It seems like a lot of devices, but Amazon told Engadget that the move will affect around three per cent of current users. In theory, if you’re using a device that’s affected, then Amazon should already have notified you via email. If in doubt, however, the company has a support page with pictures and specifications of every Kindle ever released. If you’re still unsure, entering the model number into Google should reveal the exact version you’re using. This can typically be found on the back of devices.

For Kindle Fire tablets, the process is simpler. Open the Settings menu and select “Device Options”. You’ll find the model you’re using either under “Device Model” or “About Fire Tablet”.

Why did this happen?

Nobody expects electronic devices to be supported forever, but it’s disappointing that the Kindle’s most enthusiastic early adopters got cut off. Given the basic functionality of e-book reader technology, there doesn’t appear to be a technical reason behind the decision, making it appear like an anti-consumer move to push older customers towards the purchase of newer devices where existing Kindles would become an e-waste casualty.

When asked why these devices were losing support, we received a response defending the (admittedly impressive) longevity.

“These models have been supported for at least 14 years – some as long as 18 years – but technology has come a long way in that time, and these devices will no longer be supported moving forward,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “We are notifying those still actively using them and offering promotions to help with the transition to newer devices.”

At the initial time of writing, the promotions mentioned appeared to be 20 per cent off “select new Kindle devices” alongside a £15 eBook credit. While the latter was welcome, the highlighted discount is somewhat disappointing for a number of reasons. Firstly, according to the promotion’s terms and conditions, the “select” caveat excludes the most expensive model, the Kindle Scribe. It doesn’t apply to Fire devices for those tablet owners looking to replace like-for-like, either.

More importantly, the prices aren’t all that impressive considering happy owners of older Kindles weren’t budgeting for this purchase. Amazon frequently discounts its own-brand devices like Echo smart speakers and Fire tablets, and 20 per cent isn’t that unusual. Last year’s Black Friday sale saw discounts of over 30 per cent on the basic Kindle and Kindle Colorsoft, and the price-tracking site CamelCamelCamel shows that the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has been as low as £183 in the past – a 32 per cent discount on its current price of £269.

There was added time pressure, too. Amazon said the discount and credit offer was only valid until June 20, one month after support for the older Kindles ended. 

Additionally, owners of the earliest UK Kindle will see that prices have gone up over the past decade. The £109 they paid in 2010 is some way off the £159.99 Kindle Paperwhite, even with a 20 per cent discount, let alone the £219.99 Kindle Colorsoft. That said, at £94.99, the basic Kindle 12th Generation remains a bargain for no-frills readers, with a 20 per cent discount taking it down to £75.99.

Possible upgrades

If you’re affected by this news, the silver lining is that while e-book technology moves relatively slowly, things have still advanced significantly in the past 14 years. Resolutions are higher; most are backlit for bedtime reading; there’s support for audiobooks; and storage has increased. There are also optional extras like colour screens, blue-light filters to prevent eye strain and waterproofing.

As outlined in our guide to the best Kindles, our pick for most people is the 12th Generation Kindle Paperwhite, which costs £159.99 with lockscreen ads or £169.99 without. The seven inch screen with warm lighting makes for a comfortable reading experience, and it’s waterproof for bathtime or poolside reading.

At £94.99 (or £104.99 without ads), the basic 11th Generation Kindle is a great budget pick, however. It’s slightly smaller at six inches, and like the Paperwhite, can hold around 8,000 e-books with support for audiobooks through Audible. It lacks the warm light and waterproofing, however, and its battery life is around half that of the Paperwhite — albeit still a generous six weeks of normal use.

The two remaining Kindles occupy specific niches. The Kindle Colorsoft has a colour screen, making it well suited to those who enjoy graphic novels. The Kindle Scribe, meanwhile, has a bundled stylus for note taking.

Can I still use my old Kindle?

Yes, Amazon said users would be able to “continue to read books already downloaded on these devices”. If you factory reset your older Kindle, however, or you deregister it, you won’t be able to use it anymore.

Restricting your eating to just eight hours a day and having no food after 6pm could slash your risk of suffering from dementia, new research suggests.

In a recent study, researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey recruited overweight or obese women over 50 years old and put them on a diet plan.

All participants were told to reduce their food intake by 500 calories per day, but half were also told to eat in a time restricted window, also known as intermittent fasting.

After six months, both groups had lost 15lbs (6.8kg), but those who only ate between 10am and 6pm had significant improvements on memory and learning tests.

Further examination showed they also had improved spatial planning and problem solving skills compared to those who ate when they wanted. 

Researchers said the results suggested it ‘may be possible to reduce the risk of dementia by eating during fewer hours of the day.’ 

Dr Sue Shapses, a nutritionist who led the study, said: ‘Losing weight alone will ward off some of the aging-related cognitive decline.

‘[But] these data suggest there may be additional benefits if you stop eating four hours before going to sleep and reduce food intake to eight to nine hours per day, compared with the usual eating window of 12 hours per day.’

About seven million Americans have dementia currently, but this is expected to nearly double over the next 25 years to 13 million, estimates suggest. 

Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in America, tied to 116,000 fatalities every year. Globally, it is the seventh leading cause. 

In the UK, nearly a million people are estimated to have dementia. That number is set to double over the same period to two million. 

Time-restricted eating, or intermittent fasting, is a dietary habit where a person limits their caloric intake to either certain hours of the day or days of the week in order to lose weight and control eating habits.

Popular iterations include the 14:10 plan – where a person only eats within a 10-hour window – and the 5:2 – where someone eats five days a week and fasts for two.

The meal plans took off in the 2010s, popularized by celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Mark Wahlberg. Today, an estimated one in 10 Americans follows the diet.

Some experts say the plans help someone to lose weight and curb hunger, while others have raised concerns that it can lead to muscle loss, a nutritional deficiency and low mood.

The new study was presented at NUTRITION 2026, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held earlier this month in Maryland.

Jennifer Aniston previously said that she uses intermittent fasting, saying in 2019 that she only drinks water in the mornings or delays her first meal until midday

In the research, the 47 participants were between 50 and 79 years old.

Those in the time-restricted eating group were told to eat for no more than nine hours per day. 

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Overall, they ate for an average of eight hours and 12 minutes per day. For comparison, those in the non-time restricted eating group ate for 12 hours and 18 minutes.

Cognitive tests showed broad improvements in the restricted eating group, but there was no significant difference between the two on multitasking and reaction times.

Shapses added: ‘There was a modest effect of time-restricted eating to improve spatial planning and problem-solving and on reducing errors related to memory and learning.

‘These outcomes suggest a better ability to remember information during everyday tasks and reducing mistakes related to memory, attention and problem-solving. Reductions in the eating window predicted greater improvements.’

It was not clear why time-restricted eating may have boosted brain health, but previous research has suggested that it may trigger neuroprotective processes in the brain.

Previous research has also suggested that eating shortly before bedtime can disrupt sleep, which is considered vital for helping to prevent dementia.

The study was small and detected an association. It did not prove that time restricted eating slashed the risk of dementia. 

The researchers said that further larger studies were needed to confirm the results. 

They are now planning to investigate the mechanisms that might explain the possible benefits of time-restricted eating, such as the interactions between circadian rhythm, nutrient-sensing pathways, inflammation and metabolic health. 

Ubisoft has cancelled an extraction shooter set in the Far Cry universe according to a report, in favour of a new spin-off. 

While Assassin’s Creed continues to be a key priority at Ubisoft, one of its other major franchises has dropped off the radar in recent years. 

Far Cry hasn’t seen a new entry since 2021’s Far Cry 6, which proved divisive among fans and critics. Ubisoft hasn’t officially announced a new game, but there have been rumours for some time that a mainline sequel and a multiplayer spin-off are in development. 

However, according to a new report, the multiplayer game has now been shelved, as work gets underway on a new spin-off.

As reported by Insider Gaming, the Far Cry multiplayer spin-off codenamed Maverick, which was apparently an extraction shooter, has been cancelled. 

However, a new game set within the Far Cry universe, codenamed Kodiak, has reportedly passed the conception stage at Vantage Studios – the newly created Ubisoft subsidiary. 

This project has been described as ‘really ambitious’ by sources, although it’s built on the foundations of Maverick. It’s said to be several years away from release. 

Per the report, Kodiak is described as an open world first person shooter where ‘player interactions and player-driven stories take centre stage’ – a description which could apply to almost every Far Cry game so far.

It’s unclear if Kodiak will be multiplayer or single-player focused. However, the next mainline Far Cry game, codenamed Blackbird, is said to have a multiplayer element where several players can experience the world together at once. 

It’s unclear when Blackbird will launch but it will likely be the next Far Cry game on the way, if Kodiak has only just passed the conception stage. 

The big question is what the next mainline Far Cry game could do to spice up the formula, which has grown stale over recent entries. Far Cry 6 starred Giancarlo Esposito as a dictator on a fictional Caribbean island, but all the recent sequels have struggled to make the same impact as Far Cry 3.

Vantage Studios is managing development across Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six titles. The only game we know they’re working on is Assassin’s Creed Hexe, which has been subject to notable shifts in senior management over recent months.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

MORE: Xbox outage is stopping even game discs from working as all-digital future bites

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Equity release is only available to homeowners that own a property within the United Kingdom. 

If you choose a mortgage with required payments during your lifetime, your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up with the payments. Borrowing with a lifetime mortgage or retirement interest-only mortgage will reduce the value of your estate. Receiving a cash lump sum may also affect your entitlement to means-tested benefits. Think carefully before securing other debts against your home.

The Telegraph Media Group Equity Release Service is provided by Royal London Equity Release Advisers. Royal London Equity Release Advisers is a trading style of Responsible Life Limited which is registered in England & Wales. Company No. 7162252. Registered Office: Princess Court, 23 Princess Street, Plymouth, PL1 2EX. Responsible Life Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is entered on the Financial Services Register (https://register.fca.org.uk/) under reference 610205.

Responsible Life Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal London Group who may benefit if you choose to take regulated mortgage advice. Being a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal London Group does not alter Responsible Life Limited’s regulatory responsibilities.

Only if you choose to proceed and your case completes will Responsible Life Limited charge an advice fee, currently not exceeding £1,890. Their adviser will talk through the setting up costs before you choose to proceed.

The actress, who played barmaid Gina Ward for 18 years, revealed that she had bought The Goathland Hotel – known to millions as the Aidensfield Arms – alongside two business partners, marking a full-circle moment for fans of the long-running series.

Following the announcement, Press readers shared their own stories of the much-loved pub and its role both on and off screen.

Heartbeat fans’ memories as TV star takes on Goathland Hotel, pictured. (Image: Submitted)

Taking to The Press website and Facebook page, some recalled how the show was made, with filming taking place both in Goathland and beyond.

Philip Hopkinson said: “The internal scenes were indeed initially filmed inside the Goathland Hotel for the first 2/3 years but after that, like many internal scenes, were filmed in an old mill in Farsley, West Yorkshire.

“My wife and I were invited to the sets during the final months of filming.”

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Others pointed to scenes filmed closer to York.

Granville Durkin said: “A lot of the exterior scenes were filmed in the Acomb, Foxwood and Chapelfields areas of York.

“One of the most memorable episodes, where Greengrass gets his private parts caught in a mousetrap, was filmed on Bramham Road in Chapelfields.”

For many, however, the pub’s importance goes far beyond television.

The Aidensfield Arms, in Heartbeat. (Image: Submitted)

Keith Thompson said: “It was ‘village central’ for many years, the social hub of the village, not some fictitious place depicted on a TV screen.

“If you wanted something, wanted help, needed advice, an opinion, or just to talk then the pub bar of the Goathland was that place.

“People think that TV ‘made’ the village, brought tourism, ‘put it on the map’ is the oft trailed expression, the village was a tourist destination long before YTV ‘discovered’ it.”

The show’s global reach was also clear, with fans travelling from afar to visit.

Susanne Linde, from Sweden, said: “I came to Goathland 2014 to visit the pub and stay at the hotel – all because of the TV series ‘Heartbeat’. And – I love steam trains! So NYMR was a dream come true.

“I fell in love with both The Aidensfield Arms and Goathland. So I came back from Sweden to visit every year after that, sometimes twice and even three times a year.

“I got friends with the owners of the hotel and I did even work at the pub and hotel a couple of times for some weeks.  ..Lovely memories.”

Others shared connections to the show itself.

Wendy Coates said: “My husband worked on the set of Heartbeat for 10 years. Providing period car, Volvo Amazon 130. Knows Miss Penrose, lovely lady.”

And there was excitement about what the future might hold.

Chris Hoggard said: “I just hope we can say ‘Pint please Ginna’.”

James Birkinshaw said: “Nice for her, it played a big part of her life and now gets to share it with other that the way to do it. Well done lass – all them hours well worth it; things always come at the right time.”

Brian Womble added: “Had a wonderful time visiting Goathland and the pub for a drink a few years ago. Need to go back xxx.”

Reader Gloria Tyler Daykin suggested a name change: “I wish them all the best and I’m pretty sure they’ll change the name to the Aidensfield Arms in keeping with the show.”

The Goathland Hotel has long attracted visitors from across the world thanks to its starring role in Heartbeat, which ran from 1992 to 2010 and was filmed across North Yorkshire.

Now, with one of its best-known faces at the helm, many fans are hoping the spirit of the Aidensfield Arms will live on for years to come.

What are your memories of Heartbeat and filming in North Yorkshire? We’d love to hear – email nadia.jeffersonbrown@newsquest.co.uk

Josh Miller, 29, was jailed for a year at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Friday.

An offender who has spent much of his adult life in custody is behind bars again after he was caught carrying a knife in Uddingston.

Josh Miller, 29, was jailed for a year at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Friday.

He admitted having a lockback knife in Gardenside Avenue on July 11 last year.

Connor McIntyre, prosecuting, said police went to the area about 2.20pm after a report that a man was “in distress”.

He stated: “Officers saw the accused and began to speak to him. He was under the influence of drink or drugs.

“The knife was found in a pocket of his tracksuit top. The accused was arrested but not formally charged at that stage due to his level of intoxication.”

Defence lawyer Ian Scott said Miller, now of Portwell, Hamilton, was living in a hostel in Uddingston at the time.

Mr Scott told the court: “He was a chaotic drug user. He is easily led and follows a bad crowd.

“It wasn’t unexpected to find him under the influence with a knife in his possession.

“He has spent a lot of his adult life in a custodial setting where he is an exemplary and trusted prisoner.”

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We’re officially experiencing a drought in various parts of the UK, and while you could face a fine of up to £1,000 if you use a hosepipe in some areas, we wouldn’t blame you for wanting to keep your beloved plants alive.

A lot of love goes into our gardens – and there aren’t many places you want to be during a heatwave other than the comfort of your own home, so you might as well take care of it!

Should you be living in an area with a hosepipe ban, though, there is another way to keep your garden all in a row.

Water butts could be the solution to keeping your garden watered year-round. These barrels act as a way to collect rain, so that not only can you save on your water bill when watering the garden, but when it comes time for a hosepipe ban, you have another trick up your sleeve.

And while we’re not exactly experiencing a lot of rain right now, investing in a water butt now could future proof you for warm and dry summers to come.

There are some basic water butts out there, that come in a black or green plastic container – and there’s nothing wrong with going with what works.

But if you’re after more of a whimsy effect or a colourful pop, we’ve also found the most aesthetically interesting water butts to shop now.

What does it mean?

He’s the man who delivered a King – and, for that matter, a Queen – masterminded the banishment of one particularly problematic relative, while cunningly corralling another.

In short Sir Clive Alderton, Principal Private Secretary to His Majesty King Charles III, is arguably the most formidable and consequential courtier of the modern era.

But to many readers of the Daily Mail, he will be simply known as ‘The Wasp’.

That was the ostentatiously offensive nickname given to him by the Duke of Sussex (or perhaps, more appropriately, his ghostwriter) in his vengeance-laden memoir, Spare – although one that, in the circumstances, must now surely be worn as a badge of honour?

And while there are bound to be cheers from Montecito today when they learn that Sir Clive is sensationally set to retire after 20 years working as King Charles’ gatekeeper, the news will sadly leave Buckingham Palace without one of its ‘big beasts’.

For it can be confirmed that after two decades of the most loyal of service, leonine Sir Clive has announced that he will leave the royal household next May, a move that coincides with his 60th birthday (a revelation that has prompted some fans to enquire whether he has a Dorian Gray-style portrait in the attic).

The feeling is that now is as good a time as any for him take a well-earned break: to start with he has helped to deliver a relatively problem-free accession (leaky pens aside) and a successful coronation.

The King has also just completed the ‘last of his firsts’ (starting with his first public engagements and home nations visits as monarch, to the big test so far of his reign, this year’s State Visit to the US, and his first to a British Overseas, Territory, Bermuda).

Sir Clive Alderton, Principal Private Secretary to His Majesty King Charles III, is arguably the most formidable and consequential courtier of the modern era

He has also steered the King – and indeed the nation – through the dark days of the monarch’s cancer diagnosis in 2024. Charles himself, I am told, is in a ‘good place’ health-wise, as it stands.

In all (and safely assuming that as a long-term diplomat Sir Clive’s pensionable age is 60), next year is a natural moment to move on.

While those outside of royal circles may ask why the departure of a courtier is so significant, it is worth casting your mind back.

When life-long diplomat Mr Alderton, as he was then, joined the then Prince of Wales’ Household in 2006 as Deputy Private Secretary, Charles’ public standing was in a very different place.

With a household dubbed ‘Wolf Hall’ for its interpersonal rivalries and the prince suffering from a perennially poor public image, there was much to work on.

While no-one, not even his most ardent admirers, would claim Sir Clive and his team have always got it right, there is no doubt that he was absolutely instrumental in turning the tanker round.

In 2009 he was promoted to Private Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to the prince and the Duchess of Cornwall (and made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, a sign of royal favour, in 2013).

His rise in the royal household was only briefly halted when he necessarily left in 2012 to become Ambassador to Morocco, before being lured back in 2015 when he was appointed the couple’s Principal Private Secretary – a title created especially for him.

Sir Clive shakes Andy Burnham’s hand as he arrives at Buckingham Palace for an audience with King Charles III where he was invited to become Prime Minister — July 20, 2026

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Keir Starmer, Sir Clive Alderton, King Charles, and Idris Elba during a Youth Opportunity Summit at St James’s Palace in London — July, 2025

He served in that position until the prince’s accession to the throne on September 8 2022, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, when he became Principal Private Secretary to His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen.

He is also a member of the Privy Council and a Trustee of the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund.

Outsiders would say that one of his greatest successes was to ‘de-politicise’ the notoriously interventionist heir to the throne – ‘no more ‘black spider memos for you, Sir!’ – in time for him to accede to the throne, while ensuring a proud legacy of national and international change as Prince of Wales.

Insiders would probably add to that the transformation of his wife, Camilla, from Duchess of Cornwall to Queen, something that was simply unthinkable when he joined royal service.

While there will always be those who have strong opinions on the matter, few can argue that she hasn’t carried out her duties with enthusiasm, diligence and good humour and carved a space for herself in public life, tackling some truly thorny issue such as domestic abuse.

Needless to say, the King is a much, much happier man with his wife standing by his side.

That’s not to say, of course, backs haven’t been put up or hackles raised along the way.

There’s no doubt that Sir Clive relishes the game of diplomacy – ‘he puts the ‘M’ into Machiavellian,’ says one wag.

Best-selling crime thriller writer Peter James’ recent detective novel, set in the royal household, described the King’s fictional long-standing aide, Sir Peregrine Greaves, as an aide so silky-smooth it appears he is ‘gliding on wheels’ and, to be fair, he didn’t have far to look for inspiration.

King Charles III and his private secretary Sir Clive arriving for the King’s Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace in December 2024

King Charles III and Donald Trump meet Sir Clive Alderton at Windsor Castle during the US President’s state visit in September, 2025

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To say that Prince Harry hates his father’s gatekeeper is an understatement, and he didn’t hold back in his memoir, as he described the then triumvirate of powerful royal aides at the heads of each of the three royal households (Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace) as ‘the bee, the fly and the wasp’.

Sir Clive, it seems, was the worst of the three in his book, being ‘arrogant’ and ‘great at pretending to be polite, even servile’, but would ‘put you on his list’ and ‘give you such a stab with his outsized stinger that you’d cry out in confusion’.

Harry firmly blamed the courtier for being a roadblock in attempts to reconcile with his father.

While that may in part be true, friends of the diplomat pour scorn on this claim, suggesting no aide would be so arrogant to stand in the way of father and son on a personal basis.

But, of course, if the prince behaved in such a way that would place his father in potentially constitutionally tricky waters, he would not be doing his job if he didn’t protect the monarch, they add.

Whether his departure changes relations in the future will be interesting to see.

The same, it might be said, went for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, another family member who might not mourn Sir Clive’s departure. For there is no doubt that the courtier was instrumental in finding a way to banish the former Duke of York from royal life, strip him of his titles and effectively evict him from Royal Lodge.

While that problem is far from solved yet, the foundations to do so are now laid.

Spares aside, though, Sir Clive is a delightful companion (albeit one whose political antennae are never on pause) and it’s fair to say that having handled some of the most delicate constitutional issues since the abdication of 1936, his fingerprints are most definitely all over the high points of this reign.

He is genuinely passionate about both king and country and if he has enjoyed pulling the levers of power along the way, the best interests of both have always been foremost in his mind.

The search for his successor will take place both internally and externally will start soon, with a replacement hopefully in place by spring of next year.

It is understood that Sir Clive elected to share this news now so that an ‘open and rigorous recruitment process’ for his successor can begin, with the aim of identifying the ‘highest calibre external and internal candidates’.

The timeframe additionally allows for an appropriate period of handover to his eventual successor in spring/ summer next year, once an appointment is made.

Fellow aides have paid tribute to the ‘immense and critical’ role he has played in supporting Their Majesties over his time in service, in particular through the meticulous planning for Accession over many years, his chairing of the Coronation Committee, and managing the significant first years of the new reign with all their highlights and complexities, nationally, internationally – and closer to home.

In a message to staff today he said: ‘It has been the greatest imaginable honour to serve The King and Queen in my present role through such historic times and with unforgettable humour along the way. That support will continue, in a less formal capacity, for all of my life.’

The King and Queen are said to be ‘deeply grateful’ to Sir Clive for his ‘tireless support and wise counsel’ over the years, and for the enduring loyalty that will ensure a smooth transition to his successor.

One court jester joked that he would take a while to consider the ‘longer term opportunities and possibilities – for which spending a little less time supporting the Royal Family and a little more focussing on his own family is an understandable ambition. He will be sorely missed.’

Royal writer Valentine Low, author of ‘Power and the Palace’ and ‘Courtiers’ described Sir Clive as the ‘quintessential courtier’ – smooth, charming and urbane – and says: ‘Alderton is one of the significant and successful courtiers of recent years, up there with the late Queen’s private secretary Christopher Geidt.

‘He played a vital role in helping Charles transition from Prince of Wales to King, moulding a once-meddlesome prince who would fire off letters to ministers into a monarch who was scrupulous about keeping within the constitutional guidelines. The fact that Charles has been largely free of political controversy since ascending the throne is without a doubt down to Alderton.

‘As such [he] was adept in handling Charles, whose private secretaries did not always last the course. He used humour skillfully to defuse tricky situations, but was not afraid to have difficult conversations.

He was not without his critics, however, who saw him as Machiavellian. One insider said Alderton was like a figure from Wolf Hall, ‘a schemer, a chess player’.

‘And that was one of his friends.’