Long before we had modern antibiotics to rely on, people often turned to traditional medicines from plants to treat infections.
The root of tormentil (Potentilla erecta), a small yellow wildflower that grows across Ireland, the UK and Europe, was used for centuries in Irish and European traditional medicine. It was used to treat wounds, sore throats, diarrhoea and gum disease. These traditional uses suggested that tormentil could contain compounds powerful enough to kill microbes.
Our latest research has now shown that not only does tormentil have antimicrobial activity, it may also be powerful enough to fight microbes that are resistant to modern antibiotics.
Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global threat. This occurs when bacteria evolve to survive the drugs used to treat common infections. This makes some infections very difficult and sometimes impossible to treat. Antimicrobial resistance could be pushing us back to a time when once treatable infections could again become deadly.
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Researchers are therefore searching for new antimicrobial compounds. Plants are a promising source, having evolved over millennia to produce a wide range of bioactive chemicals to defend themselves against microbes.
In our recent study, we investigated whether various Irish bogland plants contain compounds that could help fight multi-drug resistant bacteria.
To do this, we prepared extracts from over 70 different plant species collected from bogs across Ireland. We then tested them against clinically relevant bacterial pathogens in the laboratory – including bacteria which cause severe pneumonia and urinary tract infections.
We used antimicrobial susceptibility testing to see whether the extracts inhibited bacterial growth. This involved exposing the bacteria to the various plant extracts to see which extract inhibited the growth of the bacteria.
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We then tested these extracts on biofilms to determine whether the plant compounds could prevent bacteria from forming biofilms. Biofilms are bacterial communities surrounded by a slimy carbohydrate shield that protects them from antibiotics, disinfectants and the immune system.
Excitingly, our initial screening showed that tormentil extracts were antimicrobial and limited the formation of biofilms. This suggested these extracts contained compounds with antimicrobial activity, which may explain their historical use to treat infection.
Tormentil extracts were shown to starve harmful bacterial cells. 12photography/ Shutterstock
We also explored whether these plant extracts could work in combination with existing antibiotics, as some plant compounds don’t kill bacteria directly but instead can make antibiotics work better. So we combined low levels of the antibiotic colistin – an antibiotic that is only used as a last-resort against severe infections due to its potential toxicity to patients – with the tormentil extract. The low-level antibiotic dosage wasn’t enough to kill the bacteria when used on its own. But when combined with the tormentil extract, the plant compound enhanced the antibiotic’s efficacy.
Part of our team then performed an analysis to identify the compounds present in the tormentil extracts. Potentilla plants are known to contain naturally occurring compounds, such as ellagic acid and agrimoniin, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
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We tested ellagic acid and agrimoniin compounds which were present in our bogland tormentil. We showed that these specific compounds could inhibit bacterial growth. This indicates they may be responsible for tormentil’s antimicrobial activity.
We subsequently found these compounds were doing this by scavenging iron – a nutrient that’s essential for bacterial growth. This effectively starved the bacterial cells, preventing them from growing. We are now focused on optimising this antimicrobial activity and developing formulations to test its potential as a treatment in experimental models.
Nature has always been a rich source of medicine. Many antibiotics that we use today originally came from natural sources. For instance, the potent, last-resort antibiotics vancomycin – which is used to treat MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and C difficile infections – came from soil microbes.
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With antimicrobial resistance continuing to rise globally, we urgently need new approaches and treatments. Plants may be an underexplored source of both new antimicrobial compounds and of compounds that make existing drugs more effective.
The story of tormentil shows how nature and traditional medicine can work hand in hand with modern science to address today’s challenges. It also highlights that solutions can be found in unexplored places – even in a small yellow wildflower growing in a bogland.
Harvey Browne threatened to kill the victim while on court bail
14:43, 29 Apr 2026Updated 14:45, 29 Apr 2026
A man has been jailed after trying to drown his pregnant girlfriend. Harvey Browne, 20, tried to push the victim down into bath water at their home in Godmanchester last August.
He also subjected her to physical abuse including punching her in the stomach. Officers arrived after concerned neighbours contacted the police and arrested Browne.
Browne had threatened to kill the victim while on court bail and said he would “put her in a coffin” before police could help her. Browne, of Moselle Avenue, Haringey, Greater London, was arrested for sending communication threatening death or serious harm.
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He pleaded guilty to this offence and assault ABH. Browne was sentenced to two years and nine months in a young offender institution at Cambridge Crown Court on Monday, April 27. He was also given a restraining order.
Detective Constable James Lewis, who investigated, said: “This was a brutal assault carried out behind closed doors designed to cause fear and suffering for the victim, who I would like to commend for the courage she has shown throughout the investigation.
“Domestic abuse can take many forms and often escalates quickly. If you or someone you know is experiencing violence or controlling behaviour, please know that support is available and we will always take reports seriously.”
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And that’s without even touching the upcoming revivals of Legally Blonde, 13 Going On 30 and Pirates Of The Caribbean currently in the pipeline, alongside whichever animated Disney classic is getting the live-action remake treatment next.
Somewhat inevitably, it’s now The Devil Wears Prada’s turn to get the sequel treatment, 20 years after the world first saw Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in action as the tyrannical magazine editor Miranda Priestly and her doe-eyed assistant Andy Sachs.
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The Devil Wears Prada 2 reunites Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly and Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs
Given the enduring popularity of the original 2006 film, and how engrained it is in pop culture, it was always going to take a cinematic miracle for the imaginatively-titled The Devil Wears Prada 2 to live up to its iconic predecessor.
Indeed, it’s probably no great spoiler to say that it never really manages it – but that’s not to say that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a bad film, albeit not a hugely memorable one.
We pick up two decades on from the original film, Miranda Priestly still reigning supreme at the head of Runway magazine and on the cusp of a promotion at its publishing house, when a PR disaster puts her head squarely on the cancel culture chopping block.
As the higher-ups grow desperate to turn around Runway’s fortunes, they opt to hire a prestigious, award-winning journalist – who just happens to be Miranda’s old assistant – as its new features editor, in an attempt to indicate that the brand is moving with the times. And that’s how, once again, Andy Sachs comes to find herself working for Miranda Priestly.
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Over its two-hour runtime, The Devil Wears Prada 2 does pretty much everything you’re expecting it to – providing a nostalgic trip down memory lane and some glossy escapism, peppered with eye-catching fashion montages, so many A-list cameos you’ll struggle to keep up (and I mean that genuinely, there were celebrity names in the closing credits I completely missed) and, believe it or not, even some unexpected twists and actual laughs along the way.
The characters we already know and love are brought up to the present day in ways that make sense for all of them, with Emily Blunt once again stealing the show as former-Runway-assistant-turned-fashion-exec Emily.
Emily Blunt is once again the MVP in The Devil Wears Prada 2
And while Emily Blunt is the MVP, a close second would be new addition Justin Theroux as an awkward tech billionaire with more than a whiff of Elon Musk. Emily and Justin are paired up for much of the film, and deliver most of its best comedy moments – outside of a cameo from a certain pop diva, who proves to be one of the few people in the Devil Wears Prada universe capable of giving Miranda Priestly a run for her money.
On the nostalgia-front, it goes without saying that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is packed full of references to the first film. These work best when they’re carefully placed as Easter eggs for fans to discover on their own or thrown away like one of Miranda Priestly’s icy putdowns.
Unfortunately, more often than not, these callbacks arrive with all the subtlety of an elbow to the face, with characters heavy-handedly explaining their jokes rather than letting them breathe, which can give the film the feeling of a Netflix original made for “second screening” rather than one of 2026’s biggest cinematic events.
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Similarly, the film’s industrial strength product placement does prove to be a bit of a distraction, with Runway employees throwing back Diet Cokes and Starbucks drinks as big as their heads, while fashion and beauty brand names are obviously dropped with abandon.
There’s also a shoehorned-in love story that feels like a last-minute addition that was slotted in alongside the main storyline when someone remembered the original film is a romantic comedy, and the sequel had better sprinkle something of that nature in the sequel.
On the other hand, I can say as someone who’s spent more than a decade working in digital news, that The Devil Wears Prada 2’s overarching storyline about the general state of the media industry is done surprisingly well, with the themes about the importance of good journalism feeling especially prescient in these Trump-ian times we’re living in.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 has a message about the state of the media in 2026 hidden alongside its nostalgic jokes and fashion montages
Real talk, it’s unlikely any of us will be quoting The Devil Wears Prada 2 with the abandon that lines from the first movie are still thrown around today, and while certain guest stars and set pieces do stand out, as a film, the sequel never really steps out of its predecessor’s shadow. But realistically, who was expecting it to?
Taking it for what it is, The Devil Wears Prada 2 does pretty much everything you’d hope it would. Regardless of how long it stays with you afterwards, there’s no denying that it’s great to see Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway back in character after all these years, and it certainly serves up some glossy escapism.
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Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself with a sudden craving for a Diet Coke halfway through…
The Devil Wears Prada hits cinemas on Friday 1 May.
Black Flag Resynced is the first Assassin’s Creed remake (Ubisoft)
Ubisoft is testing the waters with a remake of one of Assassin’s Creed most beloved entries, but this stale franchise is too beholden to past glories.
Few games have made an impact through a single trailer like Assassin’s Creed. The CGI clip, shown at E3 2006, promised an evolution of Ubisoft’s Prince Of Persia acrobatics in an open world historical setting. It was a leading showcase of where third person action games were heading at the start of the Xbox 360 era, and graphically it set the world alight.
The original Assassin’s Creed failed to live up to this promise. It was highly repetitive and pretty shoddy despite its visual splendour, while the sci-fi Animus twist largely got in the way of the 12th century hijinks. The series, however, executed on its original promise with Assassin’s Creed 2, which replicated the Italian Renaissance period with a dynamite (and still series’ best) protagonist in Ezio, who led its two sequels Brotherhood and Revelations.
It’s been over 15 years since Assassin’s Creed 2, and while Ubisoft has iterated on the formula with ship battles, role-playing systems, and more varied settings, the series has never achieved the same creative fervor. In many ways, Assassin’s Creed 2 is the series’ equivalent of Activision’s Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a defining template which was so successful, and worked so well, there’s been little reason to deviate from it since.
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Like Call Of Duty, Assassin’s Creed games are now simply part of the furniture in the gaming landscape. They’re consistently solid, and remain a financial bedrock for Ubisoft, but it’s a well-worn, familiar concept which long ago stopped being cutting edge.
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The latter, if true, could be an interesting rework because it is a barely playable relic at this point, but based on the conservative improvements seen in the Black Flag Resynced trailer, we don’t have much faith that Ubisoft is looking to meaningfully upgrade anything beyond the obvious.
There are improved visuals, talk of refreshed combat, new parkour animations, and better tailing missions, but you’re still gallivanting through the same V-shaped trees and waiting to parry enemies in an awkward circle.
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It’s perhaps unfair to expect a substantial series’ overhaul in a remake, but going back to the bones of a 13 year old game – which doesn’t feel too divorced from last year’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows in terms of gameplay – only reinforces how stagnant and dry the entire series has become.
When you compare it to the player choice seen in Baldur’s Gate 3 or the immersive, layered systems in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Assassin’s Creed feels dated and lifeless.
Ubisoft has little incentive, at least financially, to change anything at this stage but Assassin’s Creed is in dire need of a creative uproot if it wants to continue for the next decade.
Movement-wise, it needs to compete with the slick transitions in Insomniac’s Spider-Man. It could also take some structural cues from Io Interactive’s Hitman, where the sandbox levels are far more dense with assassination opportunities and reactive systems in enclosed scenarios.
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Assassin’s Creed games aren’t known for their bold narratives, but maybe a radical, unexpected shift in setting could spark some creative verve. Go more contemporary with a Second World War spy slant, or lean into the sci-fi premise and shoot forwards in time instead. Fundamentally, surprise people with something fresh beyond the swords and sandals.
Ubisoft is promising a ‘very different type of Assassin’s Creed game’ for its next mainline title, codenamed Hexe, which will be a ‘darker, narrative-driven’ experience. It remains to be seen what that means exactly, but based on the studio’s track record over the past decade, it’s hard to imagine it isn’t just another production line sequel with a setting swap.
Assassin’s Creed is one of the biggest franchises in gaming, and was once a creative force in the realm of third person action games, but Ubisoft has allowed it to coast into an outdated and predictable mould. It’s about time it stopped dredging up the past, and gave players an exciting, rejuvenated reason to be excited about its future.
It needs more than just a graphical update (Ubisoft)
Diego Simeone has questioned Arsenal’s penalty decision after their 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid (UEFA via Getty)
Diego Simeone was unhappy with Arsenal’s penalty decision after Atletico Madrid’s 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night.
Viktor Gyokeres put Arsenal in front from the penalty spot late in the first half after he was barged over in the box by Atletico centre-back David Hancko.
Atletico were then awarded a penalty of their own in the second half after the ball struck Ben White’s hand from Marcos Llorente’s shot, and Julian Alvarez stepped up to equalise for Simeone’s side.
Arsenal felt they had a second penalty when Hancko mistimed an interception and stood on Eberechi Eze’s foot, however, Dutch referee Danny Makkelie reversed his initial decision after watching several replays on the VAR screen.
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When asked about Gyokeres’ penalty decision in the first half, Simeone said: ‘In my opinion, the first penalty involved contact from behind, the player anticipated the contact and went down.
Viktor Gyokeres was barged over by David Hancko inside Atletico’s penalty area (AFP via Getty)
‘In Champions League semi-finals, you need a penalty that is truly a penalty.
‘The referee understood that it was. On the other occasion, thanks to VAR, he understood that it was a penalty because initially it wasn’t a handball, and then, in the second instance, also thanks to VAR, it wasn’t a penalty.
‘VAR sometimes gives you the benefit of the doubt and sometimes it takes it away.’
Arteta, meanwhile, admitted Arsenal were ‘fuming’ with the decision to overturn Eze’s penalty claim in the second half.
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‘The decision and then what happens for a period of time. The referee has to watch it 13 times, it’s clearer than that,’ Arteta said.
‘It’s impossible, and yeah, we are all fuming about it.
Mikel Arteta said Arsenal were ‘fuming’ with their overturned penalty decision (AP)
Asked if Atletico’s supporters and animated coaching staff had an impact on the decision, Arteta replied: ‘That has nothing to do with that.
‘I’m sure they are very well aware of what the reaction is going to be. It’s normal, that reaction, we need to apply the rules.
‘The same thing that I’m saying, that they applied the rules on Ben White’s penalty, that is difficult to accept, but it is a penalty with a handbook.
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‘And what they said at the beginning of the season, Ebs is a clear and very obvious penalty. That’s it.’
Conversations with the monarch are normally kept private, but the president told a white-tie state banquet: “We have militarily defeated that particular opponent, and we’re never going to let that opponent ever – Charles agrees with me, even more than I do – we’re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.”
Stephen Phillips has been a resident of Navigation Road for more than 20 years but says the outdoor space he shares with other residents has “never looked this bad”.
The property’s front gardens are overgrown, he said, with knee-high weeds and shrubbery, despite some residents paying a service charge for the council to maintain the space.
Recommended reading:
Speaking about this, Stephen said: “Over the past couple of years, the standard of upkeep has noticeably declined.”
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Stephen Phillips said the weeds have not been maintained by the council since late last year (Image: Newsquest)
He added: “The condition of these spaces has now reached a point where they are becoming an eyesore for residents.
“On Navigation Road, for example, ivy is left to grow unchecked up the walls year after year.
“The grass is often left to grow excessively long before being cut, and when it is eventually maintained, the result is untidy, with cuttings left scattered across footpaths.
“These are not cleared away, leading to grass being walked into nearby flats.”
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The grass is left to grow “excessively” long before being cut in areas around Walmgate, Stephen said (Image: Supplied)
Stephen said the council had not cut the communal grass areas at the front and back of his block of flats since late last year.
He said: “I have ongoing concerns about the poor maintenance of public garden areas in York, particularly in the Walmgate area.
“There is a significant issue with weeds. They are growing up to window frames and pushing through cracks in pavements, further contributing to the neglected appearance of the area.
“This situation is disappointing and impacts the overall environment and quality of life for residents.
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“I would appreciate it if the council could address these issues and provide information on how and when regular maintenance will be improved.”
City of York Council has been approached for comment and we’ll add it here when we hear back.
Can Wolverine beat Spider-Man? (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Thursday letters page is frustrated at an increasingly online-only future for digital game downloads, as a reader gets hold of Saros a day early.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
New hero I see that Insomanic are talking about showing off more of Marvel’s Wolverine ‘this spring’. But does that mean just the usual not-E3 event, which Sony has taken to doing in late May, which is still technically spring, or do they mean a separate event before that?
I know no-one knows but I would be happy if it got its own one because not only do I want to know more about the game but I kind of want to get it out of the way so Sony can announce more new stuff and show off Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
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I’m not convinced that Wolverine is going to be as good or as popular as Spider-Man 2. For a start Wolverine doesn’t have any cool movement system of his own, like web-swinging, and he doesn’t have the same kind of rogue’s gallery as Spidey. I also think the game is going to be too gory for casual gamers, especially as giant robots and magic powers don’t really mix with tons of blood and guts.
Maybe I’m wrong, because I’ve never read any of the comics, but I’m just not sure there’s much he can really do that would be all that interesting for a video game. Especially as you know he can’t be killed. Polar
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Specialist audience I’m not sure I really understand who the Steam Machine is for. If you’re a Steam fan already then you’ve got a PC and don’t need a console version of one, especially as it likely won’t even be that powerful.
So it’s for people that want a gaming PC but haven’t got one, but do have £600+ hanging around that they’re willing to spend on one. That doesn’t sound like it’d be a very big group of people to me.
It’s no skin off my back what they do but whenever there’s a flop that always means taking money away from something else to make up for it. I don’t want Steam sales to suck for the next couple of years or Half-Life 3 to get cancelled after all. Uther
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Different games I was dismayed to read on the Eurogamer site that a slew of movies from the Nintendo Cinematic Universe are in the pipeline. While intrigued at the prospect of a live action Metroid, we can be sure that these movies will be more generic and critically slated than even those of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Worse, they’ll make a ton of money for Nintendo.
What’s good for Nintendo isn’t necessarily good for gaming. With the challenges the video game industry faces, there’ll be a strong temptation to pivot the business further in this direction and focus on monetising their IP in ways unrelated to actual video games, including theme parks, merchandise, shops, and so forth.
It may have been better for gamers if the Super Mario Galaxy movie had bombed. Ciara PS: Despite the trigger warning I really thought the news about XCOM would be game related, a remaster or something. I would say then that your warning was insufficient. Admittedly, I didn’t get on with the Marvel spin-off at all. Apart from anything else, too much dialogue to trawl though. I did at least purchase it.
GC: It was game related, just not video games. A Donkey Kong spin-off movie was mooted some time ago; it’s why he’s only a cameo in the Galaxy movie.
In the wild Just scooped up Saros, from CeX of all places, where every title is second-hand and it’s literally impossible to even consider buying a game before it releases. Unlike Amazon or even GAME, you can’t think of pre-ordering any game, you need to wait until it arrives at the store. But somehow it was sitting in a store in Essex, of all places. Two copies were available. I picked up the first copy and before you know it, it’s sold out immediately. Used two vouchers to reduce the cost and I only had to pay £28.95. £34 shaved off the total price.
Speaking of Saros, GC’s review already sold me on the game, but the talk of difficulty modifiers sealed it for me. The fact is that as brilliant as Returnal is, the fact is that the game has a low completion rate unfortunately. At least on PlayStation 5. I can’t speak for PC players. But the fact that Housemarque took the feedback on board and made changes is a promising sign.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely know I’ll be slaughtered time and time again when playing this. Every player will be eventually. But it’s a boon when a title like Hades and Hades 2 don’t offer traditional difficulty settings, but instead offer alternatives to make the difficulty manageable, which I absolutely wish Black Myth: Wukong took in stride. Wukong needed difficulty settings if it wanted to compare itself to God Of War, which always has had difficulty settings. But Wukong didn’t even feature a shield, parry or even block. Even Saros has a shield for defence. Lies Of P has a parry system. Wukong has a skill tied to parrying, which is just very questionable.
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Elden Ring used the open world to make traversing The Lands Between a more enjoyable experience. If you found yourself under-levelled for an area, explore elsewhere and come back more equipped. I don’t ask to be mollycoddled by the developers when it comes to such action titles, though I always do appreciate it greatly. But it absolutely is titles such as Hades, Elden Ring, and Saros that I appreciate for their approach to difficulty.
Not every gamer has the time to spend hours on bosses or difficult enemies. So I can safely say that I am looking very forward to Saros and I hope it is easier than Returnal. Because I would like to see Arjun Devraj’s story through to the end and appreciate the world of Carcosa, without giving up in frustration. Because a developer like Housemarque deserves that opportunity.
As for what is coming throughout May, when it comes to gaming releases, I’m not entirely sold on 007 First Light and Lego Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight. As far as mainstream titles are concerned I’ll be waiting for the reviews, because Crimson Desert taught me to do so. Shahzaib Sadiq
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Take two games Rockstar Games returning to some of their older franchises is interesting but a) I don’t really believe them and b) I don’t think a lot of them really hold up anymore. L.A. Noire was sold on its graphics when it first came out and nowadays I don’t think there’s any way to update it without totally changing the gameplay. More realistic looking faces just isn’t enough.
What I’d much prefer is if Rockstar was going to make new IP instead. Considering the position they’re in they haven’t used the freedom they have almost at all. There is literally nothing they could want to do next that Take-Two wouldn’t agree to, and yet I have a nasty feeling the only thing they’ll make next is Red Dead Redemption 3. Campbell
Live service lite Apparently the PlayStation DRM thing is to close an exploit where people were buying games digitally, taking their console offline and then refunding the game (or something along those lines). Basically, people were abusing the returns system to play a game for free. The DRM is allegedly time-limited and lifts after the return window is closed. Not elegant, but I guess people can’t have nice things.
I agree with the article on PlayStation’s live service approach, i.e. that they basically have live service lite games in their catalogue now, that were ostensibly single-player games, that are more successful than their targeted efforts. I’d include things like Ghost Of Yōtei in that, which has had multiple large content updates to add new multiplayer options since launch.
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It seems like a less risky approach and had they tested the waters on small-scale multiplayer modes for The Last Of Us and God Of War maybe they’d have had something to show for the effort expended, instead of cumulative decades of work going in the bin. Going straight to ‘This is the new Star Wars and will make us billions’ was madness. Ho hum, I’m sure they’ve learned their lesson though… Magnumstache
Culture bomb That Take-Two boss has always seemed like he knows what’s going on but he’s definitely right when it comes to people taking time off for GTA 6. We’ve had a few people talking about it lately, but that game is going to be like a bomb going off in pop culture. Not only are you going to hear about it everywhere but everyone’s going to be talking about it all the time.
I don’t think movies really have that kind of impact nowadays, but GTA 6 will absolutely be the one thing everyone will be talking about this winter and for months and months afterwards. Scooter
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Always online I’m on my second PlayStation 5. I got a disc version 18 months after it launched but I had to travel for my job for most of 2024, so I sold it and got a digital version so that I wouldn’t have to carry discs with me.
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None of the games will work if I’m not connected to the internet when I power it on. They require this check a lot more often than every 30 days.
Sony customer service told me that I need to nominate it as my main console. The way they told me to do this was by reading the serial number under my first PlayStation 4, which I sold to get a PS4 Pro years before.
The thing is, I had a small handful of digital games on my disc PlayStation 5 and never had this issue.
It feels like Sony think I’ve shared my account password with someone else to use my digital library. Despite never having had more than one PlayStation console at any one time. Another factor may be that I’ve never registered a card on my PlayStation account, only ever redeem gift cards. So there is nothing like ID attached to it.
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It isn’t fun. I exclusively connect to the internet via my phone’s hot spot now, in case my internet connection goes wonky and I won’t be able to play any of the games I paid for fair and square. Tom Twice
GC: It’s bad and we fear it’s going to get worse over time, for all consoles, as companies try to squeeze out both physical games and any possibility of piracy. The likelihood that Sony, or anyone else, will care about an edge case like this is sadly quite low.
Inbox also-rans I see Marathon’s player numbers are getting close to under 10,000. That is not good. I really don’t think Bungie is going to last the year at this rate. Should’ve made a game with a story instead. Casper
I was convinced that there was an Umbrella reference in Dino Crisis, on one of the boxes or something, but now I can’t find any evidence of it. Mandela effect? Keyts
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Labour is on course to lose nearly 2,000 council seats in next month’s elections, according to a top pollster.
It would mean the party being left with barely a quarter of the councillors they currently have in the areas where voters will go to the polls on May 7.
The Tories are set to lose 600 councillors on what is set to be a grim night for the two main parties.
Reform UK will be the big winners, gaining 1,550 seats, while the Green Party is set to see its number of councillors boosted by 500.
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The Lib Dems are on course to gain 150 seats, according to the analysis by Tory peer Lord Hayward.
Millions of English voters are set to take part in council elections in London and across the Midlands, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and the north east.
In all, 5,014 council seats and six mayoralties are up for grabs in the biggest test of public opinion since the 2024 general election.
Hayward said Labour will lose 1,850 of the 2,558 council seats it has up for election.
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He predicted that the SNP will once again win the Scottish Parliament elections also being held on May 7, but will fall short of an overall majority.
And in Wales, Labour is set to lose power for the first time since the Welsh Senedd was established in 1999, with Plaid Cymru winning for the first time ever.
Such a set of results across the UK would represent a disaster for Labour, and pile even more pressure on prime minister Keir Starmer.
Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, seen as a potential successor to Starmer if he manages to be re-elected an MP, said Labour will need to take “a different course” after May 7 – and declined to give the PM his support.
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Speaking to Bloomberg, he said: “It’s got to be a moment of reflection.”
“I understand the real frustration people have got with politics and politicians,” he said. “I honestly, I really understand that. And they’re right to say politics just hasn’t been working.”
Starmer blocked Burnham’s attempt to stand for Labour in the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, but the former cabinet minister said he was not ruling out another attempt to become an MP again.
He said: “The politics we’ve pioneered as mayors: place first, not party first — that needs to go national, and so we do need to reform Westminster.
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“I can’t remove the kind of feeling that someday I will try and go back. I’m not ruling it out.”
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Labor prosecutors in Brazil filed a lawsuit Wednesday against meatpacking giant JBS, accusing the company of buying cattle from farms where workers were held in slavery-like conditions.
The civil action suit before a labor court in the northern Brazilian state of Para seeks nearly 119 million reais (about $24 million) in compensation, an amount prosecutors say reflects the total value of transactions between JBS and the suppliers.
According to the filing, 53 workers were rescued from properties owned by seven ranchers who supplied the meatpacking company between 2014 and 2025. Those employers were listed in Brazil’s official public registry of companies found to have subjected workers to conditions that are similar to slavery, prosecutors said.
JBS showed “a systematic pattern of negligence,” the prosecutors said. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Brazil is the world’s largest beef producer, accounting for about 20% of global production. The South American nation recently surpassed the United States, which now accounts for about 19% of the global beef production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A statement from Brazil’s labor prosecutors noted that cattle ranching accounts for the highest number of rescued workers nationwide and has also been a major driver of deforestation in the Amazon. Para state is part of the Amazon region.
In March, the Office of the United States Trade Representative included Brazil on a list of 60 countries under investigation for forced labor.
JBS is the world’s largest meatpacking company, with a market capitalization of about $17 billion. It operates plants in the U.S., including in Colorado, where workers staged a three-week strike earlier this year.
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