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$69 Billion Microsoft Blizzard Acquisition Reaches Completion

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

After nearly two years of antitrust lawsuits, international investigations and gaming industry scrutiny surrounding Microsoft’s $69 billion mission to acquire Blizzard, the historic deal was finalized on Friday, Oct. 13.  With a closing price tag of $68.7 billion, the deal is now Microsoft’s largest to-date purchase, eclipsing the Windows software developer’s 2016 purchase of the professional social networking platform LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. The manufacturer of the Xbox gaming console announced the completion of the blockbuster merger following final approval from the U.K.-based Competitions and Markets Authority.  Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, addressed the CMA’s decision in a tweet adding that the final regulatory hurdle of the proposed merger had been crossed.  “We’re grateful for the CMA’s thorough review and decision today,” Smith wrote. “We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players an...

Logan Dark Killed in Bicycle Accident on Mason Road [Katy, TX]

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

14-Year-Old Student Pronounced Dead after Bicycle Collision near Cinco ParkKATY, TX (October 19, 2023) – Logan Dark lost his life early Thursday morning, in a bicycle accident on Mason Road. The incident occurred on September 28th, near Cinco Park, at approximately 6:45 a.m.According to reports, a vehicle struck 14-year-old Dark while he was riding his bicycle in a marked crosswalk on his way to Cinco Ranch High School. Despite life-saving efforts, medics arrived and declared the young cyclist dead due to the severity of his injuries.Meanwhile, the 20-year-old driver, Devin Delvalle, remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation. Ultimately, police took Delvalle into custody, charging him with violating the Lisa Torry Smith Act. As a result, the roadway was temporarily closed to facilitate cleanup and preliminary duties.The team at Sweet James sends out their heartfelt sympathies to the friends and families of Logan Dark who are grieving over the loss of their loved on...

Lacob expects ‘tremendous ovation’ from Warriors fans upon Durant return

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

Kevin Durant is expected to make his long-awaited (and oft-delayed) appearance in front of Warriors fans Tuesday night for the first time since the 2019 NBA Finals when his Suns visit Golden State to open the season.Warriors owner Joe Lacob told 95.7 The Game’s Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky on Wednesday that he expects a warm reception for the two-time NBA Finals MVP.“It needs to be, it should be and it will be a tremendous ovation for a guy who helped us win two world championships, and should have been three, if it wasn’t for injury,” Lacob said. “So this guy, I have nothing but the highest regard for him. He was a fantastic person to be on our team at the time.”Durant still has not played in front of fans at the Chase Center. He played at the arena in February 2021 with the Nets, but fans were not allowed at the game due to pandemic restrictions. He missed two other games in San Francisco with injury as a member of the Nets, then after being sent t...

Jordan backs expanding interim speaker powers as third vote is scrapped

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

(CNN) — Rep. Jim Jordan is vowing to stay in the race for speaker, but may now be poised to pivot strategy by endorsing a plan to expand the power of the interim speaker for the rest of the year, a risky move that may trigger a backlash from members of his party.Jordan won’t hold a third speaker vote on Thursday, sources told CNN, as he has struggled to flip holdouts and was at risk of bleeding more support. He is also now leaning toward backing a resolution to expand the powers of interim Speaker Rep. Patrick McHenry, sources said, but wants to see how a currently ongoing conference meeting goes. The idea, according to a Jordan ally, is to give Jordan more time to build support without the chaos of a speaker-less House – and Jordan does not plan to drop out of the race and wants to remain the speaker designee, the source said.The resolution being pushed by some in the conference would empower McHenry until January or until a new speaker is elected.But many Jordan ...

Gaza awaits international aid convoys, Israeli invasion

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

By Najib Jobain, Samya Kullab and Ravi Nessman | Associated PressKHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, and the country’s defense minister told ground troops to “be ready” to invade, though he didn’t say when.Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals tried to stretch out ebbing medical supplies and fuel for diesel generators to keep the equipment running, as authorities worked out logistics for a delivery of aid into from Egypt. Doctors in darkened wards across Gaza stitched wounds by mobile phone light, and others used vinegar to treat infected wounds.The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for a devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel almost two weeks ago. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza and flee south, strikes extended across the territory, heightening fears among the territory’s ...

Labanc denies being told by Sharks that he was going on waivers

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

SAN J0SE — Kevin Labanc on Thursday denied a report that he had been informed by the San Jose Sharks that was going to be placed on waivers.Frank Seravalli of dailyfaceoff.com tweeted Thursday morning that, per sources, Labanc, would be placed on waivers prior to the team’s game with the Boston Bruins. Labanc had been scratched from the Sharks’ first three games.Seravalli later tweeted that the Sharks “reversed course” and that Labanc would play against the Bruins.Efforts to reach Sharks general manager Mike Grier and Labanc’s agent, Michael Curran, for further clarification were not immediately successful.Sharks coach David Quinn said Wednesday that Labanc, who had 33 points in 72 games last season, would play against the Bruins.Labanc spoke briefly to reporters Thursday morning and said he was never told he was being placed on waivers.“I’m happy to be in the lineup and help the team, do everything that we can to win the game,” ...

A classic El Niño winter is expected this year, forecasters say. Here’s what that means for snow and cold

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

By Mary Gilbert | CNN MeteorologistEl Niño will drive what could be a warmer or wetter winter in parts of the US this year, according to an outlook released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday.But don’t worry, snow lovers. El Niño – a natural ocean and weather pattern in the tropical Pacific – could also mean higher snow chances in some atypical spots and fuel more potent northeast snowstorms, forecasters say.El Niño is forecast to be strong this winter and reach the most significant level since a very strong El Niño fostered the warmest winter on record across the US mainland during 2015-2016, according to NOAA.While no two El Niño winters are the same, this shift typically brings wetter and cooler weather to the South while the north becomes drier and warmer.And that’s exactly what’s expected this winter. Above-average temperatures are likely across much of the northern US, according to NOAA’s outlook.Parts of the Northwest, Great Lakes and Northeast...

A ‘last hurrah’ for the Bay Area heat hits on Thursday

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

In the perfect melting pot of peak-California weather in October, what’s likely to be the most scorching day for the rest of the calendar year could be followed by weekend rain showers, according to the National Weather Service.The two-day heat wave that left pumpkin-patch attendees clinging to blotches of shade on Wednesday only ramped up on Thursday with triple-digit potential in the forecasts.NWS meteorologist Crystal Oudit said more records could fall on Thursday. San Francisco International Airport tied its record temperature with a high of 86 on Wednesday.Several forecast highs on Thursday threatened records, including Santa Rosa’s prediction of 95 (against a record of 95 in 1921), San Jose’s 95 (91 in 1913), Half Moon Bay’s 88 (82 in 1998), Downtown San Francisco’s 90 (90 in 1992) and SFO at 92 (86 in 2022).“Some of the forecasts are predicted to either tie (the records) or break them,” Oudit said.Other Bay Area forecast highs include...

United Airlines will now make passengers in aisle seats board last

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN and DAVID KOENIG | AP Business WritersUnited Airlines will institute a new boarding procedure for economy class, with passengers in aisle seats boarding last.The airline said in an internal memo that it will implement the plan on Oct. 26 for domestic flights and some international flights. It was tested at several locations and deemed to shave up to two minutes off boarding time.“It spreads people out along the aisle of the airplane so that more people can put their luggage away at the same time. That’s the main thing that speeds up the boarding process,” said Jason Steffen, an associate professor of physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who designed his own boarding model a decade ago.The change will not affect those with priority boarding privileges. The new boarding sequence is this:Preboarding: Customers with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, families with children under 2, active-duty military, Global Services members, Premier 1K membersGro...

‘America does not deserve me.’ Why Black people are leaving the United States

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:43:00 GMT

Kate Linthicum | (TNS) Los Angeles TimesPUERTO VIEJO, Costa Rica — Filmmaker Jameelah Nuriddin was locked down in Los Angeles during the pandemic, watching as the nation convulsed in protest over the murder of George Floyd, when she had an epiphany: “America does not deserve me.”As a Black woman, Nuriddin always tried to work twice as hard as those around her, thinking: “If I’m smart enough, pretty enough, successful enough … then finally people will treat me as a human being.”But as she grieved yet another unarmed Black man killed by police, she decided she was done trying to prove herself to a society that she felt would never really love her back.So Nuriddin, 39, packed her bags and left.She ended up in Costa Rica, in an idyllic beach town on the Caribbean coast that has become a hub for hundreds of Black expatriates fed up with life in the United States.She now spends her days working for U.S. clients from chic cafes, leading healing ceremonies at a local waterfall and try...