Practical Magic is still bewitching

Every generation of women has its witch. For my grandmother, it was the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, with her striped stockings and flying monkeys. For my mother, a child of the sixties, it was the villainous Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf, who zoomed around on a rocket-powered broom.

My own witches were far less frightening. The Owens sisters of Practical Magic (played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) weren’t green and warty, nor cackling and cruel. They were stylish and free-spirited. The film follows the sister witches as they navigate a deadly family curse that dooms any man they fall in love with. I must have rewatched it every year since it was released in 1998.

Practical Magic 2 picks up 25 years later. Sally Owens (Bullock) has attempted to hide her family’s witchcraft from her now-grown daughters, Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams). But when the ancestral love curse strikes again, she flees to England in search of a cure.

The sequel doubles down on the core appeal of the original film. As our reviewer puts it: “It is a story about witches, but really it’s about the power of the feminine: readdressing ancient wrongs, recognising the nurturers who came before, believing in ourselves. Men come and go, relationships die, but the women in your life are forever.”

Answer the poll below to let us know who your favourite film witch is, or reply to this email if we missed yours off the list. Last week we asked you whether you can finish a book featuring an infuriating or annoying character. Over half (51%) of you said yes, but for 10% of you it’ll land a book straight on the DNF (did not finish) pile.

Practical Magic 2 is in cinemas now

À lire aussi :
Practical Magic 2 will bewitch fans despite its flimsy premise

Supernatural forces

If Practical Magic 2 has whetted your appetite for the occult, you might also enjoy Magick by Thomas Waters, a new book that decodes the visual culture of spells, illusions and psychic powers.

One of the book’s subjects is the spells people have used to protect their homes throughout history. From hag stones gathered on beaches to rowan trees planted in gardens to ward off the “evil eye”, these practices reflect an age-old desire to make our spaces feel safe, as Waters explains.

Magick by Thomas Waters is available now.

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Six ways people have used magic to protect their homes throughout history – from witch bottles to ‘hag stones’

Supernatural forces take on a more fearsome shape in new Australian horror flick, Leviticus. The film centres on the burgeoning romance between teens Naim and Ryan. 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, participants are pursued by an evil entity that looks identical to the person they desire most. Ryan and Naim are caught between their desire for one another and the fact that the person they become intimate with might kill them.

Our reviewer, horror expert Matt Jacobsen, called it a “beautifully made, eerie and emotionally sophisticated horror film”.

Leviticus is in cinemas now

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Leviticus: deadly desire stalks queer teens in this rural Australian horror

Artful casting

Electra/Persona, a new play at the National Theatre, is something of a chimera – a version of Sophocles’ ancient Greek tragedy Electra and a stage adaptation of the 1966 Ingmar Bergman film, Persona combined. The play stars Cate Blanchet and Nina Hoss, taking turns at the roles of either Electra/Elisabeth or Clytemnestra/Alma at the toss of a coin.

Expert in Greek theatre Will Shüler described it as an “evocative and artful play, driven by two powerhouse performers” – a “surreal triumph”.

Electra/Persona is on at The National Theatre in London until October 10

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Cate Blanchett’s Electra/Persona at the National Theatre is a surreal triumph

Fans of the French comedy-drama series Call My Agent! will no doubt be thrilled by the release of a feature film this week.

The Netflix show observes the workings of a Parisian casting agency in which agents match “the talent” with film projects, while coping with actorly egos, affairs, meltdowns and tantrums. The series’ key concept was to mix the fictional agency staff with real-life celebrities making fun of themselves.

Though the film struggles to capture the same star-power that made the series such a success, the familiar banter among the team of reunited former agents means there’s still plenty to enjoy.

Call My Agent! is on Netflix now

À lire aussi :
Call My Agent! The Movie: why this much-loved French TV series fails as a film

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The move could be particularly important for people whose annual income exceeds £35,000, as they will still receive the payment unless they opt out – but HMRC will then reclaim it through the tax system.

Pensioners can call the Winter Fuel Payment helpline, but must do so before 6pm on September 18.

How to opt out of Winter Fuel Payment

There are other ways to opt out of receiving the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2026 to 2027.

If you receive a State Pension and can login online, you can use the Manage your State Pension service before 11.59pm on September 20, 2026.

Alternatively, you can complete the Government’s online opt-out form by the same deadline.

You will need your National Insurance number when using the online form or calling the helpline.

Those using the Manage your State Pension service will need to sign in. Anyone without existing sign-in details can create them.

Importantly, opting out will not affect your State Pension.

You also do not need to opt out every year.

Once you have opted out, you will not receive the Winter Fuel Payment in future years unless you choose to opt back in.

What if you change your mind?

Pensioners who later decide they want to receive the payment can opt back in by contacting the Winter Fuel Payment Centre.

To receive the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2026 to 2027, you must contact the centre before March 31, 2027.

The Winter Fuel Payment Centre can be contacted by phone or post, while an online email enquiry form is also available.

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The telephone number is 0800 731 0160, with lines open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm.

You will need to provide personal details including your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number.

Pensioners who are considering opting out should therefore check the deadlines carefully – particularly those who could face the payment being reclaimed through HMRC because their total income is above £35,000.

The car-crash aggression of Thursday morning’s Today interview between Emma Barnett and Kemi Badenoch bothered me, stirring up both personal memories and misgivings about current media.

If it had gone well – by which I mean the interview was civil, forensically critical and produced actual information – I would have been pleased to have her do it.

Though still a bit surprised, because this was the prestige 8.10am interview with the Leader of the Opposition. It promised to be hot stuff following the new Prime Minister’s remarks about defence versus social welfare.

I would have expected it to go to 62-year-old Nick Robinson, a political editor through three premierships, and 11 years as a Today presenter.

You may find him annoying – I sometimes do – but he has depth of experience and tactical understanding of political interviews. Instead, he talked with Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, respectively the author and illustrator of The Gruffalo, while 41-year-old Barnett was entrusted to interrogate the tough, articulate Badenoch.

It didn’t go well. You can taste the dismay online, even from the Left, at a chance wasted.

And the question hovered: Why was the least experienced presenter given it? Did she ask for it? If so, who listened? Perhaps someone in editorial authority reckoned that setting up one strong-minded forty-something woman against another, sidelining the old white bloke, would be a grand flourish of female power. Who knows?

What I do know is how it feels to be in that studio. Forty-seven years ago, I was the youngest and first female regular Today presenter, for three years doing four early mornings a week – more than any presenters since.

Alongside me was either Brian Redhead or John Timpson: They only worked together on Wednesdays, a real odd-couple.

I had risen through the ranks, first as a Today producer, directing through the glass, and then for years a reporter. I had done recorded interviews (can’t tell you how frightening Denis Healey could be) and written cues and briefings on the night shift for bleary presenters as they arrived.

So I knew the mechanism of this grand machine, and by the time it was my turn to get up at 4.30am and present, understood it.

And one thing I grasped – being not quite 30 – was the hierarchy. Redhead had served 25 years in newspapers and TV current affairs. Timpson, even older, came via the BBC newsroom.

For the heavier political stories they had not only briefings but long memories, and had survived years of obfuscation and hostility.

So while I sometimes got the star interview (once presenting live from Beijing) and fought my corner when the item was on something I knew a lot about – such as shipping, or women, or the Pope – I knew when it made sense to step aside for senior colleagues, especially Brian.

When everyone knows their role, the atmosphere sings. We all joked about each other, as did the producers. It was a good gang. I met my husband there.

I have watched it change: more live interviews, more bantering and an undue reverence of personality, but the same live news tension, the same punishing early mornings.

I met Emma Barnett when she was weighing up the Today offer, and I warned her it mightn’t be fun.

Not with a young child and health problems, and particularly not if she were to lose the degree of editorial control she was then using to change and energise Woman’s Hour.

I admired her vigour, ambition and basic decency, and still do, but I didn’t think that, unlike the calmly thoughtful Mishal Husain, she would easily find a happy track through the dawn, and its difficult encounters both on-air and off.

I hope her next stage is happier.

By SOPHIE CARLIN, REPORTER

Published: 00:36 BST, 13 September 2026 | Updated: 00:40 BST, 13 September 2026

Police have confirmed that a 35-year-old man has died following the incident on Harestanes Road in Armadale.

A man has died following a suspected shooting in West Lothian as dozens of police officers remain at the scene.

Police and emergency services descended on Armadale shortly before midday today following reports that a man was injured at an address on Harestanes Road.

It has now been confirmed that the 35-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next of kin is aware.

Detectives have said a line of inquiry is that a firearm may have been involved in the incident.

Around 12pm, officers also received a report of a car on fire nearby in the Netherhouses area, near Armadale.

The fire was put out by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and there were no reports of injuries.

A police cordon has been put in place on the residential street, where officers remain guarding the scene.

Police said enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of both incidents. Officers are keeping an open mind but are investigating them as linked.

Forensic officers and detectives could be seen at one property, examining the area and taking photographs as part of their investigation this evening.

Evidence also appears to have been bagged up by forensic officers, while a heavy emergency service presence remains in the area.

An air ambulance was deployed from Glasgow and was tracked travelling towards Armadale before returning to the city.

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Detective Superintendent Michelle Findlay, of the Major Investigations Team, said: “Our thoughts are with the family of the man who has died in this incident.“Officers remain in the area and anyone with concerns or any information can approach them or call us on 101, quoting incident number 1361 of Saturday, September 12, 2026.”

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A freckled, teenage Kate Moss was catapulted from obscurity into superstardom when she appeared on the cover of The Face magazine in 1990, posing on a beach in a feathered headdress.

Now, 36 years later, the model’s doppelganger daughter Lila has recreated the iconic shoot with the very same headdress.

But while most of the fashion world have applauded the nostalgic nod on the cover of Perfect magazine, some Gen Z protesters have claimed the use of a headdress is ‘cultural appropriation’.

‘What indigenous tribe is she part of?’ asked one twentysomething, while another said: ‘Didn’t we all learn about cultural appropriation?’

A third said: ‘Please white people stop wearing sacred American headdresses! It is so disrespectful and gross. It’s 2026.’

It’s not the first time the 23-year-old has been at the centre of a woke controversy. Nine years ago, at just 14, she posed with her hair in cornrows, a look deemed ‘problematic’ because of the style’s significance to the black community.

Pictured: A freckled, teenage Kate Moss on the cover of The Face magazine, posing on a beach in a feathered headdress 

Copycat: Her daughter, Lila Moss, recreating the same iconic shoot 36 years later

While Lila has recreated the famous Corinne Day photograph of her mum to mark ten years of the Kate Moss Agency, a source said that in many ways she ‘finally feels she is stepping out of her mother’s shadow…

‘She is raking it in these days with all her brand deals.’

Her latest are for Versace’s new scent, Crystal Emerald, launched last week, and luxury French label Zadig & Voltaire.

The model – who has spent the summer with her girlfriends (and mum) in Ibiza – recently broke up with her glamorous boyfriend, the e-commerce coordinator Yoni Helbitz.

Perfect Magazine and Lila Moss were approached for comment. 

Is Rocco the new Rothko?

Rocco Ritchie, the son of Madonna and Guy Ritchie, could finally be stepping beyond nepo baby territory. 

The 26-year-old is exhibiting his work at the British Art Fair at the Saatchi Gallery later this month alongside the likes of David Hockney, Tracey Emin and Lucian Freud. 

He once said of fellow nepos: ‘They are not the most interesting bunch, are they?’

Rocco Ritchie, the son of Madonna and Guy Ritchie, at work on his Instagram

Cora shows she’s true to Slew

Cora Corre, the 29-year-old model granddaughter of Vivienne Westwood and Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, has gone public with her relationship with rapper Slew, aka Louis Hartley, 30, by posting this photo of them at Notting Hill Carnival on social media.

Cora Corre, 29, pictured with rapper Slew, aka Louis Hartley, 30, at Notting Hill carnival 

The pen’s mightier than the scalpel 

Suki Waterhouse’s plastic surgeon father is making a bid for a creative career of his own. 

After more than three decades in medicine, Harley Street expert Norman Waterhouse, 71, is following the model and actress, 34, into the arts with the release of his debut novel, Mirror Games, early next year. 

The thriller is about a London plastic surgeon who bends ethics to perform Britain’s first full face transplant, only to become entangled with the criminal underworld. 

‘For my writing I draw on my knowledge of people and of course faces,’ says Norman. 

The criminal underworld is purely fictional, needless to say…

Singer and model Suki Waterhouse pictured with her plastic surgeon father, Norman Waterhouse 

SPOTTED

• My spies saw actress Zendaya enquiring about circular knitting needles in a shop in Richmond
• Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge tucking into rice pudding at Soho House Dean Street
• Actress Rosamund Pike trying to hail a taxi near Waterloo
• Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looking chic all in black in Dulwich Village 
• The Gentlemen star Theo James pumping iron at Third Space in Islington

Actress Zendaya (pictured at the LA Premiere of The Drama earlier this year) was spotted enquiring about circular knitting needles in a shop in Richmond 

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Did someone get a slapped wrist after a picture of Prince Harry at Tower Bridge Studios was posted on the company’s Instagram account last week?

I only ask because the photograph of the duke signing their wall of fame – the first picture of him since his return to the UK – later mysteriously disappeared from the venue’s feed.

The London studio is where several high-profile TV shows and video podcasts are filmed, such as Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO.

The prince recently appeared on Joe Marler’s podcast – but it seems he wants this outing kept very much under wraps! 

The midfielder was being cheered on by his brother, who is preparing for the Manchester derby

The older brother of Manchester City star Elliot Anderson, Wil, has come out on top during a Misfits Boxing match vs Luke Dyson. The 25-year-old secured victory with a fourth-round stoppage.

He became known due to his appearance on Love Island in June 2024. He has since taken up boxing with his brother watching on from home.

The City midfielder shared a picture of Wil’s celebrations on his Instagram story, along with a caption reading: Let’s go bro.” He also shared a video showing the moment the referee stopped the bout.

Anderson is preparing at home ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The game will see Enzo Maresca’s side look to maintain their 100 per cent winning record so far this season.

The clash was part of the undercard ahead of the Misfits main fight between Jordan McCann and Big Stacks, who is dubbed as the ‘UK’s hardest man’.

After the fight, Wil called out American Josh Brueckner as he eyes the cruiserweight title. It’s a fight that has been backed by trainer Bj Flores, who wrote on Instagram: “After this we can set up @wilandersonn vs @joshbrueckner.”

Anderson responded with: “Ready for all the smoke.”

The fight against Dyson was Anderson’s third. While he lost in his first against Jordan Banjo. He has since beaten Jake Cornish and now Dyson.

Wil offered his support to Elliot over the summer, cheering on England over in America in the World Cup alongside his fiancée Uma Jammeh, who he met on Love Island. The younger brother established himself as a key member of Thomas Tuchel’s squad ahead of the tournament.

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He started seven of England’s eight games throughout the tournament. It was while he was in America when he agreed a then record-breaking £116 million move from Nottingham Forest to City.

So far this season, Anderson has started all three Premier League games. He also came on as a second half substitute in Tuesday’s Champions League opener vs Porto.

Writing for Belfast Live, Michele Janes, Director of Barnardo’s Northern Ireland, argues that the next Executive must be judged by whether it delivers for children

As Northern Ireland looks ahead to next year’s election, political parties will make many promises about the future. But for children and young people, their futures are being formed in the present – and too many are being asked to wait for support they desperately need now.

Barnardo’s Northern Ireland works alongside 18,000 children, young people and families through 45 services. Every day, I see their resilience and potential, but also the pressures they face.

Around 73,000 children in Northern Ireland are living in poverty. More than 4,000 children are now in care – the highest number since 1995. Demand for mental health support continues to grow.

Despite what some people would have us think, I know that these challenges are not inevitable. We can make different choices.

That is why Barnardo’s Northern Ireland is asking parties to put three priorities at the heart of their plans for government: ending child poverty, transforming how government works for children and families, and giving every child the best start in life.

First, we need tangible action on poverty. Poverty is corrosive, affecting every aspect of a young person’s life. It affects what they eat, where they live, and whether they can participate fully in school and community life. Gerard, 19, described poverty as something that can “eat you from the inside”. No young person should feel this way. That’s why we are calling for a Northern Ireland Child Payment. Modelling by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests a targeted payment could reduce overall child poverty to 20 per cent, benefiting around 150,000 children.

We also want expanded eligibility and automatic enrolment for Free School Meals, alongside a Participation Fund so children do not miss out on sports, school trips, music and other opportunities simply because their families cannot afford them.

But improving children’s lives cannot be the responsibility of one department. Poverty, housing, education, mental health, family support and social care are deeply connected.

That is why our second priority is transforming how government works for children and families.

On 31 March 2025, 4,188 children and young people were in care – the highest number since the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, and an increase of more than 21 per cent since the 2022 Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services.

Northern Ireland already has much of the evidence and expertise it needs to reform the system. What we need now is politicians and departments working together, with shared responsibility for improving children’s lives. Children do not experience their lives in departmental silos, and government cannot continue to respond to their needs in silos either.

The proposed Arm’s-Length Body for children’s social care could help support this transformation, but structural reform alone will not be enough. We need a genuinely joined-up approach across government, focused on what children and families need, rather than expecting them to fit around government structures.

Crucially, children and young people must help shape that change. As 17-year-old Shahbano put it, “young people do not need politicians simply to speak to them – they need politicians willing to speak with them”.

And this cannot mean another strategy sitting on a shelf. It must mean families getting support earlier, foster carers receiving the help they need, and care- experienced young people being properly supported into adulthood.

Our third priority is giving every child the best start in life. Too often, support arrives only once a family has reached crisis. The estimated cost of late intervention in Northern Ireland is £536 million every year – but the human cost is greater.

Through the Sure Start programmes Barnardo’s leads, we support around 3,000 families with children under four in areas of high deprivation. Sheena, who has been supported by Barnardo’s SureStart in Strabane since pregnancy, told us how help with breastfeeding, nutrition and communicating with her baby built her confidence as a parent.

Her wish is simple: that every parent could access that kind of support. Right now, access to Sure Start depends too heavily on postcode. The next Executive should expand it according to need, alongside an inclusive early years system focused on the first 1,001 days, better support for infant mental health and emotional wellbeing, and a properly funded Early Learning and Childcare Strategy.

Because the best time to help a child or family is before a problem becomes a crisis.

These issues are all connected. A child experiencing homelessness needs more than somewhere to sleep. A young person leaving care does not stop needing support when they turn 18. A child who comes to Northern Ireland seeking sanctuary needs safety, education, healthcare and belonging.

Our manifesto therefore also calls for action on family homelessness, continued priority for ending violence against women and girls, better support for refugee children and young people, and stronger cooperation across government.

The next Assembly term will shape the lives of a generation. So as parties ask for our votes next May, we should ask what they are promising the thousands of children who have no vote of their own.

And when the next Executive takes office, we should judge it not simply by the strategies it publishes or commitments it makes, but by whether children’s lives actually improve.

Are fewer children growing up in poverty? Are families getting help before they reach crisis? Are children safer and healthier? Are they being heard? Do they have the opportunities they need to thrive?

This election should be judged by what it promises our children – and the next government must be judged by whether it delivers.

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

Families will be able to nominate one next of kin to travel for free on National Rail services to attend events between November 7 and 8 this year and beyond.

Veterans minister Calvin Bailey said support for the families of those who have “given everything for their country” should be “a given”.

Mr Bailey – a former RAF officer who served alongside US special operations units in Afghanistan – would not say how much money had been set aside for the scheme, but insisted no eligible family members will be turned down.

Speaking at the Cenotaph in central London, he said: “The scheme’s been costed, it’s funded, and it will be continued beyond this year.

“We think this is an essential part of of commemoration. It’s something that I feel perhaps should have just been a given, and I hope it because this shouldn’t be a discussion point.

“This should have been something that we have been doing for a long time. When people give everything for their country, we should give them ensure that their families are able to feel as though they’re part of that connective tissue.”

He continued: “Coming here is a significant event, but coming here can come at great personal expense.

“It’s an emotionally difficult period for those people that have lost someone, but it’s a very significant thing to be at the heart of our national commemorations, and as we’ve heard from those members of bereaved families today, being here in any number helps them to ensure that connection remains.

“This is a small but very significant lifting of the barriers of cost of living and the challenges that people have either with distance or with cost to ensure that they’re part of these commemorations.”

The scheme will build on the Government’s existing free travel offer for serving personnel and veterans.

Mr Bailey said he had asked the Department for Transport to make sure there are no “unnecessary impediments” over the Remembrance Day weekend caused by train delays or cancellations.

Mikki Brett, the widow of the late CPO Stuart Brett – who served in the Weapons Engineering branch of the Royal Navy and died in service in April 2023, said: “It’s fantastic news that the in-service bereaved have been recognised for the support given to their loved ones with free train fares to remembrance events this year.”

By GLEN OWEN

Published: 23:17 BST, 12 September 2026 | Updated: 23:47 BST, 12 September 2026

While the Prime Minister attempts to split his time between London and Manchester, he is neglecting the Chequers country estate so beloved by his predecessors.

On Saturday night, the Tories said that under the terms of the statute that grants prime ministers the use of the grace-and-favour home in Buckinghamshire, Andy Burnham risked losing his access to the 16th-century mansion if he effectively mothballed it.

This was denied by No 10, which said Mr Burnham had made use of the property on occasion. A Government source said: ‘He is barely ever there, because he likes to spend weekends at home in Manchester.

‘But he is thinking of holding a New Year’s Eve party there.’

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The 1,000-acre estate has been in public hands since 1917, when its then owners donated it to the British government.

It has been the official country residence of the Prime Minister since 1921, when David Lloyd George moved in.

The Chequers Estate Act says that ‘if any Prime Minister shall decline to avail himself of the rights hereby conferred upon him’ then the house passes instead to the Chancellor, the Foreign Secretary or even the US Ambassador. 

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The Tories have said Andy Burnham risks losing his access to Chequers under the terms of the statute that grants prime ministers the use of the mansion

A Government source said the Prime Minister is ‘barely’ at Chequers as he likes to spend weekends in Manchester

According to the Act ‘the inducement to spend two days a week in the high and pure air of the Chiltern hills and woods will, it is hoped, benefit the nation as well as its chosen leaders… The main features of this scheme are therefore designed not merely to make Chequers available as the official country residence of the Prime Minister of the day, but to tempt him to visit it regularly.’

Mike Wood MP, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: ‘It seems our city-obsessed Prime Minister is determined to snub our nation’s counties.

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‘For the city-bred man especially, contact with rural life was intended to restore a sense of proportion between town and country.’