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UK blocks Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision deal 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

By Katharine Gemmell | BloombergMicrosoft’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard was vetoed by Britain’s antitrust watchdog, in a potentially fatal blow for the gaming industry’s biggest ever deal.The Competition and Markets Authority said its concerns couldn’t be solved by remedies such as the sale of blockbuster title Call of Duty or other solutions involving promises to permit rivals to offer the game on their platforms, according to a statement Wednesday. Microsoft said it will appeal the decision.Pressure had been mounting on Microsoft as it lobbies at home and in Europe to convince watchdogs to clear the deal — one of the 30 biggest acquisitions of all time. Crucially, the CMA’s conclusions come before decisions from the European Union and the US Federal Trade Commission, which is waiting on a hearing in the summer after formally suing to veto the transaction.READ MORE: FTC sues to block Microsoft’s $69 million takeover of Call of Duty maker Activision BlizzardMicrosoft...

East Bay city will no longer restrict tobacco products based on package size or price

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

Antioch will no longer restrict tobacco products based on package size or price.The changes come after the City Council heard many outcries in March and again this week from small shop owners and others who complained that the new restrictions on the package size and price of tobacco products were hurting their businesses.The revised restrictions on tobacco sales align the city with the state’s new rules following the passage of a flavored tobacco ban last fall and helps avoid potential confusion among local retailers and enforcement officials, according to staff.“We’re just trying to have some parity, so it’s consistent,” Acting City Manager Forrest Ebbs told the council. “…We wanted to get this before you because you know it’s important to the business community.”First approved on March 08, 2022, and enacted on Dec. 14 that same year, Antioch’s rules on tobacco sales prohibited businesses from selling fewer than six cigars or 20 “little cigars,” including cigarillos, o...

Pac-12 football officiating: Exodus of top referees leaves conference with overhauled crews for 2023 season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

The Big Ten has raided the Pac-12 once again. Instead of taking more schools, it has seized football officials. Three of the conference’s top referees have accepted positions with the Big Ten.Chris Coyte, Francisco Villar, and Steve Strimling are departing, according to Football Zebras, a website that tracks NFL and NCAA officiating and was the first to report the news. (Coyte worked a College Football Playoff game last season.)The Pac-12 declined to identify the departed referees by name but confirmed that multiple officials have resigned and said the process of replacing them “is underway.”In addition to the three referees headed to the Big Ten, a fourth longtime Pac-12 official, Michael Mothershed, has retired.The departing referees live in Southern California and are expected to handle USC and UCLA home games when the schools join the Big Ten in 2024.Additionally, Pac-12 center judge Jim Wharrie, who has experience as a referee, is also headed to the Big Ten, according to ...

Opinion: Passing clean energy bill will secure California’s future

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

As the pillar of California’s economy, Silicon Valley is home to the innovative companies and world-class institutions that drive the clean energy and frontier technology solutions of the future. Yet, without establishing access to reliable and affordable clean energy sources that we can turn to during extreme weather events or other periods of record demand, we’re jeopardizing the competitiveness of our region and putting the State’s vital climate goals at risk.That’s why the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which represents the innovation economy and its ecosystem, is joining with key business and clean energy stakeholders in support of the Lights On California initiative. Together, we’re advocating for solutions that will enable California to plan for the long-term and overcome challenges to scaling the clean energy supply we need now to realize priorities like transportation electrification and powering the data centers that are the backbone of cloud-based industries.Specificall...

Tom Perez, Tara McGuinness Join Neera Tanden on Shortlist for Key Biden Policy Adviser

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

Among the high-profile departures announced on bloody Monday, one may prove far more historically consequential than the other two. Susan Rice cut a low public profile in her role as director of the Domestic Policy Council, but it is as important a role as any other inside the White House — perhaps more than any other. The choice of her successor will be arguably the most significant President Joe Biden makes in the back half of his first term.With the House in Republican hands, the Biden administration’s ability to wield executive power when it comes to immigration, wages, implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, executing on its care economy agenda, implementing gun control policies, securing voting rights, or finding creative ways to expand access to abortion services will heavily depend on who Biden taps to run the Domestic Policy Council. The position will also take on heightened importance if the Supreme Court ultimately rejects the administration’s student debt relief p...

Brazil’s Bolsonaro gives testimony to police on Jan. 8 riot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gave testimony at the Federal Police headquarters Wednesday about his actions related to the Jan. 8 attacks on government buildings in the capital, Brasilia.One week after his leftist successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, Bolsonaro’s supporters raided and trashed the buildings of the Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace. Hundreds of them are expected to stand trial.Brazil’s prosecutor-general. Augusto Aras, said earlier this month that Bolsonaro “allegedly encouraged the perpetration of crimes” against the rule of law. The former president had left the country after his defeat and was staying in Orlando, Florida during the attacks, and has denied any involvement in them.Bolsonaro had never openly conceded defeat in the closest presidential race since Brazil’s return to democracy over three decades ago. He also repeatedly made unfounded claims that sowed doubt about the reliability ...

Pricey prawns may imperil Indian grain that combats climate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

KOCHI, India (AP) — On a tiny sliver land in southern India, the future of an ancient grain that helps combat climate change is in doubt.An ongoing tussle in Chellanam village, a suburb of the bustling city of Kochi, which has the Arabian Sea on one side and estuaries on the other, could decide the fate of the cultivation of pokkali rice.In many wetlands in the area, farmers have traditionally dedicated half the year to pokkali rice and the other six months to prawns. In 2022, the Fisheries Department of Kerala issued an order that farmers no longer needed to dedicate part of the year to pokkali, exacerbating a trend away from pokkali already under way. While prawns fetch more money than pokkali, a focus on them is upending a delicate ecosystem, making it difficult for farmers who want to continue with pokkali, environmental experts say. M.M. Chandu, a 78-year-old farmer with about 0.8 hectares (a little over 2 acres), said that increasing salinity in the land from year-round prawn ...

Norfolk Southern estimates Ohio derailment will cost $387M

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern expects February’s fiery Ohio derailment to cost it $387 million, but that total will likely increase over time and that doesn’t reflect how much the railroad’s insurance companies will eventually cover.The railroad provided a detailed estimate of the cost of Feb. 3 derailment outside East Palestine, Ohio, Wednesday along with first-quarter earnings. That derailment, and others since then, sparked a nationwide focus on railroad safety. Regulators and members of Congress have proposed reforms like capping freight trains lengths and setting standards for the trackside detectors used to spot problems.CEO Alan Shaw told Congress that he backs some proposals like enhanced standards for tank cars, but insists the data doesn’t support other ideas like minimum two-person crews. Shaw reiterated his often-stated promise Wednesday to “do whatever it takes to make it right for East Palestine and the surrounding areas.”The $387 million ...

Se cumplen 5 años de que el fenómeno mundial “Despacito” arrasara en los Premios Billboard

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – “Despacito”, la famosa canción de Luis Fonsi y Daddy Yankee, cumple este miércoles cinco años de haber arrasado en los Premios Billboard de la Música Latina de 2018 con seis galardones, incluyendo Canción del Año.El videoclip, convertido en su momento en el más visto de la historia de YouTube, fue filmado totalmente en el Viejo San Juan, incluyendo el barrio popular de La Perla, y hoy varios de los músicos del video de Luis Fonsi y Daddy Yankee lo recuerdan como un himno popular.La filmación fue dirigida por el también puertorriqueño Carlos Pérez, de la empresa Elastic People, y en él aparece un elenco de bailarines, entre ellos, la ex Miss Universo boricua Zuleyka Rivera (2006), bailando por La Perla y en el icónico bar La Factoría, en la calle San Sebastián del histórico casco sanjuanero.EL CUATRO PUERTORRIQUEÑO DIO EL TOQUE ESPECIALAl son de los acordes de Christian Nieves en el cuatro puertorriqueño, con los que arranca la exitosa canció...

A writer suing former president Donald Trump has taken the witness stand in a trial over her claim that he raped her

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:07 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A writer suing former president Donald Trump has taken the witness stand in a trial over her claim that he raped her.Source