CFPB drops JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo lawsuit over Zelle fraud
CFPB drops JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo lawsuit over Zelle fraud
FILE PHOTO: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director Russell Vought testifies before House Budget Committee on 2020 Budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 12, 2019.
Yuri Gripas | Reuters
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday dismissed its lawsuit against the operator of the Zelle payments network and the three U.S. banks that dominate transactions on it.
The CFPB sued Early Warning Services, which runs the peer-to-peer payments network, as well as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo in December, alleging that the firms failed to properly investigate fraud complaints or give victims reimbursement.
The CFPB “dismisses this action against Defendants Early Warning Services, LLC, Bank of America, N.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., with prejudice,” the regulator said in its filing.
Since Acting Director Russell Vought has taken over the CFPB, the agency has dropped at least a half dozen cases brought by his predecessor, Rohit Chopra. The agency is now embroiled in a legal battle after a union representing CFPB employees sued to halt mass firings and the purging of data that would’ve happened under Vought and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The CFPB said customers of the three banks have lost more than $870 million since the launch of Zelle in 2017. The service was launched to provide bank customers an alternative to peer-to-peer platforms including PayPal. Last year Zelle crossed $1 trillion in total volumes, which it said was the most ever for a peer-to-peer platform.
Since the recent cases were dismissed with prejudice, the CFPB has agreed to never bring these claims again, shutting off the possibility of clawing back funds for consumer relief, former head of enforcement Eric Halperin told CNBC last week.
A spokeswoman for the Zelle brand said they welcomed the dismissal and reiterated an assertion that the CFPB lawsuit was “legally and factually flawed.”
“Banks have consistently followed the law in offering services through Zelle,” Lindsey Johnson, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, said in a statement after the dismissal. “In a time when fraud and scam activity is surging … we look forward to moving past finger-pointing and political grandstanding and instead working constructively with policymakers to counter the root causes of these threats.”
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Here's how tariffs will hit the U.S. housing market – CNBC
Here's how tariffs will hit the U.S. housing market – CNBC
Here’s how tariffs will hit the U.S. housing market CNBCSeattle-area homebuyers face a new hit The Seattle TimesTrump’s tariffs would make housing more expensive in the Bay Area. How much? It depends on what you’re building — and where The Mercury NewsTariffs and the spring housing market – hard on boomers, helpful for young buyers The Globe and Mail
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Woman charged with murdering two-year-old found in Hampshire pond
Woman charged with murdering two-year-old found in Hampshire pond
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Annabel Mackey was a “beautiful, positive and very happy little girl”, her father said
A woman has been charged with the ******* a two-year-old girl who died after being found in a village pond.
Annabel Mackey was discovered unresponsive in Kingsley Pond, near Bordon, Hampshire, on 10 September 2023, shortly after she was reported missing. She was pronounced dead in hospital a day later.
Alice Mackey, 42, of Gibbs Lane, Oakhanger, has been remanded in custody to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Earlier, Annabel’s father paid tribute to the toddler who he described as a “shining star” who will be “loved forever”.
He said Annabel was a “beautiful, positive and very happy little girl”.
“She had an incredibly pure and caring nature that we miss so much,” he said.
“She loved story time, dogs and her dolly. She enjoyed singing songs and nursery rhymes and had a very sweet tooth.
“Annabel loved to laugh, she brought so much happiness into our lives.
“She was dearly loved by her family and friends. Thank you to everyone who was a positive influence in her life. Please continue Annabel’s legacy by remembering her and caring for others as much as she did.
“The world needs more people like Annabel to spread positivity and kindness.
“Annabel, I love you so much, you are a shining star and you will be loved forever.”
Annabel was reported missing from her home on Forge Road, Kingsley, on Sunday 10 September 2023.
Police later cordoned off a house on the road, which is about 1,500ft (460m) from the large pond along a rough track.
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Man allegedly armed self with knife after high-speed jaunt spanning from Carey Park to Donnybrook
Man allegedly armed self with knife after high-speed jaunt spanning from Carey Park to Donnybrook
A 25-year-old man allegedly armed with a knife has been charged by WA Police after an alleged reckless high-speed jaunt from Carey Park to Donnybrook.
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Sony announces centralized PlayStation Beta Program for PS5 and PC
Sony announces centralized PlayStation Beta Program for PS5 and PC
Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced a new PlayStation Beta Program.
It will serve as an umbrella beta program for both PS5 and PC experiences.
“The Beta Program at PlayStation will create an easy, centralized place for you to register your interest in a range of future PlayStation betas,” explained Sid Shuman, senior director, Sony Interactive Entertainment content communications.
“A single registration for Beta Program at PlayStation will allow you to express interest in gaining beta access to test participating games for the PS5 console and PC, new PS5 console features, PlayStation App features, and even user experience features on PlayStation.com.
“You only need to sign up once to express interest in these various betas, and if you receive an invitation to a specific beta, it’s up to you to decide whether you’d like to participate or not,” he added in a PlayStation Blog post.
Beta registration will “begin to open up globally” starting today, meaning it isn’t currently available in all regions, but it should be soon.
While players can register for the chance to be considered for future PlayStation betas, Sony said that doing so doesn’t guarantee participation.
To register, player must have a PlayStation Network account “in good standing”, live in a region where the Beta Program is available, and meet the legal age requirement for their region.
March’s PlayStation Plus Essential games were released earlier today. They are Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5), Sonic Colors Ultimate (PS4) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (PS4, PS5).
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Nvidia RTX 5070 Founders Edition won’t be available on launch day, coming ‘later in March’
Nvidia RTX 5070 Founders Edition won’t be available on launch day, coming ‘later in March’
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070 will launch on March 5; however, the Founders Edition model will not be available for purchase until later this month. The development has been confirmed by Andreas Schilling at Hardwareluxx, who shared that Nvidia informed him of the delay just hours before the scheduled reviews were published.
Despite the delay in the availability of the Founders Edition, it is expected that third-party versions from board partners such as Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI will be available on launch day. However, it is likely that the launch will not be a smooth sailing as stock levels may be limited, with some retailers not receiving any inventory initially.
You think you can buy a GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition tomorrow? No, NVIDIA told us 2 1/2 hours before review drop:”The RTX 5070 Founders Edition will be available later in March.” pic.twitter.com/8BntkzNc7TMarch 4, 2025
As a quick refresher, the RTX 5070 is currently the most affordable GPU option under the latest RTX 50 series with a $549 price tag. It features 6,144 CUDA cores, 192 Tensor Cores (5th Gen), and 48 Ray Tracing Cores (4th Gen). The card operates at a boost clock speed of 2,512 MHz and comes equipped with 12GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit interface, providing a memory bandwidth of 672 GB/sec.
Per our testing, the RTX 5070 outperforms its predecessor, the RTX 4070, by 19% at 1440p, with its advantage growing to 22% at 4K. However, its lead narrows to 16% at 1080p ultra and 14% at 1080p medium, likely due to CPU bottlenecks. Compared to the RTX 5070 Ti, the 5070 is 20% slower at 1440p and 24% slower at 4K. The RTX 5070 is approximately 11–13% slower than Radeon RX 7900 XT but outperforms the 7800 XT by around 17%.
Consumers interested in the RTX 5070 Founders Edition will need to await further updates from Nvidia regarding its availability later this month. In the meantime, those eager to upgrade may consider third-party RTX 5070 models or explore AMD’s forthcoming Radeon RX 9070 offerings, which are scheduled to launch a day later on March 6. AMD has reportedly ensured better stock availability for its upcoming release, potentially giving it an advantage in the current market scenario.
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These U.S. states may be hit hardest by Canada’s retaliatory measures, as Trudeau predicts ‘harm’ for American families
These U.S. states may be hit hardest by Canada’s retaliatory measures, as Trudeau predicts ‘harm’ for American families
Traffic flows towards the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., Monday, February 14, 2022 (THE ********* PRESS/Nicole Osborne) · The ********* Press
Canada’s first wave of counter tariffs on U.S. imports took effect on Tuesday, with more to follow, according to plans laid out by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. U.S. Census Bureau data suggest North Dakota could be hardest hit among U.S. states, with over 80 per cent of its exports destined for America’s northern neighbour.
Trudeau says the first wave of ********* tariffs will target $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, with further levies on $125 billion worth of products going into force in 21 days.
“Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. trade action is withdrawn, and should U.S. tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures,” he said in a statement late Monday.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Trudeau said Canada will also file dispute resolution claims at the World Trade Organization and through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
“There are no winners in a trade war,” Trudeau said, directly addressing U.S. citizens. “We want to work with you as a friend, an ally. And we don’t want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you.”
He added the newly launched trade war “will first and foremost harm American families.”
According to U.S. Census Bureau data compiled by the American online loan marketplace LendingTree, North Dakota is most vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs from Canada. The state exports US$7.2 billion worth of goods to Canada annually, representing over 81 per cent of overall exports. North Dakota’s top exports include petroleum and coal products, machinery, and agricultural products.
Maine has the next largest export exposure to Canada, according to LendingTree’s report, with 49 per cent of its exports heading north. Montana, South Dakota, and Michigan round out the top five.
In dollar terms, Texas is the largest exporter to Canada, at US$36 billion annually. The Lone Star state is followed by Michigan, Ohio, New York, and Illinois.
When it comes to Trump’s tariffs on U.S. imports from Canada, Montana is most exposed, with 92 per cent of its overall imports coming from Canada. Maine (69 per cent), Vermont (68 per cent), North Dakota (64 per cent), and Wyoming (55 per cent) are the top five by percentage of imports from Canada.
In dollar terms, Illinois tops the list at US$65.4 billion annually, followed by Michigan, Texas, New York and Washington.
Last month, a LendingTree survey of 1,999 U.S. consumers aged 18 to 79 found 44 per cent expect tariffs will negatively impact their finances. The remaining respondents were evenly split, with 28 per cent expecting a positive impact, and 28 per cent predicting no effect.
Story Continues
Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.
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How tariffs will hit the U.S. housing market
How tariffs will hit the U.S. housing market
New homes being built in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. on Sept. 24th, 2024.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
From lumber to drywall to appliances to finishings, much of what goes into a U.S. home comes from outside American borders.
The cost of those products is about to go up, as President Donald Trump’s administration imposes tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada. Goods from China are now subject to a 20% tax, an increase from a previous 10% tax, and those from Canada and Mexico face a 25% tax. ********* lumber was already subject to separate duties of 14.5%.
The new tariffs could increase builder costs anywhere from $7,500 to $10,000 per home, said Rob Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, citing estimates from U.S. homebuilders. Last year the NAHB estimated that every $1,000 increase in the median price of a new home prices out roughly 106,000 potential buyers.
The greatest impact to homebuilders will be from lumber cost increases, which are expected to total about $4,900 per home on average, according to Leading Builders of America, the trade group representing most of the nation’s publicly traded homebuilders.
Roughly a third of the lumber used in U.S. homebuilding comes from Canada, and domestic lumber producers are expected to raise their prices to match the imported supply.
“Since Trump first imposed the tariffs on Feb. 1, which were then delayed, we’ve seen some increase in buying with prices for Western Spruce-Pine-Fir two-by-fours increasing 13%,” said Paul Jannke, principal at Forest Economic Advisors. “With the re-imposition of the 25% tariff on ********* goods shipped to the U.S., we expect ********* producers will stop shipping lumber to the U.S. Meanwhile, dealers, who have been hesitant to buy given uncertainty around the tariffs, will need to step up purchases ahead of the coming building season. This will drive prices higher.”
Lumber futures are up 5% in the past week and were rising steadily Tuesday.
Trump on Saturday issued an executive order to increase domestic lumber production through a streamlining of regulatory and permitting processes. The homebuilding industry took that as a win.
“A stable and affordable supply of lumber is critically important for our industry to address the country’s housing supply crisis,” wrote Ken Gear, CEO of the LBA, in a statement. “The domestic lumber industry cannot meet current demand, so we applaud President Trump for exploring opportunities to increase domestic supply as a long term solution.”
The NAHB, which represents small to mid-sized private builders, “welcomed” the move, but said in a statement, “Any additional tariffs on lumber could further increase the cost of construction and discourage new development, and consumers end up paying for the tariffs in the form of higher home prices.”
As for ramping up domestic production immediately, that’s easier said than done. Jannke estimates it would take up to three years to build multiple new mills. He explained that there are a limited number of companies that manufacture sawmill machinery and even fewer, perhaps one or two, that can build a mill top to bottom.
High demand during the first years of the Covid-19 pandemic, when homebuilders were going gangbusters, had lumber producers rushing to expand.
“However, so many folks wanted to build [or] expand mills, that the lead times from equipment manufacturers moved out to two years,” Jannke said. “On top of that, once a mill was built, labor had to be found to operate the mill. These mills are in rural areas that tend not to have the skilled labor force needed to operate a modern sawmill. This added another year before the mill was operating at full capacity.”
The labor force, from logging to hauling, is already lean and decreasing. Opening up new land and deregulating the industry is one thing, but finding the workers to bring U.S. lumber to market is another.
“In the short term it is going to be very volatile from a pricing perspective,” said Kyle Little, chief operating officer at Melville, New York-based Sherwood Lumber. As for increasing production, “that won’t be a flip of a switch. You’re taking a 40-year supply chain and trying to switch overnight – that’s hard.”
Homebuying landscape
Beyond lumber, the homebuilding industry is subject to rising costs across the sector.
China is the market leader in household appliances. And, the majority of drywall, or gypsum, used in both commercial and residential construction is imported from other countries. In 2023, the U.S. imported $215 million in gypsum, becoming the largest importer of the product in the world, according to OEC World, a trade data platform. It primarily comes from Spain, Mexico and Canada.
“Rising costs due to tariffs on imports will leave builders with few options. They can choose to pass higher costs along to consumers, which will mean higher home prices, or try to use less of these materials, which will mean smaller homes,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.
Hale noted that while new construction will see the biggest impact, tariffs will change the landscape of the housing market overall, including existing homes.
“We may see buyers’ willingness to pay rise for existing homes as newly built homes get pricier, which would mean rising prices for existing homes, too. We may also see a lower appetite for major remodeling projects that would rely on these tariff affected inputs, hamstringing the ability of consumers to remake their homes to fit their current needs,” she added.
While costs for home construction will certainly rise, the Trump administration is touting lower mortgage interest rates in the past few weeks. The average rate on the 30-year fixed hit its most recent high of 7.26% on Jan. 13, according to Mortgage News Daily. It is now down to about 6.64%.
“I think thus far, one of the biggest wins for the American people is since Election Day, and since Inauguration, mortgage rates have come down dramatically,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview on Fox News Tuesday.
Bessent noted the spread between the 10-year Treasury and mortgage rates narrowed, though that spread has in fact widened significantly since Trump took office.
The tariffs come at a time when the U.S. housing market is already under pressure. Signed contracts on existing homes dropped to the lowest level on record in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales of newly built homes dropped 10% in January, compared with December, according to the U.S. Census. And prices are still stubbornly high, with the inventory of homes for ***** still historically low.
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Argentines in Rome Pray for Pope Francis
Argentines in Rome Pray for Pope Francis
On Sunday evening, Mariarosa Cavañas lit a candle in front of a small chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Addolorata — the national church of Argentina in Rome — where a photo of Pope Francis was affixed on a dais next to a prayer for his good health. On the back wall of the chapel sat a small statue of Our Lady of Lujàn, the patron saint of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, and a prayer entrusting Francis to her care.
“I hope he gets better,” said Ms. Cavañas, an Argentine who works as a nurse auxiliary in Rome. She was among the dozens of faithful who had flocked to the church for a Mass that brings Rome’s Argentine community together on the first Sunday of every month. This Sunday, their ailing compatriot Francis was very much on everyone’s mind, and in their prayers.
Francis has been in a Rome hospital with pneumonia and other infections since Feb. 14. On Tuesday evening, the ******** said that Francis’ condition was stable after suffering two acute respiratory episodes the previous day.
“I am very sad, and I’ve been praying for him,” said Marcela Perez, who works for a institute that houses six nuns in Rome. “All of Argentina is praying for the pope.”
Millions around the world have been offering prayers for Francis since he entered the hospital. But members of the Argentine community that meets at the church of Santa Maria Addolorata, built a century ago by Argentine bishops, said they felt particularly close to him.
About 1,200 Argentines live in Rome, according to the Rome-based IDOS study and research center, which tracks immigration in Italy. Aptly, the church is in Piazza Buenos Aires, which borders some of Rome’s most well-heeled neighborhoods.
Dozens of get-well wishes were scribbled — nearly all in Spanish — in a guest book in the chapel. The Rev. Fernando Laguna, the church’s rector, said it would be delivered to Pope Francis at the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli where he is being treated.
Before he became Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio used to occasionally say Mass at the church, recalled Mary Cuartas, a retired dentist.
“We always pray for the pope,” said Father Laguna, but the prayers have “intensified” since Francis was admitted to the hospital. In front of the main altar, next to a statue of Our Lady of Lujàn, was another photo of Francis with the entreaty “For the Health of the Holy Father.”
Francis remains closely attached to his native country. He is a fan of San Lorenzo, a Buenos Aires soccer team — though he hasn’t seen a game on television for decades, having vowed to never again watch television after being “deeply offended” by a “sordid scene” he saw onscreen in 1990, he said in his autobiography, “Hope.”
But he added that he was kept informed about the team thanks to a “Swiss guardsman who leaves the results and league tables on my desk.” In “Hope,” which was published in January, Francis recounts that he has kept in touch with several of his childhood friends, who often visit him if they pass through Rome.
“There’s always a lot of Argentines around,” said Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the ********’s foreign minister. “He sometimes assumes a personal responsibility,” remaining in touch with Argentine clerics and nuns in far-flung places.
On a physically grueling 11-day trip to the Asia-Pacific region last September, Francis flew 600 miles to Vanimo, a remote outpost of Papua New Guinea, to spend an afternoon with a group of missionaries from Argentina and local Catholics. The priests served him mate, a traditional herbal drink that is common in South America.
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Francis has been in near nightly contact with a parish led by an Argentine priest in the enclave, although the calls became less frequent after he entered hospital.
Francis also hasn’t lost his taste for Argentine food.
Angel Moavro, one of the owners of Baires, an Argentine restaurant in downtown Rome, said Francis’ compatriots often came to buy homemade desserts to bring to the pope, including alfajores, a popular sandwich cookie, churros — “which are Spanish but we eat them a lot in Argentina,” Mr. Moavro said — and budin de pan, a bread pudding.
Since his hospitalization began, Francis’ normally outspoken voice had all but disappeared, save for short messages via Angelus prayers on Sundays, and it was sorely missed, said Mr. Moavro. “We really need him these days” to help mediate, he said, referring to the explosive confrontation at the White House between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
“Certainly, once he’s back he’s going to have to take more care of himself,” he said.
Ms. Cuartas said she could hardly wait until Francis returned to Casa Santa Marta, the guesthouse inside the ******** where the pope has chosen to live. But then, she added, “he has to go visit Argentina.”
A visit, or rather lack there of, to his homeland has become a sore point for many Argentines.
John Paul II went to Poland, his native home, eight times during his papacy. Benedict XVI went to Germany, where he was born, three times. But in the 12 years of his papacy, Francis has not set foot in Argentina.
“A trip to Argentina is a pending subject,” said Elisabetta Piqué, an Argentine journalist and biographer of Pope Francis. She said she believed Francis had always felt that a trip home might be politically manipulated by whichever leader happened to be in charge at the time. “So he’s kept putting it off, and obviously this has created a lot of frustration in Argentina,” she said.
Another biographer, Austen Ivereigh, said Francis had told him that he wanted to go to Argentina only “if the visit would be a source of unity and healing in a very fractured and divided society,” and that it remained unclear whether that would be the case. “Argentina is famous for its polarized culture” he said.
“It’s always been complex” to plan a trip to Argentina, Mr. Ivereigh said, adding that Francis also believed that other countries had needed a papal visit more than his native country.
After Mass on Sunday, as they do each month, the dozens of Argentine expats gathered in the church hall to eat empanadas made by volunteers.
Federico Gatti, who works in risk assessment for an American import export company, said the Argentine community in Rome saw Francis as one of their own. “For us, it’s as though our grandfather is ill, we want him to get better,” he said. “So one prays, hopes he will get better, in the hope that he will regain his forces and the support of all the church on this path.”
Jason Horowitz contributed reporting.
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'Dumb': Canada, Mexico blast historic Trump tariffs, threaten retaliation – ABC News
'Dumb': Canada, Mexico blast historic Trump tariffs, threaten retaliation – ABC News
‘Dumb’: Canada, Mexico blast historic Trump tariffs, threaten retaliation ABC NewsDow falls by almost 600 points as Trump’s tariffs threaten a dangerous trade war CNNTrump’s Goal in Trade War Is to Annex Canada, Trudeau Says BloombergTrudeau to Americans on Trump tariffs: “Your government has chosen to do this to you” AxiosAmerica’s Flex The New York Times
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PlayStation’s New Beta Program Will Let You Test New Console Features Early
PlayStation’s New Beta Program Will Let You Test New Console Features Early
PlayStation has unveiled a new beta program that will make it easier to access game betas, test out new PS5 and PlayStation App features early, and more.
Aptly called the “Beta Program at PlayStation,” this new initiative is similar to the Xbox Insider program Microsoft currently runs for its gaming hardware and apps. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Sid Shuman describes this program as “an easy, centralized place for you to register your interest in a range of future PlayStation betas” in a PlayStation Blog post. Essentially, players can now register at the program’s official website and be in the loop on future beta initiatives by Sony.
The official key art for the Beta Program at PlayStation initiative
By signing up for the Beta Program at PlayStation, players will essentially be enrolled for a chance to gain beta access to future software betas that Sony holds for PlayStation. The PlayStation Blog post specifically calls out beta tests for PS5 and PC games, new PS5 console and PlayStation App features, and new UI capabilities on PlayStation.com. Companies like Sony need to thoroughly test games and software updates before they release them to the masses. This new program gives Sony a way to involve fans in that process.
While the website is down as of the writing of this article, the Beta Program at PlayStation initiative has a website of its own where interested PlayStation fans can sign up for free. All you need is to meet the age and region requirements and to have an active PlayStation Network account with no restrictions or violations currently applied to it.
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Spitting Image and Dead Ringers creator dies
Spitting Image and Dead Ringers creator dies
Comedy writer and producer Bill Dare, who worked on shows including ITV’s Spitting Image and BBC’s Dead Ringers, has died, his agent has said.
The 64-year-old created several award-winning satirical programmes for TV and radio over a decades-long career.
In a statement, his agent said he had “died at the weekend following an accident overseas” but did not provide further details.
In a post on social media, Dead Ringers star Jon Culshaw called Dare the “wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend”.
Dare also worked on programmes including The Late Edition and I’ve Never Seen Star Wars.
His topical satire show Dead Ringers is set to mark its 25th anniversary on BBC Radio 4 this year.
Dare also produced The Now Show, a biting take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said on Instagram that she was “devastated” at the news and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.”
She added: “He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“He will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
Richard Morris, the creative director of comedy and entertainment at BBC Studios Audio, said: “Bill was a legendary figure in the comedy world and we, his friends and colleagues in radio, will miss him hugely.
“We’ll miss the sharp wit and wisdom he brought to every production he worked on.”
In a statement released on Monday, Dare’s representatives at JFL Agency said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
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What is Root Cause Analysis?
What is Root Cause Analysis?
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a method for understanding the underlying cause of an observed or experienced incident. It examines the incident’s causal factors, focusing on why, how and when they occurred. An organization often initiates an RCA to get at the principal source of a problem to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Root cause analysis is a step beyond problem-solving, which focuses on taking corrective action when an incident occurs. In contrast, an RCA gets at a problem’s root cause. When a system breaks or changes, investigators should perform an RCA to fully understand the incident and what caused it. Because of this added clarity, RCA is commonly used in areas like IT operations, manufacturing, healthcare, accident analysis and risk management.
In this diagram, the problem is defined in the head of the fishbone shape, and its causes and effects are splayed out behind it.
In some cases, an RCA is used to better understand why a system is operating in a certain way or is outperforming comparable systems. For the most part, however, the focus is on problems — especially when they affect critical systems. An RCA identifies all factors that contribute to the problem, connecting events in a meaningful way so that the issue can be properly addressed and prevented from reoccurring. Only by getting to the root of the problem, rather than focusing on the symptoms, is it possible to identify how, when and why the problem occurred.
Problems that warrant an RCA can result from human error, malfunctioning physical systems, issues with business processes or operations, or other reasons.
For example, investigators might launch an RCA when machinery fails in a manufacturing plant, an airplane makes an emergency landing, or a web application experiences a service disruption. Any anomaly can potentially necessitate an RCA.
The goals of root cause analysis
The primary purpose of root cause analysis is to reduce risk to the overall organization. The information discovered in this process can be used to enhance a system’s reliability. The main goals of an RCA are threefold:
Identify exactly what has been occurring, going beyond just the symptoms to get to the actual sequence of events and primary causes.
Understand what it will take to address the incident or apply what has been learned from that incident, while considering its causal factors.
Apply what has been learned to prevent the problem from reoccurring or duplicate the underlying conditions.
When an RCA achieves these goals, it can offer several benefits to a wide range of industries. When used effectively, root cause analysis can help improve medical treatments, reduce on-the-job injuries, deliver better application performance, optimize infrastructure uptime, minimize machinery maintenance, provide safer transportation and benefit various other systems and processes.
Root cause analysis principles
Root cause analysis is flexible enough to accommodate different types of industries and individual circumstances. Yet beneath this flexibility, the following four important principles are essential to making RCA work:
1. Learn why, how and when the incident occurred. These questions work together to provide a complete picture of the underlying causes. For example, it can be difficult to know why an event occurred if you don’t know how or when it happened. Investigators must uncover an incident’s full magnitude and all the key ingredients that made it happen. This process includes gathering, organizing and analyzing any potentially related information.
2. Focus on the underlying causes, not the symptoms. Addressing only the symptoms when a problem arises rarely prevents that problem from recurring and can waste time and resources. An RCA effort should instead focus on the relationships between events and the incident’s underlying root causes. Ultimately, this can reduce the time and resources spent on resolving issues and ensure a viable remedy over the long term. Remember, multiple root causes might also be behind a problem that needs to be identified. Likewise, investigators must remain unbiased.
3. Think about prevention when using RCA to solve problems. To be effective, an RCA effort must address a problem’s root causes, but that’s not enough. It must also enable resolutions that prevent the problem from recurring. If the RCA doesn’t help fix the problem and prevent it from happening again, much of the effort will have been wasted.
4. Do it right the first time. An RCA is only as successful as the effort behind it. A poorly executed RCA can waste time and resources. It might even make the situation worse, forcing investigators to start over. An effective root cause analysis must be carried out carefully and systematically. It requires the proper methods and tools, as well as leadership that understands what the effort involves and fully supports it. Reviews can be scheduled afterward to determine how effective specific corrective actions were.
Root cause analysis methods
One of the most popular methods for root cause analysis is the Five Whys. This approach defines the problem and then asks “why” questions for each answer. The idea is to keep digging until you uncover reasons that explain the “why” of what happened. The number five in the methodology’s name is just a guide, as it might take fewer or more questions to get to the root causes of the initially defined problem.
Another popular approach to RCA is to create a cause-and-effect Ishikawa diagram, or fishbone diagram, where the problem is defined in the head of the fishbone shape, and its causes and effects are splayed out behind it. Possible causes are grouped into categories that connect to the spine, providing an overall view of the causes that might have led to the incident.
The following methodologies are also available to investigators when conducting a root cause analysis:
Failure mode and effects analysis. FMEA identifies different ways a system can potentially fail and then analyzes the possible effects of each failure.
Fault tree analysis. FTA provides a visual mapping of causal relationships that uses Boolean logic to determine a failure’s potential causes or to test a system’s reliability.
Pareto chart. This combination bar chart and line chart maps out the frequency of the most common root causes of problems, listed from left to right, starting with the most probable.
Change analysis. This type of analysis considers how conditions surrounding the incident have changed over time, which can play a direct role in bringing about the incident.
Scatter chart. This type of diagram plots data on a two-dimensional chart with an x-axis and y-axis to uncover relationships in the data as they pertain to an incident’s potential causes.
Several other approaches are also used for RCA. Professionals who focus on root cause analysis and seek continuous improvement in reliability should understand multiple methods and use the appropriate one for a given scenario. Some other examples include barrier analysis and Kepner-Tregoe analysis.
Successful root cause analysis also depends on good communication within the group and staff involved in a system. Debriefing after an RCA — often called a post-mortem — helps ensure the key players understand the time frames of casual or related factors, their effects and the resolution methods used. Post-mortem information sharing can also lead to brainstorming around other areas that might need investigation and who should look into what areas.
How to conduct a root cause analysis
Performing a root cause analysis can be a complex undertaking that requires both time and resources. A team that’s carrying out an RCA should take a systematic approach that’s built on open communication and careful planning. Although there’s no single approach to an RCA process, a team should consider starting with the following five basic steps:
1. Define the problem. It might seem obvious, but the first step should be to identify the problem as concisely as possible to ensure all RCA participants understand the scale and scope of the issue they’re trying to address. This process includes the following:
Create a clearly defined problem statement.
Identify the specific symptoms surrounding the problem.
Document the effects of the problem on the target system as well as peripheral and supporting systems.
Ensure all key players understand and agree on the nature of the problem.
If there are multiple problems, deal with them one at a time.
2. Collect all relevant data. Investigators require whatever data is necessary to ensure they have the evidence they need to understand the full extent of the incident and the time frame in which it occurred. This process includes the following:
Data gathering should be a methodical process that’s carefully documented and verified.
Investigators need access to all relevant evidence related to the incident without exception.
The data should include any information specific to the incident itself and any suspected causes.
The collected data should cover the entire applicable time frame, including data from before and after the incident.
The data should include details about any special circumstances or environmental factors that might have contributed to the incident.
3. Identify and map events. Investigators should be able to understand and track all events that contributed to the incident and how those events can be correlated. This step includes the following:
The RCA team should identify the sequence of events and the timeline in which they occurred.
The team should also determine the conditions under which the events occurred.
Events should be correlated to determine what links might exist between them.
The collected data should be examined for any causal factors that contributed to the events or that are somehow related to the events.
Any other factors that could have contributed to the incident should be examined.
4. Identify the root cause. After collecting the data and mapping events, investigators should start identifying the incident’s root causes and working toward a resolution. This process includes the following:
Investigators must analyze all contributing factors and relevant data.
From their analysis, investigators should identify any potential root causes that seem feasible within the given circumstances.
Investigators should carefully analyze each potential root cause, eliminating those least viable and digging deeper into those most likely to have contributed to the incident.
Multiple causes might have contributed to the incident, and they all need to be identified and analyzed.
After identifying the real root causes, investigators should try to confirm their validity by simulating the circumstances that led to the incident and when and where this is practical.
5. Implement an action plan. After identifying the incident’s root causes, investigators should develop an action plan to address the root problem and prevent it from occurring again. This step includes the following:
The resolution should reflect the problem statement created in the first step.
Investigators should carefully outline what needs to be done and what it will take to get it done, including the potential effects on individuals or operating environments.
The RCA team, with the help of other individuals, should provide a strategy for implementing the resolution, considering such factors as timelines, budgets and specific roles.
Investigators should identify any potential roadblocks to implementing the fix.
After the remedy has been deployed, the RCA team should carefully monitor and evaluate its implementation to ensure it has effectively addressed the underlying issues.
When performing root cause analysis, investigators should use the methods and tools most appropriate for their situation. They should also implement a system for verifying each stage of the RCA effort to make sure every step is done correctly. As part of this process, investigators should carefully document each phase, starting with the problem statement and continuing to the resolution’s implementation.
Benefits and drawbacks of root cause analysis
Conducting an RCA can offer numerous advantages, including the following:
Identifies the leading causes of an issue. Identifying the root cause of an issue helps solve its immediate symptoms and uncovers the underlying reasons behind a problem’s occurrence.
Enhances prevention. Once the root cause of a problem is identified, teams can implement a permanent fix and templates to avoid the same issue occurring in the future.
Develops a general approach to solve core issues. RCA provides a structured framework that organizations can use repeatably with different problems.
Improves problem-solving skills. RCA encourages increased critical thinking among teams, helping them troubleshoot and solve issues more efficiently.
Encourages optimization. Optimize systems, processes or operations by providing insights into underlying issues and roadblocks.
Provides higher-quality services. Deliver higher-quality customer and client services by addressing issues more efficiently and thoroughly.
Helps improve communication. It leads to better in-house communication and collaboration, along with improved knowledge of the underlying systems.
Reduces costs. It lowers costs by getting to the root of the problem sooner rather than continuously treating the symptoms.
Although RCA is an important process, it does have the following limitations:
There might be more than one root cause for an issue. Some problems might have multiple main contributing factors, making it difficult to identify one root cause. This can make the RCA process more complicated.
RCA is used only to identify performance issues. RCA is often overlooked when an organization wants to analyze why one system is performing better than expected.
Time and complexity. Depending on the problem, conducting an effective RCA can be time and resource-intensive — especially for issues that are inherently more complex and extensive.
Risk of laying blame. If RCA is not conducted carefully, it can lead to a culture of blaming specific teams of employees instead of providing a constructive problem-solving approach.
Tools for root cause analysis
Root cause analysis is a process that pairs human deduction with data gathering and reporting tools. IT teams often turn to the platforms they’re already using for application performance monitoring, infrastructure performance monitoring or systems management — including cloud management tools — for the background data they need to carry out the RCA.
Many of these products also include features built into their platforms to help analyze root causes. In addition, some vendors offer tools that collect and correlate the metrics from other platforms to help remediate a problem or outage event. Tools that include AIOps capabilities can learn from prior events to suggest remediation actions in the future.
In addition to monitoring and analysis tools, IT organizations often rely on external sources to help with their root cause analysis. For example, IT team members might participate in Stack Overflow discussions to get others’ expertise on topics related to their RCA. Other examples of root cause analysis tools include TapRoot and EasyRCA.
Root cause analysis examples
Root cause analysis is used by a range of industries and in various situations, making it a highly valuable tool flexible enough to accommodate specific circumstances. The following are examples of RCA in action, but the possibilities for its use are nearly limitless.
Example 1. An email service disruption. Users couldn’t send or receive email messages for two hours, and the boss wanted to know what happened. The IT team is tasked with carrying out a root cause analysis.
The team begins by defining a problem statement and collecting relevant data. Next, they use the Five Whys method to uncover the contributing events and underlying causes as follows:
Why did emails stop working? Because mail flow stopped.
Why did mail flow stop? Because someone installed patches during the day.
Why were the patches deployed during the day? Because the admin did not follow the rules in IT’s processes to patch after business hours.
Why did this cause a two-hour outage? Because a patch disabled a service, and it took that long during the chaos to troubleshoot and resolve the outage.
The answers to the “why” questions outline what happened and what went wrong. From this information, the IT team can improve patching procedures and prevent this same situation from happening again.
Example 2. A drop in mobile app active users. A popular mobile app’s number of active users has steadily dropped over the past two weeks, and several teams within the organization are scrambling to understand what happened. Individuals from each of these teams are working together to conduct an RCA.
After gathering the necessary data, the RCA team generates a fishbone diagram like the one in Figure 1 to understand possible causes and their effects better.
Although there are numerous approaches to root cause analysis, a team should start with these five basic steps.
The diagram helps them identify all the potential root causes. They can then drill into each one to determine its viability. For example, they can use data generated by their monitoring software to verify whether there have been any issues with infrastructure performance or the back-end systems.
After analyzing each potential root cause, the RCA team determines that the most likely cause was the recent release of a similar app by a top competitor. The app was well marketed, included cutting-edge technology and integrated with several third-party services.
From this information, the team develops a strategy for accelerating the next update of their application to provide a competitive edge over the other app. They also communicate this information with the marketing and customer support teams so that they’re prepared for the next release.
For the root cause analysis process to be effective, an organization must coordinate its RCA activities among its various teams. Learn which approaches work best for team coordination.
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New Marvel Rivals Event Will Let You Unleash Chaos As An Entire Team Of Cloned Heroes
New Marvel Rivals Event Will Let You Unleash Chaos As An Entire Team Of Cloned Heroes
The next limited-time game mode for Marvel Rivals has been revealed, and if you’re tired of never getting to play as the hero that you want to, then Clone Rumble is just for you. The new mode allows players to choose from two heroes as voted on by their team, letting players hit the field as one of them. This means that you can field an entire team of Iron Men or Venoms, and some of the other combinations here are wild.
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For example, imagine if everyone is playing as the Punisher–a scenario that could let six players hold a point with turrets. Or if the teams vote for Doctor Strange, you could probably melt a PC with all of the portals that’ll be opened during a match. If you’re feeling evil, you could choose to all play as Moon Knight and unleash a wave of hard-to-escape ultimate attacks, or if you want to be a real monster, you could convince the entire team to choose Jeff the Land Shark.
Completing certain tasks will reward players with limited-time items such as the ****** Widow: Mrs. Barnes costume, MVP nameplates, sprays, Units, and other loot. NetEase says that there will be no restrictions on the identical heroes that players can vote for, and the event will take place exclusively on the Wakandan map of Birnin T’Challa. Players will need to complete certain mission objectives to claim victory, and the event will be held on the following dates:
March 7-10: Starts at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET
March 14-17: Starts at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET
March 21-24: Starts at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET
In other Marvel Rivals news, we recently got a closer look at the rest of the Fantastic Four, with new videos spotlighting the Thing and the Human Torch. The game has also riffed on a classic Moon Knight meme, and amidst layoffs of some employees who worked Marvel Rivals, that the game was almost canceled before release.
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Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 arrives on July 11
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 arrives on July 11
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After weeks of teasers from Activision and Tony Hawk, the video game publisher has officially announced that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 will be available on July 11. Iron Galaxy Studios remade the old skateboarding games from the ground up to create an updated version of the classics. The remake includes the original games’ content, along with cross-platform online multiplayer for up to eight skaters. Activision says it picks up from where Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 left off, but it didn’t mention whether the new title would also come with local multiplayer like its predecessor does.
The new game was developed by a different studio than the one that remade the first two games even though Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 was pretty well-received. Hawk previously revealed that Vicarious Visions, the studio that developed the first remake, was supposed to work on the third and fourth installments, as well. However, that plan was scrapped after the studio got absorbed into Blizzard. The new game will feature new skaters, tricks and brand-new parks. Its skater selection will include legends in the sport — though Bam Margera was notably absent in the roster we were given — as well as newer names, like two-time Olympics champion Yuto Horigome.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 will be available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. For the PC, it can be purchased through Steam, Battle.net and Microsoft Store. Finally, Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers will be able to play it at launch through the game streaming service. Pre-orders will be available starting today, and those who do purchase in advance will be able to access the Foundry Demo in June. Those willing to pay extra and pre-order the Digital Deluxe and Collector’s Editions will be able to access the game earlier on July 8. The Digital Deluxe Edition comes with extra content, while the Collector’s Edition comes with a full-size Birdhouse skateboard deck and a printed Tony Hawk autograph.
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HK firm to sell Panama ports’ stake amid Trump pressure
HK firm to sell Panama ports’ stake amid Trump pressure
Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison is selling its controlling stake in a unit that operates Panama ports to a group including BlackRock, it says as the administration of US President Donald Trump piles up pressure to curb ******** influence in the region.
The ***** of licences will result in the consortium gaining a 90 per cent stake in Panama Ports Company, which is the operator of Balboa and Cristobal ports in the country.
CK Hutchison has been operating the ports at the canal’s Pacific and Atlantic entrances for more than two decades.
Although it is not financially tied to the ******** government, Hong Kong firms are subject to state oversight.
The canal, the world’s second busiest interoceanic waterway, is key to global trade flows and critical for US trade as two-thirds of goods passing through the channel are headed into or out of the United States.
The ***** of Panama ports licences held by the unit of billionaire Li Ka-shing’s conglomerate to a consortium that includes BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment will give it control of an 80 per cent interest in Hutchison Ports for an equity value of $US14.21 billion ($A22.82 billion).
It will get control of 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries while delivering cash proceeds in excess of $US19 billion for the Hong Kong-based consortium.
The ***** does not involve any interest in Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, which operates ports in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, as well as South China, or any other ports in Mainland China, CK Hutchison said.
The consortium said has agreed that negotiations will be on an exclusive basis for a ******* of 145 days, the company said.
In January, US Senator Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, raised concerns that ******** authorities could exploit or block passage through the canal and that the ports “give China ready observation posts” to take action.
“This situation, I believe, posts acute risks for US national security,” Cruz said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama in early February and told President José Raúl Mulino that Panama had to reduce ******** influence over the canal or face potential retaliation from the US.
Mulino rejected the idea that China had any control over canal operations.
Panama quit China’s Belt and Road Initiative following Rubio’s visit, drawing condemnation from officials in Beijing.
But while much attention was focused on Trump’s threat to retake control of the canal, his administration trained its sights on Hutchison Ports, the Hong Kong-based consortium that manages the key ports at either end of the canal.
Hutchison Ports had recently been awarded a 25-year no-bid extension to run the ports but an audit looking at that extension was already underway.
Observers believed the audit was a preliminary step toward eventually rebidding the contract but rumours had swirled in recent weeks that a US firm was being lined up to take over.
with AP
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Activision Advertising Fake Call of Duty and Guitar Hero Games with AI Images
Activision Advertising Fake Call of Duty and Guitar Hero Games with AI Images
Activision are advertising new games to Facebook and Instagram in the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises. The catch, though, is these posts are made with AI images for games that don’t exist. If you are scrolling on either of the social media sites today, you may come across a sponsored post showing Guitar Hero Mobile or on the shooter side, Call of Duty: Zombie Defender or Call of Duty: Sniper. None of these games exist, and if you follow the links included, they lead to surveys asking if you would like to see them made.
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Halfbrick Sports: Football is the latest pitch to try and get you onto their subscription service
Halfbrick Sports: Football is the latest pitch to try and get you onto their subscription service
Halfbrick Sports: Football offers furious 3v3 sports action
But there’s a catch, it’s only on Halfbrick+
Can this fast-paced sports sim pull you into this subscription service?
Ah, the beautiful game of football. Well, there’s not much to say about it other than if you’re not directly invested in every match it can be a bit of a slog. Not so in Halfbrick Sports: Football, which brings the action to the palm of your hand in fast-paced, furious 3v3 matches!
Coming March 20th for iOS and Android, Halfbrick Sports: Football promises to offer an alternative to more slow-paced, granular football simulations. It even takes the bold tack of deciding to do away with certain rules such as referees and even goalkeepers! It’s all about the strikers in Halfbrick Sports: Football, and who can make it down the pitch faster.
Naturally, you’ll get the chance to customise your own footballer and jump into matches against friends, matching in 3v3 either privately or with others. Coming from Halfbrick, the folks behind Jetpack Joyride, there’s no shocker in this being a fast-paced, action-packed take on the beautiful game. But there is a catch to all this very appealing-sounding action, which is that this is on Halfbrick+.
What’s a Halfbrick?
You may remember us covering Halfbrick+ in the past with the return of fan-favourite Steppy Pants. This subscription service functions similarly to something like Netflix Games, offering access to a wide variety of titles for only the price of a subscription.
However, it’s that factor which I feel may tackle Halfbrick Sports onto the pitch, so to speak. Halfbrick are certainly developers with a pedigree, given they developed bonafide mobile royalty Fruit Ninja; but at the same time, I’m not sure there are enough truly loyal players that they’ll eagerly shell out the cash to play.
Still, that’s not to say anything about the quality of this upcoming release. But if you want to get your sports fix another way, there are many more options out there. Why not dive into our list of the top sports games on iOS and Android for some options?
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Cheap? Nvidia valuation nearing 10-year lows, according to Bernstein
Cheap? Nvidia valuation nearing 10-year lows, according to Bernstein
Bernstein is taking a contrarian view on Nvidia stock even as other investors signal that valuations had grown stretched for the broader artificial intelligence trade and as tariffs weigh on sentiment and depress prices. In fact, Bernstein managing director and senior analyst Stacy Rasgon argued that Nvidia’s valuation is a buying opportunity for investors, now that the stock is trading at roughly 25 times the next twelve months (****) estimated earnings. Ragson says that’s the lowest forward valuation level in a year for Nvidia and close to a 10-year low. “Worries that the AI trade is ‘over’ feel a little premature to us, and valuation is getting increasingly attractive,” Ragson said. “Sentiment has clearly pivoted for now on the AI group. However, spending intentions seemingly continue to rise, a product cycle is just kicking off, and we have GTC coming in a few weeks.” GTC refers to Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference , an AI conference for researchers, developers, engineers and investors. It’s usually been profitable for investors to buy Nvidia at a 25 times **** P/E ratio, with an average return of 150% over the past 10 years at that level, Ragson said. Bernstein has an outperform rating on Nvidia alongside a $185 per share price target, implying about 62% upside moving forward. Nvidia stock has pulled back close to 14% so far in 2025. Earlier Tuesday, the decline was closer to 17%. NVDA YTD mountain Nvidia over the past year. “It is clear that the Blackwell introduction has not gone as smoothly as the company might have hoped, and there remains added volatility given how laser-focused investors are on this supply chain,” Rasgon wrote in a report on Tuesday. “However, it does seem they have worked through things.” Ragson cautioned that the potential headwind the Bernstein is most closely keeping an eye on is how stringent President Donald Trump’s export restrictions on China will ultimately prove. “For what it is worth, every ~$10B would account for ~25 cents in NVDA EPS; a full China datacenter ban would likely impact EPS ($5-6 baseline?) by mid to high single digits, with the stock already pulling back by much more than that,” Ragson said. To be sure, questions have recently emerged as to the actual level of demand for AI applications and projects. Microsoft recently slashed some of its leases for data centers , walking away from its most ambitous expansion plans and signaling that the company backing OpenAI may be reappraising the future growth of generative artificial intelligence.
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Southwest Airlines closing 2 more crew bases in cost-cutting push
Southwest Airlines closing 2 more crew bases in cost-cutting push
A Southwest Airlines aircraft at a gate at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas, Feb. 16, 2023.
Jordan Vonderhaar | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines is closing two more crew basis amid its cost-cutting push that has also led to its first mass layoffs in its more than 50 years of flying.
The airline is closing crew bases at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and at Texas’ Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to a flight attendant union memo.
“While the Company is within its rights to make this decision, it is not without impact on Flight Attendants,” said TWU Local 556 President Bill Bernal.
He said the union and company agreed to move the closure back one month, making it effective on July 1.
Read more CNBC airline news
“This allows affected Members more time to make arrangements for this change in their professional and personal lives,” Bernal said.
The airports are so-called satellite bases for flight attendants, not pilots, and smaller than its main bases.
A Southwest spokesman said the carrier opened the bases in early 2018 and that the 280 flight attendants who will be affected can transfer to the 12 main bases.
“This change will ultimately help strengthen our Crew network and support a more reliable operation for our Employees and Customers,” the airline said in a statement.
The Dallas-based carrier has been slashing unprofitable routes, affecting hundreds of frontline employees, including in Atlanta. Last month, the airline said it was will cut 15% of corporate staff, or 1,750 people, that would save it about $210 million this year.
The moves come after the airline settled last year with activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which won five Southwest board seats, short of control. The firm had also pushed for Bob Jordan to be replaced as CEO, though it was not successful.
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Split Fiction review: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Split Fiction review: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Split Fiction
MSRP $50.00
“Split Fiction delivers awe-inspiring co-op action, but its weak narrative is another story.”
Pros
Sharp platforming
Tons of creative gameplay twists
Genius co-op puzzling
Impressive performance
Cons
Very weak writing
Dull sci-fi world design
Levels drag a bit too long
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Games on books
Co-op creativity
We care a lot
Okay, how do I start this thing? I mean, there are going to be hundreds of Split Fiction reviews going live at the same time. If I’m going to get people to read mine, I need a strong hook. I want this to feel like the definitive review of the thing! How about a funny anecdote about my girlfriend getting me killed? It’s personal, relatable to the people out there planning to play this with their partner. No, too easy. Everyone is going to do that. Oh, what if I come out swinging? This sucker is going to get breathless praise and immediate “game of the year” buzz. I could lead with my criticism of its weak writing. A dissenting opinion! Actually, maybe that’s too much. I mean, I still really enjoyed my time with it.
Oh, I’ve got it! It’s a game about writers! I can do a whole meta thing! Like, I’m writing about writing the review. I can reflect what the story says about the creative process, while doing a sort of “co-op” review shtick where I’m arguing with myself. That’s clever! That’s unique!
No, wait, that’s so, so stupid.
Split Fiction, the latest co-op adventure from It Takes Two developer Hazelight, couldn’t be landing at a better time. The story about Mio and Zoe, two writers who become victims of a publishing house’s exploitative new tech initiative, comes right at a moment where artists are having their work mined by AI models and regurgitated into soulless drivel. Their adventure isn’t just a fun excuse for Hazelight to flex its design muscles and create more world class co-op puzzle platforming; it’s a much needed reminder that creativity is inseparable from humanity.
Great art can’t be generated from a series of prompts. Everything from a book to a video game is born from meaningful decisions that only a human could make. The pain of losing a loved one can become evocative words on a page. The warm memory of playing Sonic the Hedgehog for the first time can create the foundation for a lovingly crafted platforming level. Even the way a story begins is shaped by countless creative decisions built to pull readers into a specific mindset. It doesn’t always work. Art can be as messy as the people making it. It can be thematically incoherent, self-indulgent, or in desperate need of an editor. God knows Split Fiction isn’t perfect — far from it, in fact — but that just means that it has a pulse. That’s something that we’ve begun to take for granted in our current age of big tech annihilation.
Okay, that all sounds smart. Probably. People love it when you smack talk AI, at least. Easy win. And hopefully that gives me enough leeway to tear this thing’s poor writing apart, while still leaving space to celebrate it as a sharply designed co-op adventure made from a passionate studio of artists who put their whole heart into their craft. Sure.
Games on books
Duplicating the winning formula of its 2021 Game of the Year winner It Takes Two, Split Fiction is another Hazelight adventure game built with two-player split screen in mind. Though while its previous game was a playable rom com that made it a perfect thematic marriage of story and gameplay, Split Fiction has a tougher time wedding those halves. The story here is that Mio and Zoe are struggling writers who are so desperate to get published that they take a shady offer from Rader, a corporation that has built a magical machine that brings stories to life. When Mio gets cold feet about the process, she accidentally winds up getting trapped in the machine alongside Zoe, where their clashing ideas manifest as sci-fi and fantasy worlds.
It should be an easy slam dunk. Split Fiction positions itself as a game for the moment, with Rader standing in for big tech companies like Google. You can read it as a searing takedown of AI, as Rader’s ultimate goal is to harvest ideas from its unsuspecting test subjects and turn their meaningful art into hollow immersive experiences. The story says all the right things that its players will want to hear, painting Mio and Zoe as true artists whose writing comes from real personal experiences that a machine could never understand.
Should I mention VGC’s interview with director Josef Fares here, where he shrugged off the idea that AI is a real problem and seemed fine with the idea that it could lead to layoffs? Is that relevant context that helps set up my criticism? Or would that just be a performative paragraph built for people to screenshot and share on social media? I mean, art should function on its own, but surely the discrepancy between the story’s take on tech and its director’s can start to explain why it doesn’t work. No, better to focus on the work in front of me.
In a cruel twist of fate, the social commentary is trampled by confounding writing at every turn. Mio and Zoe are both presented as great artists and total hacks interchangeably throughout the story. Their “novels” manifest as a series of humdrum genre setpieces that don’t have much plot behind them. There are high fantasy dragon battles, explosive motorbike chase sequences, and other thin plots that are built entirely on tropes. Few of them tell an actual story; they’re just sequences of events largely inspired by scenes from nerdy media. Mio and Zoe even comment on that throughout the story, criticizing one another for writing such overplayed ideas. These are tales that a machine could in fact come up with, kneecapping Split Fiction’s message about originality.
Hazelight
In the same breath, Hazelight wants players to believe that the silly stories it is poking fun at are also emotional and human. Most stories end with some sort of **** story monologue about how all that jumping between flying cars is actually about family drama. Surprise! It’s entirely unearned every single time; the ideas are never told through level design and gameplay, something that Psychonauts 2 so expertly nails. We’re expected to take Zoe and Mio at their word, but art has to function on its own. Their stories never do and Split Fiction rings hollow as a game about intricate creative decision making for it.
Split Fiction has a thin relationship with art. This is a game about books that could not be less interested in actual literature. We’re supposed to be playing through visualizations of Zoe and Mio’s novels, but those levels only ever speak in the language of movies and video games. They are told through puzzles and action set pieces exclusively. How many books have you read where the heroes must dance with a monkey king by doing a Simon Says minigame? Why am I constantly seeing Dark Souls Easter eggs and Sonic the Hedgehog jokes in their story worlds? Split Fiction feels like a game made by people who have never read a book.
God, no, that’s so pithy. People are going to take that literally and drag me for it on Reddit. You’re supposed to be the nuanced critic! What do I actually want to say? Maybe it’s that it feels symptomatic of a larger loss of literacy in culture, something that’s tied to the very tech commentary Split Fiction is making. This is what some people think books are actually like. The complexity of the written word is lost on GoodReads reviews and BookTok influencers that just see them as genre movies made of paper. Isn’t it counterproductive to make a game about books that’s actually just about games? Are Zoe and Mio writers just because books feel more aesthetically serious than video games? Would it have killed Hazelight to reference Frankenstein instead of Tron?
Oh, that’s kind of funny.
Would it have killed Hazelight to reference Frankenstein instead of Tron?
Co-op creativity
Jeeze, that was more searing than I expected it to be. It sounds like I hate this thing! I don’t … right? I had a great time playing it. Killer puzzles. Smooth platforming. Creative as heck. I’ve got to balance this back out before people get the wrong impression. Let’s get a good transition line here, real slick like.
What Split Fiction lacks in story it makes up for in its gameplay. Moron.
Split Fiction more effectively communicates its thesis on creativity where it counts: through design. There’s a good reason that It Takes Two took home the Game Award for Game of the Year; Hazelight is a studio that’s both loaded with ideas and cares enough about them to do them right. The story is broken up into two-hour chunks that swap players between Mio’s sci-fi stories and Zoe’s fantasy worlds. The two halves are linked together by strong platforming fundamentals, as Zoe and Mio magnetize to footholds and poles to keep the adventure manageable for inexperienced players who are pulled into it by their gaming partners.
Well, I mean, aside from the momentum-killing flying sections that feature unwieldy controls to pilot floaty spaceships and wingsuits. But don’t force every nitpick into this. Save it for hour five of a deep dive podcast that’s longer than the game, where you can tell some boring anecdote about having to help your partner through a few sections.
EA Originals
That dual-genre premise allows Hazelight to play around with ever-changing gameplay hooks, dropping them before they’ve run out of new ways to use them. In one level, my girlfriend and I start out by transporting dragon eggs around and using them to open doors. Soon after, they evolve into ******* lizards with unique powers. Mine can glide through the air and ***** acid that melts metal; hers can climb up vines and spin dash into objects. Later, they grow to their full size and we’re sent into a cinematic aerial chase sequence. Part of the fun comes from trying to guess where each unpredictable idea is going to go next.
The best levels use those ideas to fuel ingenious co-op puzzling that’s built for split screen play. My favorite section turned both my girlfriend and I into orbs. She could magnetize to some surfaces and repel from others, while I could turn into a swarm of nanobots that could hack objects and transform. Some puzzles had me turning into a boat that she could jump into so I could safely transport her across water. Others had her unraveling a metal walkway for me with her magnets. Each puzzle required us to talk through exactly what we were doing and coordinate with one another. It’s not about skill and timing so much as cracking the execution together.
Don’t do it. Don’t you dare say it’s the best co-op game since Portal 2. You already did that with It Takes Two, and Split Fiction isn’t even as consistent as that. I don’t care if there are some space-bending levels here that clearly call back to it. That game came out 14 years ago. We as a society need to move on from comparing co-op games to Portal 2.
It’s not that Split Fiction is doing anything groundbreaking here. These ideas were present in It Takes Two and largely made more thematic sense in that context. That is a game about relationships that was designed to feel like a couple’s therapy session. Teamwork isn’t as relevant to Split Fiction’s weaker story, but the creative spirit is. Every level is a hand-crafted design flex by developers who are excited to show off. You can see that most in Split Fiction’s optional side stories, which toss players into Mio and Zoe’s old, unfinished ideas. Some of those offer the adventure’s best levels. A childhood tale plays out in a 2D adventure drawn in pencil, while another casts the duo as walking teeth in a hyperactive 5 year old’s birthday story. More than anything, it reminds me of Super Mario Bros. Wonder with its wealth of playful gameplay twists born from sticky notes.
That’s better.
We care a lot
Split Fiction may not reach the same heights as its predecessor, but … but it’s a suitable follow-up that … that …
Oh no. No. Not writer’s block. Not now. I’m right at the end here. I’ve got a deadline to meet. Why did I make this so complicated? Why couldn’t I just file a normal review instead of drawing up some high-concept bit? I could have been done with this hours ago.
“Its drab sci-fi visuals leave much to be desired, but it runs at a smooth framerate and I never encountered a single bug, even during its technically stunning finale.”
“Each level goes on 30 minutes too long for a casual session, ballooning up what should be a tight adventure with a few too many gimmicks.”
See? Easy. That’s all people really want to read anyways, right? Nobody is looking to this review to learn something about the human condition. It’s a checklist attached to a reductive score that people can argue about online. Fodder for YouTubers overreacting to out of context pull quotes in videos with sensationalized titles. An opinion to be unwillingly aggregated and incorrectly summarized by Google Gemini. Why should I put so much time into each word, desperate to communicate something to readers with each choice I stress over, when we live in a cultural climate that is outright hostile to original thought?
Hazelight
Maybe that’s why Split Fiction still resonates with me even in its messiest moments. Its writing hardly lands, but the sheer craft on display is inspiring. Every time I jump into a side story and discover an entirely new art style or gameplay idea that lasts for a few short minutes and then disappears, I’m left in awe of Hazelight’s commitment. This isn’t a fast food value menu item generated from careful focus group testing; it’s an outpouring of original ideas from people who care about their craft. Who cares if it lives up to It Takes Two’s high bar? Who cares if it’s “GOTY material?” Who cares if it’s the best co-op game since Portal 2? What’s more important is that we take the time to engage with what its creators want to tell us, respecting the art people make for one another enough to both criticize it when it doesn’t work and celebrate it when it does.
Okay. Yeah, okay. So, how about something like this:
Split Fiction is hokey, muddled, and needlessly self-defeating. It’s also lively, inventive, and so earnest that it’s hard to be mad at it for long. These aren’t opposing forces that tear Hazelight’s latest apart; the clumsiness is inseparable from the delight. Both are born from the ambitious vision of artists who still believe in the magic of creativity and are willing to take big swings in its honor. Sometimes it absolutely whiffs. We all do. Fail again. Fail better. But it’s those moments where it connects, where simple ideas turn into unforgettable spectacle, that remind us why art can’t be automated. Even the most advanced machine can never dream ******* than a human with a heart.
Split Fiction was tested on PS5.
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Southwest Airlines closing 2 more crew bases in cost-cutting push
Southwest Airlines closing 2 more crew bases in cost-cutting push
A Southwest Airlines aircraft at a gate at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas, Feb. 16, 2023.
Jordan Vonderhaar | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines is closing two more crew basis amid its cost-cutting push that has also led to its first mass layoffs in its more than 50 years of flying.
The airline is closing crew bases at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and at Texas’ Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to a flight attendant union memo.
“While the Company is within its rights to make this decision, it is not without impact on Flight Attendants,” said TWU Local 556 President Bill Bernal.
He said the union and company agreed to move the closure back one month, making it effective on July 1.
Read more CNBC airline news
“This allows affected Members more time to make arrangements for this change in their professional and personal lives,” Bernal said.
The airports are so-called satellite bases for flight attendants, not pilots, and smaller than its main bases.
A Southwest spokesman said the carrier opened the bases in early 2018 and that the 280 flight attendants who will be affected can transfer to the 12 main bases.
The Dallas-based carrier has been slashing unprofitable routes, affecting hundreds of frontline employees, including in Atlanta. Last month, the airline said it was will cut 15% of corporate staff, or 1,750 people, that would save it about $210 million this year.
The moves come after the airline settled last year with activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which won five Southwest board seats, short of control. The firm had also pushed for Bob Jordan to be replaced as CEO, though it was not successful.
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Pelican News
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