Ibex Ltd sees $3.05 million in stock sales by major owners
Ross Barkley’s 85th-minute goal gave them victory in Germany after goals from John McGinn and Jhon Duran early in each half were cancelled out by Lois Openda and Christoph Baumgartner. That sent them up to third in the new league phase of the competition ahead of Wednesday’s games and with matches against Monaco and Celtic to come, Villa have an excellent chance of finishing in the top eight. Job done... in the end 😅 #RBLAVL #UCL pic.twitter.com/PRD1Hi1Q3A — Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 10, 2024 That would mean they would avoid a play-off round to make it through to the last 16 and Emery says that is the target. “Today was key. Juventus at home, we were thinking more to win but in the end we accepted the draw because it was important for a point to be more or less in the top 24,” he told Amazon Prime. “Today was a match we were thinking at the beginning was key to be a contender to be in the top eight with the last two matches to be played. “It is going to be difficult and we have to get some more points but we now have the possibility to achieve this option. “We are going to enjoy and try to get top eight but we have to be happy because we are in the top 24 and maybe even the top 16. “We weren’t contenders in the beginning to get there but now we have to accept it.” Leipzig, who are flying high near the top of the Bundesliga, are out after losing all six matches. They did pose a threat to Villa, who inflicted some of their own problems on themselves, notably a rare gaffe from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for Openda’s equaliser. But Emery was happy with his side’s performance. “I try to enjoy and always we want to improve and sometimes it is hard but today the team were performing well, playing seriously and I was enjoying it,” he added. “We tried to overcome the mistakes we made and we did. More or less we were playing consistently. One mistake and they score but then we played very well. “Champions League is very difficult and we have to expect that every team playing at home are feeling strong. We played with consistency and domination.”The rumor mill is churning, and the whispers are getting louder: NVIDIA is gearing up to unleash its next generation of graphics cards, the GeForce RTX 50 “Blackwell” series. Early 2025 is shaping up to be a landmark moment for PC gamers, as leaks suggest a quartet of powerful GPUs is set to redefine the gaming landscape. But what exactly can we expect from these new cards? Let’s dive into the details. This launch is a big deal for anyone even remotely interested in PC gaming . Whether you’re a hardcore enthusiast or a casual player, the RTX 50 series promises to deliver a tangible leap in performance, potentially enabling features like real-time ray tracing at even higher resolutions and frame rates. Personally, I’ve been eagerly awaiting this release ever since the RTX 40 series launched. As someone who plays a lot of graphically demanding games and dabbles in 3D rendering, I’m always looking for that extra edge in performance. Blackwell Architecture: A New Era of Performance The RTX 50 series is expected to be based on NVIDIA’s new Blackwell architecture, a successor to the current Ada Lovelace architecture. This new architecture, reportedly built on TSMC’s advanced 4Np process, is rumored to bring substantial gains in performance and power efficiency. Expected Performance Gains: A Generational Leap While official benchmarks are still under wraps, the rumored specifications hint at a significant performance uplift over the RTX 40 series. The Potential Lineup and Specifications Here’s what we might see based on current rumors: Beyond the Initial Launch: RTX 5060 and Beyond While the initial launch is expected to focus on the higher-end models, NVIDIA will likely follow up with more affordable options like the RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 later in 2025. These cards will cater to gamers who prioritize value and target 1080p or 1440p gaming. My Thoughts and Expectations Personally, I’m most excited about the potential for improved ray tracing performance . Ray tracing has revolutionized game graphics, but it’s still incredibly demanding. If the RTX 50 series can deliver a significant boost in ray tracing performance, it will be a game-changer for immersive gaming. I’m also curious to see how NVIDIA tackles power consumption. The RTX 40 series saw a jump in power requirements, so it will be interesting to see if the Blackwell architecture can deliver increased performance while maintaining reasonable power consumption. What This Means for Gamers The launch of the RTX 50 series is shaping up to be a major event for PC gamers. With significant performance gains, improved ray tracing, and new AI-powered features, these cards are poised to deliver the next level of gaming experiences. Whether you’re planning to upgrade your existing system or build a new one, the RTX 50 series is definitely something to keep an eye on in early 2025.
THE black lace party dress from Asos is perfect for Charlotte. She’ll wear it at the weekend and then, if she feels like it, she might order another dress for the party season. Money doesn’t come into it — Charlotte has no intention of paying. Once she’s worn the dress she will stick it straight back in the post. Around a week later, a full refund will hit her bank. Charlotte, a 28-year-old support worker from Manchester, is one of a growing number of women who buy clothes, wear them once or twice, then send them back. More often than not, the item will be something glitzy for a special occasion. The practice has become so widespread there’s a word for it: Wardrobing. Shops label it “tag tuck fraud”. Charlotte has been doing it for ten years and admits she has worn — then returned — between 100 and 150 items. She pays for everyday clothes but says she wouldn’t dream of forking out for something she’ll only ever wear once. It’s saved her up to £2k. “It’s usually party dresses, or something nice for a wedding or the races — one-off dresses I’d never wear again,” says Charlotte. “Because I’m not paying for it, I can go for something a bit different, something I wouldn’t normally wear. “There was this little green cropped top with a matching skirt I got once. “It was bold, very out there, and it got a lot of compliments.” For Charlotte, who mainly shops online at the likes of Pretty Little Thing, Shein, ASOS and Boohoo, it’s not just about looking glam for free. Sometimes I do get a kick out of it, I think ‘I’ve just got to wear a really nice outfit for free and now I’m sending it back She now gets a thrill out of her underhand habit. “Sometimes I get a kick out of it, because I think: ‘I’ve just got to wear a really nice outfit for free and now I’m sending it back’,” she says. “I’ve saved hundreds of pounds — my friends do it as well. I do feel a bit bad sometimes, but not enough to stop.” The only inconvenience, she says, is having to put up with irritating clothing labels rubbing against her skin. “I’ve only had a return rejected once. “A blue bodysuit had one of those hygiene stickers on it and I’d removed it. “I had to pay for that — it was about £15.” A survey in October by logistics company Zigzag, and researchers at Retail Economics, found serial returners send back £6.6BILLION worth of online purchases a year. Most of these are items that don’t fit, or the buyer has changed their mind, but 16 per cent of buyers surveyed admitted they had bought the items to wear at a social event, only to return them. Cardiff student Sarah, 18, started wearing and returning items two years ago after getting a part-time job in a high-street clothing store. In that time she has “borrowed”, as she puts it, around 50 items. “At work, I realised how easy it was to take things back — staff wouldn’t really check,” she says. “We’d have things coming in a little damaged, with tags ripped off, or minor stains, but they still got a refund. “Then a friend saw something on TikTok about wearing clothes once before sending them back, and I thought it was a good shout.” Usually it’s something I don’t want to splash out on Like Charlotte, Sarah normally returns items she plans to wear once, to a party. “Usually it’s something I don’t want to splash out on,” she says. “I tuck in the labels and wear the piece for a day or two. I’ve bought stuff then taken it back from shops such as Pull&Bear, H&M, Primark — large stores where it’s easier to get away with.” Sarah only sends returns to larger shops. She adds: “These are all chain stores that don’t really need the extra cash. More people are struggling to buy clothes than there are [chain stores] struggling to make profits, so I’ve never felt too bad about it.” Retailers might not see it quite the same way, as people like Sarah cost them money. In September, ASOS said it was introducing a return fee for frequent returners. Julia, 42, a model and writer from Derby, grew accustomed to having a large wardrobe. But in recent years she has had cancer and her husband lost his job. With money in short supply, she started wardrobing five years ago. While she does it out of a perceived necessity, she admits she also gets a kick out of it. “It’s like playing dress-up – it’s kind of thrilling,” she says. “It’s usually more showy things, like glitzy party dresses. I needed something for a wedding recently, so bought a nice sequinned skirt for £60 from Zara.” Sarah admits to not telling her husband what she’s doing as he doesn’t agree with it. She adds: “He once saw a label sticking out of my dress. I tried to say I was keeping the label on in case the dress didn’t fit, and he just rolled his eyes and said, ‘It fits fine, you’re not doing that again’. “Since then I’ve carried on without him knowing, but I do feel bad. “As long as I’m not hurting anyone, though, I’ll do it.” Industry expert Clare Bailey says: “It does create a potential loss of revenue. Retailers have to check the product and process it back into the stock, and then there is the cost of the admin of the refund.”
Employers should prepare for sickest month of the year, says HR software firm
Rangers v Tottenham hit by major broadcasting issue as fuming fans left UNABLE to watch huge Europa League matchSpruce power director John Miller buys $52,400 in stockNone
Employers should prepare for sickest month of the year, says HR software firm