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Amazon’s $1.7 billion deal to buy Roomba maker iRobot gets UK approval

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British antitrust regulators cleared Amazon’s purchase of robot vacuum maker iRobot on Friday, but the $1.7 billion deal still faces scrutiny in the United States and Europe.The Competition and Markets Authority said it decided not to escalate its initial investigation because it concluded that the deal would not result in a “substantial lessening of competition” within the United Kingdom. Amazon said it was pleased with the result. “We look forward to similar decisions from other regulators soon,” the company said in a statement.Consumer groups have voiced concerns that Amazon’s purchase of Bedford, Massachusetts-based iRobot, which makes the popular Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners, would widen the e-commerce giant’s dominance in the smart home market.The acquisition is still facing a review in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission amid worries about Amazon’s growing market power. It’s also under scrutiny by the European Union’s executive arm, which open...

Heather Mack expected to plead guilty in murder of mother in Bali

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

CHICAGO — The woman accused of murdering her mother in Bali is expected to plead guilty Friday.Heather Mack, 27, was convicted in Indonesia in 2015 of being an accessory to Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s murder with her then-boyfriend in a bid to gain access to a $1.5 million trust fund. Mack, then 18 and pregnant, covered her mother’s mouth in a hotel room while Tommy Schaefer bludgeoned Wiese-Mack with a fruit bowl, prosecutors say.The body of Wiese-Mack was found badly beaten and stuffed inside a suitcase at an Indonesian resort island.Mack spent seven years in prison in Indonesia before she was deported. She was arrested at O'Hare Airport in 2021 shortly after returning to the U.S., and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Chicago Police Board fires sergeant in charge of Anjanette Young raid In November of 2022, Mack lost custody of her daughter whom she gave birth to while in prison in Indonesia. A Cook County judge ordered that the child be placed...

Texas bans transgender women, girls from collegiate athletics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

(The Hill) - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Thursday signed legislation prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in collegiate athletics, building on a 2021 law that requires public school sports teams through high school to be designated by students’ sex assigned at birth.Texas’s Senate Bill 15, also known as the state’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” mandates that intercollegiate athletes participate only on sports teams matching their “biological sex" which the legislation defines as that which is “correctly” stated on a student’s original birth certificate.The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which oversees post-secondary education in the state, has been tasked with drafting and adopting rules that ensure compliance with state and federal laws regarding the confidentiality of student health and medical information.The new law, which will take effect in September, makes it simpler for college students in Texas to sue their schools if they continue allowin...

Semi collides with bus carrying seniors to casino in Canada, killing 15

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — A bus carrying seniors to a casino collided with a semi-trailer truck at a highway intersection in a rural part of the Canadian province of Manitoba Thursday, killing 15 people and injuring 10 more, police said.Rob Hill, Commanding Officer of the Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the bus was carrying 25 people and authorities in Manitoba were deploying all their resources to the scene. Ten people were taken to hospitals.TV broadcasters aired images of what looked like a large van or bus smoldering in a ditch near a transport truck with a smashed engine on a road. The pavement was littered with debris — broken glass, a large bumper and what looked like a walking aid. Seven blue and yellow tarps were stretched out.RCMP Supt. Rob Lasson said “as of right now the drivers of both the bus and truck are alive and in hospital." He did not say if they were among the 10 listed as injured. The dead were mainly seniors.Lasson said the bus was heading south and there wo...

96.4% of Americans had COVID-19 antibodies in their blood by fall 2022

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

(The Conversation) - Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, were present in the blood of 96.4% of Americans over the age of 16 by September 2022. That’s according to a serosurvey – an analysis testing for the presence of these immune defense molecules – conducted on samples from blood donors.A serosurvey like this one helps researchers estimate how many people have been exposed to any part of the coronavirus, whether via vaccination or infection. Both can trigger the generation of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. And by identifying which kind of antibodies someone has in their blood, researchers can break down the 96.4% into different types of immunity: infection-derived, vaccine-derived and hybrid.COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States are based on only one part of the virus – the spike, or S, protein. Researchers can tell that a person has been vaccinated and has not been infected if their blood has only anti-S antibodies that target ...

FOUND: Search underway for missing North Side man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

CHICAGO -- A 58-year-old man who was missing since Monday has been found. The man was reported missing from the 1300 block of West Winona Street on Chicago's North Side on Monday, June 12. Search underway for missing elderly man who may need medical attention

Celebrating 100 years, what you may not know about the Texas State Parks system

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For 100 years, the Texas State Parks system has invited millions of visitors to recreate in its parklands and experience the state's natural beauty up close. All year long, Texas State Parks officials will host events commemorating the centennial, with plans on how to invite the next generation of explorers into the next 100 years.The history of the Texas State Parks systemThe creation of the state parks system dates back in Gov. Pat Neff who, in 1923, appointed a Texas State Parks Board to help determine and locate sites for future parks, per Texas Parks and Wildlife Department documents.Texas Gov. Pat Neff appointed a Texas State Parks Board in 1923 to assist with the development of a state parks system. (Courtesy: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt directed the National Park Service to assist state parks systems as part of the New Deal program. The Civilian Conservation Corps helped employ citizens during the Great De...

Austin Animal Center launches Meet My Match program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Animal Center launched the Meet My Match pilot program this month as a way to give the shelter's staff more time to reunify lost pets with their owners and to create a better adoption experience. On Wednesdays and Tuesdays in the month of June, the center will be closed to walk-ins from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The center will then reopen to walk-ins from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. During that four-hour window, customers will be able to schedule adoption appointments. Mary Brown, a program manager for the center, said the four-hour window will allow her team to focus more time and resources on reunifying lost pets with their owners. Usually, Brown said her team is busy with assisting customers who walk in or call. "My staff usually come in about 45 minutes before we open to the public, so they only have about 45 minutes to do that research," Brown explained. A majority of animals in the shelter are strays, and the center is running over capacity, according to Brown. Not e...

5 things to know this Friday, June 16

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Happy Friday! According to Meteorologist Jill Szwed, unsettled weather should be hitting the Capital Region starting this afternoon. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The Albany Empire are out. The National Arena League announced on Thursday the team was been terminated from the league after the Empire failed to pay overdue league-mandated assessments. Meanwhile, a flag, medallions, and letters were uncovered as part of the time capsule found in the base of the former Philip Schuyler statue. These stories, and more, are covered in your five things to know this Friday morning. 1. National Arena League terminates Albany Empire’s membershipThe National Arena League has announced that the Albany Empire’s league membership has been terminated. The decision was made after an emergency conference call of the NAL’s board of owners discussing the Empire’s failure to pay overdue league-mandated assessments.2. ...

St. Louis County residents demand action, sewage system plagues neighborhood

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:40 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - For a couple that lives off Sontag Road, the site and smell of an unmaintained sewage system have worsened dramatically over the last few months. A situation that's gone on for years, and now the community and a councilman are speaking out about the issue and similar ones in the area.“Right in the middle of a number of homes is this septic system that has failed, so I think it's a perfect storm of a problem," said Councilmen Mark Harder.He became aware of the issue just a few days ago. When he went out to visit the site, his concerns and frustrations with the county's lack of action started to surmount.For 20-year resident Bill Cochran, the 10-by-10 open sewage system has made it hard to bring over family and friends. The retired veteran and school teacher went into explained one of the biggest safety concerns for him. A Missouri doctor’s death is steeped in mystery and speculation. Authorities aren’t talking “I have a five-year-old granddaughter, and that'...