In an unusually unpredictable Oscars race, there is only one moment experts agree is a dead cert – Jessie Buckley, on stage once again, to collect the award for best actress.
Buckley is the only acting nominee to take home all four this year, and she has picked up other smaller awards, too. The Oscar, it seems, is hers to lose.
Image: Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes and Joe Alwyn as Bartholomew in Hamnet. Pic: Agata Grzybowska/ Focus Features
Gold Derby, the LA based authority when it comes to awards predictions, rates her chance of winning at an almost unbeatable 97%. “It’s really been a crazy award season, it’s been pretty unprecedented,” says Debra Birnbaum, the site’s editor-in-chief. But Buckley, she says, “is a sure thing… a pretty safe bet”.
If Buckley does win, she will make history – the first Irish actress ever to take home the award.
The 36-year-old is being recognised for her portrayal of Agnes, the wife of Shakespeare in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet. The film chronicles the couple’s grief following the death of their young son, and puts the bard, played by Paul Mescal, in the backseat as Agnes’s story takes centre stage. Buckley’s raw, emotive performance has moved audiences to tears.
Image: Jessie Buckley is proving unbeatable this awards season. Pic: Reuters
In a sea of A-list Oscar nominees, including two-time winner Emma Stone, critics have singled her out as “one of the finest actresses of her generation”.
“To be in a room with all those incredible artists, that, for me, is the greatest thing,” Buckley told Sky News last month, speaking about her awards and nominations. “That and being a mom.”
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The actress gave birth to her first child, a girl, last year, and she has paid tribute to her in her speeches so far. “I’d like to share this with my daughter,” she said of her BAFTA. “I promise to continue to be disobedient so that you can belong to a world in all your mad, complex wildness as a young woman.”
Image: Jessie Buckley, left, and Renee Zellweger at the premiere ofJudy in London in September 2019. Pic: Joel C Ryan/ Invision/ AP
This is Buckley’s second Oscar nomination; her first was for best supporting actress, for her performance in The Lost Daughter, starring Olivia Colman, in 2022. She has also starred in other Oscar-nominated films, such as Women Talking, alongside Rooney Mara and Claire Foy, and Judy, opposite Renee Zellweger, and won several awards for her leading performance in the West End revival of Cabaret.
But she has been quietly honing her talents since she was young, growing up in Killarney, Co Kerry. Her rise to fame came when she was a teenager, appearing on the BBC reality show I’d Do Anything, which sought to find an unknown lead to play Nancy in the West End revival of the musical Oliver!, in 2008.
Image: Jessie Buckley (right) and Jodie Prenger on I’d Do Anything in 2008. Pic: BBC
Buckley came second, but continued to pursue her love for the stage and screen. She went on to appear in series including Taboo and The Last Post, before breakout roles in British films Beast and Wild Rose, and the critically acclaimed HBO/ Sky series Chernobyl.
Back in 2019, when Wild Rose was released, Buckley said she grew up without a TV at home until she was “about eight or nine”, and that her first experience of wanting to act was watching a “Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland film… it was like my mind had been exploded into kind of like magic”.
Now, not only has she reached the highest accolades for her achievements on screen, but she is also a Mercury Prize nominee, too – shortlisted in 2022 for her collaborative album For All Our Days That Tear The Heart, with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler.
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Image: Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler at the Mercury Prize ceremony in 2022. Pic: Ian West/ PA Archive
‘You couldn’t take your eyes off her’
For those who knew her at the Ursuline Secondary School, in Co Tipperary, her success has come as no surprise. Music teacher Joan Butler, who joined the school in 2006, Buckley’s final year, says it was clear she would go on to big things.
“We’re so proud of all our students here, but Jessie stood out… even as she began along her career path, as being somebody with a very special talent,” she says. “She was in a production of West Side Story in my first year teaching… Spellbinding is the word we use here as we’ve been talking about her and remembering her time here.
“You couldn’t take your eyes off Jessie on the stage or when she was singing or even at the piano. It’s a star quality that is very, very rare. I can still remember I was playing violin in the pit orchestra, looking up the stage… the whole room just stopped, mouths open, watching this rehearsal. And I remember turning to some of the students and going, watch her girls, she’s going to win an Oscar one day.”
Now, Buckley could very well achieve that dream.
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Image: Chloe Zhao with actors Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley on the set of Hamnet. Pic: Agata Grzybowska/ Focus Features
After seeing the actress tackling such physically and emotionally demanding scenes during the filming of Hamnet, her cast and crewmates say it has been incredible to see her hard work and talent recognised.
Hamnet set decorator Alice Felton, who is also up for an Oscar herself, nominated in the production design category, says they have “all been in tears” watching Buckley receive her awards.
“Because we watched her throughout filming give her heart and soul to that,” she says. “We’d be crying at the edge of set before the music was laid in, before everything was done.
“She’s a beautiful person. She gave everything to that role and she’s part of the team. She used to sleep in the bed in the attic [in their house in the film]. So I’d go up to redress the set and she’d be tucked up having a little nap. She just lived in the spaces and we’re all so happy for her.”
Irish stars show support in LA
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Image: Domhnall Gleeson at the Oscar Wilde Awards in LA ahead of the Oscars
In Los Angeles in the days leading up to the Oscars ceremony each year, the US-Ireland Alliance hosts the Oscar Wilde Awards, celebrating Irish talent.
They have had a lot to toast in recent years, including nine nominations for The Banshees Of Inisherin (starring another former Ursuline pupil, Kerry Condon) in 2023. And in 2024, Cillian Murphy became the first Irish star to win best actor, for his performance in Oppenheimer.
This year, Buckley is the person everyone is talking about.
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Gleeson, who starred alongside her in the animated Christmas special The Scarecrows’ Wedding, told Sky News: “We’re already celebrating Jessie Buckley.
“She is an absolutely amazing actor. She’s so incredible in the film and I’ll be delighted, delighted if she wins. But we celebrate her all the time.”
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Singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy also highlighted Buckley’s musical talents. “I think people are largely unaware of how great a singer she is,” he said. “She’s just an incredibly talented person, so we’re very excited for her.”
And speaking at the premiere of the Peaky Blinders film earlier this month, Murphy himself showed his support. “She’s incredible,” he told Sky News. “I’m just so happy for her, she’s unbelievable in that film.”
Image: Cillian Murphy became the first Irish star to win the best actor Oscar in 2024. Pic: AP
For the young students at Ursuline hoping to follow in Buckley’s footsteps, the actress is an inspiration.
“We are so excited to see everything that will come after this as well,” Ms Butler says. “Thank you so much to her for everything that she has done in inspiring our students and showing them what can be possible.”
The town was chosen by the Sunday Times for being a “thriving location with a strong sense of community”.
A surprising town with a famous neighbour is one of the top places to live in the UK. The Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide chose it as one of the top spots, beating more predictable choices.
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The guide described the town of Penryn near Cornwall as being a “little rougher round the edges than neighbouring Falmouth”, but the judges were looking for “thriving locations with a strong sense of community” rather than well-known areas with steep property prices.
Penryn’s “energy, creativity and community” were highlighted as key factors for its inclusion. The Sunday Times also says it’s a hub for “endless adventures”, boasting “all kinds of community groups”, reports Cornwall Live.
In their description of Penryn, The Sunday Times judges noted: “Penryn is a little rougher round the edges than neighbouring Falmouth, but what it lacks in arty-crafty knick-knack stores and beachside saunas, it more than makes up for in energy, creativity and community.”
They continued: “Every old workshop, boathouse or ope – as the back alleys are known here – seems to be home to a local craftsperson or entrepreneur up to something forward-looking and fascinating, whether it’s a pottery studio, an art gallery, a yoga studio, or the Cornish Poetry Library.
“There is the potential for endless adventures in the surrounding waters and countryside, and all kinds of community groups are doing good works or organising sports and activities.”
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Helen Davies, editorial projects director and Best Places to Live editor, remarked: “It is easy to feel overwhelmed by everything going on in the world, but there really is so much to celebrate as we look closer to home. From small gestures that lift the everyday – like verges blooming with daffodils and volunteer-run dementia cafés, to larger initiatives from repair cafés to new railway stations.
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“What makes our guide unique is that we actually visit all the places we choose and talk to locals to find out what life is really like there. That means we can see what people really love about the places they live. That could be anything from exceptional schools and fast trains to beautiful houses and countryside.
“The health of the high street is important, but more than anything else, what we are looking for are towns, villages and cities with strong communities who work hard to make the best of where they live, and play hard too.
“We also consider affordability. High house prices are no barrier to inclusion – as long as they provide value for money. Different people will be looking for different qualities when they are choosing a place to live. One thing all our chosen locations have in common is that the people who live in them are proud to call them home.”
Past recipients of the Best Places to Live in Britain accolade include North Berwick, East Lothian (2024), Stamford, Lincolnshire (2013); Skipton, North Yorkshire (2014); Newnham, Cambridge (2015); Winchester, Hampshire (2016); Bristol (2017), York (2018), Salisbury, Wiltshire (2019), Altrincham, Cheshire (2020) Stroud, Gloucestershire (2021), Ilkley, West Yorkshire (2022) Wadhurst, and East Sussex (2023)
Customers may also be getting bonus payments this year
A senior figure from Nationwide Building Society has provided an update about its branch services available for customers. The announcement from the lender follows a recent statement it issued concerning all 605 of its high street locations.
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Banking sector leaders recently addressed the Treasury Committee about initiatives to open up access to financial services. Stephen Noakes, director of retail at Nationwide, discussed the significance of maintaining a physical presence on the high street for the building society.
He told the MPs: “In the last 12 months, 56 per cent of our customers used our branches. For Nationwide, it is not a minority offering. If you look to the demographic of the average Nationwide customer using a branch, it is typically older.”
State Pensioners to face major tax change
Customers can use numerous services at a Nationwide branch, including making deposits or withdrawals from accounts, or paying in cheques. Information from the savings giant explains that every branch has a manager who can provide support with financial matters or concerns you may be experiencing.
While numerous banks are scaling back their high street presence, Mr Noakes said he thinks it’s vital people have access to in-person services. He said: “We are probably seeing a disproportionate number of those customers who are offline, but I think it is good for the development of the banking sector that you have a large mutual – it is not just ourselves; other building societies are in the same situation – that will continue to do more channel of choice.
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“I think that situation will exist beyond 2030, when we currently have our branch commitment to.” Nationwide has pledged to keep open all its 605 current branches until at least 2030.
The building society will only close or relocate a branch if circumstances arise beyond its control. Nationwide says in its online guidance that it will only shut down or move a branch if “there’s no other workable option”.
£100 bonus payments for Nationwide members
One benefit of holding a Nationwide account in recent years is that you may have received bonus money credited to your account. The building society operates a Fairer Share scheme, through which it distributes profits among its members.
Three payments have been made through the initiative to date across the last three years, with £100 given to millions of members on each occasion. Nationwide previously said it would soon decide whether there would be another round of bonuses for 2026 based on its performance.
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A spokesperson said: “Nationwide’s Board will decide on a Fairer Share payment for 2026 and it will depend on our financial performance. That assessment will be made after our financial year-end, with the eligibility criteria for this year being agreed then too.
“The decision will be announced as part of our full-year results in May.” More than four million customers received the payment last year.
To be eligible, you needed to hold a qualifying current account, alongside either a qualifying savings account or a qualifying mortgage.
Luxury Persian rugs are stacked in piles in the Los Angeles shop which Eric Saddigh has owned for decades.
He shakes out a small handwoven rug with a peacock design. “This one is $25,000,” he says. A lot of his customers are Beverly Hills millionaires. The opulence seems far removed from the horrors of war, but for Eric, who left Iran aged 15, his homeland is never far from mind.
Portraits of the shahs, the monarchs who ruled Iran until the 1979 revolution, are displayed on the wall. The tricolour flag is hanging in the doorway, and in Eric there is optimism that the war launched by the US will result in a freer Iran.
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“I was just watching the news in Iran. They’re all joyous,” he says. “They are being bombed. At the same time, they’re okay with it. It’s amazing. I mean, I’m sitting here, I’m cheering, but I’m not under the threat of bombs.”
Image: Luxury Persian rugs are stacked in piles in Eric Saddigh’s Los Angeles shop
I ask if Eric thinks Donald Trump did the right thing by launching strikes.
“Donald Trump is doing a favour for the whole humanity,” he says. “Keeping these people’s hands off nuclear bombs. And some people, like Democrats, they’re full of baloney. They created this monster.”
Eric’s father is 91 and still lives in Tehran. They usually communicate via WhatsApp, but since the war broke out two weeks ago, communication channels have been shut down, and he’s been relying on his father to contact him.
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“My dad says it is chaos there, but he’s not afraid of the bombs; collateral damage is a part of war,” he says.
“God forbid, if my father gets killed, I would understand. I’m not going to be against it happening, there is a price to pay for freedom. Two months ago, 50,000 of our citizens got murdered – that bothers me. But we are trying to get free from this evil Nazi regime.”
Image: Portraits of the shahs are displayed on the shop’s walls
The Westwood and Beverly Hills areas of Los Angeles are home to the biggest diaspora of Iranians anywhere in the world. It’s known colloquially as Tehrangeles or Little Persia.
In Atari cafe, in so-called Persian Square, the birthplace of the Iranian business community here, waiters bring out platefuls of kebabs and rice. Serge Abdishoo, who left Iran with his family aged eight, is waiting to meet a friend.
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“It feels like we’re on the cusp of finally being able to breathe again after 47 years, if it’s actually successful,” he says. “But I mean first and foremost, my concern is for America… this is the country that’s been housing us, caring for us all these years.
“What are the repercussions to Americans? Innocent lives can easily be lost here due to that. I hope Homeland Security has a plan in place and that things have been controlled, but I’m very concerned.”
Image: Iran’s pre-Islamic Revolution flag alongside the US flag at Mr Saddigh’s shop
Mohammad Ghafarian owns a bakery and fruit and vegetable shop selling lavash bread, dates and other fresh food to a mostly Persian customer base. Mohammad, who has been in America for 53 years, is desperately hoping for change in Iran.
“I would love to go back to at least visit my brothers, my sisters,” he says. “In the end, I think this war is not finished so soon. But we’re going to have a hard time in America because of the prices going up, the price of oil going up, price of everything, grocery, everything goes up.”
Image: Mr Saddigh, who left Iran at 15, acknowledges ‘there is a price to pay for freedom’
The American intervention isn’t universally popular here. Aida, who is of Armenian descent, is running errands in Tehrangeles.
“I have many Iranian friends, and I understand they want a new regime, but this is not something so easy. It is a mess,” she says.
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“This is not gonna end unless somebody throws a bomb, a nuclear bomb. Because right now, it will be one fighting with the other. How can this end so quickly? Donald Trump won’t and Iran is [intent on] revenge. So when revenge is in the game, that game doesn’t get over so quickly.”
Aida is one of few dissenting voices in this area, though. Seven thousand miles from Iran, the overwhelming majority here support the war in their homeland and celebrate the US president who brought it about.
It’s the first time in 16 years Belfast’s Big Two have met in a final
Versatile James Singleton believes it could be glorious finale to the season for Glentoran – starting with Sunday’s massive McLean Cup Final showdown against rivals Linfield at Windsor Park.
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Declan Devine’s men also have their sights set on the Irish League title. They haven’t had their hands on the Gibson Cup since 2009, but are hot on the tails of League leaders Larne.
Singleton, however, is targeting a first piece of silverware in the form of the BetMcLean Cup. Incredibly, it’s the first time in 16 years Belfast’s Big Two have met in a final – and the former Glenavon man wants to make the most of it.
“We are in good shape approaching the game,” he said. “Linfield beat us recently at Windsor in a League game, but there was nothing in the match . . . that was our only defeat in 12 games or so.
“We created good chances on the night, but Linfield took one that came there way.
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“It probably wasn’t the best game of football, but Linfield managed to get the three points on the day.”
Singleton believes Glentoran now have a squad capable of challenging for all major honours.
“The manager has brought in some fantastic players at the start of the season and in January as well,” he added. “We now have two quality players for each position.
“We are in a good place at the minute. We can produce flair, but we can also dig in when needed.
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“It’s been hectic over the past few weeks in terms of playing schedule. It has been rest, recovery and play because we have been involved in so many games.
“There is so much at stake in every game, we couldn’t afford to look ahead in terms of this Cup Final, but we are ready to go, it should be a great spectacle.
“We would love to get over the line for our supporters. They have stuck with us through thick and thin, it would be great to give them something to celebrate.”
Meanwhile, Linfield boss David Healy believes is team must show a big improvement following their unconvincing League win over Portadown.
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“The most important thing is winning at this time of the season,” he said. “We should have been better, we could have played better. It was disappointing.
“But we found a way to win and that’s the most important thing.
“We are trying to close the gap on the teams above us, but we will need to be better going forward.
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“We’ll certainly need to improve against Glentoran or we’ll be found out. It should be a great spectacle, I’m excited and I’m looking forward to it.”
The introduction of VAR (Visual Assisted Referee) will also be in use for the first time in a local game.
Healy added: “Firstly, as a club we were not consulted, which was disappointing.
“I know it’s used throughout the world, but hopefully, it will not be the topic of conversation 20 minutes after the game.
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“People form their own opinions; it remains to be seen whether it will be a success or not.”
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Bryan, from the South East, was deeply moved while clearing out his mother’s belongings after her death.
“She’d held onto every single card I’d ever sent to her since before I could actually write her name. I expect she’d bought that one and guided my infant hand to write it.”
“She was a pragmatic, hard-lived woman not given to emotion, but she’d clearly valued those cards. It’s not the expensive presents she wanted, just a quiet, sincere expression of appreciation and knowing she was loved,” Bryan says.
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The best gift Jayne, from Yorkshire, received was her first as a grandma. “My daughter couldn’t afford much, so she made a card and inside it was a foot and hand print of my then 6-month-old grandson, I cried!”
“I still have that print alongside larger ones of when he was a little older in a frame, on my stairway,” she says.
Jayne will never forget how her mum reacted when she gifted her a Pendelfin bunny, which she bought when she was 12 years old with her babysitting money.
“It was in the window of the paper shop on the way to school. Each week, I went in and paid a little bit off it until it was mine,” she explains.
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“My mum cried when I gave her it on the morning of Mother’s Day and she had it until the day she died.”
Seasonal blooms
Flowers topped the list as one of the most-mentioned gifts from our readers.
He was already serving a life sentence for murdering his sister-in-law
A convicted murderer who attacked a prisoner officer by stabbing him with a plastic knife, has had his sentence extended.
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Moustapha Dia, 28, approached the prison officer, who was locking doors on the wing of HMP Whitemoor, near March, at about 2pm on October 19 2024.
Dia whispered something to him, then quickly grabbed him into a headlock and began stabbing him to the head, face and neck with a plastic knife. The attack only stopped when other prison officers managed to intervene and disarm Dia.
The victim was taken to Peterborough City Hospital, where he was treated for concussion and several cuts to his face and neck.
Dia denied the charges and stood trial at Huntingdon Law Courts in January, where he was found guilty of being in possession of an offensive weapon in prison and wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
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At Huntingdon Law Courts on Thursday (March 12), Dia had four years added onto his existing life sentence.
DC Emma Purser, who investigated, said: “This was a ferocious and cowardly attack by Dia, who targeted a prison officer much smaller in stature than him. Luckily the officer was only left with superficial injuries, but the intent was there to do much worse.
“There is no doubt that prison officers do a difficult job in challenging circumstances, and this attack will no doubt have a lasting psychological impact on the victim, who was just trying to do his job.
“This level of violence is completely unacceptable and I am pleased that Dia has faced justice for his actions despite denying the charges.”
Mary Trump has accused her uncle Donald Trump of throwing a baseball ‘as hard as he could’ at her when she was just five years old, with journalist April Ryan calling the president the male version ‘of Cruella de Vil’
President Donald Trump was accused by his niece of supposedly hurling a baseball “as hard as he could” at her when she was merely five years old.
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Speaking frankly with journalist April Ryan, the president’s niece discussed the family dynamics, explaining that her grandmother would typically spend time with the girls whilst her grandfather would spend time with the boys. “I tried to hang with my brother and my cousin and my uncles, but one, I was the youngest, and two, I was a girl, so they didn’t really want me around, but I would try,” Mary remembered.
Mary recounted on Friday that whenever the future president would visit, which she said was frequent given that they spent most weekends there, she would often try to play sports with him and her Uncle Rob. “We’d play either soccer or throw baseball in the backyard,” she told Ryan.
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“So yes, I would play ball with them,” Mary continued. “But Donald, despite the fact that he was 20 years older than I was and I was five, would still throw the ball as hard as he possibly could.”
Ryan was stunned by the revelation. “What? Oh my God,” she exclaimed whilst labelling the president the male equivalent “of Cruella de Vil.”, reports the Irish Star.
Mary Trump has consistently criticised her uncle since he returned to office. Most recently, Mary condemned the president after he appeared to forget where his father was born. During a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump mistakenly claimed that his father was born in Germany. “I love the U.K., my mother was born there,” Trump remarked whilst discussing the nation’s energy and immigration issues.
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The president then gestured towards Merz, stating, “My father was… he knows all about my father. My father was born there.” However, the president is mistaken. His late father was actually born in the Bronx, New York. Mary subsequently posted a biting tweet accusing the president of being incorrect.
“This is not the kind of insider knowledge most people have access to, but my grandfather, Fred Trump, Sr., was not born in Germany,” she declared. “He was born in the Bronx, NY, and grew up in Woodhaven, Queens–something you’d think his favourite son would know.”
Representatives for Donald Trump have been approached for comment.
Santander will close 40 branches across the UK in April and May 2026, with 13 shutting on April 28-29 and 27 more by May 20 – here’s the full list of closures
Banking giant Santander is set to close 40 branches across the UK in weeks. The bank announced in January that it was reducing its presence on the high street by a total of 44 locations, including four which closed that month.
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It said at the time that a further 40 branches would go by the end of May, explaining the move was as a result of customers turning to online services. The lender said that more than nine out of 10 (96%) of customer transactions were now conducted through digital platforms.
Santander also confirmed that a total of 291 jobs were at risk as a result of the planned closures. That announcement came less than 12 months after the Spanish banking firm announced the closure of 95 branches last March, a decision that impacted 750 employees.
In July 2025 Santander’s then UK chief executive Mike Regnier, revealed that about 2,000 jobs had been lost during the preceding year under the bank’s restructuring. At that time he said more redundancies “might well be” likely.
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Santander said then affected branches will be succeeded by “community bankers” through Santander Local stores or shared banking hubs. He said this would continue to give access to services for customers in those areas hit by the closures.
The next wave of closures is now due to take place in weeks. The affected branches are listed below.
Most free to play video games are online shooters but a reader asks what would happen if every game was free and anyone could play anything they wanted.
Video games are weird when it comes to prices. The average cost of a game has barely increased at all in 40 years and consoles only a relatively little amount. Which sounds good in theory, except they’re still expensive to most people and not the sort of thing you really buy without either a lot of research or a good sale.
People don’t want to pay more but publishers desperately need them to, because the cost of making games definitely has gone up over the years. The solution to this has been free-to-play games where they make their money, not on the game but the microtransactions, with skins and other cosmetics that seem utterly worthless to me but are apparently highly desirable to some people.
A couple of million people paying £70 for a game is nothing compared to tens of millions paying £7 for a skin every other week and so we arrive at a place where Fortnite is virtually a video games industry in itself, and half of all games that people play are the same 10 that have been out for the best part of a decade.
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PIC 1
Almost all of these free-to-play games are online multiplayer games, mostly shooters but also things like Rocket League. This is because competitive games are the most universally popular, that anyone can understand in an instant, but also because you’re competing against other people you’ve also got a lot of reasons to buy skin and gear, to show off to other people.
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But what if all games were free (just by magic or whatever, I’m not suggesting this is a real thing that could happen) and microtransactions weren’t a thing or were also free. What would people play then, if their personal preference was all that mattered?
When I first started this thought experiment, I imagined all the obscure genres that I love, like real-time strategies and space combat simulators, that would come back, because people would be free to pick and choose and experiment. Money would no longer be an issue, and so people would be free to follow their whims and discover all sorts of weird and wonderful things they had no idea they’d like.
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And then I realised I was being naïve and that in reality almost nothing would change. Even if games didn’t cost money they take time and most people aren’t interested in spending it learning something new when they only sat down for a game for a quick blast or to relax (which is perfectly fine, I’m not dissing that).
In fact, we’ve had very clear evidence that nothing would change with Game Pass, which is free at the point of use. Instead of sampling lots of previously unknown games and taking a chance on weird indie titles, people just stick to what they know, either because they’re not interested or are literally paralysed with choice.
I’ve also heard of people flicking through a dozen or more games at a time and playing them only for a few minutes and writing them off instantly. Not just because of time but also because they don’t have any faith that they’ll like anything they didn’t already know about.
That, I’m afraid, is human nature. You see it on Netflix and other streaming services too. It’s not the avant-garde shows that are popular it’s the dumb as rocks ones. And what kind of movies do Netflix make for itself? Other than a few that are specifically meant as Oscar bait, they’re usually incredibly stupid action films that sell themselves as having an actor you’ve already heard of in them.
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I just don’t think there’s anyway to make a substantial number of people interested in gaming the way fans are. That should be obvious – most people have their own hobbies that they’re more attached to – but I think the high cost of gaming makes us think that if only they were cheaper people’s tastes and wants would radically change.
I don’t think they would though. Maybe they’d expand slightly but the further you go back in time, when there were more genres in the mainstream, it’s not just because games were cheaper to make back then but because the majority of people were gamers and they were looking for something new and interesting.
Now the majority of people that play games don’t consider it an important hobby to them. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s the price of being successful, but it also shows why Xbox’s goal of having three billion players was always nonsense. There aren’t that many people in the world that will ever like games that much and we just have to accept that.
By reader Heckler
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Fortnite is not just popular because it’s free (Epic Games)
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You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.
US orders non-emergency government workers to leave Oman due to ‘safety risks’
The US has ordered non-emergency government workers and families of government workers to leave Oman due to “safety risks”.
Oman is one of several Gulf countries Iran has attacked amid the growing conflict in the Middle East, according to the United Nations.
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Rachel Dobkin14 March 2026 02:15
Five US Air Force planes hit by Iranian strike
Five US Air Force refueling planes were struck while on the ground at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia by an Iranian missile in recent days, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday night, citing US officials.
There were no casualties, and damage to the planes is being repaired, per the WSJ.
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Rachel Dobkin14 March 2026 01:53
Israeli strikes kill 14 medical workers in Lebanon: report
Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed 14 medical workers and injured six more, the country’s health ministry said early Saturday local time, per The New York Times.
The health ministry said the workers were affiliated with either Hezbollah’s social services network or with the Shia Amal Movement, the NYT reported.
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Rachel Dobkin14 March 2026 01:30
Israeli military kills two more children in Gaza, medics say
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three Palestinians, including two 17-year-olds, Palestinian medics said on Friday, with violence continuing in the West Bank and Gaza even as Israel expands its offensive across the region.
Israel has used lethal force in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
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Israeli forces killed two in the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, according to Palestinian officials, while the death toll in Lebanon reached 773, its Health Ministry said on Friday.
After nearly two weeks of war, 2,000 people have been killed, most of them in Iran, with several million people displaced from their homes.
Alex Croft14 March 2026 01:00
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Trump says Iran is ‘DEAD’
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday night local time that Iran is “DEAD” as the conflict in the Middle East has dragged on for nearly two weeks.
“Iran had plans of taking over the entire Middle East, and completely obliterating Israel. JUST LIKE IRAN ITSELF, THOSE PLANS ARE NOW DEAD”, Trump said.
Trump’s social media post came after he announced the US military “totally obliterated” Kharg Island, Iran’s vital oil export port.
Rachel Dobkin14 March 2026 00:47
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Iranian supreme leader wounded and may be disfigured, says Hegseth
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and may be disfigured, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday.
In the remarks, Hegseth questioned Khamenei’s ability to govern after nearly two weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
No images have been released of Khamenei since an Israeli strike at the start of the war that killed much of his family, including his father and wife.
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The supreme leader’s first comments came in a statement read by a television presenter on Thursday. In the statement, he vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and called on neighboring countries to close US bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.
“We know the new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement,” Hegseth told a briefing.
“Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father – dead. He’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy.”
Alex Croft14 March 2026 00:30
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Alex Croft13 March 2026 23:55
What is Kharg Island and why is it so crucial?
Donald Trump says the US has carried out one of the most ferocious bombing attacks on all time, on Iran’s Kharg Island.
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The island is the linchpin of Iran’s oil industry, a dominant export port which is connected by pipeline to the major oil fields in southwest Iran.
It is also one of the only places on Iran;s western coast that can accomodate supertankers due to the depth of the water.
Iran has centralised much of its exports from Kharg Island over several decades, significantly reducing its costs.
While Iran’s reliance on a single oil terminal appeared to be a major vulnerability, it had also led to it being deemed untouchable because of the potential impact on the global oil economy if it came under attack.
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Under the current US administration, and its vicious war on Iran, this has all changed.
Some analysts have even predicted that oil prices could soar to US$150 (£112) a barrel if Kharg is hit, a move that could shatter any remaining confidence in the financial markets that Trump can achieve his war aims without significant and long-term disruption to the global economy.
Alex Croft13 March 2026 23:38
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UN warns closure of Strait of Hormuz could impact on humanitarian operations
A top UN humanitarian official warned on Friday that closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route in the Middle East, could have “immense impact” on humanitarian operations amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
“When ships stop moving through that Strait, the consequences travel fast,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
“Food, medicine, fertilizer and other supplies become harder to move and more expensive to deliver.”
Alex Croft13 March 2026 23:34
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Watch: JD Vance refuses to reveal advice he gave Trump on Iran – ‘I don’t want to go to prison’
JD Vance refuses to reveal advice he gave Trump on Iran: ‘I don’t want to go to prison’
