Star Dakota Johnson made a surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live” this week, playing the mysterious “Madeline” during Lily Allen‘s performance of that track. The song was Allen’s second of the night.

During the performance, Johnson was mostly hidden behind a screen through the song, as Allen sang about the mistress. But Johnson performed the spoken word portion of the song, which appears on Allen’s album “West End Girl.” In the track, Allen notes that she and her signficant other “had an arrangement: Be discreet and don’t be blatant. And there had to be payment. It had to be with strangers. But you’re not a stranger, Madeline.”

Later in the song, “Madeline” explains her side of the story via texts to Allen: “I hate that you’re in so much pain right now. I really don’t wanna be the cause of any upset. He told me that you were aware this was going on and that he had your full consent. If he’s lying about that, then please let me know. Because I have my own feelings about dishonesty. Lies are not something that I wanna get caught up in. You can reach out to me any time, by the way. If you need any more details or you just need to vent or anything. Love and light, Madeline.”

After reading those lines, Johnson came out from behind the curtain and walked up to Allen — and gave her a quick kiss.

A mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday evening left at least 12 people dead and 29 people hospitalized, authorities say.

The annual celebration, known as “Chanukah By The Sea,” was scheduled to kick off at 5 p.m. to celebrate the first day of the Jewish holiday by lighting the first candle on the Menorah. Police say the attack “targeted” the Jewish community and is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

The New South Wales Police Force (NSWPF) said officers responded to reports of shots fired at about 6:45 p.m. on Sunday. Police say there were at least two gunmen involved in the attack, and they are investigating the possibility of a third. Twelve people were killed in the shooting, including one of the two suspected gunmen, police said. The second alleged shooter is in critical condition.

At least 29 others were hospitalized after the shooting, including two police officers, the agency confirmed. The shooting is the worst attack against Jews since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.

ANTISEMITIC ATTACKERS VIOLENTLY TARGET SYNAGOGUE, ISRAELI RESTAURANT IN AUSTRALIA

Police added that they found evidence of multiple improvised explosive devices in a vehicle near the scene of the attack.

“We have our rescue bomb disposal unit there at the moment working on that,” he said. 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog acknowledged the attack while speaking at an event in Jerusalem recognizing immigrants’ extraordinary achievements on Sunday.

“At these very moments, our sisters and brothers in Sydney, Australia, have been attacked by vile terrorists in a very cruel attack on Jews who went to light the first candle of Chanukah on Bondi Beach,” Herzog said. “Our hearts go out to them. The heart of the entire nation of Israel misses a beat at this very moment, as we pray for the recovery of the wounded, we pray for them and we pray for those who lost their lives.”

AUSTRALIA’S JEWISH COMMUNITY ALARMED BY RISING ANTISEMITISM: ‘FEAR AND ANXIETY’

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Herzog also called on the Australian government to “seek action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism which is plaguing Australian society.”

Khartoum, Sudan – Iman Abdel-Azim had to bury her brother in the courtyard of her home in Khartoum North when he died as fighting between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces raged around them.

Her brother died of cholera in September last year, unable to access medical care.

Her neighbours had to help her bury him because it was impossible to access cemeteries during the fighting. She was not the only resident of the capital region’s three cities – Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman – who had to do this.

After Khartoum State announced at the beginning of December a major effort to exhume the remains of people buried in this makeshift manner and move them to cemeteries, Abdel-Azim feels her grief has been renewed as she relives the pain of losing a loved one.

Organised campaign

State and local committees were formed to implement the exhumations. They are made up of representatives from forensic medicine, Civil Defence, the Sudanese Red Crescent, and neighbourhood management and services committees.

Ahmed Abdel Rahman, executive director of Khartoum North, told Al Jazeera that the campaign aims to alleviate the psychological burden on families and improve the health and humanitarian situation in the capital region.

According to Abdel Rahman, the campaign is being overseen by the High Committee for Collecting the Remains of Those Who Died During the Battle of Dignity.

The process will unfold in stages, the first of which is identifying makeshift burial sites.

After that, families are notified and allowed to nominate a representative to be involved in every step, from exhumation to burial.

Forensic medicine specialists will supervise the exhumations and reburials in cemeteries with full documentation of the remains.

The process of transferring these remains began as early as when the Sudanese army took control of Khartoum State, Hisham Zain al-Abidin, director of the Forensic Medicine Authority in Khartoum State, explained to Al Jazeera.

He affirmed that by the first quarter of 2026, Khartoum and its seven districts would be free of any makeshift graves.

However, he added, the field teams responsible for the exhumations and reburials are facing a number of challenges, including a shortage of body bags, “which could affect the work being carried out as required”.

Sabotage

According to Zain al-Abidin, the Rapid Support Forces sabotaged the DNA units used to preserve samples from several buried bodies, which has made it difficult to identify many victims.

He said teams are numbering and documenting the burials of unidentified bodies, then burying them in graves specifically for unidentified individuals.

He called on stakeholders, organisations and citizens for help in preparing the graves and stressed that the work ahead is extensive and requires concerted efforts between the government and citizens.

For her part, Shireen Al-Tayeb Nour Al-Daem, vice president of the Steering and Services Committee in the Shambat neighbourhood of North Khartoum, told Al Jazeera that the committee had surveyed graves in homes, mosques and public squares in several neighbourhoods as a preliminary step before the arrival of medical teams and the commencement of exhumations and transfers of bodies.

Nour Al-Daem said the committee informs victims’ families to attend and follow up on the official procedures with the legal and medical teams until the transfers and burials are completed.

The committee is working on identifying and surveying the locations of makeshift graves, collecting data and communicating with families, Nour Al-Daem said, urging citizens to report the locations of makeshift graves so field teams can access them.

When teams arrive to undertake the exhumations and reburials, the committee will also undertake the logistics and support for those teams. This includes coordinating between the field teams and the families of the deceased to ensure the presence of the family or a representative.

If no relatives of the deceased are present, she added, the High Committee has instructed that the exhumation be halted.

She indicated that the country needs further efforts to complete reconstruction and rebuilding and what the committees are doing “paves the way for a safe environment for the return of citizens” despite the difficulty of people experiencing a second farewell to their loved ones.

The streets of Khartoum are also filled with bodies that have not yet been buried, some of which have decomposed, representing a challenge to identify them and dangers to public health.