Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition concerns some indie developers

Lorraine Kelly was forced to censor Ryan Reynolds after the actor let slip a swear word in the middle of her ITV show.

Gail Bean is living many a young actress’ dream, almost by happenstance. The 29-year-old actress comes to millions of screens weekly on one of network television’s most binge-able crime dramas, FX’s Snowfall, as one of its most tortured and nuanced characters, Wanda Bell. Though Wanda’s arc – from young fun-loving drug dealer’s girlfriend to the dregs of crack addiction – has been a beautifully written, heartwrenching tale that is sadly all-too-familiar for many in our communities, Bean actually had no clue she was signing up for something so affecting when she landed the role.

The DVLA is urging motorists to use their online services in a bid to avoid delays.

A Ukrainian man, who is the world's oldest tennis player, is refusing to evacuate the war-torn city of Kharkiv following Russia's invasion, insisting that he's "not afraid of anyone".

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editortoday (March 9). He is based in the Republic Records Los Angeles office.Most recently, Beard  spent a decade at APG, where he rose from intern to senior VP of A&R and brought in Charlie Puth, Alex Benjamin and Pink Sweat$; he also has worked closely with David Guetta, Jason Derulo, Pitbull and Flo Rida, in addition to songwriters such as Amy Allen, Sean Douglas, Madison Love, Salem Ilese, and others. He also worked extensively as a DJ in nightclubs across the U.S., on-air for KIIS-FM and at private events.Goldstein said, “Miles has really set the pace for pop music with an unbelievable winning streak of incredible signings throughout the past decade.

Variety reporter.Jenner hasn’t taken many days off since 2007, when her family’s show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” premiered on E! and became a cultural phenomenon — making her and her five daughters (you know them, from oldest to youngest, as Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, Kendall and Kylie) into mononymic media moguls with their own business empires, with ventures ranging from cosmetics to liquor to fragrances to shapewear. In all, the Kardashians have dominated both popular culture and business, and are estimated to be worth more than $5 billion.

Coronation Street's Samia Longchambon admitted she made a grave error when coming face-to-face with Prince Charles.The star, who plays Maria Connor on the ITV cobbles, appeared on Loose Women on Wednesday (March 9) to discuss her current storyline, which sees Maria's partner Gary face up to the murder of Rick Neelan.And the conversation soon turned to one of her most memorable on-set moments - which came as the Prince of Wales visited the Manchester-based set.Frankie Bridge kicked off the conversation by asking: "You've had a very special moment with Prince Charles, haven't you?"Giggling, Samia admitted: "Oh, yeah - I got asked by your lovely researchers what on of my highlights was, and one that always sticks out in my mind is when I was literally 18, so we're going back 22 years ago."Prince Charles was visiting the set and we all got told the protocols and what you need to say when you meet a member of the Royal Family."I think it was like, 'Pleased to meet you, your Royal Highness', and then curtsy."My nerves went, and I just forgot everything and said, 'Hiya, you all right? Welcome to Manchester!'"Frankie couldn't help stirring the pot a little as she asked: "Did you get in trouble?" - but Samia was notoriously tight-lipped.Samia also spilled some details of the upcoming Coronation Street storyline which - spoiler - sees Kelly's mum Laura move in with Gary and Maria.The no-nonsense mum soon makes herself at home, going as far as to steal Maria's mattress - and leaving Maria worried that Gary's secret might come out.Though the viewers are already aware that he murdered Laura's husband - and Kelly's dad - Rick, nobody on the street except Maria, and possibly Sarah, knows.The interview came after a segment featuring a

wine-ing about the 94th Academy Awards.The trio of funny ladies are hosting the 2022 Oscars on March 27 and the Academy released the first promo for the show on Wednesday.Schumer, Sykes, and Hall jokingly rip on past ceremony hosts over glasses of red wine and cheese boards in the 30-second spot.“We just have to do better than last year’s host,” Sykes, 56, notes. Schumer, 40, then agrees, adding: “That is the thing, totally.

UFO sightings recently but one conspiracy theorist on Reddit believes he has the answer.The forum user u/DeezNahtus took to the subreddit r/UFOs to share their theory of the weird sitings after sharing a video of what is believed to be a 'cruise missile.'The Reddit user wrote: "Saw this and it reminded me of a Tic-Tac. Obvious propulsion on this but still interesting to look at."These guided missiles are used against terrestrial targets, remain in the atmosphere, and fly the major portion of their flight path at a consistent speed.The post, which the user shared was originally posted by u/Assorted_Education_, shows black missile gliding through the air.It was captioned: "Chasing a cruise missile mid-air.

Channel 5 show has been slapped with over 200 Ofcom complaints after the host suggested Russian soldiers 'probably deserve to die'.The daytime show received a total of 230 regulator complaints relating to comments Vine made about Russian troops during a phone-in segment on his talk show last Monday (February 28).Vine, 56, had been discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine with a caller named Bill, who suggested many young Russian troops didn't want to fight against the Ukrainians but had no choice.Bill said: "Quite a number of those Russians you'll probably find will go across. They were were holding their hands up this morning not wanting to fight Ukrainians.

Finally over. Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock have finalized their divorce nearly two years after their split.

Getting back out there! Kelly Clarkson has settled her messy divorce from Brandon Blackstock, and she’s ready to start looking for love again, an insider reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.

Setting the record straight. Audrey Roloff clapped back at an Instagram troll criticizing her decision to welcome baby No. 3 in a birth center.

Amanda Bynes is getting ready for her upcoming court date, and has a message for her Instagram followers.«What's up, Instagram? Amanda Bynes here. My court date is coming up in two weeks,» the 35-year-old actress shared in a video posted to social media.

Brandon Armstrong may not have won the Mirrorball Trophy on this past season of , but he did win the heart of his girlfriend! The 27-year-old pro dancer took to Instagram on Tuesday to share sweet photos from his proposal to Brylee Ivers.«I made a good decision a while back to ask you on a date…made the BEST decision of my life asking you to be my wife last night! I love you forever bry!❤️,» Armstrong captioned the shots.The photos are taken inside of a movie theater in Utah, in which Armstrong filmed a personalized proposal message to his future bride. In the pics, the couple hugged and showed off Ivers' stunning diamond sparkler as she held a bouquet of red roses. A post shared by Brandon Armstrong (@brandonarmstrong)Ivers posted her own pics from the special moment, including a close-up photo of her beautiful ring, which appears to have two bands of diamonds beneath a large circular stone. «My whole heart for my whole life.

Alyssa Milano is keeping tabs on what her kids watch, and that includes her hit ’90s and early aughts series, “Charmed”. Milano took to TikTok on Monday to answer a fan who asked her if her kids have seen “Charmed” and what they thought about the bewitching series if they did.

Andy Cohen has slammed the “so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill” banning Florida teachers in classes up to third grade from talking about LGBTQ issues with their students.

A brand new £7m leisure centre has officially opened in Urmston.

Patients on two cardiology wards at the Royal Bolton Hospital will not be able to have visitors after both wards had covid outbreaks.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has said that staff at Activision Blizzard will be “under scrutiny” following its acquisition of the publisher.Last month, Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard in a deal worth around £50billion, with the US Federal Trade Commission currently conducting an antitrust investigation.The purchase comes after Activision was hit by a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and another by the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission following multiple allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and workplace misconduct.In between that, its own staff also filed a complaint too, alleging that the company used intimidation and “coercive tactics” to stifle staff trying to improve working conditions.It’s also been alleged that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of sexual misconduct claims within the company since 2018 but did not inform Activision’s board of directors. A report by the Wall Street Journal also suggested that Kotick played a first-hand part in the culture that has embroiled Activision in sexual harassment lawsuits and investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission.Speaking CNBC (via VGC) about the accusations, Smith said: “We’re looking to the leadership team at Activision Blizzard today to make culture and workplace safety a top priority every single day, until the day when this deal hopefully closes.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said that he doesn’t believe its acquisition of Activision Blizzard should be blocked by the US Federal Trade Commission.The deal, worth around £50billion, was announced on January 18 but earlier this week it was announced that the US Federal Trade Commission would be conducting an antitrust investigation after fears the acquisition would harm competition.Talking to the Financial Times, Nadella said that the deal would only place Microsoft as the third largest player in the video games industry behind Sony and Tencent. He also believes the fragmentation of the market would prevent it from ever gaining a monopoly.“At the end of the day, all the analysis here has to be done through a lens of what’s the category we’re talking about, and what about the market structure?” said Nadella.“Even post-this acquisition, we will be number three with a low teens (market) share, where even the highest player is also in the teens (for market) share.