Shane Snider, Senior Writer, InformationWeekJanuary 7, 20252 Min ReadBorka Kiss via Alamy Stock The United Kingdoms antitrust watchdog on Tuesday said it would launch investigations into three areas of digital activity as the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act comes into full force -- giving regulatory power over major players like Apple and Google.While the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) did not specify which companies would be investigated, under its strict strategic market status (SMS) designation, only the largest tech firms would be considered.The announcement says two investigations would begin immediately and a third would begin in about six months. Once a company receives SMS designation, the CMA would have the authority to curtail practices like using access to customer data to gain unfair advantage, make it easier for consumers to switch providers, and more.A CMA report released in November called out Apple and Googles dominant market positions in mobile as potential investigation targets, saying a revenue-sharing agreement between the two companies stifled competition.We are committed to implementing the regime in a way that is predictable and proportionate, moving at pace whilst respecting fair process, CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said in a statement. The process for designing any interventions will also be participative and transparent, with the aim of keeping innovation-led markets open and bringing firms on the journey with us.Related:The investigations will be complete within the statutory limit of nine months, the CMA said. Significant fines -- up to 10% of the companys global turnover -- could be levied if the CMA finds a breach in consumer protection law.US tech firms are facing increasing scrutiny from regulators abroad. The EUs Digital Markets Act is also taking aim at antitrust concerns, with probes targeting Apple, Google, and Amazon in March. Possible fines could also reach 10% of those companies global turnover, potentially costing the companies billions of dollars.CMAs Impact on M&A, and US Firm FocusIn a blog post, lawyers with Morgan Lewis said the UKs new rules could have a profound impact on potential mergers and acquisitions for the worlds leading tech companies.The UK CMA has gained a reputation in recent years as an aggressive and impactful antitrust enforcer, lawyers Joshua Goodman, Omar Shah, R. Ryan Hoak, and Jack Ashfield wrote. The UK DMCC only bolsters its powers and as such it is more relevant that ever to consider the role of and approach to the UK SMA as part of the global merger review process.Related:Critics of newly granted antitrust regulation powers like DMCC say the rules discriminate against US firms and jeopardize investment and cooperation between countries. Given that the United Kingdoms digital sector accounted for nearly 1.9 million jobs in 2022 and contributed over [$174 billion] to the UK economy in 2020, the UK government should tread carefully, writes Meredith Broadbent, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, in a post.InformationWeek has reached out to Google and Apple for comment and will update with any response.Read more about:RegulationAntitrustAbout the AuthorShane SniderSenior Writer, InformationWeekShane Snider is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of industry experience. He started his career as a general assignment reporter and has covered government, business, education, technology and much more. He was a reporter for the Triangle Business Journal, Raleigh News and Observer and most recently a tech reporter for CRN. He was also a top wedding photographer for many years, traveling across the country and around the world. He lives in Raleigh with his wife and two children.See more from Shane SniderNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking inspiration from X owner Elon MuskAlessandro Gandolfi/Panos PicturesHas the battle for content moderation, long one of the thorniest problems facing social media companies and other online platforms, finally been lost? A new move by Meta suggests so.Were going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms, said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a video statement published to his Facebook page. This means, he explained, getting rid of fact-checkers and replacing them with community notes, similar to

MindWe have long suspected that music has restorative qualities, but Daniel Levitin is now providing rigorous evidence that it can help treat many conditions, including depression, speech loss and Alzheimer's 7 January 2025 Neuroscientist David Levitin explores how music can help heal us in his new bookNatalie FossMost of us already know that music can have a profound effect on mind and body. Consider the feeling of empowerment when you slip on some headphones and go for a run, the rush of nostalgia you get from hearing your favourite song from your childhood or the joy of singalongs in the car music moves us, literally and figuratively. It can make us happy when we are sad, sad when we are happy, as well as make us dance, laugh and relax.But what if it could do more than that what if music had the power to actually heal us? In his new book I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as medicine, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin explains why he believes it can.Read more: Why music therapy is making a comebackThe idea that music is medicine isnt new there is evidence that shamans and healers in cultures across the world have used music, especially drumming, to treat people for thousands of years.Only in recent decades, however, has science offered a rational basis for music as a mechanism for healing, demonstrating that it has a direct and measurable impact on our nervous system.Advances in neuroimaging coupled with more rigorous experimentation drawing on music theory, cognitive psychology and physiology suggest that music can be useful in aiding everything from Parkinsons disease to Alzheimers and depression.Levitin spoke to New Scientist about these health benefits, and how music might be added to our medical toolkit.Linda Rodriguez-McRobbie: It seems intuitive that

A redox flow battery at a power plant in Japan. A new process could replace rare metals in these batteries with an industrial byproductAlessandro Gandolfi/Panos PicturesAn industrial waste product has been converted into a component for batteries that can stably store large amounts of charge. Such batteries could perform a vital function for power grids by smoothing out the peaks and troughs of renewable energy.Redox flow batteries (RFBs) store energy as two liquids called an anolyte and a catholyte in a pair of tanks. When these fluids are pumped into a central chamber, separated by a thin membrane, they chemically react and produce electrons to generate energy. The process can be reversed to recharge the battery by placing a current across the membrane. AdvertisementSuch batteries are cheap, but they have downsides. They are bulky, often as big as a shipping container, and require constant maintenance because of the moving parts involved in pumping the liquid. They also rely on metals like lithium and cobalt, which are in short supply.Now, Emily Mahoney at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and her colleagues have discovered a simple process that can turn a previously useless industrial waste product into a useful anolyte, which could potentially replace these rare metals.Their process takes triphenylphosphine oxide, created in the manufacture of products including vitamin tablets, and converts it into cyclic triphenylphosphine oxide, which has a high potential for storing negative charge. When used as an anolyte, it shows no reduction in effectiveness even after 350 charging and draining cycles. The latest science news delivered to your inbox, every day.Sign up to newsletterHaving an anolyte with a highly negative potential increases the overall cell potential and therefore the efficacy of the battery, says Mahoney. However, often the increase in potential is coupled with stability issues, so having a compound that can be both stable and highly negative is exciting.Mahoney says RFBs are designed to be safe and have large capacities, so they could be used to store energy from wind and solar generation, but they are unlikely to replace lithium-ion batteries in cars or smartphones because of their bulk.Journal reference:Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c07750.s001Topics:batteries

The Netflix docuseries "Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action" premiered on Tuesday.It explores the controversial rise of Springer's daytime talk show, which gained fame for its brawls.Former producers describe manipulative tactics they used to get guests riled up and ready to fight.The unruly guests on "The Jerry Springer Show" were not professional actors but their infamous brawls were encouraged and teased out behind the scenes, producers say.Netflix's new two-part documentary, "Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action," unpacks the show's outrageous premise and its rise to the top of daytime TV ratings in the late '90s. It features several interviews with former producers, who describe the tactics they used to recruit real people with real problems and coax them into having emotional meltdowns on air."Just like any other manipulative situation, you need to instinctually pull out of them those points of tension that create a soap opera," Melinda Chait Mele, a producer who'd been hired from the tabloid world, says in the doc."A lot of the guests were earnest. They literally did think they were coming on to solve a problem. You wouldn't believe how many people said to me on the telephone, 'I can't wait to meet Jerry. I really hope he can help me with this,'" Mele tells the camera. "Jerry didn't help anybody with any of it. He just stood there and did his thing." Guests fighting on "The Jerry Springer Show." Virginia Sherwood/NBCUniversal via Getty Images As the show was gaining popularity and producers were under more pressure to orchestrate shock and awe, Mele hired Toby Yoshimura, a former bartender with no talk show experience. He proved exceptionally skilled at convincing people to publicly air their grievances."These are small-town folk, right? And you're really trying to sell it to them, like, 'You've got this great story. We want to give people an opportunity to see that,'" Yoshimura explains. "In order for them to deliver, they have to like you. So you treat them like they're kings."Yoshimura says producers would send limousines to ferry guests to and from the airport. A "Jerry Springer" guest identified as Melanie says they were also supplied with plenty of alcohol."They did everything in their power to get us as crazy as possible," Melanie says. "They were like, 'Go hog wild! Have fun!' And so we got wasted." By the time she arrived on set the following morning, Melanie says she was hungover, sleep-deprived, and "ready to fuck it up." Meanwhile, producers were with her backstage, coaching her on "what to say and how to act."Yoshimura describes the environment as a "pressure cooker" and admits that some stories went too far. (Some of the show's most controversial episodes include "I'm Pregnant By My Brother" and "I Married a Horse.")"You had to reach into their brain and tap on the thing that would make them laugh, cry, scream, or fight. You rev 'em up to tornado level, and then you send 'em out onstage," Yoshimura says, adding later, "This was basically the Stanford Prison Experiment, in that you were playing with people's psyches until you get a result."This methodology was designed to generate higher ratings, which spiked after an episode that saw a member of the Jewish Defense League start a fistfight with members of the Ku Klux Klan."It was brilliant. And it rated through the roof," says Richard Dominick, the executive producer for "Jerry Springer" who's widely credited as the show's mastermind. "If you're producing a show that you want to be insane, and unlike anything that's ever been on TV before, there's your goal. That's what you want."From that point onward, producers were instructed to pursue on-camera confrontations and for a while, Dominick's method got results. In 1998, Springer even beat out Oprah Winfrey in the ratings for the most-watched daytime talk show, a feat that producers previously thought was impossible."There was no question: Jerry and Richard were on top of the world. I mean, the riches that it gave them, and the fame, were very compelling," says Robert Feder, a longtime media critic who worked for the Chicago Sun-Times during the "Jerry Springer" era."But what did they have to do in order to achieve it?" Feder continues. "The degree to which Jerry sold himself out, and the degree to which he was complicit with Richard in exploiting the people who came on the show, is something that had serious consequences.""The Jerry Springer Show" ran for 27 seasons before it was canceled in 2018; Springer died of pancreatic cancer in 2023. In the final years of his life, Springer disavowed his own show and publicly apologized for the role he played, declaring, "What have I done? I've ruined the culture.""I look at some of the stuff that's being done now, and I go, 'We're kind of responsible for this crap,'" Dominick says in the doc, which pairs the quote with clips from "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," and "The Apprentice." He adds: "Maybe I am gonna go to hell."However, Yoshimura suggests the show's success reflects just as negatively on viewers including any viewers of the Netflix doc today as it does on hosts, creators, and producers."Look at the history of the show. A guy punches a girl in the face, it gets huge ratings. We put a girl without clothes on the show, everybody loses their mind," he explains. "All you guys wanna talk about is all that shit.""But, you know, we're the problem," he adds. "If none of that happened, there's no documentary on Netflix. Full stop."

A Russian attack submarine that was stationed in Syria has officially left the Mediterranean Sea.The departure of the Kilo-class Novorossiysk leaves Russia without any known submarines in the region.The uncertain fate of Russia's naval presence in Syria amid other setbacks could spell trouble for its submarine force.Strategic Russian naval bases have been upended by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, creating headaches for the Kremlin's navy, including its submarine force.Moscow no longer appears to have any attack submarines in the Mediterranean Sea after NATO forces spotted its last known submarine leaving the region last week.Portugal's military said that it observed a Russian Kilo-class submarine moving through the country's continental exclusive economic zone near northern Spain on Friday. NATO Maritime Command later identified the vessel as the Novorossiysk.The Novorossiysk was spotted several weeks earlier at Tartus, a naval base in Syria that Russia had used for years. The future of Moscow's military footprint at the facility and in the country in general was, however, thrown into uncertainty after the shocking collapse of the Assad regime last month.There are indications that Russia is drawing down forces at its bases in Syria. Losing Tartus for good would be a significant blow to Moscow's navy including its capable submarine force which relies on the warm-water port to project power across the region and beyond.Early December satellite imagery showed the Novorossiysk docked in Tartus, but by the middle of the month, it was gone, along with the rest of the Russian warships that had been there. Some of the Russian naval vessels have been spotted in recent weeks loitering off the Syrian coast, but the whereabouts of this submarine were less certain. Russian crew members board the Novorossiysk in Saint Petersburg in August 2014. OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images Should Syria's new leadership decide Russia can no longer station its forces at Tartus, it would mark another setback for Moscow's navy, which has suffered a string of stunning losses in the nearby Black Sea since the start of the full-scale Ukraine war nearly three years ago.Ukrainian forces have used missiles and naval drones to damage or destroy dozens of Russian naval vessels, including one of six improved Kilo-class submarines Moscow's Black Sea Fleet operates, during the conflict.These attacks have forced Moscow to withdraw the Black Sea Fleet from its long-held headquarters in Sevastopol, a major city in the southwestern corner of the occupied Crimean peninsula, across the region to the port of Novorossiysk along western Russia's coast. If Russia is unable to move back into Sevastopol, that creates complications.For Russia, losing the ability to keep submarines at Sevastopol and Tartus is less than ideal.Bryan Clark, a former US Navy officer and defense analyst at the Hudson Institute, said that the remainder of the Kilo-class vessels are based in St. Petersburg, where there is a large naval facility and dry docks for maintenance."The Russians are now having to redeploy their submarine force back up to the north" instead of relying on warm-water ports that "you could get in and out of them year-round," Clark told Business Insider. "St. Petersburg, you can't get in and out of year-round." An overview of the naval facility at Tartus on January 6. Satellite image 2025 Maxar Technologies. Recent developments also seriously undermine Russia's military influence in the Mediterranean and southern Europe, Clark said.The Novorossiysk is a newer improved Kilo sub. Submarines of this class are diesel-electric vessels and formidable long-range strike platforms that can attack ships and land targets, deploy for weeks on end, and stay relatively undetected. They are effectively Russia's most capable non-nuclear subs and can carry Kalibr missiles.Russia has kept a Kilo-class vessel in the region for years. The boat's departure from the region, though Russia could ultimately opt to move another sub into the area later, may signal a broader decline in Russian naval might in the Mediterranean.In four years, Russia appears to have gone "from being a pretty big player in the Med in terms of naval forces to now being a nonexistent player," Clark said.Russia's basing challenges could ultimately hinder its ability to project power. The uncertainty with Tartus and nearby Hmeimim Air Base underscores a broader issue for the Russian military.Satellite imagery captured on Monday by Maxar Technologies, a commercial imaging company, shows no obvious signs of any major Russian naval vessels at Tartus, as has been the case for weeks. Ukraine's military intelligence agency has said Russia is withdrawing from the base.Whether Moscow is able to negotiate an arrangement with the new Syrian leadership to stay in the country or is forced to relocate to a new hub in North Africa to sustain its operations remains to be seen.

Jensen Huang has unveiled a platform called Cosmos to simulate scenarios to train real-world robots.Huang likened it to Marvel superhero Doctor Strange simulating millions of versions of the future.The Nvidia boss said at CES that physical AI is the "next frontier" of artificial intelligence.In "Avengers: Infinity War," Marvel superhero Doctor Strange looks into the future to see over 14 million different outcomes of the galactic battle against supervillain Thanos. Jensen Huang thinks it's the kind of power needed to reach "the next frontier of AI."In a keynote address at CES in Las Vegas on Monday, the Nvidia CEO introduced Cosmos, a platform that aims to make "physical AI" a reality by simulating endless real-world scenarios for robots and autonomous vehicles to study and gain a deeper understanding of their environment.According to Huang, the path to this next frontier in which autonomous hardware becomes a common sight in daily life has been limited until now because of data availability. As he put it, "Physical world data is costly to capture, curate, and label." That's where Nvidia Cosmos comes in, for Huang at least. "You could have it generate multiple physically-based, physically plausible scenarios of the future," he told the Las Vegas audience. "Basically, do a Doctor Strange."Nvidia's next frontier is coming Jensen Huang at CES 2025. Patrick T. Fallon for AFP via Getty Images Here's how it works. Cosmos ingests text, image, or video prompts to generate videos with virtual renderings of real-world environments, lighting, and more.Developers of robots and autonomous vehicles can then use these virtual creations to provide their technology with synthetic data for reinforcement learning a research technique used to teach AI models as well as test and validate the models behind the physical AI.According to an Nvidia blog post, Cosmos can also be used along with Omniverse, the company's platform for creating 3D graphics and metaverses, to "generate every possible future outcome an AI model could take to help it select the best and most accurate path."Cosmos itself starts with a strong, foundational understanding of real-world environments. It has been trained on 20 million hours of video focusing on everything from humans walking and "dynamic nature" to camera movements, Nvidia said.If robots and autonomous vehicles are to become a widespread reality, as other industry leaders like Elon Musk think, they'll need a highly sophisticated understanding of these kinds of scenarios."It's really about teaching the AI, not about generating creative content, but teaching the AI to understand the physical world," Huang said. Elon Musk's Tesla is also looking to robots as the future. Screengrab from We, Robot livestream There's a good reason Huang is talking up physical AI. While Nvidia has grown by roughly $3.3 trillion since the start of the generative AI boom, thanks to high demand for its chips needed to train AI models, the business isn't completely free of threats.Some of Nvidia's Big Tech customers, such as Amazon and Google, are developing chips of their own to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. The company made 87.7% of its $35.1 billion revenue last quarter from its chip and data center business.As Business Insider's Emma Cosgrove also notes, the semiconductor industry has historically been brutal. Companies typically experience boom and bust cycles as interest in niche chips can come in waves. There is an incentive then for Huang to diversify Nvidia's sources of income.Time will tell if Cosmos can offer the path forward to Nvidia's next frontier. Development of robots that can navigate complex world environments has taken shape slowly, despite companies like Google, Boston Dynamics and Figure AI deploying increasing amounts of capital on developing these technologies.Huang himself noted during his CES keynote that he expects autonomous vehicles to represent the "first multi-trillion dollar robotics industry."With autonomous cars already on the road in certain locations from companies like Waymo and Cruise, this could be the case. During CES, Huang shared that Nvidia had struck a new partnership with Toyota to help power its autonomous vehicle ambitions.Getting to a world where robots roam freely among humans will take considerably more effort, however. Huang will hope that Cosmos starts to provide the superpowers needed to pull off such a feat.

In March, Dartmouth basketball players made history with a 13-2 vote to unionize and be classified as college employees the first successful union election by student-athletes in US history. After Dartmouth rejected the bid, the two sides began litigating the path forward. But last Tuesday, well before any contract was reached, the players ended their union efforts by withdrawing their federal labor petition. The athletes have pushed the conversation on employment and collective bargaining in college sports forward, said Chris Peck, president of Service Employees International Union Local 560, in a statement. While our strategy is shifting, we will continue to advocate for just compensation, adequate health coverage, and safe working conditions for varsity athletes at Dartmouth.The immediate cause of the withdrawal was almost certainly political. With President-elect Donald Trump set to fill two vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board after Senate Democrats failed to confirm the current Democratic chair for another term, the Dartmouth basketball union opted to preserve their earlier victory rather than risk an adverse ruling from what will likely be a more employer-friendly board. Trump is also expected to replace NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, who has been notably supportive of college athletes collective bargaining rights, potentially on his first day in office.Sports economist Andy Schwarz notes that unionization rights at the federal NLRB level are fundamentally unstable even if the athletes had succeeded in getting a contract under a new Democratic administration, their victory could be overturned by subsequent Republican-appointed labor boards, as has happened with graduate student organizing rights. Legal experts expect unions to preemptively withdraw more pending cases and say a Trump board could also reverse recent decisions, including on union recognition rules and independent contractors. Its not entirely clear what will happen over the next four years. During his first term, Trumps appointed NLRB general counsel quickly rescinded a previous memo that had suggested college athletes could be classified as employees. However, notable Trump-appointed judges, including Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, have offered strong opinions supporting athletes economic rights and challenged the traditional view that student athletes arent workers. A separate federal complaint arguing that USC athletes should be considered employees also faces an uncertain future. Dartmouths tactical retreat underscores how the fight for college athlete rights often advances in fits and starts, with organizers choosing their battles carefully in an entrenched system. This latest strategic withdrawal may preview a broader shift in how college teams approach organizing in the Trump era, searching for alternative paths to recognition and negotiation.An amateur model in a professional industryThe amateur model where colleges make money from sports while not treating athletes as employees dates back to the 19th century, when schools first began selling tickets to student contests, explained David Berri, a sports economist at Southern Utah University.In 2022, as my colleague Bryan Walsh noted, college athletics generated $13.6 billion in revenue, more than any professional sport except the NFL. Individual programs like the University of Alabamas football team can bring in over $120 million yearly. In 43 states, the highest-paid public employee is a college coach at a major state university. Yet most athletes remain restricted to scholarships and limited cost-of-living stipends, rather than traditional salaries. Ellen Staurowsky, a professor of sports media at Ithaca College, argues the amateur system is increasingly outdated. To me, it seems so untruthful to continue to perpetuate the idea that athletes are not the labor force driving this multibillion-dollar industry, she told Vox. These ideas about student-athletes were formed long before 24/7 television, a global sport entertainment market. College sports do not have the business model to match the 21st century.If college athletes were classified as employees theyd be eligible for salaries, collective bargaining, workers compensation, health benefits, and legal protections under labor laws. However, the changes sought by athletes through unionization might be more modest than either supporters or critics imagine. If the Dartmouth players had been able to bargain, theyd have been able to negotiate new rules like maybe they wouldnt have to travel home after midnight after a late game, Schwarz told Vox. Thats the kind of thing that a labor union could do that would interfere with the business practices of a university but which would be a health and safety and quality of life issue for the athletes. Previous attempts to establish college athletes as employees have faced significant hurdles. A 2015 effort to unionize Northwestern Universitys football team failed when even a Democratic-controlled NLRB chose not to get involved, citing concerns about competitive balance in a conference where Northwestern was the only private school in a mostly public conference outside NLRB oversight. The Dartmouth case, involving a private school basketball team in the Ivy League, seemed poised to avoid that particular obstacle before last weeks withdrawal.Beyond the NLRBWhile the Dartmouth players union effort has ended, the broader fight over college athlete rights continues. In 2021, the US Supreme Court issued a narrow decision characterizing the NCAA as a price-fixing operation, signaling that future legal challenges could further erode the NCAAs ability to restrict athlete pay. In a landmark settlement last year, the NCAA agreed to pay $2.75 billion to college athletes for the first time, allowing schools to provide direct compensation. Meanwhile, at USC, athletes supported by the National College Players Association, a nonprofit advocacy group, have filed a complaint seeking to classify football and mens and womens basketball players as employees. But with a conservative Trump-era NLRB, the athletes may follow Dartmouths lead and still preemptively withdraw.With traditional NLRB channels becoming more difficult to navigate, unions may increasingly turn to voluntary recognition agreements, pressuring schools to negotiate directly with athletes outside the formal NLRB framework. Though rare in college sports, these agreements could become more attractive to schools as a way to avoid more costly antitrust litigation and to students seeking alternative union routes during periods of Republican board dominance.Its really an open question right now, Staurowsky said. There is concern that the momentum weve seen over the last few years is going to be stalled. The NCAA itself continues lobbying Congress to help preserve aspects of its amateur model, even as recent changes like Name, Image, and Likeness [NIL] rights have begun reshaping the economics of college athletics by allowing athletes to profit from endorsements and sponsorships. As Schwarz notes, Nobody who is a college football fan feels that the current playoff system is less good because the athletes are receiving NIL money, even though for years we were told no one would watch it.The Dartmouth players withdrawal may help preserve a favorable precedent for future organizing efforts. SEIU Local 560 has already signaled several paths forward, pledging to support the development of an Ivy League Players Association and expand group licensing programs that allow athletes to collectively negotiate with brands. Still, collective bargaining may ultimately prove the only viable pathway to address some of the specific issues student-athletes face, Peck said.College sports amateur model has weathered countless challenges since its inception, but the question today seems less about if amateurism will change, but when and who will get to shape its future.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Grapple fever is in the air, and a new year means a new WWE 2K entry is right around the corner here's all we know about this year's game, WWE 2K25, ahead of its official revealTech17:24, 07 Jan 2025Updated 17:24, 07 Jan 2025CM Punk is back having been DLC for last year's gameIt's a new year, and 2025 has already brought plenty of excitement for wrestling fans with the long-awaited Netflix deal with WWE, but as we approach Royal Rumble and the Road to Wrestlemania, we're expecting the next WWE title to jump onto console and PC from the top rope.2K has begun revealing fresh screenshots of superstars including Cody Rhodes, Liv Morgan and more, and they look fantastic, so what better time to recount all we know about this year's game so far, including when you can play it.Here's all we know so far, including the confirmed roster, for WWE 2K25.Content cannot be displayed without consentIt's always fun to speculate who will grace the cover of this year's game, especially as it can often mean a tie-in with an in-game mode. Last year's cover star was the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes, and the year before it was John Cena as players enjoyed tackling the Doctor of Thuganomics as some of his many rivals.This year, all signs are pointing to Roman Reigns being the cover star, with the Tribal Chief and Paul Heyman entering a room with 'WWE 2K25' on the door and talking about January 27.Bayley is confirmed for the WWE 2K25 rosterEver since the slobberknocker that was WWE 2K20 (which also had Roman on the cover (alongside Becky Lynch), WWE 2K titles have launched in March.It's a prime time for it, too, around Wrestlemania season, and we'd imagine it'll launch in March this year, too.Content cannot be displayed without consentAt the time of writing, we have the following confirmed to arrive in WWE 2K25 thanks to the released screenshots:BayleyCM PunkCody RhodesDamian PriestLiv MorganLiv Morgan is one of the first stars revealedGiven WWE 2K24 had more than 200 Superstars to choose from, plus the DLC, we'd expect that roster to grow quickly across the next couple of months.Here's hoping for some more Legends, too. WWE 2K24 gave us Chyna, Faarooq, Eddie Guerrero, and even Muhammad Ali, as well as classic versions of Randy Orton, Batista, Rhea Ripley and more.The American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes, is hereWe're still not sure on what new gameplay mechanics or match types will arrive in WWE 2K25 (bring back 'Create A Finisher', I say) but we'll hopefully find out soon.Article continues belowWWE 2K24 reintroduced a bunch of gimmick matches like Casket, Ambulance, and Special Guest Referee options, but the WWE is constantly innovating with new ways for its stars to beat each other up so we expect to be surprised nonetheless.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED

Just announce it already, Nintendo (Nintendo)Weve reached the point where info about the Switch 2s charger is leaking online ahead of any formal reveal from Nintendo.While there remains very little information, leaked or otherwise, about the sort of games that will release for the Nintendo Switch 2, theres no shortage of leaks about the hardware.Ever since the end of 2024, the frequency of Switch 2 leaks has only increased. Just this week, fans found evidence suggesting the Joy-Con controllers can double as a computer mouse and a breakdown of its alleged tech suggests it can run ports of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X games.Earlier today, additional details about the Switch 2s dock made their way online, which seem to confirm that the console wont be compatible with the original Switchs charger.This comes courtesy of games journalist Laura Kate Dale, who also once leaked details for the original Switch. Although shes since moved away from gaming leaks, she was recently sent a photo of the Switch 2s dock by a trusted source, and thus has shared details on her social media accounts.The actual photo isnt particularly exciting, only showing input and output voltage information on the back of the dock. However, Dale claims that the Switch 2 will ship with a 60W charger. The new dock is unlikely to look that much different from the original one (X)By comparison, the original Switchs charger is only 39W. As such, Dale speculates it wont be powerful enough to charge up the Switch 2, at least when its docked.This doesnt necessarily mean you couldnt use the original charger with the Switch 2 while it is out of the dock. But we cant imagine itd be as efficient and would likely take longer to fully charge up the console.More TrendingDale has made it clear she has no other information to share on the matter, so eager Nintendo fans shouldnt expect further leaks from her. Hopefully, they wont need them though as an official reveal is rumoured to take place before the end of January.The question here is why the dock needs a different charger, since if it works in the same way as the current Switch just acting as a connector to a TV theres no reason anything should need to change.A natural assumption is that the dock itself will have new functionality, perhaps offering higher performance in games while the Switch is connected to it. Thats been an idea fans have floated around ever since the OLED Model was announced but so far its not been something Nintendo has embraced. Even Amazon is casually showing the console off, with listings for Switch 2 cases in Japan. The accompanying images dont show anything new, and appears to be a mock-up based on known info, but it doesnt change how much of an open secret the Switch 2s design now is. This isnt officially what the Switch 2 looks like but come on, this is what itll look like (Amazon)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy