WASHINGTON (AP) — An upcoming celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, “The Great American State Fair,” recently had several musical guests back out partly over the event’s ties to President Donald Trump. Now, Trump himself is slated to headline the festivities, the organizers said Saturday.

“I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance,” Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social Saturday, adding that he was thinking of bringing “the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists.’”

The group organizing the June fair on Washington’s National Mall, Freedom 250, confirmed the billing in a statement, writing, “we are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24.”

Trump’s social media post twice referenced him holding a rally “Wednesday,” without a specific date. The White House did not immediately clarify the discrepancy.

Danielle Alvarez, a spokesperson for Freedom 250, emphasized the broader fair that is scheduled from June 25 through July 10 includes an array of exhibits, family friendly attractions, musical performances, flyovers and more.

Trump was dismissive of the acts that backed out, suggesting in a follow-up post that the solution is to “Cancel it.”

“We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” Trump said on social media.

Freedom 250 is billed as nonpartisan, but was launched last year by Trump and is led by a former State Department appointee from Trump’s first term. Several artists, including Bret Michaels, the Commodores and Martina McBride dropped out last week.

Michaels and other artists have said that they were misled about the theme of the shows or were otherwise wary of being caught up in a political fight. McBride, in a statement on Instagram, said she had been “presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”

Other artists plan to attend, including Flo Rida, Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli and Vanilla Ice. The latter’s representative previously said that the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper was “proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!”

___

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

We’re being treated to yet another full moon this month with the arrival of today’s blue moon.

The blue moon, deceptively not named after its colour, will rise today and peak at around 9.45am – so if you’re hoping to catch a glimpse, there’s no time for lie-ins.

Earlier in the month, stargazers took to social media to share pictures of the flower moon rising above rooftops and trees across the UK.

What made this year’s flower moon special was that it was a micromoon, meaning it appeared slightly smaller and dimmer than usual in the sky.

Today’s full moon is equally as special because it’s both a rare blue moon and a micromoon. You can learn more about why blue moons get their name and how you might be able to see one today right here.

What is a blue moon?

A blue moon is the name given to the 13th full moon within a calendar year.

As explained by Royal Museums Greenwich, each of the 12 phases of the moon takes roughly 29.5 days to complete, totalling 354 days for all cycles – just under the total number of days in a year.

As a result, we sometimes see a 13th full moon, named a blue moon because it doesn’t fit in with the regular naming conventions of full moons (wolf moon, flower moon, harvest moon, et cetera).

There are two other definitions for the blue moon.

The first relates to the astronomical seasons, the periods between equinoxes and solstices. Ordinarily, there are three full moons per season, but a blue moon is the third full moon of four full moons within one astronomical season.

The second is thought to have started as a mistake but became popularised through the Trivial Pursuit Board game and radio shows. This simple definition explains blue moons as the second full moon in any calendar month with two full moons, like this month.

How often do blue moons happen?

Blue moons occur roughly every two to three years. The last blue moon took place on August 19, 2024, and, after today, the next blue moon will happen on May 20, 2027.

You can sometimes experience two blue moons within one year. We saw this in 2018, one of which was a lunar eclipse, and we’re expecting to see two more in 2037 – don’t forget to mark it in your calendar!

Will the blue moon be visible?

The blue moon will reach its peak around 9.45am today.

The Met Office has predicted showers for today as the weather cools following a record-breaking heatwave felt across the entirety of the United Kingdom.

With today’s blue moon also being a micromoon, you may struggle to see it, particularly if you’re in an area expecting lots of rain. However, we still think it’s worth a check if you’re awake early enough.

When is the next full moon in the UK?

If you do miss today’s blue moon, there will fortunately be plenty more full moons coming your way, including:

• The strawberry moon on June 30
• The buck moon on July 29
• The sturgeon moon on August 28
• The harvest moon on September 26
• The hunter’s moon on October 26
• The beaver moon on November 24
• The cold moon on December 24

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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People turned out at Palace Green from 10am this morning, eagerly anticipating the march.

The Green was awash with colour, happiness and smiles, as this year marked Pride’s biggest-ever event.

Durham Pride 2026 (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

This year’s event carried added significance following Durham County Council’s decision to withdraw funding.

In response, trade unions have stepped in to reaffirm their long‑standing alliance with the LGBT+ community, raising more than £15,500 to cover the shortfall.

Come 11am the march got underway, with trade unions, political parties, MPs, activists and musical performers all joining the walk.

The vibrant parade, which once again celebrated love, diversity and inclusion, headed down through Owengate and into Saddler Street.

Durham Pride 2026 (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

The procession moved into the Market Place before continuing along Claypath and looping via Providence Row and Freemans Place to reach The Sands.

Hundreds of people lined the streets of Durham to show their support and solidarity.

Many also gathered to watch the huge numbers of floats, banners and performers go past.

On arrival at The Sands, which was packed with people, food stalls, rides and a stage, County Durham drag queen Tess Tickle got the party started.

There were speeches from the Mayor of Durham Cllr Gary Hutchinson, who said there was “nowhere else today I’d rather be”.

Mayor of Durham Cllr Gary Hutchinson (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

He added: “This is the most colourful and happiest event I have attended as Mayor. Pride is a message of inclusivity and respect.”

City of Durham MP Mary Kelly Foy also made a speech.

The Labour MP said: “We know Pride began as a protest and at its heartbeat is that constant insistence that every single person deserves dignity, safety and joy.

Mary Kelly Foy (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

“In Durham, we don’t just march, we weave a tapestry of stories.

“We honour our LGBTQ+ elders who paved the way, we cheer for the young people who are writing the next chapter and we stand with those who can’t be visible yet and promise to keep a place at the table warm for them.”

The celebrations truly started after the speeches, with performances from the likes of Gareth Gates, Bradley from S Club and Claire Richards, as the thousands in attendance partied and rejoiced at the biggest-ever Durham Pride event.

The development also includes land to extend the local primary school.

More than 250 homes are set to be built in a Cambridgeshire village after a Peterborough-based homebuilder acquired land in the area. Allison Homes Central is set to build a total of 265 new homes off Eyebury Road in the village of Eye.

The development, which will be called Colliers Rest, will feature 185 open market sale homes and 80 affordable homes. There will be a mix of two, three, four, and five bedroom properties with “spacious, contemporary interiors and stylish exteriors”.

The development will also consist of over three hectares of public open space with play areas and allotments on the site. There will be some land for an extension to Eye CofE Primary School as well as works carried out to improve pedestrian and cycle paths on Thorney Road and Eyebury Road.

Over £1.3 million worth of contributions will be made to support local infrastructure. Work on the site is set to start before the end of May with show homes set to open in early spring next year.

Sophie Kendal, Land and Partnerships Director at Allison Homes Central, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have secured land in Eye and to be bringing our brand-new, high-quality homes to the area.

“We’ve put a lot of care into the design of our Colliers Rest development, ensuring future residents are provided with a wide variety of homes and a sustainable community that promotes their health, wellbeing and happiness.

“This milestone is a great testament to the hard work of our team. We’re now looking forward to working closely with our partners and stakeholders to bring Colliers Rest to life and deliver these new homes to a standard we can all be proud of.”

Other Allison Homes Central developments are being built in Thorney, Somersham, and Whittlesey. Another development in Sawtry is set to be launched in the coming months.

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Kim Lam, from Aberdeen, was young, fit and healthy and working in London in 2015 when her life was turned upside down by lung disease.

A woman has told how she hopes a double lung transplant will give her a second chance at life.

Kim Lam was young, fit and healthy until three months after she moved to London in 2015 to take up her dream job.

Instead of enjoying her favourite salsa classes, she was left breathless just climbing the stairs.

At 28, doctors told Kim she had black lungs and the lung function of a 60-year-old smoker – even though she doesn’t smoke.

Tests revealed Kim is one of 1.2million people in the UK with COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The debilitating condition forced the marketing executive to quit her job and move back to Scotland.

Kim, now 39, successfully made it on to the transplant list last year.

And ahead of World Transplant Day on Saturday Kim has told how new lungs will transform her life,

Kim, who is originally from ­Edinburgh but lives in Aberdeen, said: “When I’m going to get the operation is a big unknown because you can’t dictate when a pair of lungs are going to come in and be a match.

“But where I had been hesitant about having new lungs before, now I embrace it.

“For the last 10 years, I’ve been really struggling to breathe normally, and if I have new lungs, I’ll be able to do activities I’ve wanted to for a very long time. It would be so liberating.

“I’ll be able to walk at a pace that is similar to everybody else, I could do sports and go up hills and maybe even climb Munros—who knows?”

“I’ll have to be cautious and careful because it’s not like you get the transplant and then it’s a walk in the park. You’re severely immunocompromised.

“But I think it’s better to be hopeful and optimistic than overly scared or fearful because why not?”

People ­typically diagnosed with COPD include smokers, the elderly or those with ­inherited genes. So when Kim showed symptoms, it baffled doctors.

Kim’s health then took another turn for the worse in 2024. She said: “I was in and out hospital over eight months because I’d lost a lot of weight, or I’d got an infection. It took a long time to recover. I seemed to just take two steps forward and ten steps back.

“I had oxygen instability, carbon dioxide retention where your body ­­cannot remove carbon dioxide through exhalation and it can lead to a dangerous build up in the bloodstream. I was also put on supplemental oxygen. Then I had to wear another invasive ventilator to help my lungs do their job better.

“I couldn’t even walk from the bedroom to the bathroom, I was just so deathly ill. It was a really scary thought because I didn’t know if I was going to get better or was that it?”

Her health problems led her to lose 10kg and become severely underweight.

Gaining weight was essential and doctors fitted Kim with a feeding tube.

She said: “They gave me a feeding tube up in the nose and down the throat, and it was really uncomfortable but I didn’t have any choice. It took time to get my head around the fact that I was needing a lung transplant.

“But eventually, I saw it as a blessing and a potential second chance of life. Now I’ve got really good at living in the present and not thinking too far ahead.”

Kim, a new member of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland’s patient panel, helping to guide the charity’s policies said she first had an introductory meeting with lung transplant specialists six years ago.

At the time, however, she wasn’t ready to commit to the risky operation.

Kim recalled: “Then 2024 happened and I had no other choice, really.

“My consultant, friends, family were all worried I wasn’t going to be here any more. He did such a fantastic job of getting me on the list and making it happen as soon as possible.

“But I had work to do as to get on the list, you need to qualify. They obviously want you to be as healthy as possible to survive the operation.”

Kim now gives talks about her experience and uses her online and social media presence to raise awareness of chronic illness through her website lungevity.co.uk.

Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland said: “Having followed Kim’s journey for a number of years, we’re delighted that she has been added to the waiting list for a lung transplant.”

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When Senegalese farmer Abou Sow first watched U.S. missiles strike Iran on social media, he had a sinking feeling it would soon affect agriculture in the West African nation. Since the war began on Feb. 28, fertilizer prices have risen by 40%.

Sow was better prepared than most. Eight years ago, he gave up chemical fertilizers for organic compost and other natural sources. He now rallies farmers in Senegal to buy manure from local herders and gives advice on how to make a rich compost, picking out wriggling worms – a healthy sign.

“We can’t afford to wait for a ceasefire,” Sow said. “It’s risky to depend on chemical fertilizers.” Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has affected the supply of natural gas, essential for making chemical fertilizer, as well as global shipping.

The Gulf region produces 30% of globally traded chemical fertilizer, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, and global prices have increased by 50%, according to the World Bank’s fertilizer price index.

“The clock is ticking very hard,” said Maximo Torero, chief economist at the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, as concerns grow about food security.

Experts say a shift away from chemical fertilizer could have wider benefits, as its production and usage create significant greenhouse gas emissions, the main driver of climate change.

Natural fertilizers, by contrast, can sequester carbon in the soil and create fewer problems like runoff that can pollute waterways.

“It’s good for the planet because you’re weaning food production off fossil fuels,” said Susan Chomba, member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, a think tank.

In Senegal, some are grateful for sheep manure

Senegal annually imports 125,000 tons of fertilizer. The minister of agriculture, Mabouba Diagne, has said the state sourced enough chemical fertilizer for the current season, but farmers said it is increasingly difficult to find.

Farmer Aliou Fall blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for the soaring fertilizer costs. “He brings war to the world and he doesn’t even think about it. Now farmers are suffering,” Fall said.

Annually, Sow applies six tons of compost instead. He said he is fortunate to be near a town where manure is plentiful because residents rear sheep for religious holidays.

In rural areas and remote fields, however, it is challenging to source and transport large quantities of manure, and Sow fears that some people will abandon their fields in this difficult time.

One alternative is the industry in biofertilizers, products containing bacteria and other microorganisms to help plants absorb nitrogen, a crucial nutrient for growth, from the air and soil. A growing number of companies in Africa make industrial quantities of compost with municipal waste, decomposing food waste into fertilizer.

Senegal’s government announced in April it would subsidize and distribute 30,000 tons of organic fertilizer products to help farmers. Sow said that’s not enough.

Governments around the world spend $700 billion annually on agricultural subsidies according to the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, with a large share spent on providing chemical fertilizer. Chomba said that makes alternatives more expensive and less competitive.

“You’re incentivizing the wrong sort of products,” she said.

In Brazil, the biofertilizers sector is growing

Brazil is a leading exporter of soybeans, coffee, sugarcane, beef and poultry. But the nation imports over 80% of its fertilizer, said Joana Colussi, assistant professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

The price of fertilizer has increased by 50% since the Iran war began, according to Luis Barbieri, founder of the Folio Institute, a Brazilian organization that connects farmers, scientists and researchers.

“Whenever we have a war, farmers’ use of biofertilizers is turbocharged,” Barbieri said.

Despite the widespread adoption of chemical fertilizers in Brazil in the 1970s, they are less effective in the tropical climate because high rainfall and high temperatures cause runoff.

The biofertilizer sector grew 15% in Brazil from 2023 to 2024, according to the state-run Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa. And patent laws mean that farmers can make their own biofertilizers at much lower cost.

In Mexico, however, very little progress has been made due to government subsidies promoting chemical fertilizer use and a lack of funding for alternatives, said Gerardo Noriega, a research professor at the Autonomous University of Chapingo and one of the country’s leading advocates for organic fertilizers.

But he suggested the current crisis “may force (farmers) to adopt organic fertilizers more quickly than they had imagined.”

In India, the prime minister encourages natural farming

In India’s southern Indian state of Telangana, Manohara Chari has been making jivamrita, a potent mix of cow dung, urine, flour, soil and sugar to replace the chemical fertilizer he used to apply.

“We do not depend on companies,” said Chari, one of 1.7 million farmers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states who have shifted to natural farming, which embraces natural fertilizers, integrates livestock waste and plants a diversity of crops to improve soil health.

Farmers and experts say the Iran war and chemical fertilizer shortage make the approach more attractive. On May 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a “national mission” to adopt natural farming and cut fertilizer use by 50%.

India imports 60% of its fertilizer from the Gulf. The government has rushed to source supplies and subsidized it to keep prices low, at significant expense to the state.

“There’s certainly been more interest this year in natural farming, especially after the Middle East conflict began,” said G.V. Ramanjaneyulu, agricultural scientist at the Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Some farmers have dedicated part of their land to assess the approach.

The switch requires additional labor, and farmers face a transition period. Chari said the government could help instead of subsidizing chemical fertilizers: “If even a fraction of that support is given to natural farmers, more people will shift towards it.”

___

Arasu reported from Bengaluru, India, and Sanchez from Mexico. Mauricio Savarese in São Paulo, Brazil contributed.

___

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Bridlington and Filey Coastguard Rescue teams were deployed to Pigeon Hole in Flamborough, yesterday (Friday, May 29).

Recommended reading:

A spokesperson for the service said the person became stranded while trying to retrieve a bag and was unable to get back up, becoming stuck on a narrow ledge above the sea.

The spokesperson said: “The officer in charge deemed the location far too dangerous for a conventional cliff rescue.

“An urgent request was immediately made for the coastguard rescue helicopter.”

The person was lifted to safety in a winch operation and at the prepared landing site nearby was declared to be uninjured although shaken.

The spokesperson added: ” This incident serves as a stark reminder that no matter how familiar you think you are with the cliffs, attempting to climb down is incredibly dangerous and can put not only your own life at risk, but also the lives of coastguard teams and helicopter crews who may have to rescue you.”

One of Man Utd’s most famous shirt numbers has become available for selection by a squad member next season.

Manchester United’s No.9 shirt has become available for next season following Rasmus Hojlund’s transfer to Napoli. Hojlund spent the season on loan with Napoli, and his move was made permanent when they secured Champions League football.

Hojlund wore the No.11 shirt during his debut season at Old Trafford and claimed the No.9 when Anthony Martial departed in 2024. The Denmark international wore the No.9 for just one full season before being axed by Ruben Amorim.

United’s sale of Hojlund for £38million means the No.9 shirt can be claimed. The logical candidate to take the shirt number would be Benjamin Sesko, who is the senior striker in United’s dressing room.

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However, Sesko currently wears the No.30 shirt, which Diego Leon passed on to him after his arrival last summer. Sesko previously had the No.21 shirt for loan club FC Liefering, and wears No.11 for Slovenia’s national side.

When Hojlund claimed the No.9 shirt two years ago, United confirmed it was the most bought replica shirt by supporters, but the striker struggled in his second season at the club, scoring just four league goals.

The likes of Andy Cole, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Dimitar Berbatov have worn the No.9 shirt for United in the Premier League era, with Sir Bobby Charlton among the legends to have worn it before then.

Napoli paid a £5.2m loan fee to sign Hojlund this season, and United avoided a loss on the forward under the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) by banking £38m from his permanent sale.

Speaking in March, Hojlund reflected on his departure from United, saying in an interview with TV2: “I got what I wanted with my transfer. I got a team that believes in me a lot. A club that believes in me a lot. A sporting director, a president and a coach who wants me.

“It felt like it was over for me at one point [at United]. Here at Napoli, I’ve rediscovered my love for football. People even back in Denmark were writing me off, but I never stopped believing.”

He continued: “I was put in a bit of a box at the end in Manchester. I knew there wouldn’t be much football for me if it continued like this. I was happy to play football in Manchester. I know that, especially in Denmark, a media image was formed that it was all just s*** and terrible, and that I played like a bag of nuts, but that’s not how I look at it.

“It’s hard not to be on your phone. And if you are on your phone, you’re bound to see what’s being written about you in some way. It can be all sorts of places these days, but often because you’re tagged on your Instagram or Facebook. So I would say it would be a lie for me to claim that you don’t get to read it.

“It’s clear that there is also a difference between Napoli and Manchester United, especially in Denmark. But I have to live with the headlines – they will always be there because someone wants to use me as an eye-catcher.”

Hojlund left United with a record of 26 goals in 96 appearances.

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

Olivia North, 21, from Aberystwyth suffered serious brain injuries in a scooter crash in Goa, India, during her gap year – she was left in a coma and cannot fly home

A university student from Aberystwyth sustained severe brain injuries in a terrifying scooter accident during her gap year in India, just days before she was due to return home.

Olivia North is believed to have struck a pothole and was left unable to recall her beloved dog or her older brother. The 21 year old remains stranded in India and is currently unfit to fly home owing to the gravity of her brain injuries. In just a few short weeks, her family has spent thousands of pounds on flights, accommodation and private medical care in order to be by her side.

Olivia was two years into her media and communications degree at Goldsmiths, University of London, when she decided to take the trip of a lifetime. Having completed the early stages of her studies, she opted to defer her final year after becoming “disillusioned with university life”.

She spent six months grafting full-time in bars and restaurants to fund her travels before setting off on an adventure around India, journeying solo and immersing herself in the country’s rich and vibrant culture.

In May after not hearing from Olivia for a few days her dad Nic received the devastating news that Olivia had been involved in a catastrophic road accident and had been rushed to a hospital in southern Goa. Following a frantic search, ringing hospitals throughout the region, Nic eventually tracked down his daughter.

Nic said: “‘Your daughter has been critically injured,’ Dr Samira told me. ‘She collided with another scooter at 50 to 70kph [30 to 40mph] and was not wearing her helmet. She has a subdural hematoma with intrusion, or bruising, and a bleed on her brain measuring 3.6mm.’”

Subsequent MRI scans uncovered a serious injury to the left temporal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for storing memories, as well as her cerebellum, which controls orientation and balance.

48 hours later, Nic and his youngest daughter flew out to Goa to be by her side.Nic said: “Although she remembered us, she believed her older brother Sam to be her uncle and, more tragically, had no memory of her beloved dog, Raj, or his death just days before Christmas last year.

“She didn’t remember where she went to school or even the things she enjoyed so much, such as horse riding and representing her country at cricket as a teenager. But she was – is – miraculously, alive.”

Her father said he was stunned by the shortage of resources and maintains that “within minutes” of their arrival, his daughter was sent home owing to the volume of patients. Still experiencing a bleed on the brain, the family have established themselves at a hotel near a private hospital where she is undergoing regular assessments and scans.

She had sustained a serious brain injury and a severe facial wound which nearly caused her to lose her left eye. She also suffered two fractures to her wrist and lower arm.

Now recuperating from the traumatic incident, Olivia is sleeping for approximately 20 hours daily. She has no recollection of the crash or the days preceding it and can only manage short distances on foot. Olivia is also unable to return to the UK by air because the aircraft cabin pressure presents a significant risk to her type of brain injury.

Her father explained how the police officer who examined the crash said she was riding within the speed limit and he believed she’d struck a pothole in the darkness and lost control.

However, at the time of the crash Olivia hadn’t been wearing a helmet which had invalidated her travel insurance and now left her family in what they have described as “a deepening financial hole”. Nic said: “Even now, I cannot comprehend Olivia’s decision not to wear a helmet.”

In the three weeks since the accident, Olivia’s family has already forked out over £7,000 on flights, hotels, private healthcare, food and travel, and they are fully aware these costs are likely to mount further as they await the green light for Olivia to fly home.

Nic has launched a GoFundMe page to assist the family in covering the mounting expenses they now face as a result of the crash.

You can donate to the fundraiser here.

As Uncharted 4 passes its 10th anniversary a reader is upset that there’s still no sign of a new entry in what he considers Sony’s most important franchise.

You’d think the release of a new movie, the first in seven years, would make me happy as a Star Wars fan. But given the poor quality of The Mandalorian and Grogu, and how bad it’s doing at the box office, it’s just making me even more depressed. It seems obvious to me that they should just give up with all these middling films and TV shows, that don’t move the universe forward, and just cancel everything. Then wait 10 years or more, so that people actually miss Star Wars.

That’s exactly what they did with the prequels and the sequel trilogy and even though they were all rubbish it worked and the films were super successful. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say, and time heals all wounds. Or in other words, give it some time and people will forget drivel like The Acolyte and The Rise of Skywalker.

What does all this have to do with Uncharted? Well, May is the tenth anniversary of Uncharted 4 and the theory above has worked: I now want more from the franchise. The only problem is Sony doesn’t seem interested in providing it.

I’m not going to spend too much time talking about the rumours of a new game, because they’re all pretty vague. But as far as I remember they only amount to Sony supposedly shopping around the idea of a new game to various developers and nobody wanted to do it, including Bend, who did Days Gone. Then, more recently, there was some theories that Naughty Dog was ‘researching’ a new game.

This is despite the fact that Naughty Dog said that they didn’t want to work on the series anymore. Given they have a lot on their plate at the moment I’m not sure it seems very likely that they’d change their mind, especially if you assume they’re already making Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and at least planning The Last Of Us Part 3.

I don’t know though. There’s also rumours that Sony isn’t happy that Naughty Dog hasn’t made anything new yet this gen, so maybe they’re looking for an easy win all of a sudden.

Whatever the situation is, I feel we need Uncharted to come back. For me it is ground zero for the Sony formula of third person, story-based action games. It’s what all the other Sony games are copying, including The Last Of Us, as well as most other third person games from any other company. I noticed GC mentioned it in their review of 007 First Light this week, for example.

What I really miss though is that Uncharted was funny. Nate was a great hero and really got the whole Indiana Jones style scoundrel thing right, with a lighter tone but not too campy. Although I do think Uncharted 4 is a bit too serious and suffers from not having any supernatural aspect.

For years Uncharted was as cinematic as games got and I still think it does that better than almost any action game. The quality of the dialogue and acting has a lot to do with that, but it’s also the fact that you like the characters, instead of having to play another sad dad. The combat was never great though, and the platforming pretty basic – even though everyone copies it anyway.

If you wanted to do a new game there are lots of ways to improve the gameplay, which I think is reason enough to do it. The question is, who would be the star? I think Nolan North is getting a bit too old for that kind of motion capture now, but if they do it with his daughter the comparisons to Tomb Raider are going to be endless.

I’m not sure why they wrote themselves into that corner, since if they don’t use his daughter now that’s going to upset people too, but I’m sure something can be worked out. Except I don’t see any real reason to think they are working on it. And even if they are it’s going to take years and probably be a PlayStation 6 game.

That’s better than nothing, but I don’t understand why such a beloved series, that has a lot more flexibility than most other franchises, has been left to rot. Especially as it had a movie adaptation not too long ago.

10 years is a long time in gaming and it’s the 20th anniversary of the first game next year. Maybe we’ll hear about a new one then, but it’s going to be years after that before the game comes out, and I think Nathan Drake’s legacy deserves better.

By reader Zeiss

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