Local authorities could be forced to approve new developments or risk giving planning control to Whitehall

Angela Rayner is poised to introduce tougher sanctions on councils in England that block local housing developments.

Councils could be forced to approve new housing developments – overturning locally agreed plans – under stricter rules or risk handing over control of their planning departments to Whitehall officials.

Durham council says strong rope on bunting was found to be a risk, amid controversy over flag-flying across England

A Reform-led council has started to remove flags and bunting displaying the St George’s cross and the union flag after concerns were raised that they could cause accidents.

Durham county council issued a statement on X on Friday saying that while the council “understand and respect the community’s desire to express national pride, celebration, or remembrance, it is important to ensure such expressions do not compromise public safety”.

Venice film festival
Though the film is eventful enough, there is a bland placidity with which Bastien Bouillon plays a man following his dreams in this quaintly naive story

Valérie Donzelli has given us a strange mixture of realism and quaint naivety in this film, based on an autobiographical novel by French photographer turned novelist Franck Courtès. There are some interesting insights into the gig economy but some very cliched and implausible representations of what happens when you become a literary author.

With a kind of unvarying bland placidity, Bastien Bouillon plays someone who (like Courtès) abandoned a very successful career in photography in pursuit of his financially perilous dream of being a serious writer. We get a single shot early on of all his cameras on a shelf: he presumably does not sell any to alleviate his financial difficulties but we never see or hear about these valuable objects ever again.

Downing Street appoints Minouche Shafik, who quit Columbia University after controversy over anti-Israel protests on New York campus

• Business live – latest updates

The former Bank of England deputy governor Minouche Shafik is set to join Keir Starmer’s team as chief economic adviser.

In a boost to the prime minister’s office in the run-up to the autumn budget, Lady Shafik is expected to take on the role after a year heading a Foreign Office review of the government’s foreign aid spending.

• Head coach defiant despite Carabao Cup loss by Grimsby

• ‘Sometimes I hate my players, sometimes I love them’

Ruben Amorim admitted his temperament makes him feel some days that he “wants to quit” and others that he would like to be Manchester United’s head coach for 20 years, as he said he would continue to give emotional post-match interviews.

Amorim said after United’s Carabao Cup defeat at Grimsby on Wednesday that “something has to change” and that “my players spoke really loud about what they want”, causing uncertainty about his future.