As spring approaches and nesting season begins in March, wildlife experts recommend positioning bird feeders in key garden location to keep birds safe from predators.

With spring approaching and nesting season kicking off in March, plenty of nature enthusiasts will be getting ready to support their neighbourhood birds. One effective method of helping birds during this period is by installing bird feeders.

At this time of year, natural food supplies become scarce, so offering treats like nuts, seeds and suet can give birds a crucial energy lift.

Once you’ve bought a bird feeder, working out the ideal spot to position it can be tricky. Where you site them determines not just whether garden birds will use them, but also which species you’ll attract.

To ensure birds remain safe whilst feeding, specialists at retailer Really Wild Bird Food suggest positioning your feeder close to natural cover, such as trees or bushes, within reasonable view of a window. They explained: “This will keep them hidden from predators and sheltered from direct sunlight and harsh weather conditions.”

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However, avoid placing your feeders right beside trees. This makes it far too simple for squirrels and other local creatures to pinch your bird food.

You might think that putting your bird feeder near a window is ill-advised; naturally, you’d want to prevent birds from accidentally colliding with the glass and harming themselves.

Yet, it can actually be more dangerous to position bird feeders at a distance from your windows, as this allows the birds to build up momentum before striking the glass. The experts advised: “For this reason, we recommend positioning your bird feeder a couple of feet away from the window at most.

That way, if a bird takes off in the direction of your windows or glass doors, it won’t be flying fast enough to cause serious injury. Better still, place your feeder directly on the window or windowsill.”

It’s suggested you position your bird feeder roughly five feet off the ground. This height makes it convenient for you to refill and maintain the feeder whilst also preventing pets and other creatures from pinching your bird food.

If you find that particular birds aren’t turning up at your feeder, you may want to consider adjusting the height or adding extra feeders at various heights from the ground.

For instance, woodpeckers prefer feeding high up in trees, so suspending a feeder at six to 10 feet above ground level might help to entice them. Other species, including blackbirds, robins and chaffinches, favour eating from ground feeders.

The developers proposed a mixed of “high quality” one, two, three and four-bedded homes

Plans to build over 50 new homes in a Cambridgeshire village have been refused over environmental concerns. In December 2024, Bellway Homes proposed to build 52 homes, as well as access and an open space on land at West Newlands on St Ives Road, Somersham.

The developers proposed for there to be a mix of “high quality” one-bed to four-bed homes, offering both private and affordable housing. The applicants said it was an “opportunity to provide 52 new homes in an appropriate and sustainable location”.

Each property was designed to have parking, and an open space was planned for the north and south of the site. Huntingdonshire District Council has refused these plans after it raises concerns over the applicant’s waste water management.

In its decision document, a HDC planning officer said: “The application fails to demonstrate that the proposed development can be accommodated within the existing wastewater treatment infrastructure without resulting in deterioration of water quality or environmental harm to designated habitat sites.”

In its design, Bellway Homes said it had an agreement with the Environment Agency and Anglian Water that “waste water flows from the proposal can be accommodated”. In making its decision, HDC said Anglian Water told the council that Somersham Water Recycling Centre was “operating above its permitted dry weather flow limit”.

It added that it was “unable to accommodate additional flows” that would come from the development. The council added: “The Environment Agency and Natural England have not been able to confirm that the development would avoid compromising the requirements of the water framework directive or the habitats regulations.”

The developers can appeal the decision within six months of the decision notice being published.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has started releasing its first discoveries: including supernovae, variable stars and asteroids, which will from now on be discovered at an astonishing rate as it begins its Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a ten-year survey probing the deepest reaches of the universe.

During the course of this survey, astronomers around the globe will seek to answer some of the most pressing questions about the nature of our world.

To the naked eye, the night sky seems like a static and unchanging firmament, with the occasional planet or comet or shooting star visible.

But with a larger, more sophisticated telescope or camera we are able to discover hundreds of new phenomena every night, from dying stars to near-Earth asteroids.

The camera that allows this exploration – attached to a telescope over eight metres wide atop Cerro Pachón in Chile – is the largest in the world, weighing almost three tonnes and built over ten years.

The Rubin Observatory’s giant camera can probe the faintest reaches of our existence, capturing light emitted as much as 12 billion years ago. But the Rubin camera will capture new events much closer to our Solar System.

By taking multiple photographs of the sky every night – and tracking any differences between them, scientists will be able to capture objects moving through space such as the tens of millions of asteroids and comets hurtling through the Solar System.

Outer reaches

Increasing the number of known asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter can help us to understand the formation history of the Solar System.

Beyond Neptune in the faint and distant Kuiper Belt – a population of icy objects in the outer reaches of the Solar System – astronomers will be able to study an environment similar to our Solar System in its infancy, to better understand how we came to be.

It has been theorised before that disturbances to the orbits of Kuiper Belt objects indicates the existence of a hypothesised “planet nine” – Rubin may even be able to build more evidence for this as-yet undiscovered world.

Beyond the solar system, astronomers seek to identify stellar streams of stars leftover from smaller galaxies merging with our own, which help us understand the history of the Milky Way.

What Rubin will capture more than any previous telescope are optical transients – stars brightening and dimming, and those that eventually explode as a supernova.

These explosions produce elements essential to life, from oxygen to iron, and scatter across the universe the materials required for forming stars and planets.

Capturing more of these supernovae and understanding how they happen is vital for understanding the evolution of the universe. While these are some of the more common “flashes” Rubin will find in its game of spot-the-difference, other rarer objects such as black holes will also be detected and studied to improve our understanding of cosmology.

Some supernovae can be used to determine how far away the galaxy they inhabit is, letting us discover new environments from the earliest years of the universe.
Why is it important to capture data about these ancient galaxies?

Scientists believe that the universe after the Big Bang was uniform in all directions. How then did galaxies form? Astronomers believe the answer lies in small clumps of dark matter, which gas and dust gravitated around until galaxies could be born.

The issue with dark matter is that we cannot observe it directly, though it makes up 80% of matter in the universe. The dark matter is responsible for galaxies – and everything within them – developing, but it also forms even larger-scale filaments of galaxies.

How these structures form is dependent on what dark matter is – which requires us to know how it influenced the formation of galaxies big and small, old and young.

Understanding existence

The Legacy Survey of Space and Time seeks to answer one question – what is the universe? It also prompts another – why does it matter? By understanding where our existence comes from, we can predict the nature and eventual evolution of the universe: a complete picture of cosmic evolution from start to finish.

Humanity has turned to a number of answers for its own existence over the course of its existence, with Rubin another step in the direction of finally getting the full picture.

Understanding the fundamental forces at work in our universe is a path to answering many of the spiritual questions of society (what are we here for?) but also the practical ones (what steps do we take now?).

The Legacy Survey of Space and Time has inspired collaboration from scientists across the world based in countries such as Chile, the US, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Brazil and the UK.

Techniques in machine learning and AI to analyse the huge amounts of
data generated by Rubin will have uses in industries such as finance, medicine and engineering.

Regardless of how Rubin furthers our understanding of the universe, it will still enable technological innovations and international collaboration.

The Wednesday letters page defends Nintendo’s first party record on Switch 2, as one reader offers their opinion on the Marathon Sever Slam.

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

Hardware options
I’ve been watching all the news about memory prices rising and the PlayStation 6 being pushed back to who knows when and it’s left me unsure as to what to do, because I currently only have a PlayStation 4. Naturally, I don’t want to buy a PlayStation 5 just as it’s replaced by a new machine. But at the same time I don’t, as you can tell, care about getting the latest hardware just as it comes out.

Curious to know if anyone else is in the same boat, as I’ve kind of got three options: skip the generation entirely, get a Switch 2 instead, or get a PlayStation 5 and just end up late to the PlayStation 6 as well.

I previously didn’t give much thought to the Switch 2 option but given how well things like Resident Evil Requiem have apparently turned out I’m thinking that might be the best bet. I’ve only had a Wii before, so it’d be kind of interesting to take a break from Sony while the bigger picture sorts itself out.
Gambon

Opposites attract
Really looking forward to playing Pokémon Pokopia tomorrow. It wasn’t on my radar at all until I saw all the positive reviews and now I’m really excited to spend the weekend with it, especially as it’s something my wife will almost certainly enjoy as well.

I got Resident Evil Requiem last week and loved that but at the end of the day it’s only 14 hours or so long and while I do want to replay it, it’s not something I want to do immediately. But a game that is apparently very long and involved, but also laid-back and ‘cosy’, sounds like the perfect follow-up.

Reminds me of the time Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out on the same day. Sometimes it’s nice to have a contrast, where the only similarity is that both games are good.
Carson

Not a sprint
Just passing on my thoughts about Marathon, I hope the full game sells well to keep Bungie alive, but I’m on the fence whether to buy it or not.

I played about six hours of the Marathon Server Slam. The base gameplay and shooting mechanics are great. I for one loved the graphic style too. However, I’m not sure I will bother with the full game due to it being an extraction shooter. For me, I just find it a bit too tedious; the missions are mundane. Each round you play is ~20 minutess and you only meet one or two teams of real players. I find it overly repetitive, similar to how Helldivers 2 was.

Now I don’t know if the full game will have deathmatch mode or something similar added, but if it does I would buy it nearly half to relive the old Halo 3 Slayer days.
Carlos

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Ooo, that’s a good one
I really enjoyed the new Indie World Direct. I’m delighted by Heave Ho getting a sequel, the first is probably one of the funniest games for multiplayer.

Getting a shadow drop for Blue Prince is very welcome too, I did a lot in that game through Game Pass but will double dip on Switch 2.

That wood game looked adorable and I’m keen for anything from the Guacamelee developers.

Unbelievably though, I’m most excited by a game that was only in the Japanese version of the Direct. Öoo got an unexpected release and wasn’t featured in the Western stream. I’ve had my eye out for this since it came out on PC, so an unexpected shadow drop on Switch is brilliant news and may sway me away from Resident Evil Requiem, even though I want to finish that before Pokopia.

I know everyone wants to hear from Nintendo about their first party plans, but it’s nice to have such an overwhelming selection of brilliant third party indie and AAA games to enjoy in the meantime.
Euclidian Boxes

GC: Thanks for mentioning that, we had no idea. It’s on the UK Nintendo eShop right now, so we’ll see if we can get a review done.

Something to look forward to
The behaviour of FromSoftware towards Bloodborne truly is bizarre. They keep saying the game is special to them and everything, but they won’t even release a PlayStation 5 patch?! How does that make any sense whatsoever?

Mind you, I don’t understand why anyone is pushing for a remake either. The game’s a PlayStation 4 title, how much better do you expect it to look? Especially as From won’t do the remake themselves, so it’ll be missing lots of little details and secrets that only they know about.

What we need is a sequel, and soon. For all we know that’s what they’re working on but the way he talks about it I don’t think there’s any chance the director would be anyone other than Hidetaka Miyazaki. But he’s doing The Duskbloods at the moment, which implies no serious work has started on Bloodborne 2 yet.

So… I look forward to playing it in 2031, I guess? Or maybe 2035 for the 20th anniversary? Let’s at least hope they can make it by then.
Gavin

User approval
Congratulations to Capcom for scoring the highest rated user score on Resident Evil Requiem. I’ve only played a bit of it and I’ve so far played through the introduction, dispatched some zombies as Leon, and woke up in a very creepy medical centre.

I have to also commend Capcom for changing up the behaviours of zombies. A zombie that sings creepily, a maid zombie cleaning the floor, and a chef zombie with a chainsaw. Very unique and it’s very well deserved to see Requiem dethrone Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Which is the better game is a topic that will divide fans and gamers, but that’s a topic for another day.

Crimson Desert is set to release in over two weeks, and I honestly can say I have no idea where the reviews will land, especially with the embargo lifting one day before release and by then my pre-order will be all but ready to be dispatched. I truly hope this is the next Elden Ring and Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, rather than the next Forspoken. It looks insane and if the execution is right it could be the perfect title to hold us off until GTA 6 releases.

I’ve also heard some rumblings of Cory Barlog’s next game. Starring Faye as the lead character and utilising a Devil May Cry style of combat gameplay. It’s certainly what I didn’t expect and didn’t ask for. But it’s unconfirmed for now, so I’ll wait until Cory clears the rumours up. But it seems quite a disappointment to me. I would have preferred something fresh instead. Not a live service title per se, but maybe an original story and a new set of characters.

Faye is only in God Of War Ragnarök for 10 minutes and considering I only saw her once in the game, when I came to her section, I don’t see a full title warranted. Freya would have been a better choice. Perhaps a prequel and her journey up to the events of the 2018 game. She’s one of my favourite characters, so I would have loved to see her have her own game. No one asked for Faye. But we’ll see and wait for confirmation.

On a final note, I’m absolutely stoked for the Fatal Frame 2 demo that drops in two days. I really hope this works as well as Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil Requiem has. Then we can get the first and third games remade and on PC. Fingers crossed.
Shahzaib Sadiq

Regular event
The Indie World was fine and all but I can’t believe they couldn’t have found a fair few more games to promote. 15 minutes seems kind of pointless. If you’re going to try and make people sit down and watch a showcase at least make a proper go of it. 15 minutes is okay if it’s just one game but either this needed longer or they should do it on a more regular basis, like once every month.

I would be happy with that. I buy most indie games on Switch because it’s more convenient to play them like that, but while Nintendo does more to promote them than Sony it still doesn’t do much.
Tosh

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What’s the big secret?
Whilst I understand some of the frustration towards Nintendo I do feel it is somewhat overblown. I know people are keen for news on their big franchises such as Zelda and Mario. I’m in the same boat, myself. However, since the Switch 2 launched there’s many Nintendo exclusives that have released or are due soon, Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Drag x Drive, Kirby Air Riders, Fast Fusion, two Pokémon games, Metroid Prime 4, Yoshi And The Mysterious Book, and Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment.

Granted, some of these are cross-generation and not all have been a hit. I get that the quality of certain games hasn’t been up the usual standard of what Nintendo usually produce and that gamers want to know what they are planning next. However, Nintendo have always seemed to keep things close to their chest and announce games only a short time from their launch date.

It’s still early days in the Switch 2 lifecycle and I’d argue they have been far more active in releasing new exclusives than Sony or Microsoft have been this generation.
matc7884

GC: You’re right but at the same time Nintendo has never been quite this secretive before, without an obvious reason. It’s not even clear whether they’re consciously doing things differently or if they’re just letting the chips fall where they may.

Inbox also-rans
It’s so weird to me that NieR:Automata is getting an Overwatch crossover and we still haven’t heard a peep about any kind of sequel. That game will be 10 years old next year!
Focus

Would just like to see I got Minishoot’ Adventures a year or so ago and really loved it. Would definitely recommend it to others now it’s on console.
Skimboat

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New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: When will the next Legend Of Zelda game be announced?

MORE: Games Inbox: Does Resident Evil Requiem live up to the hype?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is Resident Evil Requiem worth getting?

A Cambridgeshire mum-of-two explains how spiralling pet costs force her to delay bills and turn off heating to afford specialist dog food and vet care

A mother of two has shared how escalating pet expenses have left her struggling to manage financially. The cost of specialised dog food and veterinary care has forced her to delay other payments and keep the heating off during winter.

Issabell Livesey, from Cambridgeshire, receives £1,542 monthly in Universal Credit and £180 from Child Benefit. She spends £1,000 on rent and between £150 and £200 on water and energy bills, leaving her with between £522 and £572 for other necessities.

Each month, she sets aside £150 for her two presa canarios, a large breed of dog, and these costs have significantly increased recently. She explained: “I prioritise my dogs’ care above all else. Between insurance, specialist food, flea and worm treatments, I’d say a significant chunk of my monthly allowance goes on them. The specialist food for Koubla and Xena has risen by nearly 20 percent over the past year, and emergency vet visits can cost over £150 in one go, which is almost a quarter of my monthly income.

“My pet bills are around £150 a month, which is a significant part of my Universal Credit, but they are family.”

Issabell has two children, Mika, 3, and Arvi, 5, and the household has been forced to maintain strict financial controls as their living expenses have climbed, reports the Mirror. The mum said: “As a parent of two with two big dogs, my budget is a jigsaw puzzle.

“Over the last few years, our food and energy bills have jumped by nearly 25 percent, meaning i have become an expert at ‘yellow sticker’ shopping and social tariffs just to make sure the kids and the dogs don’t feel the pinch.”

Those claiming benefits such as Universal Credit may wish to look into social tariffs.

These reduced-price mobile and broadband packages are accessible to individuals on low incomes or receiving certain benefits. Information about available tariffs can be found on the Ofcom website.

Issabell said she’s had to make considerable sacrifices to look after her two dogs. She explained: “I often delay paying utility bills, walk instead of using public transport, and keep the heating off during winter.

“It’s exhausting, but I can’t compromise on my dogs’ health – they are my emotional support and my lifeline.”

When questioned whether she’d ever consider rehoming her pets to cut her expenses, the mother was resolute: “No, absolutely not. Koubla and Xena are part of my family.

“Rehoming them would be devastating for all of us emotionally. I’d rather make sacrifices in my own life than see them suffer.”

She added: “My dogs are part of my family. They protect us and our home.”

Research conducted by lender Creditspring has shown that 59 percent of pet owners have faced escalating costs over the past year. This includes a 45 percent surge in routine veterinary expenses, whilst emergency treatment costs have risen by a third.

Less than three in 10 stated they would have adequate savings to cover an unexpected £500 expense.

Tamsin Powell, consumer finance expert at Creditspring, remarked: “Pets are part of the family and most owners will do whatever they can to keep them healthy. But when food, insurance and routine care are all rising at once – and an unexpected vet bill can run into the hundreds – it doesn’t take much for a household budget to tip into stress.

“Our research shows many pet owners would have to borrow, use a payment plan, or cut back elsewhere to cover a £500 treatment cost. Borrowing isn’t anyone’s first choice, but these numbers show how quickly a surprise cost becomes a crisis when people don’t have a buffer.”

America’s allies in the Middle East are reportedly begging Donald Trump for a swift end to the conflict.

A key reason is they are rapidly running out of ways to defend themselves if Iran’s counter-attack continues.

Iran’s neighbours, like the UAE, have been remarkably effective at shooting down Iranian missiles and drones.

But the expenditure is not financially, or logistically, sustainable.

An analysis by Kirsty Grieco, a security expert at the Stimson Centre in Washington DC, found the UAE had shot down an impressive 92% of Iranian missiles and drones including 165 ballistic missiles, 541 Shahed drones, and two cruise missiles.

Assuming it used its American-made Patriot or THAAD missile batteries – one of the few ground-based interceptor systems capable of downing Iran’s ballistic missiles – it is a high price compared to Iran’s.

A single patriot missile cost between $4-5m (export prices can be significantly higher), while an Iranian ballistic missile costs just $1-2m.

And when it comes to targeting Iran’s drones, the economics get even more dismal.

‘The maths clearly favours Iran’

Grieco estimates Iran spent in the region of $11m to $27m on the 541 drones it launched on the UAE, with interceptors averaging $500,000-$1.5m per drone to shoot down 506 of them.

The UAE’s drone defence costs were between $253M and $759M, suggesting itspent 20 to 30 times more defending itself against Iran’s drones than it cost the attacker launching them.

“The maths clearly favours Iran in this strategy of attrition because we don’t know exactly how many Shahed drones they might have in their stockpiles,” said Grieco.

“But it’s much larger than the combined total of the stockpile of interceptor missiles that are available.”

The race is on

The pressure that puts on the US and its allies may also now be influencing their tactical response.

“We’re now seeing sort of a race between Israel and the US trying to locate this drone infrastructure, to try to destroy it, to reduce the pressure on these interceptors, versus Iran trying to keep it an active, a mobile and active threat, and to be able to sustain this longer,” said Grieco.

It’s being reported that allies in the Middle East asking the US to replenish their supplies are being “stonewalled” by the Pentagon.

While the US military can bear the financial costs of its campaign, its ammunition stockpiles may not.

Trump said yesterday the US attack on Iran could last four to five weeks. But does he have the resources to do that?

‘Long-term strategic risk’

Leaks from the Pentagon ahead of the assault indicated it only had resources for an attack lasting week or two at most.

Analysts estimate that the US military may deploy up to 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles on ships and submarines sent to Iran.

That’s around 10% of the estimated 4,000 Tomahawks in the US military’s arsenal.

Stockpiles of its THAAD interceptor missiles are also thought be depleted. The US launched 150 THAAD missiles in its attack on Iran last June – about a quarter of its total inventory of 632.

Read more from Sky News:
AI could be giving US lethal edge
Iran ‘made a mistake’ targeting civilians

While the Pentagon has moved to increase production of these and other missiles, replacement could take two or three years.

“We are using these interceptors at a rate that’s much faster than you can possibly replace them,” said Grieco.

“The US can choose to buy down short-term risk in the Middle East [by] devoting more interceptors to the conflict.

“The problem is that increases your long-term strategic risk. Particularly in other theatres because not only can you not replace these interceptors overnight, you can’t even replace them necessarily this year.”

America’s watchful adversaries

If the conflict continues, financial and logistical asymmetry of combatting Iran’s drones is a deadly one for Iran’s neighbours.

For the US, it’s less existential – it can sail away from the Middle East once it has run out of ammo.

However, America’s other enemies will be counting the rounds fired in this conflict too.

What’s to stop a “peer adversary” like China launching an attack on Taiwan, for example, if it knows the US won’t have the munitions to prevent it?

NEW YORK (AP) — Who says to beware the Ides of March?

A March 15 Academy Awards may feel late. By then, it will be almost a year since “Sinners” sunk its teeth into moviegoers last April. Some nominees have been on the campaign trail since the Cannes Film Festival in May.

But the upside of a prolonged Oscar race has meant some unexpected late drama. Think about the same movies long enough, and minds can change. For months, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” sailed through awards season, picking up prize after prize. But the wins for “Sinners” and Michael B. Jordan at Sunday’s Actor Awards — along with some other recent developments — have given the Oscar race what Smoke or Stack might call fresh blood.

An Academy Awards that had looked like a runaway might be a close call, after all. With Oscar voting ending Thursday, let’s survey the top categories

Best Picture

WHERE THINGS STAND

“One Battle After Another” has won at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild. But its nearly unblemished record was shaken up at Sunday’s Actor Awards (formerly the SAG Awards), where “Sinners” took the top prize. You’d have to have quite a few rounds at the “Sinners” juke joint to convince yourself that anything else has much of a chance.

The actors guild best ensemble prize, on the other hand, has a shaky track record. In the last 31 years, the SAG winner has matched the Oscar champ only 15 times. The win for “Sinners,” though, came right in the midst of Oscar voting. It was a good time to show out. So this race feels close to a coin flip, with a Warner Bros. movie on both sides. The awards season resume makes “One Battle After Another” the front-runner. But “Sinners,” even with a record-setting 16 Oscar nominations, gets to play the underdog.

Best Actor

WHERE THINGS STAND

This has been one of the most competitive and hard-to-call races of the season. Look at Leonardo DiCaprio. He gives one of the best performances of his career, in the best picture favorite, and he’s still a long shot. Instead, Timothée Chalamet was widely perceived as in the lead after early wins at the Globes and the Critics Choice Awards for his frenetic performance in “Marty Supreme.” But the BAFTAs muddied the waters (Robert Aramayo, not in the Oscar mix, was the unexpected winner). And “Sinners” star Michael B. Jordan, much to his surprise, won at the Actor Awards.

WHO HAS THE EDGE

Chalamet’s maybe meta campaign, full of swagger and braggadocio, rubbed some voters the wrong way. At the same time, many in the academy felt the 30-year-old should have won last year, for his Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown” — a year when he won with the actors guild but lost to Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”) at the Oscars. Chalamet will hope the reverse happens this year. But the academy is notoriously resistant to rewarding young stars. Jordan, 39, isn’t much older. But it now suddenly feels like his moment.

Best Actress

WHERE THINGS STAND

Since the fall festival launch of “Hamnet,” Jessie Buckley has been the favorite. She’s won at the Globes, the BAFTAs and the Actor Awards. Her closest competition is probably Rose Byrne, who won at the Globes in the comedy/musical category for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”

Sean Penn, a two-time Oscar winner, has done nearly no campaigning, yet he finds himself the favorite after winning at the Actor Awards and the BAFTAs. But several other nominees remain in the mix. Stellan Skarsgård (“Sentimental Value”) won at the Globes and is the kind of widely-liked veteran actor the academy likes to reward. But so is Delroy Lindo (“Sinners”), who was a surprise Oscar nominee. In the eyes of many, Lindo has quickly joined the contenders.

WHO HAS THE EDGE

Penn’s recent wins put him clearly in the lead, and he might stay there. But this remains a category rife with possibilities. The academy’s strong international leanings should help Skarsgård. And it wasn’t an accident that when “Sinners” won best ensemble at the Actor Awards, Lindo gave the acceptance speech.

Best Supporting Actress

WHERE THINGS STAND

This category has been all over the map. Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”) won at the Globes. Wunmi Mosaku (“Sinners”) won at the BAFTAs. And Amy Madigan (“Weapons”) won at both the Actor Awards and the Critics Choice Awards.

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The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman – met in emergency session on Sunday to express solidarity and pledge to “take all necessary measures to defend their security and stability and to protect their territories, citizens, and residents, including the option of responding to the aggression.”

Earlier this year, an investigation and recall of patients connected to Leslie Irwin, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon who worked for the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust between 2001 and 2023, was launched.

Dozens of patients have come forward over recent weeks who have previously undergone surgery from Mr Irwin, 63, often on multiple occasions over several years.

Leslie Irwin (Image: SUPPLIED)

Spire Washington Hospital, where Mr Irwin also practiced, confirmed earlier this year that his work had been identified as being of “concern” and it had recalled a number of his former patients following an internal investigation into their care.

Mr Irwin retired from Sunderland Royal Hospital in May 2022, and despite Spire’s action against Irwin becoming public in January this year, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust said only that it was “considering any implications, the Trust is not currently recalling any patients”.

However, the NHS Trust has now significantly changed its stance, following widespread media reporting and a significant number of patients coming forward, and has confirmed it has sought the support of the Royal College of Surgeons in investigating the care Mr Irwin gave to patients.

Spire Hospital in Washington (Image: Stuart Boulton)

On Tuesday (March 3), the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that it had brought in the Royal College of Surgeons to review work carried out by its orthopaedic surgery department.

A statement from the Trust said: “We are liaising with Spire in relation to concerns over Mr Leslie Irwin and are currently working through the details of which patients the Trust will need to review.

“We have also asked the Royal College of Surgeons to support us in this process. As part of this review, we will be in touch with any former patients directly and as a matter of priority.”

Separately, the Royal College of Surgeons has also revealed that it was instructed by the Trust to help with its review.

A spokesperson for the RCS said: “At the invitation of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, the Royal College of Surgeons of England has been commissioned to carry out an invited review of a series of episodes of patient care relating to orthopaedic surgery at the Trust.

Sunderland Royal Hospital (Image: Stuart Boulton)

“Our invited reviews, which are advisory, enable expert teams to determine whether there is cause for concern about surgical practice or a surgical service, and/or individual episodes of care, and to make recommendations for improvement.

“Our unwavering commitment to patient care is why we offer healthcare organisations an invited review service.”

Mr Irwin who worked for the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust between 2001 and 2023, retired in 2022, but a selection of his patients have been contacted directly by Spire over potential issues with his work. 

Mr Irwin relinquished his role with the General Medical Council (GMC) in May 2025, which now means that no GMC investigation into his work is now possible.

Spire Healthcare suspended Mr Irwin in August 2023 and withdrew his practising privileges in September 2024.

The private practice started recalling patients who were operated on by Mr Irwin during his time at Spire Washington Hospital in the summer of 2025.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) confirmed that it inspected Spire Washington Hospital in October last year after concerns were raised with it, and would be publishing its findings in due course.

Sunderland Royal Hospital (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Law firm Slater and Gordon has reported significant numbers of patients coming forward with concerns over the surgery they had with Mr Irwin.

John Lowther, specialist clinical negligence solicitor at Slater and Gordon in the North East, is leading the firm’s investigations into the work of Mr Irwin at both Sunderland Royal Hospital and Spire Washington Hospital.

“We have been investigating cases against Leslie Irwin for some time, but have seen very significant numbers of new people coming forward since Spire announced its investigation.

“We know from patients who were with Mr Irwin at Sunderland Royal Hospital, how upsetting and frustrating they found the initial stance of the NHS Trust,” he says.

South Tyneside and Sunderlans NHS Trust (Image: STUART BOULTON)

“It was very concerning how one place where Mr Irwin worked was concerned enough to investigate him, ban him from practicing and contact former patients proactively to highlight issues in their care, while the other took no action at all.

“We, of course, welcome the overdue announcement that the Trust has sought the support of a specialist from the Royal College of Surgeons, and hope this can help answer some of the many questions that exist around the practice of Mr Irwin over the course of many years.

“We will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of our clients in pursuit of this.”

Spire Washington says they have been in touch with patients and are reviewing specific procedures undertaken by Mr Irwin. 

A Spire Healthcare spokesperson: “We sincerely apologise to those patients who did not receive an appropriate standard of care from Mr Leslie Irwin, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon who has not practised at Spire Washington Hospital since 2023.

“We are currently reviewing specific procedures that were provided to a select cohort of patients of Mr Irwin and are in direct contact with these patients to offer support at what we recognise is a concerning time.

“The review is being run in accordance with NHS England’s National Quality Board: Recall Framework, which Spire Healthcare helped to develop.

“If any Spire Washington patients have questions about the care provided by Mr Irwin, they can call 0191 720 3031 or email spirepne@spirehealthcare.com and a member of the dedicated review team will call them back.”

Mr Irwin has not responded to requests for comment by The Northern Echo.