Microsoft’s $68.7BN Takeover Of ‘Call Of Duty’ Maker Activision Blizzard Blocked By UK Regulator

The EU’s antitrust regulator has gone against the grain of its U.S. and UK counterparts by waving through Microsoft’s proposed $69B takeover of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.

Eurovision Song Contest.The finale is set to take place tomorrow (May 13), following the closing of the two semi-final rounds which occurred on Tuesday (May 9) and Thursday (May 11).This year’s instalment will take place in the UK city of Liverpool, which is hosting the ceremony on behalf of last year’s winners, Ukraine, due to the country’s ongoing war with Russia. Despite this, however, it has been revealed that the Ukrainian president will not be granted permission to address the public at tomorrow night’s final.As per reports, this lack of airtime is because the organising committee of the annual song contest wish to retain the programme’s non-political basis, and “strict rules” prohibit such statements from being made using Eurovision as the platform.“The Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment show and governed by strict rules and principles which have been established since its creation,” read a statement from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organisers behind Eurovision (via the Independent).It continues: “As part of these, one of the cornerstones of the contest is the non-political nature of the event.

She was within touching distance of the final so there were shockwaves as former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan left I'm a Celebrity South Africa. The Rosie Webster actress, from Bury, was eliminated from the 'legends' spin-off of I'm a Celebrity set in South Africa on Wednesday night (May 10) before Friday's final.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood biopic is in the works, and will feature It’s A Sin star Callum Scott Howells.Just a few days since Frankie Goes To Hollywood reformed for the first time in almost four decades, it has been announced that they will be the subject of a new biopic, titled Relax.Named after their 1983 hit single, the movie is being developed by UK production companies Working Title (Bridget Jones, Les Miserables) and Independent Entertainment, and will be based on the memoir from frontman Holly Johnson, A Bone In My Flute. It has also been confirmed that it will star It’s A Sin breakout start, Callum Scott Howells, as the band’s leading man.Producers include Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Luc Roeg, and the film was written by Bernard Rose — the director for the original ‘Relax’ music video, as well as the 1992 horror Candyman.“Frankie Goes To Hollywood were an unflinching ground-breaking band that paved the way for so many young performers today,” said Roeg of the upcoming project (via Deadline).

EXCLUSIVE: Just a couple of days after they reunited for the first time in almost 40 years, we can reveal that UK band Frankie Goes To Hollywood are the subject of a new movie biopic from UK powerhouse Working Title and sales and production company Independent Entertainment.

Peaky Blinders has been referenced in the prospective takeover of Birmingham City Football Club.American financier Tom Wagner has agreed to buy a 45.64 per cent stake in Championship side.

TVLine.A remake of the British series “Miranda” starring Miranda Hart, Bialik starred as Kat, the fun-loving owner of a cat café in Louisville, Kentucky.

Call Me Kat will not be returning for a new season.

Fox is making its renewal and pick up decisions.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Call Me Kat” has been canceled after three seasons at Fox, Variety has learned. “We are very proud of ‘Call Me Kat.’ But, unfortunately, the audience response to it was not as strong as we had hoped,” a Fox spokesperson said in a statement. “We are thankful for our partnership with Warner Bros. Television, That’s Wonderful Productions, Sad Clown Productions, BBC Studios, Mayim Bialik, Jim Parsons and the entire cast and crew for their work and dedication to ‘Call Me Kat.'” The multi-cam comedy was a high-profile get for Fox back in 2019, with the network giving the show a series commitment in a highly-competitive situation before formally ordering it to series in May 2020. Both series star Mayim Bialik and executive producer Jim Parsons were coming fresh off of the 12th and final season of the hit CBS multi-cam “The Big Bang Theory,” with “Call Me Kat” representing their first broadcast project after that show.

Gwyneth Paltrow is looking back at her unexpected Oscar win in 1999.

Delays are expected this morning after a car burst onto flames on a major UK motorway.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has described yesterday (April 26) as the company’s “darkest day in our four decades in Britain,” after its proposed £55billion purchase of Activision Blizzard was blocked in the UK.Yesterday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was blocking Microsoft’s proposed acquisition, over concerns that ownership of Activision Blizzard‘s catalogue — which includes the likes of Call Of Duty, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft — would harm competition in the cloud gaming market.Speaking on the BBC‘s Wake Up To Money podcast (via GamesIndustry.biz), Brad Smith accused the decision of being “bad for Britain,” and claimed it will “discourage innovation and investment in the UK”.“Microsoft has been in the United Kingdom for 40 years and we play a vital role, not just supporting businesses and non-profits but even defending the nation from cyber-security threats,” said Smith. “But this decision, I have to say, is probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain.

Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, has join the cast of FX’s The Bear for its upcoming second season.READ MORE: ‘Better Call Saul’ season six finale recap: the game is upThe news was reportedly confirmed by anonymous sources to Variety. Variety claims that reps for both Bob Odenkirk and TV network FX declined to comment on his involvement.

$68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard after publishing its final findings on Wednesday.The regulator, which initially launched an in-depth review of the deal in September, provisionally determined in February that the merger could make the tech giant even stronger in cloud gaming, stifling market competition. In its final decision, the CMA determined that Microsoft would “find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service” and that the deal would “reinforce Microsoft’s advantage in the market by giving it control over important gaming content such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft.”“Given its already strong position, even a moderate increment to Microsoft’s strength may be expected to substantially reduce competition in this developing market, to the detriment of current and future cloud gaming users,” the CMA said.

The SNP has called on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to scrap benefits sanctions.

Netflix’s The Diplomat is being praised across social media after it hit the streaming platform on Thursday (April 20).Starring Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, the new US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, the political drama sees her facing a diplomatic crisis while trying to divorce fellow career diplomat and political star Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell). David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear, and Ato Essandoh also star.Created by Debora Cahn (who wrote and produced on The West Wing), The Diplomat is a “high-stakes, contemporary political drama about the transcendence and torture of long-term relationships, between countries and people,” according to the official synopsis.“War is brewing on one continent and boiling over on another. Kate will have to diffuse international crises, forge strategic alliances in London, and adjust to her new place in the spotlight.”For Kate Wyler, her personal life is her political future.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said there are “no plans” to further increase the disabled child elements of Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit beyond the annual uprating which was applied earlier this month. The response came in response to a query from Labour MP Fleur Anderson.

Defending her ex. Sarah Ferguson defended her former husband, Prince Andrew, after he was stripped of his royal titles following his involvement in a sexual assault lawsuit brought by one of the late Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers.

A royal author is claiming to know the reason King Charles stopped taking Prince Harry’s calls.