Author: WTX News

Metro – Level Up and away Summary of the front page The Metro writes Rishi Sunak is under fire for taking another taxpayer-funded private jet flight to promote levelling up – as a Tory MP admitted using Britain’s “unreliable” train service instead would be madness. “Level up, up and away” is the Metro’s headline. Critics tell the paper the trips “wasted money and made a mockery of the government’s jet zero pledge”. The front page also reports the film Avatar has been largely snubbed in this year’s Bafta nominations, whilst the German film All Quiet On The Western Front leads…

The Guardian – Tory areas allocated more cash from levelling up fund Summary of the front page The Guardian reports that Tory constituencies have been awarded significantly more money per person from the government’s £4bn levelling up fund than areas with similar levels of deprivation, according to an analysis by the newspaper. The revelation could “provoke further fury” at the PM, the paper warns. The front page also reports New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation as its second story, with an image of the outgoing leader from her press conference on Thursday. Today’s top stories Like this article? Leave a…

The Independent – Ambulance delays cause ‘severe harm’ to record 6,000 patients a month Summary of the front page The Independent says a record number of patients suffered “severe harm” as a result of ambulance delays in December, soaring by nearly 50 per cent in just one month as the NHS crisis deepened. Almost 6,000 suffered permanent or long-term harm due to long waits to hand over patients outside A&Es – up from just over 4,000 in November. The front page also features an image of missing actor Julian Sands – who went missing whilst hiking in southern California. Today’s top…

Daily Mirror – 3 cops accused over child abuse images Summary of the front page The Daily Mirror describes its lead story as another example of the Metropolitan Police being “in crisis”. The paper reports that three officers – one police chief and two retired officers – have been accused of child sex offences. Serving Ch Insp Richard Watkinson was found dead on the day he was to be charged, the paper writes. The two former officers, aged 62 and 63, are to appear in court accused of having indecent images of children, it adds. The front page also reports on…

Daily Express – We are winning inflation battle Summary of the front page The Daily Express writes that Britain has turned the corner in the fight against soaring inflation, according to the Bank of England’s governor. “We are winning [the] inflation battle” is the paper’s take on what it calls Mr Bailey’s “optimistic” cost of living crisis report. The paper describes his assessment that there could be a “rapid fall in the rate from late spring” as “the most optimistic assessment since the spike” began. The front page also reports on US actor Alec Baldwin, who is due to be…

The Sun – Alec Baldwin case – No one is above the law Summary of the front page The Sun says Hollywood star Alec Baldwin was told, “no one is above the law”, as he was charged with involuntary manslaughter over the killing of Halyna Hutchins during the filming of western movie Rust in 2021. The front page carries an image of the actor in a scene from Rust, the film he was making when the fatal shooting took place. A lawyer for Ms Hutchins’ family said her husband was “comforted” by the charges, the paper says. Today’s top stories…

Today’s news summary – Paper Talk There’s a variety of stories dominating Friday’s front pages, from tax cuts and inflation to Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation – there’s a real mix to get stuck into. Most papers feature a picture of a triumphant Andy Murray who made it through to the third round of the Australian Open or US actor Alec Baldwin – after it was announced he will be charged with involuntary manslaughter following the shooting death of cinematographer Haylna Hutchins on set on a movie. Inflation and tax cuts The Daily Express highlights comments made by the Bank of…

NHS ambulance workers announce fresh strike dates as pay row escalates The Guardian says Ambulance workers have announced a series of fresh strikes including one next month that was already predicted to be the biggest day of stoppages in NHS history. All the new dates announced by the Unite union in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will coincide with strikes already outlined by the GMB union, which also represents ambulance staff. They include 6 February, when up to 40,000 nurses from the Royal College of Nursing will also be on strike in what is set to be a day of…

Ambulance workers announce six more strikes as bitter pay row escalates The Independent says A series of fresh strikes by ambulance workers has been announced by Unite in an escalation of the bitter dispute over pay and staffing. The union said its members across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will stage six further strikes over the coming weeks, warning that additional dates could be announced soon. They will bolster the ranks of their paramedic colleagues with the GMB union, who announced on Wednesday that more than 10,000 of their members in England and Wales will also strike on overlapping dates.…

Who’s on strike today and how will it affect you? Daily update for January 20 The Metro says Schoolchildren in Scotland will be missing more lessons today as teachers go on strike. It marks the end of a week of learning disruption, with teachers set to join the picket line again on Monday in a dispute over pay. In the last month, nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, rail workers, taxi drivers, civil servants, barristers and bus drivers have all taken industrial action. The teacher strikes started on Monday, and will continue until February 6. The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) confirmed…

Jacinda Ardern has no regrets over quitting New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern has said she has “no regrets” about her shock decision to step down as PM. Her announcement was a surprise to both supporters and critics. She said she was feeling a “range of emotions” from sadness to a “sense of relief” just one day after revealing she had “no more in the tank.” Polls suggest her party has a difficult path to re-election in October. She has said she will not openly back any of the likely candidates to replace her. Speaking on Friday outside an airport in…

The union’s executive will consider the offer and decide its next steps ‘in due course’.

In a bizarre example of life imitating art a new book on AI has revealed how hiding under a cardboard box really is the future of warfare.

Deep pockets Down Under.

Chelsea’s sixth signing of the January transfer window is close.

Negan was notoriously sadistic.

Nintendo’s forgotten money-spinner (pic: Nintendo)

One of the best-selling video games of all time may finally be making a return, as Nintendo file a patent for new mobile tech.

If Nintendo really doesn’t have any plans to replace the Nintendo Switch until late next year, then it has a good chance of overtaking the PlayStation 2 and becoming the best-selling console of all time. Currently, the second best-selling console is the Nintendo DS, but despite its enormous success surprisingly few of its biggest franchises are still going.

Nintendo seems to have, thankfully, given up on New Super Mario Bros., while self-help titles like Brain Training and Big Brain Academy have failed to find success on newer formats. The most glaring omission though is Nintendogs, which sold almost 24 million copies back in the day.

Nintendogs was never really a game but a sort of pet simulator where you got to play with and groom a virtual dog. It did get a sequel – 2011’s Nintendogs + Cats on the 3DS – but by that time the market had moved on and smartphones had made these sort of non-games obsolete… or perhaps not.

Fans have discovered a peculiarly detailed patent that describes how a Nintendodgs game would work on a mobile phone, or rather how the AR functions would work as you move the virtual pooch around the screen to make a picture against a real world backdrop.

The word Nintendogs is never mentioned and it’s possible the example of a dog is merely a coincidence, since the patent is concerned only with the camera and AR functions and not the game itself.

Although it’s a dog that’s used in every single illustration, so it doesn’t seem like they just picked some random subject matter.

It does seem like a bit of a no-brainer for mobiles though, since the only problem with Nintendogs + Cats not selling as well is that by that point people weren’t willing to spend £40 on a virtual pet. (Although even then it still managed to shift more than 4 million copies.)

If it was a free app though, that charged a fortune for new dog toys to play with… that sounds like something that could do very well today.

How has this not happened already? (pic: Nintendo)

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MORE : Nintendo Switch 2 release date is late 2024 claims Japanese report

MORE : Nintendo rejected a ‘Wario-Peach’ character to avoid being an anime rip-off

MORE : Warning: This ultimate Nintendo console set-up will melt your brain

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‘He could be the natural fit long-term.’

Think it’s cold now? You won’t believe these record lows.

Figures show 1.5m give more than 50 hours a week, as care system struggles with rising demand Five million people – including children as young as five – provide unpaid care to people with long-term health conditions or problems related to old age, census data for England and Wales has revealed. With the social care system struggling with rising unmet care demand and about half a million people in England waiting for help, there has been an increase over the past decade in the proportion of people spending at least 20 hours a week on unpaid care, from 4.2% of…

City AM – Let them eat cake  London’s business newspaper City AM uses its front page to join in the criticism over the food regulators’ call to ban sweet treats in the office. The front page also features its competition for readers to win three cakes for their office. Read today’s front pages and catch up on the back pages.

This little-known trick will give you some advanced warning.

Metro – Mister Coffee Bean Summary of the front page Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been likened to “feckless comedy character” Mr Bean after making a video to explain inflation using coffee cups in the Treasury canteen, Metro reports. A photograph of the Princess of Wales during a visit to a London school sits atop the Metro’s front page – and proves popular with a number of other papers too. “Kate puts on a brave face” is how the Metro describes the royal, following the fallout from the publication of her brother-in-law Prince Harry’s memoir. Today’s top stories Like this article?…

The Guardian – Nurse and ambulance staff to stage strike Summary of the front page The NHS is facing a day of massive disruption to its services next month when nurses and ambulance staff in England and Wales stage an unprecedented joint strike over pay – that’s on the front of The Guardian. The paper says health service bosses are “hugely concerned” about the coordinated strikes, and believe they could be “the biggest the NHS has ever seen”. The front page also reports on the helicopter crash in Ukraine, which killed at least 14 people on Tuesday, including the Ukrainian…

‘It’s really up to God to help me…’