Can spending more time engaging with the arts, such as visiting galleries, museums, singing or painting, really lead to a longer and healthier life? It’s certainly an appealing idea. And it’s not implausible.

Stress is bad for your health, and spending your free time doing something engaging, like visiting an art gallery, seems like a good way to reduce stress. But there’s a big difference between a plausible idea and an established scientific fact. And if scientists like me want to advise people on how to spend their time, we need to be confident that our advice is based on solid evidence.

A recent study, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, offers a case in point. The study, led by a team of researchers from UCL, reported that those who engaged in arts and cultural activities more often, and in a wider range of such activities, appeared to be ageing more slowly according to certain biological clocks.

Unfortunately, determining whether arts engagement truly improves your health and slows your ageing is very difficult. There are three main challenges.

First, you need to distinguish whether arts engagement causes slower ageing or whether accelerated ageing (and poorer health) simply makes it harder to engage in the arts (an issue known as “reverse causation”).

Second, you need to account for the fact that the people who spend more time engaging with arts are generally very different to those who don’t; that is, they’re typically wealthier and living healthier lifestyles (an issue known as “confounding”).

And finally, you need to account for the fact that those who spend more time engaging in the arts may simply have more leisure time. This means being very clear about what you are comparing the time spent engaging with the arts against.

It seems plausible that visiting a gallery would be better for reducing stress than caring for a dying relative. But is it better than going for a walk? Or spending more time sleeping? Without a clear comparison, it’s impossible to tell whether spending time engaging with the arts is any better than any other leisure activity.

So how might we clearly study the causal effect of, say, spending time visiting galleries versus spending the same time watching TV on subsequent health and ageing?

The classic approach would be to conduct an experiment. Take a large enough group of people and randomly assign them to one of two groups, with one encouraged to visit galleries and the other to watch TV.

The snag is how exactly you would encourage people – and would it work?

You could pay them. But whatever effect you observed would not then represent the effect of freely visiting a gallery versus freely watching TV.

The more popular option is to study patterns in people taking part in long-running research studies. But to do this well would require repeated and detailed data on how people spend their time and their changing health, ageing indicators and other characteristics. In theory, this would allow you to study how an increase in, say, gallery attendance versus TV watching changed subsequent health or ageing indicators, after carefully accounting for everything mentioned above.

What does the research actually show?

Alas, most studies examining the effect of arts engagement on health and ageing fall well short of these requirements. The recent UCL study offers a textbook example. It examined the effect of arts and cultural engagement on biological ageing without stating a comparison.

So, at best, it studies the effect of having more time to spend on arts and cultural engagement. And it’s probably not that either, because of the other problems of reverse causation and confounding.

Since the study only had single-timepoint measures of arts engagement and ageing, there’s no way to distinguish the effects of arts engagement on slower ageing from the effects of accelerated ageing (and poorer health) on arts engagement.

The study did account for some of the differences in the profile of those engaging in more and less arts activities. But only partially, with several factors ignored – such as wealth, childhood circumstances and disease – and others overly simplified (employment was represented by a simple yes/no variable).

Several of the most important lifestyle factors, like smoking, alcohol use and body mass index (BMI) were also only examined as a secondary concern. When these were accounted for, the apparent effects shrank by 30-80%. And, again, these were all overly simplified. For example, only smoking status, not amount of smoking, was considered.

In the resulting media coverage, the researchers said the effects of more versus less arts engagement were “comparable to the difference between smokers and those who have given up smoking”, and the lead author suggested arts engagement should be promoted “just like we promote 10,000 steps a day or five-a-day of fruits and vegetables”. If you’re a smoker, I’m afraid visiting a few museums is unlikely to offer the same life-changing benefits as giving up smoking.

For everyone else, by all means spend more time visiting museums, galleries, singing, or painting. Your life will probably be richer for it. But if you want to live a longer, healthier life, then there’s probably no substitute for increasing your physical activity, improving your diet and reducing your alcohol intake.

The authors of the study on arts and ageing were offered the right of reply. Here is their response:

Researching arts engagement is indeed challenging as it’s a complex human behaviour. We used the same methods previously used to identify other behaviours related to biological ageing, like exercise, and are currently using the findings to design experiments.

We examined many confounders, selecting those that influence arts engagement most strongly (e.g. household income and neighbourhood deprivation, which are highly correlated with wealth). Lifestyle factors can both influence and result from arts engagement (e.g. festivals can encourage substance use, while dancing can reduce BMI) – that’s why we compared results with and without them. Without lifestyle factors, biological age was 0.8 years lower among arts participants. With lifestyle factors, it was 0.65 years lower.

Experimental studies on other health outcomes suggest benefits arise not just from leisure time, but the emotional, cognitive, physical and social elements of the arts. We don’t advise substituting arts for other health-promoting behaviours, but experiments show that adding arts on top of these behaviours can lead to even greater improvements in health and wellbeing.

With unpaid carers saving Scotland over £13 billion per year according to government ministers, a report on local initiatives was presented to a recent council meeting.

Councillors have endorsed a range of initiatives designed to support unpaid carers in North Lanarkshire.

With unpaid carers saving Scotland over £13 billion per year according to government ministers, a report on local initiatives was presented to a recent council meeting.

Research shows that carers in North Lanarkshire have more positive experiences than those in many other areas, but there is still much that could be done.

In 2024 councillors agreed to invest in voluntary sector groups which support unpaid carers, resulting in established partnerships with five organisations Action For Children Young Carers Project North Lanarkshire, Alzheimer’s Scotland, Getting Better Together, Lanarkshire Carers and North Lanarkshire Carers Together.

They have now also agreed to commit remaining funds allocated to the council under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 implementation to appoint solicitors to set up power of attorneys for carers.

Powers of attorney can help prevent delays in discharging patients from hospital in cases where otherwise guardianship orders need to be pursued, especially in relation to adults with dementia.

Work is underway to recruit a solicitor or law firm to work under the new scheme, which would see referrals made by psychiatrists, with consent from their patients, to grant power of attorney to their carer. If this referrals procedure is a success and funding is available, this programme may in future be expanded to include referrals from other sources.

Currently the cost of granting a power of attorney can otherwise put people off, especially in situations where a carer has reduced or given up their paid employment. £100,000 in funding has been allocated to this work.

READ MORE: North Lanarkshire councillors approve £100m contract covering demolition works

A further £150,000 (over two years) will be used to expand the Carer Breather programme, which sees various organisations provide opportunities for carers to enjoy other activities ranging from paddle boarding to knit and natter sessions.

Some of these activities are entirely for carers while others also involve the person being cared for.

Initially the Carer Breather network involved 11 organisations and has grown to 15. This next expansion will take that to 19 groups including two new carer sitter options, and also help ensure the council is well prepared for the right of carers to time off being enshrined in law.

A two-year total of £100,000 will also be used to continue working with Strathclyde University on projects helping people with dementia, and this will be matched by a contribution from the university itself.

This money will expand CARE_PAC, which supports those approaching end of life, and CONSOLIDATE which is a rehabilitation programme. These will help unpaid carers continue to provide care and prevent or delay admissions to hospitals, care homes and hospices while also reducing carer stress and the need for paid support.

READ MORE: North Lanarkshire Council asked to approve conversion of gym in Newmains

PAMIS is a family support service currently helping some 80 families in North Lanarkshire who have a member with complex and profound multiple disabilities, and support from paid carers can exceed £400,000 annually, meaning investing in the support from PAMIS for unpaid carers is an example of “spending to save”.

Funding has been allocated at almost £85,000 over two years for assistive technology to support the assistive technology team by creating a new staffing post. The team helps carers get comfortable with using technology in a planned way rather than having to adapt during a time of crisis.

An additional £100,000 over two years will be used to support a range of arts activities for carers, helping them build resilience and socialise, in addition to improving numerous aspects of physical and mental health. It is also intended to increase the funding available by pursuing external grants.

An additional £50,000 will be invested in following up on a pilot scheme focusing on individual budgets for children and young people with additional support needs. A mid-point review of the pilot shows that this has had a significant impact on parent carers and young people.

READ MORE: Council receive application to construct new industrial buildings in Cleland

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Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives slammed Republicans for abruptly cancelling a vote to rein in President Donald Trump’s war in Iran before the House left for the Memorial Day weekend.

Lawmakers claimed that Republicans pulled the vote because they did not have enough votes to block the War Powers Act resolution to end the White House’s wildly unpopular war.

The resolution, which comes as members of both parties have attacked Trump over his Middle East policy, would require troops to withdraw within 60 to 90 days of deployment if Congress had not declared war or authorized use of military force.

The American public has also largely not been sold on the war. A New York Times/Siena College poll showed that 65 percent of voters disapproved of Trump’s handling of the conflict.

Republicans on Thursday kept open a vote to create a museum honoring women’s history, which ultimately failed. At that point, Rep. Jim McGovern, the ranking Democrat of the House Rules Committee, asked why the House was not voting as scheduled on the resolution.

“Are we not voting on it because the American people are sick and tired of this illegal war that is costing tens of billions of dollars?” McGovern asked amid heckling.

“Gas prices are through the roof. People can’t afford their groceries,” he said, which led to leadership hitting the gavel. “You guys don’t have the guts or the b**ls.”

The delay came after Trump and his Republican allies defeated the reelection attempt of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of the biggest critics of Trump and of the Iran War. Republicans also had several absences, which likely meant the resolution could have passed. Earlier this week, Senate Democrats had enough Republicans join them on a War Powers Act resolution.

But just off the floor, Democrats were even angrier. Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, told reporters that Republicans had “p***ied out.”

His colleague Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, a West Point graduate, was also furious.

“These chicken hawk motherf***ers are gonna send us home for Memorial Day weekend, where I’m gonna honor my fellow veterans that I served 27 months in combat with, and they are gonna not even give an up or down vote on continuing this war almost three months in,” he told The Independent.

The Trump administration launched the Iran war at the end of February. But House Speaker Mike Johnson has insisted Congress should not take action and said that the United States is “not at war right now.” The White House has gone back and forth between calling it a war or a “skirmish.”

Over time, more House Republicans have joined Democrats in War Powers Act resolutions.

“I think the American public wants this vote, but somebody doesn’t want to see the vote,” Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) told The Independent. “ Last time it was tight, right? And I’m hearing that we’re going to have enough votes to pass it, so that’s the issue.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) made fun of her fellow Minnesotan, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, for failing to get the votes to stop the resolution.

“When the vote failed on the women’s museum bill, they knew that they didn’t have the votes for the war powers,” she told The Independent.

It capped off a whipsaw day on Capitol Hill.

Earlier, Senate Republicans met with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche after many had questions about the new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and whether any money would go to people who assaulted police officers on January 6.

In response, Republicans chose to go home rather than vote on a bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection. Shortly thereafter, House Speaker Mike Johnson called off votes for Friday.

We previously reported that the group had set up in the car park outside New Bury Community Learning Centre, but since then they have moved inside the grounds of the centre itself.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

Though around six caravans have made it inside the community centre gates, there are still a large number in the car park outside.

Farnworth South Cllr Julie Pattison said: “Yes, we’re definitely working towards sorting it out.

“We have been in touch with Be One Homes about it, as they actually own the community centre.

“The council have also been made aware of it, so I should imagine the council liaison officer will go down and talk to them and ask them to move on, as is standard procedure.”

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

The group is very large, totalling around six caravans inside the grounds of the community centre and a further ten or so outside in the car park.

The council have legal powers to deal with encampments if the group do not move when requested to do so, but the process can take up to a week.

The New Bury Community Learning Centre provides learning courses for people moving on to further education and training, according to the Bolton Council website.

Mark Wardrop made “horrifying” threats to beat up and kill the 15- and 16-year-old schoolboys in order to force them to sell cannabis for him in what police call a “county lines’ operation.

A sheriff has praised the “real bravery” of two teenage boys who helped to get a Glasgow drug dealer convicted of human trafficking and extortion.

Mark Wardrop made “horrifying” threats to beat up and kill the 15- and 16-year-old schoolboys in order to force them to sell cannabis for him in what police call a “county lines’ operation.

He threatened to set fire to their parents’ homes in West Lothian by petrol bombing them if they didn’t pay him thousands of pounds in profits from the sale of hash, cannabis oil and ecstasy.

Wardrop was arrested and charged after the quick-thinking 16-year old took a photograph of the number plate on the accused’s white BMW X1 as he drove away.

He was reprimanded for yawning in the dock and continually looking around the courtroom as if bored as the details of his crimes were read at Livingston Sheriff Court.

Wardrop, 22, of Glasgow, appeared for sentence after earlier pleading guilty on indictment to two contraventions of Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 and one count of extortion.

He committed the offences between 1 August and 3 December 2024.

The court heard he removed the 15-year-old boy’s passport to compel him to co-operate with him.

He also threatened to physically harm the youngster and his parents and to destroy their property in order to extort money from them.

He admitted subjecting the 16-year-old to similar violent threats and exploitation, the court heard, thus making the boys victims of conduct under the trafficking laws which cover forced labour.

Fraser Napier, prosecuting, said the first teenager was compelled to hand over his passport after arranging to meet the accused.

He was supplied with four ounces of cannabis and ordered to sell it and repay Wardrop £700.

As the situation escalated Wardrop threatened to petrol bomb the boy’s home if he didn’t pay more and more money for the drugs he was selling.

A total of £5,000 was eventually handed over to the accused by the youth and his parents before the accused was brought to justice, the fiscal said.

The accused said he would petrol bomb the second boy’s home and threatened to “stab him” and “cut him to bits” if he didn’t pay up.

The youngster paid him £250 at a BMX track in Bathgate West Lothian then a further £130 at a second meeting.

However, after the accused demanded a further payment of £400, the teenager took a picture of his car number plate as he was leaving and contacted the police.

Chloe MacDonald, defending, said her client understood the fear he had caused the young complainers and their parents but claimed he didn’t know his conduct constituted human trafficking.

She said: “He himself suffered repercussions from his drug abuse having been seriously assaulted.

“He was a young and immature man but he’s had the significant benefit of time to reflect on his actions.”

Passing sentence, Sheriff Chloe Miller told the accused: “Your offending throughout this indictment is nothing short of deplorable.

“The numerous threats made to the child complainers and against their families and their homes was horrifying.”

She said a Victim Impact Statement from one of the complainers set out how both the psychological and financial impact of his crimes continued to significantly affect him and she had no doubt the others had been affected similarly by his conduct.

She went on: “The actions of the children in coming forward given the repeated threats against them demonstrates real bravery on their part.

“I hope that they are properly supported to heal from the damage that your crimes have inflicted upon them.”

She described his offending as “truly despicable” and said the charges he had admitted would not be out of place in a High Court case.

She added: “At the core of this offending is the fact that you approached and preyed on children – some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

“This was a prolonged course of conduct, extorting money on a number of occasions. It was planned, sinister and sustained.

“In particular, I draw attention to the fact that the first child had his passport removed from him. The second child was approached in the street and you knew his personal details and used them against him.

“You made significant threats against them both. Influencing, coercing and forcing them into criminal conduct.

“In respect of the adult complainers in charge 3, your conduct resulted in a significant amount of money being extorted from this family in the belief they were helping their child.

“it is my view that there is no other option today but to sentence you to a period of imprisonment.”

She sentenced Wardrop to 656 days imprisonment with a Supervised Release Order keeping him under supervision for six months following his release.

She also imposed non harassment orders banning him from contacting the four complainers for the next 10 years and passed an order to protect their anonymity.

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California’s housing crisis has gotten so bad that even a burned-out house on a busy corner in metropolitan Los Angeles is now worth $1 million.

The boarded-up, three-bedroom, two-bath home in Torrance sold for the eye-popping amount last week, according to multiple real estate websites. That’s despite it being clearly unlivable, with fire damage that includes a gaping hole in the roof.

“It’s a nice part of Torrance,” said NDA Real Estate chief financial officer Rhett Winchell, who handled an earlier auction of the burned-out house last year. “We had a tremendous amount of interest in the property.”

In the latest sale, the 1,140-square-foot, ranch-style house went for 2 percent above list price, according to Homes.com.

The stunning transaction appears emblematic of what the California Legislative Analyst’s Office calls a “serious housing shortage” that has resulted in costs “rising rapidly for decades.”

As of March, the median price of a “mid-tier” home in California was $775,000, more than twice the comparable national average of $366,000, according to the latest figures compiled by the LAO.

The burned-out house in Torrance has been vacant since a blaze broke out inside around 4 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2024, according to a Tuesday report in the Los Angeles Times.

The place was reportedly “dangerously cluttered” and the fire apparently started when a heating grate in the floor ignited something, forcing an older man who was the only person inside to escape through an open window.

The man survived the incident but later died and his house was sold at a probate auction last year, when the high bid was $980,000, plus a selling price that pushed the total to $1.075 million, Winchell said.

The unidentified auction winner resold the house on May 11.

The seller’s agent didn’t respond to an inquiry from The Independent and the buyer’s agent declined to identify his client or say what they planned to do with the property,

But Winchell said that the house “sold for the land value” last year and that the price wasn’t unusual for the area, where comparable homes in “move-in condition” regularly fetch $1.5 million.

Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and potential 2028 presidential candidate, has signed a series of bills aimed at increasing California’s housing stock, including several that led to a surge in construction of so-called accessory dwelling units on residential properties that already have a single or multifamily house.

Estimates of California’s housing shortage vary wildly but their midpoint suggests the Golden State needs an additional 2.2 million housing units — 14.9 percent of the current supply — to meet demand, according to research by the American Enterprise Institute.

Eric McGhee, policy director and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, said that the laws covering accessory dwelling units were “probably the best of the reforms” and that work on them now accounted for about 20 percent of residential construction in the state.

But it’s unclear if they’re “really helping the housing supply,” McGhee said.

“We don’t know what those are actually being used for,” he said, adding that possibilities included home offices, man caves and short-term vacation rentals.

McGhee blamed California’s housing shortage on backlash to its post-World War II housing boom, with local governments imposing restrictions on new development “in the name of environmentalism or preserving a livable community.”

“It enabled equilibrium for particular communities, but not the state as a whole,” he said.

McGhee said the ideal solution involved making housing construction easier, faster and cheaper, both by easing the permitting process and encouraging the use of “modular, factory-based” methods of building homes.

“This is a long-term problem we’ve created and it’s going take a lot of time to dig our way out of it,” he said.

The Friday letters page urges caution when it comes to the summer showcases, as a reader admits he doesn’t care about PS5 exclusives.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Price reduction
So there we have it, another massive price hike for PS Plus and I have officially reached my limit. There’s no way I’m paying for that anymore, not even on Essential, and if that means no more multiplayer than so be it. Maybe I’ll join for just a month, when a new multiplayer game comes out, but I’m sure I’ll manage, especially as Fortnite and games like that are free anyway.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s a disgrace that we’re expected to pay for online in the first place. You don’t on PC and yet for some reason on console you do, even though there are no extra benefits that amount to anything.

I get that Sony has to fleece customers for all they’ve got at the moment, because of rising costs and other things not necessarily their fault. I’m not here to prop up a billion dollar multinational. I will now be cancelling myPS Plus subscription and giving them less money than ever as a result, so I guess that’s had the opposite result of what they were hoping. Will be interested to hear if anyone else is doing the same.
Cranston

Safe secrets
For those worrying about GTA 6 pre-orders I’ve just seen the Take-Two boss saying that the ‘next few weeks’ don’t count as summer. I’m not sure that’s technically true, because June is definitely summer as far as I’m concerned, but to me this reinforces the rumour that nothing is happening till late summer. By which I assume they mean late July or August.

It is funny that no matter how much everything else leaks, almost no GTA 6 rumour ever turns out to be true. Apart from it being set in Vice City and the two main characters I don’t think we’ve heard anything solid about the game at all, in all these years. That includes the price and the dates, which is what people have been interested in the most. So good job, Rockstar. I guess?
Royston

Punished Bubsy
I find it hilarious that Bubsy can’t even get a good game when a decent developer is working on it. I really liked Demon Tides and felt sure that would guarantee Bubsy a good game, since it’s basically an IP you can do anything you like with. But no, 61 on Metacritic.

Now I want to see Nintendo or FromSoftware make a Bubsy game and for it to still turn out terrible somehow. I wonder how the curse started though? Obviously the first game was rubbish, and the 3D one, but there’s been quite a few now and yet not even the law of averages can help the series. It’s like Sonic taken to the extreme, which I guess was supposed to be the point all along.
Bors

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A remake 65 million years in the making
Just a little titbit of information that I think GC and other dinosaur fans will appreciate: the recent re-releases of Dino Crisis have seen its lifetime franchise go up to 4.9 million, overtaking Ōkami. This is important because Ōkami is getting a sequel and Dino Crisis… is not.

I don’t know why Capcom keep ignoring it but if it’s not because they have big plans for it I will be gutted. Although it’s difficult to be surprised by it, considering how long they’ve been trying to pretend it doesn’t exist.

I felt like we got pretty close to a full remake not long ago, when they were hinting at it, so I’m not sure what changed that they suddenly were all against it. Whoever the dino hater is at Capcom they have to go!
Bernie

From summer
I know we’ve had the pirate leak lately but I don’t believe that said anything about when the game would be announced, so I wonder what the chance of seeing a new multiformat From game are next month? The problem is The Duskbloods, which Nintendo will want all the attention, but will they be able to boss From enough not to talk about their other stuff?

I don’t imagine anyone knows the answer to that but with the Elden Ring film reminding me how good that game was I’m feeling From withdrawal symptoms at the moment. It feels like we haven’t even had a decent clone in a while either. Sometimes I think games taking five or more years to make maybe isn’t such a good idea.
Gauntlett

Summer forecast
With the summer showcases coming I think we all need to seriously get in the mindset that they’ll be disappointing so that when they are, we at least have a chance of being excited by the few things they do say.

This Nintendo one in particular… maybe we get the rumoured Zelda remake, but I’d say that was a pretty big maybe. More likely we’ll just get non-events like the rumoured Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch 2 Edition and the Devil May Cry 5 port. If there’s more than one big name reveal from Nintendo I feel we will be doing very well.

Xbox I could see showing off Project Helix in some way, but I don’t look forward to their event as you just know how they’re going to go on, pretending they’re this beloved brand and not the richest company in the world that still can’t get games right.

As for Sony, I feel it could go either way. They could do their usual minimum effort or the recent stuff about single-player games could be leading up to them going back to how things were on the PlayStation 4. That sounds too much like fan wishful thinking though. And while I am a fan and I am wishing that would happen I wouldn’t exactly bet on it.
Radish

Day one bonus
Not to ask a silly question but why does anyone want to pre-order GTA 6 anyway? Are you afraid they’re going to run out of digital copies? I know it’s GTA, and I’ll probably get it day one too, but that doesn’t mean I’ll pre-order it. I just don’t get why people do it for any game.

You often have them bragging in the Inbox that they’ve done it and then immediately saying ‘I hope it’s good’ or even ‘I don’t know that much about it.’ These people must love blind bags.

Even if you accept that there’s basically no way that GTA 6 can disappoint you still don’t gain anything by pre-ordering. At most there’ll be a free T-shirt or something with it, that you’ll never use, and that’s it. But the company will already have your money, so I can definitely see why they encourage it.
Bison

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Au contraire
I know I’m seemingly in a minority here (and am being a little contrarian) but as a PlayStation owner I have to admit I’m personally not that bothered about Sony exclusives. I game on the console because it’s the box you buy that plugs into the TV and you don’t need to think about it… and PlayStation 5 is the market leader in that space. When I’m pouring hours into classics Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3, or Clair Obscur I’m not thinking ‘I could be sat in a man cave at a desk doing this, with a keyboard and mouse like I’m at work’. What else would I buy to play the latest games on my sofa, without worrying about fiddling with settings or compromised ports?

I still think (and obviously Valve do too) that there is space in the market for that machine. A machine that just gets out the way and lets you play the games in the living room, whatever those games may be. I’ve always seen console and PC as different markets for that reason, so baffled when readers are like ‘why not just buy a PC’. It’s like telling someone who lives in London and gets the tube around to ‘just buy a car’, because that’s the best way to get around where you live in… I dunno, Kent. Why would they do that it makes no sense?

Also, a little off topic but to be honest Sony’s games mostly aren’t even that good, even in the high point of the PlayStation 4. Sure we’ve got Bloodbourne, Astro Bot, and Returnal… but then what? Loads of bloated and ‘cinematic’ 7/10 action adventures that would rather be TV? Great. Most of them practically play themselves, as if complex gameplay is beneath them.
Marc

Inbox also-rans
I just tried to play Marathon and there weren’t even enough people to get a game at first. I really do worry that Bungie isn’t going to make it to the end of this year.
Blotter

Have to agree with those saying that Saros is not as good as Returnal. I’m enjoying but I wouldn’t say the combat was better, just the same, and a lot of the others tuff, like the worlds and story, are definitely worse.
Gadfly

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MORE: Games Inbox: What will be in the June State of Play for PS5?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is PlayStation right to abandon the PC?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will GTA 6 pre-orders start?

However, his appointments drew criticism from opposition parties at Holyrood, with Meghan Gallacher of the Conservatives saying it appeared Mr Swinney’s government “had been on Mounjaro because it has slimmed down in size” but adding despite this it “still somehow carries all the same political baggage”.

Stan Wildhirt, who represents the Whiteleas ward, was formally appointed during the council’s annual meeting at South Shields Town Hall.

He will be supported in his civic duties by his wife Dawn, who will serve as Mayoress.

(Image: South Tyneside Council)

Councillor Wildhirt said: “To represent South Tyneside as Mayor is a profound honour.

“My focus for the year ahead is firmly with a focus on bringing people together and celebrating the best that South Tyneside has to offer.

“We live in a fantastic Borough with an unbeatable community spirit, and by standing together, we can look to the future with absolute confidence and positivity.”

During the ceremony, outgoing Mayor, former councillor Jay Potts, handed over the Chains of Office.

Councillor Wildhirt outlined his intention to champion the borough’s resilience throughout his mayoral year.

He said: “My Mayoress and I are eager to get out into the heart of our communities to showcase the resilience, talent, and warmth of our residents.

“No matter what challenges come our way, the people of South Tyneside have a remarkable ability to keep moving forward with a smile.

“We want to instil that sense of hope and pride in every corner of our towns and villages.”

Before entering politics, Councillor Wildhirt served as a paratrooper in the British Army and later as a firefighter.

His business career includes growing McGurk Sports into a 17-shop retail network and launching an international manufacturing brand.

He is also a strong supporter of grassroots sport and its role in developing confidence, focus, and healthy lifestyles among young people.

During his time as mayor, Councillor Wildhirt will raise funds through the Mayor’s Charity Appeal in support of five organisations:

The Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust, Escape Intervention Services, Pawz 4 Thought, The Toby Henderson Trust, and Veterans for Veterans in Care.

Councillor Alan Rice was named Deputy Mayor for the 2026/27 municipal year and will be supported by his wife Margaret.

The annual meeting also saw Councillor Paul Mackings confirmed as the new leader of the council, with the following cabinet appointments:

• Susan Sybenga, Deputy Leader, Finance and Resources
• David Royal, Economic Growth, Regeneration and Investment
• Steve Smith, Housing
• Elliott Curry, Culture, Leisure, Tourism and Voluntary Sector
• Karen Pittuck, Highways, Neighbourhoods and Community Safety
• Michelle Fascione, Children and Families, Education and Skills
• Andy Heywood, Adults, Health and Independence

Hot on the heels of his summit with US president Donald Trump, China’s Xi Jinping hosted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing on May 19 and 20.

Headlines spoke of multiple trade agreements, warnings against a return to the law of the jungle in international relations, and a joint declaration on building a multipolar world. But underneath that it was also obvious that this is not a partnership of equals any more – and hasn’t been for some time.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has become increasingly dependent on China. But the 2022 proclamation of a “no-limits friendship” between Russia and China has not turned into a strategic alliance between two poles of a new world order.

Beijing is now Moscow’s most important export market for its oil and gas and its most important source of imports, especially of so-called dual-use goods that are critical to sustaining Russia’s war effort against Ukraine. Yet, bilateral trade between Russia and China, while consistently above US$200 billion (£149 billion) annually for the past three years, is not growing that fast.

Notably, Russia is one of the few countries with which China has a trade deficit, albeit a small one, driven by Chinese energy imports. In this context, the continuing lack of a final deal between Moscow and Beijing over the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline is remarkable but not surprising. The key disagreements appear to be on price (how much China pays) and volume (how much China buys) and potentially over the length of any such commitments.

This sheds an interesting light on Beijing’s strategic commitments to Moscow, indicating that China is reluctant to commit fully to a long-term and expensive partnership with Russia. China wants Russian gas, but not at any price.

Beyond their economic relations, China also provides critical political and diplomatic cover for Russia in various multilateral formats and helps Russia retain its reputation as a champion of concerns of the global south and critic of a US-dominated global order. This is unlikely to change, with Xi explicitly committing himself and Putin to “continue to offer each other firm and mutual support on matters relating to our respective core interests and key concerns”.

All roads lead to Beijing

Putin is the 12th leader to visit Xi this year. He has followed in the footsteps of, among others, Canada’s Mark Carney, the UK’s Keir Starmer and Germany’s Friedrich Merz. And, of course, his visit followed just a week after Xi’s summit with the US president, Donald Trump. This makes Beijing clearly an important pole in a multipolar order – and a more important one than Moscow.

There is clearly significant ideological alignment between Russia and China, including in their sometimes more veiled and sometimes more explicit criticism of the US. But their shared criticism of US hegemony and unilateralism disguises a crucial difference over what they envision as the end state of the current transition to a new order.

For Russia, a multipolar order in which Moscow is one of the poles, is probably the best that the Kremlin can hope for. Regarding Beijing, the real issue is whether a multipolar order is simply a transitional phase – and the desired endpoint is a new hegemonic order. This would place China at the apex with all the other poles of the multipolar order, including Russia and the US, relegated to second-tier status.

The challenge for China in this context is how to avoid all-out confrontation with the US – the so-called Thucydides Trap, which refers to the near inevitability of war between a rising power (China) that seeks to replace an existing dominant power (the US).

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For now, war between the US and China is not imminently on the cards. Instead, Russia and China can jointly exploit an opportunity grounded in their shared dislike of a US-dominated world. But not much of this actually translates into a coordinated and effective foreign policy agenda, despite Putin’s and Xi’s rhetorical commitments.

Two of the multilateral flagship projects of China and Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Brics (shorthand for the bloc of rising powers comprising, among others, Brazil, India, China, South Africa) are not coherent formats. India and Pakistan are members of the SCO and yet fought a war in 2025. Iran and the UAE are both in Brics and now find themselves at opposite sides of the US-Iran war.

What brings Russia and China and their partners together is the dissatisfaction with the previous US-led liberal order, and the opportunities presented in the way in which Trump tries to destroy it. For Russia, its an opening for disruption and chaos. For China, it is in all likelihood an opportunity to accelerate the transition to Chinese dominance.

The clear signal from the Xi-Trump and Xi-Putin summits is that China is not choosing between Russia and the US. This underscores Xi’s rhetorical commitment to a multipolar order. It also indicates that China keeps instrumentalising Russia and the US. Russia is a useful partner – not an ally, and not a vassal yet. The US, meanwhile, is an essential political and economic partner.

This gives reassurance to Russia that, for now, China sees a multilateral order as beneficial, while signalling to the US that China, again just for now, is not seeking to replace the US as the sole superpower.

But neither Moscow nor Washington should be under any illusion that a tripolar order is China’s ultimate goal. This is a transitional strategy to a China-dominated international order through which Beijing hopes to avoid the Thucydides Trap.