As the Switch 2 celebrates its first birthday, GameCentral looks back at the highs and lows of Nintendo’s most recent console and tries to predict where it goes from here.
Since the internet, and the real world beyond it, increasingly only deals in extremes it’s difficult to talk about the Switch 2 in any kind of nuanced fashion. It is neither the best thing ever nor the worst and determining exactly where it sits along that gradient is not easy. Today is its first anniversary, which is slightly awkward as there’s reason to hope there’ll be a major Nintendo Direct next week which will, possibly, answer some of the questions we’re about to pose.
Looking at the console with the benefit of 365 days of hindsight, we’d say that that the hardware itself was largely faultless. The design hasn’t changed much, of course, and it could do with a longer battery life and maybe a better screen, but for the price it’s almost perfect, with the click of the magnetic Joy-Cons still seeming magical to this day.
It’s still baffling that Nintendo has made no attempt whatsoever to demonstrate the power of the console – we didn’t get so much as a tech demo pre-launch – but multiple third party games have made it clear it’s far more powerful than you would expect, with excellent versions of everything from Resident Evil Requiem and Cyberpunk 2077 to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Star Wars Outlaws.
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The remake of Star Fox 64 does seem to be a step up, in terms of technical prowess, but other upcoming games, like Splatoon Raiders and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, still look like Wii U games. Nintendo games are rarely sold on their graphics, but the Switch 2 clearly has raw power to spare and yet it’s not being used – one of many strange decisions orbiting the console.
Ever since the unveiling of the console and its games in April last year, it’s seemed as if Nintendo was only showing and doing the bare minimum. Despite having eight years to prepare, and no deadline to meet in terms of when the console had to be released, everything to do with the Switch 2 has felt hurried and poorly thought out, like a student who was out partying the night before their big report was due and only just scrabbled together what they needed.
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That impression has not changed over the last 12 months, but it has morphed into an industry default for most publishers who, in their wisdom, have decided that it’s best to have as little to look forward to as possible and to know as little about what is announced as can be contrived.
That logic obviously makes sense to someone, somewhere, because it’s taken deep root within so many different publishers, but Nintendo has taken it to an absurd extreme, to the point where it’s now June and we haven’t had a single large scale, first party Nintendo Direct all year. That in turn means we have no idea about anything coming out after July (except that supposedly Fortune’s Weave and FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods will be along at some point, if they haven’t been delayed).
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At exactly the point where a first party Direct would seem the most useful to both Nintendo and its customers – considering a price rise is on the horizon – they’ve decided to say less about their future plans than they ever have before.
This seems to be in large part because of the industry wide problem of games costing too much, and taking too long, to make. The Switch 2 may be impressively powerful, but Nintendo’s not used to working with that kind of hardware and that’s no doubt part of the reason behind some of their stranger decisions.
Mario Kart World – a good game but not a classic (Nintendo)
We had hoped, before the Switch 2 became a reality, that Nintendo, who have always benefited from keeping a tight rein on their budgets, would cope better than most with the issue, or demonstrate some new way of avoiding it, but sadly that hasn’t happened.
Instead, the software line-up has been a strange mixture of A-listers and deeply underwhelming lower budget games. Mario Kart World as a launch game makes perfect sense, but the strange way the open world was handled – which was exacerbated by the misleading marketing – left a bad taste in the mouth of many fans. While the continued lack of any DLC at all (why does Donkey Kong only have one extra costume?) is impossible to explain.
Mario Kart World is a good game, and Donkey Kong Bananza is even better, but in hindsight the latter would’ve made a much better Christmas release, rather than having the line-up fizzle out with the deeply disappointing Metroid Prime 4. You can see the sense of releasing Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment early on, because it meant at least some kind of new Zelda game was available, but surely there was a better choice than yet another brain dead Dynasty Warriors knock-off.
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Kirby Air Riders does have its fans, even if we’re not amongst them, but why did Nintendo feel it was so important to release a second cartoon racing game within the launch window? Especially one that was only ever going to be popular in Japan. They did later admit that they’d focused too much on games for their home audience, but surely Nintendo has been in the business long enough not to make that mistake in the first place?
There are many other strange decisions beyond that, including the highly experimental Drag x Drive, which might have been a cult hit if hadn’t been so utterly devoid of content that you could see all there was to see within a couple of hours. Does Nintendo really not employ enough people that they couldn’t have whisked up a quick single-player mode or a proper tournament structure? Or, you know, used any colour other than dark grey for the graphics.
Why did the marketing for Yoshi And the Mysterious Book make it seem like a game for pre-schoolers when it’s actually one of the most inventive and open-ended platformers Nintendo has put out for years, and much better suited to adult players than anyone else.
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Pokémon Pokopia is the best first party Switch 2 game (The Pokémon Company)
And how is it that of all the games Nintendo has released in the last year a Minecraft clone by the makers of Hyrule Warriors turned out to be the most compelling? That certainly wasn’t on our bingo card and it clearly wasn’t on Nintendo’s either, who were caught out by the success of Pokémon Pokopia and have been scrambling to leverage it ever since.
One of the most encouraging annoucement this year (not that there have been many of any type) was the reveal of Pokémon Winds and Waves, which does look like a generational leap from Scarlet and Violet. Having that next year does seem a useful anchor but the overriding problem with the Switch 2’s line-up is the mystifying logic behind how Nintendo has been prioritising its various franchises.
Kirby Air Riders is one thing but why on earth is Star Fox deemed so important all of a sudden, such that it was shore-horned into the Mario Galaxy movie, of all things? A decision that takes on reality-bending levels of bizarreness when you realise that Nintendo hasn’t yet breathed a word about a new Super Mario game since before the Switch 2 was announced.
Why are we a year in and there’s still no sign of Splatoon 4 and instead it has to wait in the queue behind a primarily single-player spin-off? And why was a new Fire Emblem announced so early on when we still haven’t heard anything about far more mainstream games, like a new Animal Crossing?
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Not furnishing Mario Kart World with constant updates is one thing but we felt sure that the reason support for Animal Crossing: New Horizons – the breakout hit of the entire franchise – was cut short was so the team could get a new game ready for early on in the Switch 2’s career, so that it could benefit from new content throughout the whole of the console’s life. But instead Nintendo announced a Switch 2 Edition that adds almost nothing of note and implies a new game is several years away.
Nintendo not making sense might seem like their natural state of being, but in reality everything they do is perfectly logical, from their point of view, and only becomes so to others over time. The Switch 2 has been stretching credulity since the beginning though, to the point where everything feels like they switched to Plan B sometime in 2024 and they’ve been on that track ever since.
Why was a new Animal Crossing not a priority? (Nintendo)
Even if sales at Christmas were less than hoped for, the Switch 2 is still the fastest-selling console of all-time and well ahead of where the Switch was at the same time in its lifetime. But you could tell the Switch 1 was special before its first Christmas, with a GOAT launch window line-up that Switch 2 hasn’t come close to matching.
The changing nature of game development may make the Switch 1’s achievements impossible to repeat (especially given the boost it got from being able to use Wii U ports to fill gaps in its schedule and provide a cast iron classic of a launch title) but that still makes it impossible not to be at least a little disappointed with the Switch 2.
We’ve long ago learnt not to try and predict Nintendo, or believe any rumours about them, even if the one about a Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake is very persistent. Who knows what they’ll announce next week, if there even is a Direct next week, but while we’d welcome a modernised version of Ocarina Of Time as much as anyone, what we really crave is something new, in terms of both IP and gameplay ideas.
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Nintendo always delivers eventually but they’ve certainly not made it easy waiting for that to happen with the Switch 2, which continues to be a great console supported by a merely good games line-up. Other publishers would be happy with far less but the problem with Nintendo’s reputation is that they’ve trained people to always expect the best thing ever, and this time that hasn’t happened. Or at least not yet.
Maybe the Ocarina Of Time rumours are true or maybe they’re not (Nintendo)
The New World screwworm fly is threatening the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry for the first time in more than a half century, with an infestation from its flesh-eating larvae confirmed in south Texas.
The infestation was discovered in a single 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio and 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the U.S.-Mexico border. Federal and state officials had been working to keep the parasite from reaching Texas, home to $17 billion worth of the nation’s cattle, making it the industry’s No. 1 state.
The deadly flies were detected in Mexico late in 2024, after years of being contained at the southern end of Panama.
The fly was an annual warm-weather scourge of cattle ranchers from at least the 1930s through the 1960s, until the U.S. eradicated the pest by breeding sterile male flies and dropping swarms of them from planes to mate with wild females. The USDA said the most recent case was the first in Texas since 1966.
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Here is what to know about the fly, the threat it poses and the response:
Being unusual makes the flies a threat
The New World screwworm fly in the Western Hemisphere and its Old World cousin in Africa and Asia are unusual among flies because their larvae, or maggots, eat live flesh and fluids instead of dead material. Females lay their eggs in open wounds and mucous membranes after mating only once in their monthslong lives.
Any warm-blooded animal, including wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans, can be infested.
Livestock are vulnerable because of how they’re handled, Lee Haines, an associate research professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, said in an email Thursday. Standard practices with cattle can break the skin, including shearing and de-horning, or even moving them in and out of corrals can cause scrapes and cuts. Birth would also make a mother and calf vulnerable, she said.
Stephen Diebel, a Texas rancher and president of the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, added that even wounds “as small as a tick bite,” can put cattle at risk.
Death can result if an infestation is not treated, though a dozen treatments have been approved for use in a variety of species. In decades past, ranchers had tens of millions of dollars in losses — potentially billions in today’s dollars.
But agriculture officials were quick to note that the fly does not infest food, and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said it’s unlikely to damage beef production — welcome news given that consumers are already facing record prices.
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Officials sounded alarms for nearly 2 years
Federal and state officials and cattle industry leaders have been sounding public alarms about the fly’s movement through Mexico and toward the U.S. since a case was confirmed in southern Mexico in November 2024.
Officials had considered the pest eradicated from Central and North America nearly two decades before an outbreak in Panana prompted a state of emergency there early in 2023, according to the joint U.S.-Panama program established in 1994 to stop the parasite. Cases jumped to Costa Rica and Nicaragua later that year.
Edward Burgess, a University of Florida entomologist who studies the fly, said it reproduces quickly and is carried across wide areas by its hosts, namely wild animals such as deer. Outside of Panama, he said, programs that produced and released sterile flies have largely shut down.
“It’s hard to stay ahead of it because of how fast that fly is able to move and regenerate,” Burgess said.
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Outside the US, thousands of animals and hundreds of humans sickened
As of June 2, the parasite had sickened more than 171,700 animals and 2,000 people across Central America and Mexico, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 10 human deaths, the CDC says.
Starting in May 2025, Rollins closed border entries to livestock and on Thursday she credited that move with delaying the fly’s arrival in Texas by a year.
Rollins has argued that the Mexican government has not done enough to control animals moving within the country, a suggestion Mexican authorities have rejected.
But Haines said climate change is a key element in the spread of a tropical species that thrives in warm weather. Warmer temperatures are expanding the fly’s habitat and cold snaps that killed them off each year in marginal habitats are becoming less frequent and less severe, she said.
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Officials quarantine a swath of Texas
Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges imposed a 12-mile (20-kilometer) quarantine zone covering much of Zavala County, home to La Pryor, and a small part of neighboring Uvalde County. Animals cannot leave that zone without being inspected.
Local ranchers are concerned that the fly will spread among wildlife, particularly deer, as a small, short-lived outbreak did in the Florida Keys in 2016. That was the last time a U.S. case was confirmed among animals, though the CDC confirmed a case last year in a Maryland man who had traveled to El Salvador and recovered.
Zavalas County Sheriff Eusevio Salinas said Thursday that state officials were setting up several road checkpoints in the county to enforce the quarantine.
“They said they were going to do that for three to four days, and hopefully after that it’s already under control,” Salinas said.
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In Texas, shots and fly drops
Diebel, whose family ranch is about 200 miles (322 kilometers) east of the quarantine zone, said ranchers are proactively giving injections that prevent screwworm infestation. They’re also taking extra care to treat wounds from ear tagging and other practices and keeping a close eye for signs of illness.
The USDA has been dropping sterile flies in south Texas since February, when it opened a center for dispersing them in south Texas. It is now dropping them twice a week, for a total of 4 million flies, and it’s also putting 4 million more a week in the ground as pupae, flies in the stage between larvae and adult, said Rear Admiral Michael Schmoyer, a member of the USDA’s response team.
Releasing sterile files is both time-tested and highly effective. While males are “promiscuous,” in the scientific sense, females are not, and if their one mating hookup is with a sterile male, no eggs from that female will hatch.
Once sterile males are prevalent enough, the fly’s population declines and then dies out.
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But with sites outside Panama shut down for years, the USDA didn’t think sterile flies were being bred fast enough. It invested $21 million in a new fly-breeding facility in southern Mexico that is expected to start operations next month.
The USDA also is spending $750 million to build a fly factory in southern Texas that can produce up to 300 million sterile flies a week. It is expected to begin operating next fall.
The owners of rise, which has served customers in Fossgate since 2022, is gearing up to unveil its fifth café.
Announcing the news on social media, a company spokesperson said: “Five years ago we had one shop. Now we’re getting ready to open number five.
“We’ll be sharing sneak peeks, clues and behind-the-scenes images over the next few weeks.”
Recommended reading:
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Eagle-eyed supporters of the small business noticed that the venue appeared to be in Museum Street, in the unit once occupied by Cocoa Joe’s.
The popular café opened in Fossgate in 2022 (Image: Supplied)
As The Press reported, Cocoa Joe’s closed its doors on June 1, 2025, citing a sharp rise in cocoa prices and other costs as reasons behind the decision.
Rise began its first venture in Preston in October 2019.
Founded by Jack and Leigh Norton, rise’s York location has become a firm favourite with city dwellers and visitors alike.
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Its brunch menu lists breakfast classics, among a range of drinks, acai bowls, bakes and gluten-free and vegan options.
Museum Street in York (Image: Google Maps)
The company recently began hiring for baristas, bakers and till crew for its new York café.
Aside from Fossgate, rise also has cafés and brunch spots in Exchange Flags, Liverpool and Miller Arcade and Fishergate in Preston.
Speaking at the Fossgate opening, owner Jack said: “Our ethos isn’t crazy, we’re there for great food, coffee and service with good vibes all round.
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“We just work how any restaurant should, it’s just something we’ve felt is a missing courtesy in most restaurants these days.
“That’s why we opened rise. We want everyone to come in and leave with a good memory.”
The Friday letters page wonders what GTA 6 conspiracy buffs will do after the game comes out, as a reader asks after Rayman Legends Retold’s music levels.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Late night So tonight’s the night for Summer Game Fest and I’m in two minds… about whether to stay up for it or not. First of all, kudos to the genius who thought this was a good thing to put out on Friday night. The organisers so completely don’t care about Europe that they list the start time on their website as 9pm GMT… so I’m not even 100% sure when it starts.
Personally, what I’m hoping for is Resident Evil Code: Veronica, Alien: Isolation 2, Devil May Cry 6, and a new FromSoftware game. I’m sure we won’t get all of those, but I think all of them are possible to some degree. I’m also interested in that Star Wars XCOM clone.
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I also think there’s a reasonable chance Sony could show Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Sony are weird about Summer Game Fest and more than once have shown something there that wasn’t in their own State of Play. Casper
All aboard I thought Wolverine looked terrific, basically everything I’d want in a game about a little nearly-indestructible nutter with big metal claws. I’m glad they didn’t try to make it open world and that it’s taking a more linear approach. Hopefully this’ll lead to a wide variety of locations and enemy types.
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The combat looked weighty, fun, and visceral and it seems like it’ll be filled with spectacular set pieces. I can understand frustrations that most AAA games don’t really do anything new but I’m having a ton of fun with 007 First Light, which is essentially Hitman x Uncharted, so Batman: Arkham x Uncharted will do me for Wolverine.
The new God Of War also looked amazing, although I think the talking sidekick thing was a bit jarring and it remains to be seen how annoying that could become over the course of the game. Lots of cool stuff to look forward to though. Magnumstache
Hammer time I was a big fan of Rayman Legends when it came out. I still play it now and again and find it odd this was the one they chose to reboot, as it still looks great on Switch and PlayStation 4. I do quite like the 2.5 D visuals but I’m a bit concerned these new Panzer Dragoon style sections have replaced the music rhythm sections at the end of levels.
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That would be a real shame as I loved those bits. Has there been any chat about whether there still in the game or have they been ditched due to licencing issues or something? Somasonic
GC: Apparently there’s going to be four new ones, with one of the songs being U Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer.
Less than perfect Another vote for how amazing the gameplay is in Saros. I would urge anyone on the fence to play it as you won’t find much better, especially if you haven’t played Returnal yet.
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The one thing that didn’t change enough for me was the level design, I was hoping for bigger areas or even FromSoftware type map design. However, it was too similar to Returnal in that respect, with each level cut into the small fight rooms.
Still, don’t let that put to you off I still couldn’t put the game down. So highly recommended.
Looking forward to their next game or even the studio (Cosmic Division) formed by game director of Returnal who quit Housemarque during the early years of Saros development. Carlos
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Slow leaners That’s a big ol’ yikes on PlayStation 5 sales dropping by a half after the price cut. I know that people were probably saving up to buy it before the price change, but it does show that Sony’s position isn’t untouchable. 12% of nothing is still nothing, when you’re talking about Xbox Series X sales, but it Is proof that with the right exclusives Xbox could’ve made a difference.
It’s far too late for that now, including for Project Helix (I believe) but the takeaway for everyone should be that exclusives are the most important thing and getting rid of them for a trivial profit on PC or other formats is hurting yourself for no reason. Exclusive are the whole reason you exist! Sony does seem to have learnt this now, but how they never understood that before they started I’ll never know. Jayden
Half-finished I empathise with Alex and his troubles installing 007 First Light. I too bought the disc version of the game specifically because I don’t have super-fast internet, and First Light seemed to take ages to install mainly due to an extra mandatory download. This whole problem with buying fundamentally incomplete games that need massive downloads got me thinking. Is there any other product/service that you buy full price that’s incomplete to the extent that it doesn’t serve its function?
If a chef half cooked your dinner in a restaurant you’d be rightly cross and would send the meal back.
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I guess a dentist might do some big jobs in stages/multiple appointments, but there’s usually a good reason for that other than he/she couldn’t be bothered to finish your filling.
Are all games released unfinished nowadays? Another weird aspect I’ve found with buying disc-based games is that modern consoles initially try to download a new game even after I put a game disc into the machine. I have to turn off my internet to get the console to install the game from the disc.
I really don’t understand what objection a console might have to using a game disc that’s already in the machine. Michael Veal (@msv858)
GC: Publishers in general don’t want you to buy physical games, they want you to buy digitally because it’s more profitable for them; so they’re not really interested in making things easier.
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Post-launch roadmap These weirdos trying to get into Rockstar HQ, to force them to do whatever it is they’re upset about, is crazy. All that nonsense about a constant police presence and sirens going off… the building is in the middle of Edinburgh, right outside the parliament building. You’d think someone else would’ve noticed if something’s going on like that.
I’m sure there’s a CCTV camera pointed at every square inch of the building, and probably hefty private security, but there’s no need to make up all that crazy other stuff. I don’t know what some of these people are going to do with themselves when the game comes out. Actually, I do: they’ll just complain that it isn’t 100% exactly the game they’ve been imagining, because that’s how these things always go. Endof
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Glass half full I found the showings of Wolverine and God Of War Laufey highly impressive. The games look to be the zenith of the cinematic blockbuster Sony/Naughty Dog formula that so many value the PlayStation 4 and its catalogue for.
I do, though, understand and agree with the feeling of having seen it all before. Sony have used the same formulas and templates in so many games in a short space of time. Familiarity producing indifference is to be expected.
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The games have also never been anything particularly new gameplay and systems wise. The gameplay and systems have always been very good but it’s the production values that have always been the standout feature of them. But the sum of the parts is fantastic.
Even though the gameplay wasn’t that risky Sony did take massive risks with the first batch of games on PlayStation 4. Both in greenlighting new IP and taking risks on big IP like God Of War. It was very successful and maybe where the confidence/arrogance came from for the nutty live service plans.
I do think Sony need to diversify though. They put out far too many similar games. It would be nice if they did that with more double-A games, like Astro Bot, but also taking a risk on a big triple-A games again. When the latter is done you can get games like Zelda: Breath Of The Wild or God Of War 2108; special games, surprising games.
In general, though, I feel more positive about Sony these days. The live service failings have seen them downscale those ill-conceived plans. Along with making single-player games PlayStation exclusive again it seems they are taking a long hard look at themselves.
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I’m cautiously optimistic but as it takes so long to make games it’ll be a while before we know the outcome and as they never say anything about strategy these days, it could just mean they’ll double down on the current house style and franchises and milk them for all they’re worth. Time will tell, I guess. Simundo
Inbox also-rans As an avid supporter of 3D brawlers like Devil May Cry, God Hand, Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta et al. – not to mention the earlier classic entries in Santa Monica’s series, especially the PlayStation 3 games – I really liked the look of the more aerial dynamic fighting style in God Of War Laufey! GG
Better late than never on the Elden Ring annoucement for Switch 2 but please, I need to know what From’s next multiformat game is. Why won’t they tell us?! Rackem
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Tracey Spensley, 35, of no fixed abode, formerly of Croxdale appeared at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on May 29.
She admitted multiple counts of theft and failing to surrender to bail.
The court was told that between February and May 2026, Spensley targeted outlets including Aldi, Lidl, TK Maxx, Tesco, Next, Sainsbury’s, and Savers, taking goods worth more than £2,300 in total.
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For the offences, Spensley was sentenced to 24 weeks’ imprisonment, with many terms ordered to run concurrently.
The court found the crimes were “so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified”, citing her record of previous offending.
Compensation orders were also made to the affected retailers.
“We want to make our communities a hostile environment for those involved in the drugs trade and the message from this operation is clear: there is no safe place for you in North Belfast”
A police operation in North Belfast has recovered firearms, ammunition and drugs over a two-week period.
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Officers took part in the operation last month in the city which involved 10 separate searches that found £15,000 of suspected cocaine and crystal meth along with £2,000 of cannabis vapes. Police also say £85,000 in assets such as cars, cash and other items were seized.
Three men were arrested as part of the operation which remains ongoing.
Speaking following the operation, Inspector Matthew Adams said: “The detection and disruption of organised criminals involved in the supply of drugs is a policing priority for police in North Belfast.
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“This proactive operation shows that when we have the right information, we can take decisive action to protect our communities from the harms caused by drugs.
“We want to make our communities a hostile environment for those involved in the drugs trade and the message from this operation is clear: there is no safe place for you in North Belfast.
“Reports can also be given to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. The help and assistance of the public is crucial in tackling drug supply and removing dangerous drugs from our streets.”
Over the past month, there has been a notable increase in the intensity of the air war in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Strikes in mid- and late-May and early June have been characterised by significantly larger numbers of drones and missiles deployed by Russia in single attacks, leading to more destruction and more casualties.
At the same time, Russian territorial gains on the ground have slowed significantly, and in some cases have been reversed by successful Ukrainian counter-attacks.
At the same time, Ukraine has also intensified its strikes on Crimea and critical Russian supply lines to the peninsula, which Moscow has illegally occupied since 2014.
This series of Russian and Ukrainian airstrikes represents a high-intensity retaliation cycle. Ukraine responds to a Russian strike, which Moscow then uses to justify its massive strike, and so on.
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What is new is both the scale of the Russian strikes, with larger numbers of drones and missiles compared even with the peak of attacks in late 2025, and the quickening cycle of these tit-for-tat attacks.
Ukrainian attacks deep into Russia are no longer just symbolic but highly effective – prompting Russia to accuse Ukraine of a terror campaign, in an attempt to deflect from its own systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure.
In their levels of destruction and civilian casualties, the Russian strikes also seem more effective than in the past – and Ukraine’s air defences less so. But this is only partially true. Ukraine’s intercept rate of drones remains high. However, the larger number of drones being deployed by Russia means that, in absolute numbers, more drones hit their targets.
Russia has also deployed more missiles in recent strikes, which Ukraine finds harder to intercept – not least because its stockpiles of anti-missile defences have been depleted over time, with the decrease in US support since Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025.
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The recent diversion of US interceptors to the American war effort in the Middle East has also run down the stocks of these defence systems that are available to Kyiv.
Can this intensity be sustained?
Russia has thus been presented with an opportunity it is ruthlessly exploiting. But how sustainable is the current pattern?
The scale and frequency of the past four weeks is probably beyond Russia’s capacity to sustain indefinitely. While still large in scale, the strikes in late May and early June did not involve the same number of munitions as the first wave.
Embarrassment for Putin: Ukraine hit St Petersburg with drone strikes as the Russian president’s annual economic forum was about to start in the city. Ulf Mauder/dpa
Russia is clearly able to mass-produce cheap attack drones, but less able to do the same for missiles. So, sustaining larger-scale attacks over time is likely to decrease their frequency, while more frequent attacks will mean a more limited scale.
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A mixture of the two is most likely – a sustained campaign of frequent massed drone strikes, with intermittent spikes of large missile barrages.
While this may be a sustainable attack pattern for Russia, it does not mean the current level of effectiveness is equally sustainable. Ukrainian air defences will adapt and become more effective, including against Russian missiles.
Its defence cooperation with the EU is simultaneously improving. The lifting of Hungary’s veto on €40 billion (£34.6bn) of EU reimbursements for military support is likely to free additional funds to supply critical air defence systems to Ukraine.
Even with a sustained Russian air campaign, a manageable equilibrium is likely to set in over time. But critically, this will not merely be characterised by better Ukrainian defences against Russian attacks – but also by more effective Ukrainian strikes at Moscow’s critical war infrastructure.
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The Russian air campaign, and the war against Ukraine more generally, will thus become more costly for the Kremlin – and not just on the battlefield inside Ukraine.
Whether this simply creates a different stalemate at a more costly level for both sides in their ongoing war of attrition, or prompts them to reassess their exit strategies, remains to be seen.
For Moscow, there is a hard choice to be made: towards escalation, including potential nuclear mobilisation, or towards a peace deal. The middle ground of simply continuing is quickly eroding, because none of Putin’s strategic goals in the war can be achieved this way – and the ongoing waste of resources cannot be sustained indefinitely.
On the Ukrainian side, the statement by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, that Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russia put the country on an equal footing with Moscow in negotiations, hints at Kyiv’s willingness to negotiate an end to the war with Moscow. However, it may take several more rounds in the air campaign retaliation cycle before the Kremlin reaches a similar conclusion.
A judge on Thursday dismissed a murder charge against an Arkansas man who won the GOP nomination for sheriff while awaiting trial for the shooting death of his teenage daughter’s alleged abuser.
The ruling came weeks before Aaron Spencer, who will be on the November ballot, had been set to face a jury on a second-degree murder charge. He won a March primary over the local three-term sheriff whose office had arrested Spencer in Lonoke County, which has roughly 76,000 residents and is heavily Republican.
Spencer’s attorneys do not deny that he shot and killed Michael Fosler in 2024, saying he did so to protect his child. Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. granted a motion by Spencer’s attorney to dismiss the charge over a dash camera memory card that may have captured the shooting and was lost by law enforcement.
“The court finds that conduct by law enforcement was so egregious that dismissal of this case is warranted,” Wilson wrote.
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At the time of the shooting, Fosler, 67, was out on bond after being charged with dozens of sexual offenses against Spencer’s then-13-year-old daughter.
Court documents show on the night of the shooting, Spencer had woken up to find his daughter missing, and later found the girl in the passenger seat of a vehicle Fosler was driving. Spencer forced Fosler’s truck off the road and, after an altercation, called 911 to report he had shot the man.
Prosecutors said Spencer planned the killing and that he could have called police while pursuing Fosler. But Spencer pleaded not guilty and maintained he acted to protect his child from a predator.
Spencer’s attorney, Erin Cassinelli, said she is thankful for the court’s decision.
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“No member of this family should ever again be forced to walk into a courtroom and relive this horror,” she said in a statement. “This father should have never been charged for protecting his child.”
Spencer said he is grateful this chapter is over and that his focus is now on his family and returning to normal life.
“There’s still work to do in Lonoke County, and I’m more committed to it than ever,” he said in a statement. “Together we can build a safer and stronger Lonoke County.”
Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham did not return messages Thursday seeking comment on the decision.
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The Associated Press typically does not identify sex abuse victims, but Spencer has made his daughter’s experience with the criminal justice system a central part of his campaign for sheriff, pledging to establish a dedicated team to combat sex crimes against children.
Spencer’s attorneys filed the motion seeking to have the case dismissed, contending that video and audio of the dash camera from Fosler’s truck may have contained evidence that would have cleared Spencer of any wrongdoing. According to court records, a detective with the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office removed the dash camera from the truck when responding to the scene of the shooting.
But the camera’s internal settings were not preserved and the battery of the camera was allowed to drain, and as a result the camera went back to its default settings. When the camera was sent to the attorney general’s office for a forensic exam, the memory card that was in it when it was collected from the truck was missing. The detective who collected the camera later admitted that it was not logged into evidence right away, but was instead stored in his personal office rather than the evidence room, according to court records.
Wilson replaced the original judge handling the murder case in January after the Arkansas Supreme Court removed Judge Barbara Elmore from the case, finding she had issued an overly broad gag order that violated Spencer’s First Amendment rights.
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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press reporter Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
Durham University is home to around 21,500 students each year, meaning appropriate accommodation is in high demand. But as more proposals for new developments are lodged, residents have questioned why the city needs so much.
Although large numbers of properties are being converted into shared housing, large blocks of flats – known as purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) – continue to take over.
And now, residents and politicians have warned that flats and co-living apartments are making the situation worse.
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Data suggests Durham City currently has more student accommodation than students requiring it, challenging long-standing concerns about housing shortages linked to the university.
The situation has been a hot topic for years, but this week, it caused Durham City county councillor David Freeman to ask: “Will we keep having applications for student beds in the city for approval when there is no demand for further beds?”
Analysis published by Durham University shows there is an 800-bed surplus across the city.
The findings come as new PBSA developments continue to be delivered across the city. More than 4,500 PBSA beds are already in operation, with thousands more either under construction or approved through the planning system.
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Several additional schemes have been announced alongside the ongoing creation of HMOs, including new developments at Melbury Court and Hopper House. The latest city centre PBSA development includes 504 beds as part of the redevelopment of the Prince Bishops Shopping Centre.
Cllr Freeman added: “When do officers think we will have enough qualitative need not to keep approving further student accommodation applications in the city?
“We are getting to a point where in the city, we can no longer give any evidence that there is any quantitative need for student accommodation.”
It could also lead to several half-filled buildings throughout the city if the university experiences a downturn in overseas students, Durham County Council was warned.
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Lisa Morina, a planning officer at the local authority, responded: “In the next year, the university will be producing a new plan for growth. We will have a much better idea of the quantitative and qualitative needs.
“Each application has to be considered on its own merits. In this particular case, the developers are targeting the international student market, and we feel there is a qualitative need in this case.”
Looking ahead, Durham University predicts the demand for student accommodation in the city is expected to increase in the 2026/27 academic year as student numbers continue to grow.
Despite the anticipated increase, the university said it currently expects there will be sufficient housing available to meet student demand.
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Durham University said it continues to monitor the city’s housing development pipeline, which it described as “healthy”.
However, it warned that changes to the private rental market, including the new Renters’ Rights Act, could create risks to student accommodation supply both locally and nationally.
Do you think there are too many student flats? Let us know in the comments
Eugenie’s rent was 50 per cent of the 2018 open market value from 2020 to 2021, and ranged from 55 per cent in 2022 to 63 per cent in 2025, while rent on Beatrice’s was 60 per cent of the 2020 market value from 2020-2021 and ranged from 62 per cent to 68 per cent between 2022-2025, the NAO said.
The drama continues in the run-up to the Makerfield by-election on June 18.
Tonight, BBC’s Question Time was broadcast live from Makerfield, where Fiona Bruce presenting a special programme from the constituency.
On the panel were: Labour mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham; Robert Kenyon of Reform UK; Michael Winstanley from the Conservatives; Jake Austin from the Lib Dems and Sarah Wakefield of the Green Party.
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Other candidates running in the Makerfield by-election are Count Binface for the Count Binface Party; Dan Clarke for the Libertarian Party; Ed Gemmell for the Climate Party; Robert Pownall, an independent; and Rebecca Shepherd for Restore Britain.
Earlier today, new data revealed that Reform UK received £9 million from donors in the first quarter of the year, the largest amount given to any political party in that period.
Elsewhere, The Prime Minister accused tech billionaire Elon Musk of trying to “whip up division” over the tragic murder of Henry Nowak. The student was 18 when he was stabbed by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa in Southampton in December 2025.
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Sir Keir Starmer accused Musk of “interfering in our politics”, adding: “In Britain, we are reasonable, tolerant people.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage issued a statement calling for ‘pure, cold rage’ on Tuesday morning, despite the pleas of Henry’s father not to use his son’s death to stoke further division in society.
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