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Merger ahead: Judge says Microsoft can go ahead on Activision Blizzard buy

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

A federal judge has handed Microsoft a major victory by declining to block its looming $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard. Regulators sought to ax the deal saying it will hurt competition.U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said in a ruling that the merger deserved scrutiny, noting it could be the largest in the history of the tech industry. But federal regulators were unable to show how it would cause serious harm and wouldn’t likely prevail if they took it to a full trial, she wrote.The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust laws, “has not raised serious questions regarding whether the proposed merger is likely to substantially lessen competition” between video game consoles or in the growing markets for monthly game subscriptions or cloud-based gaming, Corley said.A ruling favorable to Microsoft was not a surprise after the company’s lawyers had the upper hand in a 5-day San Francisco court hearing that ended...

Wrigley Field in the mix to host the 2025 All-Star Game — its 1st since 1990 — MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

The wait continues for the All-Star Game to return to Wrigley Field.The Chicago Cubs haven’t held the Midsummer Classic at their historic ballpark since 1990, with all but two teams — the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays — hosting since then. Six teams have received two All-Star Games in that span: the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Guardians, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged the Cubs’ interest in bringing an All-Star Game to Wrigley during a news conference with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday in Seattle. Manfred said the Atlanta Braves, who last hosted in 2000, are among the teams in the mix for the 2025 All-Star Game, and Wrigley Field and Boston’s Fenway Park also could be in play.“The level of interest in our clubs in hosting an All-Star Game is really, really high,” Manfred said. “As time goes by we’re going to l...

Senators call for Supreme Court to follow ethics code like other branches of government

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, ERIC TUCKER and BRIAN SLODYSKO (Associated Press)The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, responding to Associated Press investigative stories on the Supreme Court, said Tuesday it was time for the justices to bring their conduct in line with the ethical standards of other branches of government.“If they just establish the basic standards of every other branch of government, it would give us much more confidence in their integrity,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. He commented in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he was attending the NATO summit as part of the U.S. delegation.The AP published stories showing that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, aided by her staff, has advanced sales of her books through college visits over the past decade; that universities have used trips by justices as a lure for financial contributions by placing them in event rooms with wealthy donors, and that justices have taken expenses-paid teaching trips to attractive locations that a...

Ticker: Regulators reject bets on LIV Golf; Feds probe Ford Escape doors

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

Bay Staters will remain unable to wager on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf after gaming regulators on rejected an application to open it up to sports betting ahead of an anticipated merger.The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposal filed by sports betting operator DraftKings to add the breakaway league to other gambling options.MGC Sports Wagering Operations Manager Sterl Carpenter told commissioners that the request from DraftKings sought to add LIV Golf to the golf section of the state’s sports betting catalog before the 2024 season, when it is expected to combine with the PGA Tour.Commissioners mentioned a handful of reasons for shooting down the application, including a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust review of the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. They also referenced LIV Golf’s financial support from the government of Saudi Arabia, which has faced allegations of numerous human rights violations.Feds probe Ford Esc...

BofA to pay $250M in fake account, fee policies 

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

NEW YORK — Bank of America will reimburse customers more than $100 million and pay $150 million in fines for “double-dipping” on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards and opening accounts without customer consent.Combined, it is one of the highest financial penalties in years against Bank of America, which has largely spent the last 15 years trying to clean up its reputation and market itself to the public as a bank focused on financial health and not on overdraft fee income and financial trickery.BofA must refund $100 million to customers, pay $90 million in penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.“Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, in a statement. “These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust.”Empowered by a broad mandate...

Alberta calls on federal government to help Indigenous communities with opioid crisis

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

WINNIPEG — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the federal government is failing when it comes to some of the big issues in its jurisdiction, particularly Indigenous health care.Speaking at the annual premiers’ conference on Tuesday, Smith said provincial leaders have a shared frustration with Ottawa.“The federal government continues to intervene in our areas of jurisdiction, continues to try to dictate how we operate our programs and policies and yet they fail in their areas of jurisdiction,” she told reporters in Winnipeg.“We’ve got a lot of big issues that the federal government needs to deal with — for instance on the issue of Indigenous health. They are completely failing Indigenous communities in supporting them in urban environments and in supporting them in the mental-health and addiction crisis.”On Monday, Treaty 6 First Nations in Western Canada declared a state of emergency over rising opioid deaths and called on all levels of governmen...

Net-zero electricity grid for Alberta is possible, Wilkinson says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

DRUMHELLER, Alta. — Against the backdrop of Alberta’s newest solar farm, federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Tuesday he still believes the province can get its electricity grid to net zero by 2035 – in spite of Premier Danielle Smith’s insistence to the contrary.Wilkinson made the comments in Starland County near Drumheller, Alta., in front of the thousands of gleaming solar panels that make up the latest solar project to be connected to the province’s electricity grid.“The federal government’s view is that it can be done,” Wilkinson said, moments after renewable energy firm Capstone Infrastructure formally cut the ribbon on its 25 MW Michichi solar project, which will produce enough renewable power to offset approximately 30,000 metric tonnes of CO2 each year. “But we also have to be willing to listen to the concerns of Alberta and Saskatchewan and try to find ways to address those concerns – and ideally, address those within the 2035 time frame.”Wilkinson an...

In Ukraine, civilians train in survival skills to cope with dangers from Russia’s war

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a cramped municipal building in a residential area of the Ukrainian capital, a group of people take turns training to shoot using a replica of a machine gun with the help of a weapons training simulator relying on virtual reality.The nearly 20 participants — all of them civilians and most of them women — have never held a weapon before.With Russia’s war on Ukraine now in its 17th month, the Kyiv City Administration has opened up training for civilians who want to learn survival skills, including how to shoot, provide first aid and recognize land mines. These and other skills could be used in a hostile environment provoked by missile strikes and other man-made disasters.In a dark room with tightly closed blinds, the unreal poof-poof sounds of the replica weapons are heard. People enthusiastically ask the instructors how to hold their weapons properly and ask to try one more time.“I am more than 45 years old. As soon as the opportunity arose, I decided that I n...

Georgia Democrat Mesha Mainor, at odds with her party, switches to Republicans

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia state legislator from Atlanta switched to the Republican Party on Tuesday, after being at odds with Democrats for reasons including her support for school vouchers and disciplining prosecutors.Rep. Mesha Mainor becomes the only Black member of the GOP among Georgia’s 236 state lawmakers, and the first Black Republican woman to ever serve in the Georgia General Assembly. Mainor’s defection gives Republicans a 102-78 edge in the House.Mainor said legislative Democrats drove her out of the party for breaking party orthodoxy, claiming at a Tuesday news conference outside the Georgia Capitol that they had “relentlessly tried to sabotage every single thing that I have done for District 56” and “publicly slandered me in every way imaginable.”“I thought it was OK to not agree with those things as a Democrat. But they told me, ‘You know what, those are values we just don’t have,’” Mainor said, flanked by state Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon.But she...

‘I could die today’: Casino employee recalls armed heist in trial of Las Vegas police officer

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:59 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — At the trial of a Las Vegas police officer accused of a trio of casino heists, an employee said Tuesday that in her 40-year gaming career she had never been more afraid for her life than when she came face to face with the robber.“All I kept thinking in my head was: I could die today,” said Sherry McGrath, who was supervising the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino’s sportsbook the day that authorities said Caleb Rogers robbed while armed with a weapon issued by the police department.Prosecutors for the federal government are expected to paint Rogers, 35, as a gambling addict whose debts were snowballing when he allegedly stole nearly $165,000 from casinos off the Las Vegas Strip between November 2021 and February 2022.Since 2015, and at the time of the heists, Rogers was employed by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department as an active-duty patrol officer. A department spokesperson said last week that Rogers has been on unpaid leave “without police powers,” pendin...