Nominations for the annual event, held by The Press, have been coming in thick and fast – but readers are being reminded that they still have time to vote for a special person or group who go above and beyond in their duties.
The first voting stage of the competition will end on June 5 – with finalists invited to a glittering award ceremony at York Racecourse on Thursday (September 5).
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We have 11 different award categories this year and featured among these is Health Service Hero.
The Press is searching for an unsung healthcare worker whose dedication to their patients and work is second to none.
Last year, we presented Chloe Slater with the award.
Chloe was recognised for her efforts on York Hospital’s maternity unit supporting vulnerable women and babies by organising a collection to help refugee families at Christmas.
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Speaking about Chloe, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Chloe collected donations of essential items such as nappies and baby grows to make sure the new mums, many of whom arrived in York with nothing, had what they needed.”
At the time, Chloe said that winning the award meant an enormous amount, both professionally and personally.
She added: “Knowing that somewhere there is someone that really did believe in me enough to nominate me is something that I will always remember.”
Chloe had spoken about plans to extend her collection to become a year-round baby bank, with support from colleague and midwife Jill Robertson.
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If you know someone like Chloe who deserves recognition, please nominate them by using the link here.
Other award categories include Against All Odds, Charity Fundraiser of the Year, Education Hero of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Young Person of the Year Award, Sports Person/Team of the Year, York Community Pride Outstanding Contribution Award, Carer of the Year, Best Community Project and School of the Year.
Nominations must include a supporting statement with each entry.
Jamie Varley, 37, is on trial over the death of 13-month-old Preston Davey on July 27, 2023 (Picture: PA)
A baby allegedly sexually abused and murdered by his adopted dad had a bite mark on his bottom weeks before he died, a court heard.
Jamie Varley, 37, is on trial over the death of 13-month-old Preston Davey on July 27, 2023.
Preston had been placed with Varley and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, at their home in Blackpool aged nine months with a view to him being formally adopted.
But jurors at Preston Crown Court have been told the toddler was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering dozens of injuries in the final four months of his life.
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On Wednesday, Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour was shown several photos and videos of the toddler found on the couple’s phones.
In one image taken on June 12, 2023, Preston was standing naked in a garden paddling pool.
Asked to comment on a darker shade of skin on his right buttock, Dr Armour said: ‘It is my view, sir, it most likely represents a human bite mark.’
She said having looked at the photo, the mark on his body was a round, circular bruise, turning slightly purple and around 3.5cm in diameter.
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Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, asked Dr Armour why she though it was a bite mark.
‘The size, configuration, which means the shape, are all consistent with a human bite mark,’ she said.
Dr Armour was also asked her opinion on a series of seven photos recovered from Varley’s phone of Preston in his cot, along with two toy teddy bears, taken four days before his death.
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The images span a period of three minutes and 12 seconds, during which time Preston’s head and arms remain ‘slumped’ over the top horizontal bar of his cot with his neck resting on the bar.
His body is apparently partially suspended, his legs in a ‘frog-like’ position and the child seemingly asleep or unconscious.
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Varley, at the time a high school teacher, is accused of Preston’s murder
John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, is accused of allowing the death of the child, with both accused of sexual abuse
‘This is very unsafe and in my view dangerous,’ Dr Armour said.
Mr Wright continued: ‘What is the risk here presented?’
Dr Armour said: ‘Partial suspension, ultimately leading to death, he’s got his neck in contact with that cot railing.
‘That’s going to inhibit your ability to breathe.’
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In one photo, Preston’s head is in a slightly different position with fluid coming from his mouth.
Dr Armour continued: ‘Preston’s tongue is protruding, its blue and also his lips appear blue, consistent with a lack of oxygen in the blood.’
Mr Wright said: ‘In terms of a child in that position for that length of time, how safe or otherwise is such a position?’
Dr Armour said: ‘This is a very prolonged period of time for a child to be in such an unsafe position.’
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Jamie Varley is accused of the murder and sexual assault of 13-month-old Preston Davey (Picture: Lancashire Police/PA)
Four days later, at around 6.20pm on July 27, 2023, the defendants rushed Preston unconscious from their home to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Medics worked for nearly an hour to resuscitate the child but could not save him.
Varley said he had left the child alone in the bath for three or four minutes before he returned and the baby was partially submerged.
Dr Armour, who carried out the post-mortem examination at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, said people who drown often swallow water but she found no water in Preston’s stomach.
She added: ‘It is my position that drowning can be reasonably excluded as the cause of death in this case.’
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Dr Armour concluded the cause of death was an upper airway obstruction, leading to Preston’s collapse by a deliberate act of smothering, or an object or objects inserted into his mouth.
Court artist drawing of Jamie Varley (left) in the dock at Preston Crown Court where he is accused of murder (Picture: Elizabeth Cook/PA)
The post-mortem examination also found external and internal injuries including bruises to Preston’s forehead, throat, mouth, bladder, bottom and bleeding in the lungs.
These were mostly ‘non-accidental’, she said, and could not be explained by the attempts by medics to save his life during resuscitation on hospital admission.
Many of the external injuries Dr Armour described as ‘fingertip’ bruises, consistent with gripping, prodding, poking and pinching, she said.
Preston also had severe bruising to the back of his throat which Dr Armour described as one of the ‘most unusual’ injuries she had never come across in her 39-year career as a consultant forensic pathologist.
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‘This is an extensive bruise,’ she said.
Dr Armour said the underlying cause is ‘difficult to ascertain’.
Smothering ‘either by a hand or a soft object’ could be the cause, she said, but that ‘would be unusual’.
She added: ‘That leaves the other cause, in my view – the insertion of an object into the mouth occluding the airways.’
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Dr Armour told jurors there were no injuries to Preston’s teeth, tongue, palette or cheeks, indicating the object did not have any ‘sharp edges’.
Asked if the injury was consistent with a sexual assault, she replied: ‘I cannot exclude that, sir.’
Dr Armour said the injuries to Preston’s throat, along with other serious injuries found on his body, were ‘very recent’.
Asked how close to death they were inflicted, she added: ‘I think I have said a matter of hours.’
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Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of cruelty to a child, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, to his co-accused, and one of making an indecent photo.
McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.
We’ve all popped in to a Home Bargains for an essential item or two, and ended up leaving with a hanging basket, solar lights or a rug that we didn’t know we needed.
Now, residents will soon be able to call in for ‘bits’ as work is underway to transform the space.
Homebase closed their doors here after a major restructure and its collapse into administration in late 2024, leaving the store space available for Home Bargains to take over.
The former Homebase store (Image: Google Maps)
The new store is set to open on August 1 and will be a significant addition to the town, especially since the current Home Bargains stores in Gateshead are relatively small.
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Currently, these smaller branches are located in Gateshead High Street at The Precinct and in Blaydon.
Unlike these smaller stores, the new Team Valley Home Bargains store will be much bigger, giving people more options when shopping.
Once open, the new store will provide competition to other big names in Retail World, such as Smyths Toys, TK Maxx, M&S Simply Food, Asda Living, and Dunelm.
This development is anticipated to bolster the local shopping scene, with locals on social media calling the opening “another boost for local shopping”.
Here’s what the stars have in store for your day (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
The Sun and Mercury are in an alignment known as a Cazimi in practical Taurus. This allows you to wade through complex details.
Sagittarius, Scorpio and Libra, communication and creativity are on your side today. Finding solutions to sticky issues is easy, so tune into that.
Today is prime time for planning, scheming and big goals. Keep your sights set ahead of you, not behind, and all will be well.
Ahead, you’ll find all star signs’ horoscopes for today: Thursday May 14, 2026.
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Aries
March 21 to April 20
The Sun and communicator Mercury have forged an alliance in the practical Taurus, that’s helping you to decipher and plan anything to do with resources or everyday finances with an extra crispness and acumen. Indeed, with the planet of opportunity, Jupiter, still in touch with both, this can also be a time when positive family news can arrive.
Your natural appreciation for continuity has been challenged in recent years by the restless Uranus, which has pushed you to be more experimental. And even if not everything has worked out, you’ve probably enjoyed experimenting. Today is another one that gives you an opportunity to showcase your unique talents and do so with added confidence.
Your guide planet Mercury’s closeness to the Sun in a thoughtful part of your situation, which could see you have some powerful inner realisations or decipher key events from your past. But their link together to the expansive Jupiter suggests a hunch around a business idea could prove to be lucky – if you trust your instincts and act boldly and decisively, Gemini.
You can enjoy lots of bright and breezy chats today, particularly within your group, considering an idea that you can all work on together. Then again, someone could give you valuable input on a future hope. With everyone pitching in like this, it can cheer you to know that your circle is supportive. Past connections that disappointed can start to fade away.
If you are thinking about or talking about retraining, learning new skills, or applying for another job, your mind can be super agile, but also focused on what the practical benefits may be. Mind with Jupiter, the planet much to do with faith, in an instinctive part of your situation, whatever the logic tells you, do be open to listening to your hunches too, Leo.
Whilst you may find yourself especially restless today, you can also find yourself super curious, and that’s not a bad combination. It’s just that often your preference has traditionally been for regular structures and routines in your everyday world, but currently exploring fresh horizons and new people just seems so much more stimulating – how good is that!
Cosmic messages for Cosmic messages for Virgo today
Libra
September 24 to October 23
Being one of the three air zodiac signs, you have a natural appreciation of communication and thinking carefully about situations. Some may feel that you overanalyse, but today you are going to have a fabulous opportunity to get beneath the surface. Excellent if you’re researching, seeking extra value, or even enjoying watching a TV programme on forensics.
You can be very candid in your observations of people, but what others can really appreciate about you today is the time you take to listen carefully to what they have to say. With your listening skills so sharp, this can help you to perceptively tune into their situation, even if you don’t necessarily make a comment. Planning a joint travel jaunt? Things can shape up nicely.
If you’re wanting to get to grip on your personal paperwork or catch up on the domestic chores, today can see you determined to be precise and productive in all you do. Much as your nature can find such demands a little dull, you can just take on these tasks with a great deal of application, and once you have completed all you set out to do, feel quietly content.
Encounters today can be warm, friendly, and amusing. Your dry wit is one of your great qualities and rarely gets talked about in the astrology archetypes of your sign, but it should be. Also, if there is someone that you’re getting to know that you really like, things can just flow very nicely between you. Even if this is not outright flirty, it can still be rather lovely.
If you have a home office, as many people do these days, today is an excellent opportunity to think about whether it’s working as effectively as it might. If it’s squeezed in a corner and has to compete with other domestic demands. It might be worth considering if moving things around would create a little bit more of a quiet cocoon and the chance to concentrate better.
There is little doubt that you can be one of the most intuitive of the zodiac signs, but today your mind can be as sharp as a pin, able to dextrously whirl different concepts around with ease, but also amuse people with your sharp observations and playfulness. With the weekend racing up, and a bubbly New Moon, this can see you keen to arrange fun social possibilities.
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Hydrangeas are a popular flower but few people know you can change the colour of them.
Vita Molyneux Travel reporter
03:32, 14 May 2026
Hydrangeas are a beloved choice for British gardens. Their enormous, luxurious blooms deliver a spectacular splash of colour, and they’re comparatively straightforward to maintain.
They’re also amongst the select few garden plants capable of changing colour over time. Many gardeners purchase these shrubs assuming their hue is permanent, but specific varieties can transform as time passes. With the appropriate soil conditions, hydrangeas can shift from pink to blue or even purple. This occurs when the soil becomes more acidic, making aluminium more accessible to the plant, which can influence the pigment of the petals.
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Jo McGarry, from Caragh Nurseries, said: “Many people are surprised to learn that hydrangea colour is directly linked to soil pH. In acidic soil, the blooms turn blue, while alkaline soil encourages pink petals. Purple shades appear when the soil is close to neutral.
“Only certain hydrangeas respond this way, particularly macrophylla and serrata varieties. White hydrangeas generally stay white regardless of soil conditions.”
If you’re hoping to alter the colour of your hydrangeas, it’s reasonably straightforward to achieve. However, some traditional techniques ought to be avoided, reports the Express.
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One approach gardeners have attempted to modify their hydrangeas’ colour is by placing a rusty nail into the soil underneath their shrubs.
Jo said: “Burying rusty nails in the soil to turn hydrangeas blue is something gardeners have talked about for years, but it isn’t the safest or most effective option.
“Sharp metal hidden in borders can become a hazard for people and wildlife. They also provide too little soluble iron to impact petal colour.”
Instead, there are more secure alternatives to transform your garden.
Jo said: “Using ericaceous compost, coffee grounds, or aluminium sulphate is a much better approach for gardeners wanting blue hydrangeas. These methods gently increase soil acidity without creating unnecessary risks in the garden.
“For pink hydrangeas, the soil needs to be more alkaline. Adding garden lime can help raise the pH and reduce aluminium uptake. This encourages pink blooms to develop.
“A fertiliser with higher phosphorus levels can also help limit aluminium absorption and support stronger pink colouring.”
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It typically requires at least one growing season before visible colour changes emerge.
Jo said: “Testing your soil pH first is always worthwhile because overcorrecting can stress the plant and affect nutrient uptake. Small gradual changes tend to give the healthiest and most consistent results.”
In our research in the British Library’s medieval collections, we have identified a previously unnoticed document that provides fresh insights into the survivors of the outbreak of plague known as the Black Death (1346–53).
The document – a scrap of parchment inserted into an account of the Ramsey Abbey manor of Warboys in Huntingdonshire – records how much time peasants were absent from work when struck down by the plague. It also reveals the names of those who survived and how long their employers believed recovery could take.
In our recent paper with Barney Sloane we shed new light on a group of 22 tenants who probably contracted plague, languished on their sickbeds for several weeks, and then recovered.
As one of the deadliest pandemics in recorded history, it has been estimated that between a third and two-thirds of the population of medieval Europe died during the Black Death.
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The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1562) shows the social upheaval that followed the plague. Museo del Prado
Given the sheer scale, many historians have focused on discovering details about those who died. Yet this has left the histories of those who contracted plague and recovered largely untold.
Despite the deadliness of the disease, it was possible to recover from plague, and medieval chroniclers mention the possibility – however unlikely – of survival. For example, Geoffrey le Baker, a clerk of Swinbrook in Oxfordshire, wrote in the following decade that he thought recovery depended on people’s symptoms:
People who one day had been full of happiness, on the next were found dead. Some were tormented by boils which broke out suddenly in various parts of the body, and were so hard and dry that when they were lanced hardly any liquid flowed out. Many of these people escaped, by lancing the boils or by long suffering. Other victims had little black pustules scattered over the skin of the whole body. Of these people very few, indeed hardly any, recovered life and health.
But who recovered? Why did so many succumb to the disease when others survived? And just how long was this “long suffering”? Unfortunately, there is remarkably little documentary evidence because most medieval sources record information about mortality rather than ill health.
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Unique list of plague survivors
A unique inclusion in the account of the manor of Warboys details a group of people who fell ill between the end of April and the start of August 1349. The monks of Ramsey Abbey wrote a list of their tenants who had fallen sufficiently sick that they could not work on the lord’s lands and detailed the length of time that they were absent.
The newly discovered list of plague survivors, from the British Library Collection: Add. Roll 39811. Author provided (no reuse)
People were clearly affected differently by their experience of plague.
The quickest recovery was that of Henry Broun who missed just a single week of work. By contrast, John Derworth and Agnes Mold had much more protracted illnesses and were both absent for nine weeks.
The average length of illness was between three and four weeks, with three-quarters of people returning to work in under a month. The speed of their recoveries is all the more surprising given that they were entitled to up to a year and a day of sick leave from work.
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This list of survivors includes a preponderance of tenants who occupied larger holdings on the manor. It has long been debated by historians and archaeologists whether the plague killed indiscriminately, with no regard to status, sex or age, or whether the poor and elderly were more vulnerable.
The survival of so many wealthier tenants could indicate that their higher living standards enabled them to recover more readily than their poorer neighbours, perhaps because they were able to stave off secondary infections and complications. We should not read any significance into the fact that 19 out of the 22 people were men: this reflects the gender bias of manorial landholding rather than any sex-selectivity of plague.
Although 22 people may not seem like many, in a regular year during the 1340s, only two or three absences were recorded during the summer months. It, therefore, represents a tenfold increase in regular illnesses on the manor. Put another way, these sick tenants were absent for 91 weeks’ worth of labour services during just a 13-week period.
Our understanding of the impact of the Black Death has been influenced by the appalling scale of death. Yet it is only when we add those who fell ill and recovered back into the picture that we can truly understand the seismic shock the pandemic had on society. The dead, dying and sick must have considerably outnumbered the living in villages and cities across Europe.
The consequences of this can be seen in medieval accounts and chronicles, one of which records that “there was so great a shortage of servants and labourers that there was no one who knew what needed to be done”. As a result of this combination of high mortality, unprecedented illness and abysmal weather, the two harvests of 1349 and 1350 have been described as the worst experienced in medieval England, worse even than those that caused the great famine of 1315-17.
This archival discovery allows us to write the history of sickness and recovery back into the Black Death, demonstrating that recovery was possible even during one of the worst pandemics in recorded history.
This new evidence reveals the remarkable resilience of medieval peasants. Many of them lay languishing on their sickbeds, exhibiting buboes (the painful, swollen and inflamed lymph nodes on the groin and neck that were typical of the Black Death), vomiting blood and wracked by fevers and not only survived but returned to work in just a few short weeks.
A cleaning expert shared that yellow toilet bowl stains are caused by much more than just limescale – and how to remove them in 60 minutes
Shania King-Soyza and Ellen Jenne Senior U35 Spare Time Writer
01:26, 14 May 2026
Persistent yellow stains in your toilet bowl can make even a spotless bathroom look grubby, but tackling them doesn’t have to mean reaching for harsh chemicals or splashing out on pricey products. With just two common household items, you can break down stubborn build-up and restore your toilet to its former glory in as little as 60 minutes.
A cleaning expert writing for the Martha Stewart website has revealed that vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are genuinely all you need. However, you may well be using these items in the wrong way.
The expert went on to explain exactly how to clean your toilet bowl so those yellow stains disappear — and what’s actually causing them in the first place. It turns out it’s not simply limescale.
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More than limescale
Yellow toilet bowl stains are primarily caused by mineral deposits from hard or well water, including calcium, magnesium, and iron, which form a hardened, rock-like layer over time.
That said, urine can also play a part. The acid in urine can react with minerals from hard water to create particularly stubborn deposits. The longer stains are left untreated, the harder and darker they become — and if left unchecked, they can even lead to blockages, reports the Express.
Clorox in-house scientist Mary Gagliardi admitted to the Martha Stewart blog that: “Uric acid (present in varying concentrations in urine) can react with hard water minerals to form uric salts with low solubility that deposit on surfaces, resulting in yellow stains.”
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How to clean
Before you get started, you’ll need white vinegar, baking soda, rubber gloves, paper towels, and a toilet brush. The first step is to lower the water level.
To do this, simply flush the toilet; for a more significant drop, switch off the water supply behind the toilet and flush once more to drain the bowl further.
Next, coat the stained areas with vinegar. For marks above the waterline, you’ll need to use vinegar-soaked paper towels. Leave this to soak for a minimum of 30 minutes — for more stubborn stains, leave it for up to an hour or even overnight.
Add one cup of baking soda to produce a fizzing reaction, leave it to sit for 15 minutes, then scrub thoroughly. Finally, turn your water supply back on and flush to rinse everything away.
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Why you need to clean weekly
Cleaning expert Marisol Rivera recommends cleaning your toilet bowl once a week and giving all areas a thorough going-over. Rivera shared: “The jet holes under the rim of the bowl become clogged with mineral deposits over time.
“This causes the water flow to become uneven. The build-up will concentrate in specific areas of the bowl as a result.”
Dozens of firefighters were called to the massive blaze
09:11, 13 May 2026Updated 14:28, 13 May 2026
Firefighters were called to a huge blaze at a former school in a town close to the Cambridgeshire border with smokes being seen in the county. The fire broke out on Tuesday (May 12) at the former Parkway Middle School in Haverhill at around 8.20pm.
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Crews from Woodbridge, Orford, Haverhill, Wickhambrook, and Bury St Edmunds attended with 12 fire engines used. Other crews from Sudbury, Mildenhall, Newmarket, Clare, and Long Melford were also called to the scene later in the evening.
Huge clouds of smoke could be seen for miles including in Linton. Residents in Haverhill were advised to “keep all windows and doors shut” and not to travel towards the scene unless it was essential.
Fire crews remained at the scene throughout the night and worked to control the fire while the building was collapsing. As of this morning, several fire engines were still at the scene to extinguish the blaze.
To get more news and top stories delivered directly to your phone, join our new WhatsApp community.Click this linkto receive your daily dose of CambridgeshireLive content.
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“Both the State and Murdaugh’s defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter,” the justices wrote. “However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.”
BEIJING (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday kicked off a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that is expected to be long on pageantry and symbolism but unlikely to feature major breakthroughs on key issues like trade, U.S. relations with Taiwan or the war in Iran.
After landing in Beijing to an elaborate welcome ceremony Wednesday night, Trump was greeted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping the following morning at the Great Hall of the People, an imposing building on Tiananmen Square that houses China’s legislature.
The pair shook hands to start and briefly chatted, with Trump patting Xi on the arm before they posed for pictures.
Cannons then boomed a welcome salute for Trump and a band played the Star-Spangled Banner. Following instruction from a goose stepping, sword carrying member of the military, Xi and Trump went to inspect a military honor guard.
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Tiananmen was cleared for the event, with no movement in the plaza save for officials and press, as well as military personnel who paraded in after Trump arrived. The hall featured giant, red-carpeted steps and huge expanses of marble, where soldiers hung large American and Chinese flags.
Hundreds of primary school children wearing bright colors offered a welcome routine, jumping up and down as the girls waved flowers and the boys hoisted American and Chinese flags as the two leaders walked past them.
Trump and Xi were then heading into a bilateral meeting before the Republican U.S. president visits the Temple of Heaven, a religious complex dating to the 15th century that symbolizes the relationship between heaven and earth. Trump and Xi will also attend a state banquet.
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The White House has insisted that Trump wouldn’t be making the trip without an eye toward securing results before he leaves — suggesting there could be announcements coming on trade, including a Chinese commitment to buy U.S. soybeans, beef and aircraft. Trump administration officials also want to work toward establishing a Board of Trade with China to address commercial differences between the countries.
But neither side has yet offered concrete details on what might come out of the three-day visit at a time when Beijing’s close economic ties to Iran could complicate matters.
The U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, stranding oil and natural gas tankers and causing energy prices to spike, threatening global economic growth.
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Spending so much time with Xi — especially against splendiferous backdrops — will afford ample time for Trump to discuss a series of thorny topics. Those include Iran and trade, but also Taiwan and a possible three-way nuclear arms deal featuring Washington, Beijing and Russia.
“Neither side will make much progress on the two major foreign policy issues,” predicted Jim Lewis, a tech policy fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. “Trump will press the Chinese to help him on Iran. They’ll be unwilling. The Chinese will press Trump to make concessions on Taiwan. We’ll see what we get out of that.”
Back in Washington, the politics of the war got more complicated. Senate Republicans on Wednesday again blocked Democratic legislation to halt hostilities in Iran — but Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski bucked her party, becoming the third Republican in the chamber to vote against continuing the war.
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China is the largest purchaser of Iranian oil, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Trump will make the case for Beijing to exert its influence on Iran, noting that administration officials will underscore that “economies are melting down because of this crisis” which means consumers are “buying less Chinese product.”
“So it’s in their interest to resolve this,” Rubio said of Chinese officials. “We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they’re doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf.”
That contradicted Trump, who has downplayed suggestions that he will press Xi to do more to pressure Iran to open the strait. The president also says pressure on the U.S. economy won’t compromise U.S. demands as he negotiates with Iran in the midst of a fragile ceasefire. Asked as he left the White House if the financial stability of ordinary Americans factors into Iranian negotiations, Trump responded, “Not even a little bit.”
“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, before going on to suggest that “every American understands” such a position.
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Mixed messaging was also evident on inflation and the war, however, as Vice President JD Vance denied Trump’s own words that the U.S. economy wasn’t a major factor in seeking a resolution with Tehran.
“I don’t think the president said that,” Vance said after being asked about Trump’s comments. “I think that’s a misrepresentation of what the president said.”
Trade and Taiwan discussions also could be intense
Looming large is the status of Taiwan, given that China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island that the Chinese government claims as part of its territory.
The Trump administration has approved an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan, but has yet to begin fulfilling it. Trump has also demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan — an approach that’s raising questions about whether he might be open to dialing back support for the island democracy.
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Taiwan is the world’s leading chipmaker, producing components essential to the development of artificial intelligence. Trump has sought to bolster trade deals with Taiwan that can stimulate chip production in the U.S.
Trump personally called Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to invite him to hop on Air Force One during a refueling stop in Alaska on the way to Beijing — one of a large group of CEOs from the tech, defense, finance and agriculture sectors who are part of the delegation. Other officials on the visit include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as Trump’s son Eric and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law.
Also in China is Elon Musk, the SpaceX chief who once led Trump’s effort to slash federal jobs and cut back the size of government.
The U.S. and China reached a trade truce last year that calmed each side’s threats to impose steep tariffs on the other. The White House says there have been ongoing discussions and mutual interest in extending the agreement, though it is unclear whether any such announcement could come during Trump’s visit.
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Trump has said he will ask Xi to give U.S. firms greater access to the Chinese market, urging his Chinese counterpart to “‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic.” He’s also seeking to extend a deal that allows China to continue exporting rare earth minerals to the U.S., prompting China to hold off on limiting the global supply in response to Trump’s threatened tariffs.
Top American officials have also said Trump will raise the idea of the U.S., China and Russia signing a pact setting limits on the nuclear weapons each nation keeps in its arsenal — an idea Beijing has previously viewed skeptically.
___
Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
The Thursday letters page has some big ideas for the future of Assassin’s Creed, as a reader thinks Capcom is purposefully trolling Dino Crisis fans.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Living dead platformer I have a terrible confession to make to you, GC. I’m actually looking forward to Bubsy 4D. I know the earlier games are awful but the developer on this one is good and I liked their previous game Demon Tides. More importantly, I love 3D platformers and I’m pretty much starving for anything else to play.
We still don’t know when the next 3D Mario will be and I think there’s a good chance that it won’t be next year, which seems crazy but that’s Nintendo for you.
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There hasn’t been a Sonic Frontiers sequel, which is also crazy to me because I thought the first one was actually pretty good. And that’s pretty much it, because nobody is making 3D platformers anymore. Not Rare, not Naughty Dog, not anyone for Crash Bandicoot or Spyro. Even the Yooka-Laylee guys don’t seem to be doing anything new.
Do I just have to accept that the 3D platformer is dead? Just with the odd Mario game every decade and a few low budget indie games? I guess I probably do. Thompson
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Review manipulation I see the developer of Outbound had to apologise for asking people to remove bad reviews of it from Steam. Why is that doesn’t get any outrage online but apparently Mixtape is the worst thing ever to happen to gaming?
It’s pretty obvious that the people complaining don’t care about indie gaming at all. They probably don’t care about any game more daring than Fortnite, so it’s terrible to see a game be torn down for no reason. I have no interest in it and will never play it but why can’t these haters just stop there and accept it’s not for them? Temol
The next evolution Bringing back Ezio does indeed sound like exactly the sort of thing a company would try to do when they’re desperately smashing the nostalgia button and don’t know what to do with the franchise. I’m not against it, as he was definitely the best one, but I think it’s telling that the only character anyone really cares about is from the second game from 17 years ago.
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I hope Hexe is good, and I will give it a chance, but I feel the series needs something more than just switching settings every time. Maybe it’s time for it to evolve into a different franchise? Assassin’s Creed is basically just Prince Of Persia with a different hat on, maybe they should make some actual historical games without all the pointless sci-fi stuff? Gaston
A fair price I feel like an idiot for saying this but I have to say I think £100 for GTA 6 is probably fair. That’s assuming it’s of roughly the same quality as GTA 5, including the size of the game world and GTA Online. Assuming that, and that they aren’t lying about the graphics in some way, I don’t see how you don’t get £100 of value out of it.
I’m not saying I’d be that 1% of people that said it should cost more, in that survey, but I think we need to accept that the amount of work that goes into games, and the amount of time we spend playing them, justifies a high price.
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I wouldn’t say that for any old game but when you know what you’re getting and it’s something that only comes round once a decade I don’t actually have a problem with it. Bragging that you spent 300 hours game and then you only paid £40, or whatever, for it doesn’t seem quite fair to me. Branton
Inevitable outcome Sony has faced significant financial losses due to the impairment of Bungie’s assets, which has led to a $765 million loss for the fiscal year 2025. This loss is attributed to the underperformance of Bungie’s portfolio, including the struggles of Destiny 2 and Marathon. I think they paid nearly $2 billion for Bungie?
Not good for gaming, would love Bungie to do another Halo but as things stand that’s not happening. Destiny is done and Marathon has failed but making Marathon’s gameplay a steep learning curve was always going to alienate a lot of gamers. More jobs losses I guess. TWO MACKS
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Time compression I haven’t got any obscure anniversaries to shock you with today but I did just read that it’s now been longer between GTA 6 Trailer 2 and now than it was between GTA 3 and GTA: Vice City. In other words, they made a whole game (one of the most famous of all-time) quicker than they’ve managed to make a new trailer.
I’m sure they could’ve done a new trailer quicker if they wanted, of course they could, but it does drive home how much quicker games were to make back in the day. I’m sure they were crunching like hell back then, and the game is basically a total conversion of GTA 3, but it’s still quite the achievement to get it released that quick.
I think this is an important thing we’re missing today, where you can not only not tell a proper story between games, because it takes too long between new chapters, but you also can’t make these sort of expansion pack style sequels either. There just aren’t any shortcuts anymore.
Zelda: Majora’s Mask, which was basically a total conversion of Ocarina Of Time, wouldn’t exist today because there’s be no way to make it quick enough that it wouldn’t just be easier to make a brand new game.
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There are some amazing triple-A games out there at the moment and I’m loving Pragmata, but that game is only about 12 hours long and it took six years to make. That’s six months per hour of playing time or, to put it another way, at least four GTA 6 trailers! Manx
Extinct hopes I can’t believe what a dissing Dino Crisis took in that Capcom report. They already didn’t have enough games to mention, because they did Onimusha when we already know it’s getting a new franchise. Why couldn’t Dino Crisis have taken that slot?
And then there’s multiplayer dinosaur game they had a while back, that I can’t remember the name of… it feels like Capcom is trolling Dino Crisis fans and I don’t understand way. Jurassic World is still big, why would you think Onimusha and Ōkami are worth another shot but not Dino Crisis? Korbie
GC: The multiplayer game you’re thinking of is Exoprimal.
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Real gamers Looking at the discourse around Mixtape I have to say gamers don’t do themselves any favours, the whole thing is just weird. We also had the bizarre Marathon and Crimson Desert back and forth earlier in the year, that to anyone not terminally online is just baffling.
As far as I can tell Crimson Desert is the real gamers’ game of the year? Because… reasons… and anyone who doesn’t like it is a shill for the ‘woke mafia’ I guess. Then whenever Marathon and Bungie are mentioned it seems to rally nutters to say the game’s ‘dead’ and the userbase inflated due to some cabal of journalists and powerful publisher interests. Guys… it’s just an online shooter some people like and some people don’t.
Obviously, we live in a time were everything is a conspiracy, from politics to sport thanks to social media. You’d expect gaming to fall victim to that too, by just existing in the same space, every mistake or attempt to expand the audience is actually some nefarious scheme out to change something against the ‘will of the people’.
I also wonder if part of it is that gaming does seem to be getting more hardcore? Older gamers are drifting away through the pressures of family and work commitments, or for the young it’s just the endless supply of other media to consume.
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Most of the next generation either don’t games like we did in the past (I remember the article some months ago saying gaming was now competing with gambling and adult internet content) or do game and are deep in the walled gardens of Roblox, Fortnite, et al. That’s leaving an ever smaller over-invested player-base behind, who see themselves as gate keepers and lash out at anything they don’t like.
It seems to me this increasingly unpleasant online chatter is as much a threat to the future of the medium as ever-increasing hardware and software costs. We need to expand the audience and get more normal people involved, not shrink it. Marc
GC: It’s pretty depressing stuff, we have an article up today about it. But your penultimate paragraph pretty much nails it.
Inbox also-rans Hang on, so that Steam Controller costs £85 and it doesn’t have a speaker? I know PC hardware is expensive at the moment, jeez… Topcat
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I didn’t realise so many different people had tried to blow up Nintendo before. Between this and constant layoffs, being a games developer sounds like no fun at all. Jester
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