrapped their arms around each other while posing for photos

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The media was also on the mind of actor Clooney – whose father Nick is a retired news anchor and journalist

After posing for pictures with wife Amal he jokingly took up a place among the bank of press photographers and pretended to take pictures himself

Clooney joked that he’s been getting nostalgic in the run up to the festival

He said: ‘I’m 65 years old — everything is melancholy. You brush your teeth and you’re like, ‘My teeth used to be so much better.’ Everything about getting older…’

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Danny Boyle, Jack O’Connell, Claire Foy and Guy Pearce posed for a picture on the red carpet (L-R)

Clooney proudly posed with his Lifetime Achievement

Clooney’s co-star in that film, Laura Dern, presented him with the award last night

Alessandra Ambrosio dazzled in a ruched black gown

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Nina Dobrev wore quirky  Giorgio Armani Privé dress

Jonathan Bailey, Giorgio Armani Global Fragrance Ambassador, chose a Giorgio Armani tuxedo

Maggie Gyllenhaal looked effortlessly chic in Celiné

‘I have two 9-year-old kids. If I act in a movie, it’s three months [away]. When I direct a movie, it’s a year. And I can’t do that anymore. 

‘I can’t pull the kids out of school anymore. I’m happy to doing this, being an actor, again. It’s fun. I’m a character actor now.’

He said that he hopes to make a new Oceans movie with good friends Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, adding: ‘As soon as we get our schedules to work, we’re going to film.’

Having become famous thanks to the TV series ER, he went on to appear in films including Out of Sight, Syriana, Three Kings, O Brother Where Art Thou and Jay Kelly, which was at the festival last year. 

His co-star in that film, Laura Dern, presented him with the award last night.

The film arrives in UK cinemas on January 8 and will be available to stream on Netflix in the US on the same day. 

It will also have a limited cinema run on December 11 in the US. 

The Venice International Film Festival runs until September 12, with stars including Robert Pattinson and Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher expected to descend on the Lido.

You can imagine being a queer teen in a Christian fundamentalist community in rural Australia is not an easy ride. In his debut feature Leviticus, writer and director Adrian Chiarella imagines how much harder that would be if there were also supernatural forces conspiring against you.

The film centres on the burgeoning romance between 17-year-old Naim – played by Joe Bird, who recently impressed in the wonderful Australian horror film Talk to Me (2022) – and Ryan (Stacy Clausen). The pair are forced to attend a fire-and-brimstone sexual conversion therapy session with a fundamentalist “healer” on a mission to convert the town’s gay and lesbian teens.

After sessions with this mysterious figure end in Exorcist-style convulsions and gouts of vomit, participants are pursued by an entity that looks identical to the person they desire most. In classic horror-film fashion, if a teen succumbs to their desire for the lookalike, they are torn to shreds in the midst of sex. Ryan and Naim are caught between their desire for one another and the fact that the person they become intimate with might kill them.

Leviticus is an excellent independent drama. The film’s success lies less in its execution of effective scares and horror tropes and more in the emotionally resonant, superbly acted depiction of a forbidden young gay relationship in an oppressive community. Save one or two jump scares, it is not an especially harrowing or nail-biting horror spectacle. But the film builds a desolate atmosphere and creates a complex and likeable young couple for audiences to root for.

Chiarella has based his screenplay on his experiences as a gay man growing up in Sydney, Australia, which he adapts with heady atmosphere into a beautifully desolate depiction of rural Australia.

With the success of Backrooms (2026), about horror lurking in an endless network of interconnected rooms, horror filmmakers and audiences are particularly attuned right now to in-between spaces and the inherent creepiness to be found in the blandly everyday. Leviticus follows other excellent examples of Australian mystery and horror cinema, from Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) to Wolf Creek (2010) and Killing Ground (2016), in using the unique starkness of the countryside to convey a distinctive strangeness and melancholy.

Leviticus was shot in rural townships west of Melbourne. It depicts the Australian small town as we might expect to see an oppressive southern gothic American backwater. Outside of the judgmental eyes of the town, romantic encounters take place in haunting liminal spaces. These include dilapidated barns surrounded by abandoned rusted machinery and across stretches of bleak, blanched grassland.

Mia Wasikowska is superb in the film as Naim’s young mother, Arlene. You might recognise her from films like Tim Burton’s awful Alice in Wonderland (2010) or Jane Eyre (2011). After such early career success, Wasikowska rejected Hollywood and fame for a series of interesting and unconventional independent films like Leviticus.

Arlene has converted to Christian fundamentalism after the death of her son’s father. Wasikowska articulates with moving complexity the tension between the love for her son and her anxiety around his sexuality within the context of the intolerant wider community.

The main conceit of Leviticus is simple but clever: transgressive sexual desire = death. The pursuit of teenagers by a relentless entity after sexual activity has been explored in the influential and acclaimed film, It Follows (2014) – a film that Chiarella cites as an inspiration for Leviticus. That film was similarly set in the downbeat environment of a small rural town. Its “monster” also in part represents the simultaneous excitement and anxiety of young desire. In Leviticus, however, the anxiety is a specifically queer one, where longing, self-acceptance and internalised shame battle for dominance in the young mind.

The film scholar Harry Benshoff influentially wrote about horror film through a queer lens, pointing out the tension between horror cinema’s popularity among LGBTQ+ audiences and the genre’s subtext of societal homophobia.

Monsters in some of the biggest horror films, from A Nightmare on Elm Street’s (1984) Freddy Krueger to Terrifier’s (2016) Art the Clown, have been interpreted as physical embodiments of the homophobic fear of repressed transgressive queer sexual urges. At the same time these figures have been paradoxically embraced as queer icons that challenge the norms of a repressive society.

In Leviticus, this subtext of queer horror is made into a conscious, deliberate theme. The film is perhaps a little too determined that audiences grasp its themes at the expense of being allowed to make their own interpretations. But overall, is a beautifully made, eerie and emotionally sophisticated horror film. Its two charismatic young stars are clearly destined for bright careers and Adrian Chiarella as a brilliant new directing talent in the genre.

Two fire engines and police were on the scene in Navigation Road, off Walmgate, on Wednesday evening (September 2) after the blaze.

The fire had been extinguished by 5.30pm on Wednesday but cordons remain around the burned-out BMW car.

Seven police officers stood guard by the cordon across Navigation Road at the junction with Walmgate on Wednesday evening.

Some police officers were speaking to residents behind the tape.

Images shared with The Press showed the car engulfed in flames as residents stood outside their homes behind the cordon.

A passerby who witnessed the car exploding told The Press: “I was coming from Foss Islands Road and I saw smoke and realised it was a car well alight.

“It was clear there was something wrong. The driver had pulled up on the pavement and was trying to get things out of the car while it was smoking.

“He was clear before it suddenly caught fire and then started to explode – it was popping.

“The police arrived before the fire service and closed the road. They have been doing a great job keeping everyone well back.”

A woman living in flats opposite where the car burst into flames said she heard a “bang like a shot”.

“[I] ran outside and saw the smoke,” she said. “My neighbour in Hope Street said there were already some police there when the car went up.”

The incident came at a time when traffic had been building in Walmgate due to drivers being diverted from the York inner ring road which is closed at Fishergate due to storm damage.