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Consultants showered EU antitrust enforcers with free flights and hotels

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

Consultants working for companies targeted by European Union antitrust probes were among those who treated competition officials to flights and hotel stays last year, according to documents released to POLITICO. The European Commission’s competition unit plays a key role in screening big deals and investigating the world’s largest companies — making it a prime target of corporate lobbying. Often, the lobbying plays out at academic-style conferences, where lawyers and economists pick over decisions by courts and authorities, some of them in lavish hotels in locations like Lake Como and fuelled by fine food and drinks. One main attraction of these events is when the Commission sends a speaker from its ranks. But a tighter travel budget means the Commission is becoming reluctant to shell out for trips. Annual forecasts released to POLITICO in response to access to documents requests showed the competition unit allocated €560,000 on its own officials’ travel in 2022. T...

Zac Efron goes all in for ‘The Iron Claw’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

The Von Erichs were a popular Texas wrestling clan in the 1980s, brothers whose trademark was the Iron Claw wrestling hold.“The Iron Claw” tells their mostly tragic story. Zac Efron is Kevin the eldest, Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”) is Kerry. Maura Tierney plays their doting mother Doris while Holt McCallany (Netflix’s “Mindhunter” series) commands as the Von Erich patriarch Fritz, a supreme example of destructive toxic masculinity.Efron, 36, stands out as the one who most closely resembles their larger-than-life physiques.  “The footage we saw of Kevin in the ring was electric,” Efron said in a post-screening Q&A. “His athleticism in the combat — how light he was on his feet! It looked real. It was real.“He just had this incredible physique to complement that. I knew going into it that, physically relating to Kevin, I was going to get into that shape.“To do that,” he discovered, “you have to be obsessed. Before every take, push-ups, pull ups, to get pumped up. It takes ...

Editorial: BPS exam school move a win for parents, kids

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

Boston parents and schoolchildren scored a win this week as Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper announced changes to its controversial exam schools admission policy. It was a victory for parents who spoke up and pushed back against seats going to students based on socioeconomic status and location rather than simply grades and test scores.In tweaking the policy, BPS racked up a win of its own. It showed it was willing to listen to Boston parents and make adjustments in a timely manner, even though the policy wasn’t due to be reviewed for five years.It started, as most things do in Boston these days, by a progressive push to boost diversity in exam schools. The new BPS policy, adopted within the last year, took a student’s testing score and GPA points, then awarded 10 additional points to students who attend a school enrolling 40% or more economically disadvantaged students and 15 points to students who are in state care, in affordable housing or homeless. Student...

Williams: FDA’s pouch puree purge could harm consumers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

Bureaucrats at the Food and Drug Administration have soured on children’s fruit pouches. In October, the FDA traced elevated lead levels in the blood of four children to apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches and warned parents not to purchase the allegedly harmful products. A recall ensued.Now, three companies have taken their fruit pouch products off the market. It remains to be seen whether the lead-fruit pouch link can withstand closer and independent analysis.Unfortunately, the agency has a track record of overzealously policing lead levels in fruit products and pursuing cost-prohibitive policies. Regulators should reserve recalls for truly dangerous situations and allow consumers access to safe and affordable products.Lead contamination remains a critical problem. According to a 2021 study published in JAMA Pediatrics, more than half of children in the United States have detectable levels of lead in their blood, and even small concentrations in the blood can result in mental impai...

Dear Abby: Son’s casual wedding sets off Mom

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

Dear Abby: My son and his fiancee are getting married next month. They’re calling it an elopement, but although they have been telling everyone when and where the wedding is, they are not formally inviting anyone. I have come to terms with that. I realize the day is about them, not me. However, this is my only child, and I have always dreamed about being part of this milestone in his life.I’m sure this is his fiancee’s choice and he is just going along with what she wants, but it is hurting me terribly to not be there. They have also decided a reception in their honor will be held six months afterward. Who does this? Is this proper etiquette? — Broken-Hearted MotherDear Mother: The rigid rules of etiquette have loosened considerably in recent years. Many younger people prefer the casual over the formal. Please don’t lay the sole blame on your soon-to-be daughter-in-law without first discussing this with your son, because you may be shocked to learn this...

Earthquake in northwestern China kills at least 118 people in Gansu and Qinghai provinces

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

By KEN MORITSUGU (Associated Press)BEIJING (AP) — An overnight earthquake killed at least 118 people in a cold and mountainous region in northwestern China, the country’s state media reported Tuesday.Search and rescue operations were underway in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai provinces. The earthquake left more than 500 people injured, severely damaged houses and roads, and knocked out power and communication lines, according to media reports.The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck near the boundary between the two provinces at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) just before midnight on Monday, the China Earthquake Networks Center said. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude at 5.9.By mid-morning, 105 people had been confirmed dead in Gansu and another 397 injured, including 16 in critical condition, Han Shujun, a spokesperson for the provincial emergency management department, said at a news conference. Thirteen others were killed and 182 injur...

Brunt of storm expected to hit later in week

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Southern California hasn't seen rain since Nov. 30 and many areas are behind on rainfall averages this time of year, but a soaker of a storm looks to fix that deficit soon.The first significant storm of the season is expected to bring widespread heavy rain, wind and thunderstorms to San Diego County during the second half of the week. More clouds and light, scattered rain are possible as early as Tuesday afternoon, but the highest impact day (heaviest rainfall, strongest winds) is expected Thursday and Thursday night.An area of low pressure hanging off of Vancouver Monday night will eventually drop south and stall off the coast of Southern California sometime Wednesday.Once the core of the system moves inland over northern Baja, it will bring us thunderstorms and heavier showers Wednesday night through Friday morning.Target area for the brunt of the conditions will be the L.A. basin, but we will still get significant impacts especially along the coast her...

Google to pay $700M in antitrust settlement reached with states before recent Play Store trial loss

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

Google has agreed to pay $700 million and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store — the same issue that went to trial in a another case that could result in even bigger changes. Although Google struck the deal with state attorneys general in September, the settlement’s terms weren’t revealed until late Monday in documents filed in San Francisco federal court. The disclosure came a week after a federal court jury rebuked Google for deploying anticompetitive tactics in its Play Store for Android apps.The settlement with the states includes $630 million to compensate U.S. consumers funneled into a payment processing system that state attorneys general alleged drove up the prices for digital transactions within apps downloaded from the Play Store. That store caters to the Android software that powers most of the world’s smartphones.Like Apple does in its iPhone app store, Google collects c...

Hong Kong court begins Day 2 of activist publisher Jimmy Lai’s trial

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — The national security trial of Hong Kong’s famous activist publisher Jimmy Lai entered its second day Tuesday, with judges expected to rule by the end of the week on his lawyers’ bid to throw out a sedition charge that has been increasingly used to target dissidents. Lai, 76, was arrested in August 2020 during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following massive protests in 2019. He faces a possible life sentence if convicted under a national security law imposed by Beijing. He was charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to put out seditious publications.His landmark trial — tied to the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily that Lai founded — is widely seen as a trial for press freedom and a test for judicial independence in the former British colony, which was promised to have its Western-style civil liberties remain intact for 50 years after returning to Chinese rule ...

Japan’s central bank keeps its negative interest rate unchanged, says it’s watching wage trends

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:57:22 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The Bank of Japan kept its longstanding easy credit policy unchanged on Tuesday, saying it will watch price and wage trends before raising its negative benchmark interest rate. The BOJ policy decision was widely expected. But investors and analysts believe the central bank is tip-toeing toward a shift due to price increases that have left inflation above its 2% target. The U.S. dollar gained against the Japanese yen and stock prices surged after Tuesday’s decision. The benchmark rate of negative 0.1% is meant to encourage banks to lend more and businesses and consumers to borrow more to spur the economy, the world’s third-largest. The central bank also has purchased trillions of dollars worth of government bonds and other assets as part of its strategy of injecting more cash to spur growth as the Japanese population shrinks and grows older.Inflation has risen in Japan but at a much slower pace than in the U.S. and other major economies, most recently at about 3%...