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Commission sends Statement of Objections to six companies and one trade association in automotive starter battery cartel case

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

The European Commission has informed automotive starter batteries manufacturers Banner, Clarios (former JC Autobatterie), Exide, FET (and its predecessor Elettra), and Rombat as well as trade association Eurobat and its service provider Kellen of its preliminary view that they have breached EU antitrust rules by colluding to increase the prices of automotive starter batteries sold to car producers in the European Economic Area (‘EEA').The Commission has concerns that between 2004 until 2017 the five starter batteries manufacturers created, published and agreed to use new indices in their price negotiations with car producers (the so-called ‘Eurobat Premium System'). The aim of this alleged conduct was to fix an important element of the final battery price. The Commission is also concerned that Eurobat and its service provider Kellen were aware of the alleged conduct and actively contributed to it by assisting the battery manufacturers in creating and running the Eurobat premium syst...

Horoscopes Dec. 1, 2023: Bette Midler, charm your way forward

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Vance Joy, 36; Sarah Silverman, 53; Nestor Carbonell, 56; Bette Midler, 78.Happy Birthday: A financial change is heading your way. Be innovative, let your intuition guide you, expect the unusual and learn to accept and embrace whatever comes your way. Take responsibility and focus on achieving what you want to pursue. Keep an open mind and listen to experts, but be sure something is a good fit for you before you get involved. Charm your way forward, but don’t sugarcoat what you have to offer. Your numbers are 9, 14, 22, 26, 30, 37, 42.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Participate and show everyone what you can do. An innovative approach to life, love and happiness will create a stir among your peers and help you attract support. Self-improvement will not go unnoticed; love and romance are in the stars. 5 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t take on more than you can handle. Your reputation is at stake, and how others perceive you will determine the...

Word Game: Dec. 1, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — ABATEMENT (ABATEMENT: uh-BATE-ment: A reduction or decrease.)Average mark 33 wordsTime limit 45 minutesCan you find 44 or more words in ABATEMENT? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — OCULIST oust clot clout coil colt cost coulis cult list locus locust lost lotic lotus lout lust scout silo silt slit slot soil soul stoic suit toilTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at [email protected].

Six-bedroom home sells for $7.2 million in Palo Alto

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

4148 Old Trace Road – Google Street ViewThe spacious property located in the 4100 block of Old Trace Road in Palo Alto was sold on Nov. 9, 2023. The $7,200,000 purchase price works out to $1,922 per square foot. The house, built in 1949, has an interior space of 3,747 square feet. This two-story house provides a generous living space with its six bedrooms and four baths. The home’s outer structure has wood shake roofing / shingles. Inside, there is a fireplace. Additionally, the home is equipped with a one-car garage.These nearby houses have also recently changed hands:A 2,820-square-foot home on the 900 block of Mockingbird Lane in Palo Alto sold in May 2023, for $6,235,000, a price per square foot of $2,211. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Mesa Court, Palo Alto, in December 2022, a 2,639-square-foot home was sold for $3,500,000, a price per square foot of $1,326. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In August 2023, a 2,120-square-foot home on Moana Court in Palo Alto...

Ask Amy: He has resurrected this wedding drama and is using it against me

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

Dear Amy: My husband and his cousin, “Jerry,” are like brothers.Related ArticlesAdvice | Ask Amy: Should I tell my neighbor about her child’s bullying behavior? Advice | Ask Amy: My wife has big-league dreams for our son, but I think he should give up the sport Advice | Ask Amy: We’re not inviting her, but it will be hard to tell her why Advice | Ask Amy: This teen mom is trying to manipulate my son Advice | Ask Amy: I’m being punished for refusing to give in to my child’s spouse Jerry and I got off on the wrong foot. After agreeing to be best man at our very small wedding, he backed out because his sister – whom I had never met – hadn’t been invited. We quickly extended an invitation to the sister, but Jerry still refused to stand up at our wedding.My husband forgave Jerry, and I let the matter go. We’ve seen him only a handful of times since, usually at family events.A few years...

Krystal Ball and Ryan Grim on the Squad

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

Ryan Grim has a new book out called “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.” This week on Deconstructed, Grim’s “Breaking Points” co-host Krystal Ball, a former MSNBC host, interviews him about his latest book. The conversation was held at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C. Like we did earlier with our Naomi Klein interview, we’re running the conversation here as today’s episode. The event included a brief reading and a wide-ranging conversation that touched on the Squad’s relationship to Democratic leadership, criticism of its willingness to stand up to Democratic Party bosses, and the big-money operation launched by pro-Israel super PACS, organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, to oust members of the Squad and purge the party of Democrats who agree with them. You can preorder the book here.Transcript coming soon. The post Krystal Ball and Ryan Grim on the Squad appeared first on The Intercept.

Massive exoplanet orbiting small star upends planet formation theories

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

(CNN) — Astronomers are questioning the theories of planet formation after discovering an exoplanet that technically shouldn’t exist.The planet, about the mass of Neptune and more than 13 times as massive as Earth, was detected orbiting an ultracool M-dwarf star called LHS 3154 — which is nine times less massive than our sun. An M-dwarf star is the smallest and coolest type of star.The planet — dubbed LHS 3154b — closely whips around the star, completing one orbit every 3.7 Earth days, making it the most massive known planet in a close orbit around one of the coldest, low-mass stars in the universe, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science. It upends how scientists understand the formation of planetary systems.“This discovery really drives home the point of just how little we know about the universe,” said study coauthor Suvrath Mahadevan, Verne M. Willaman professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State, in a statement. “We wouldn’t expect a pla...

Tiny living robots made from human cells surprise scientists

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

(CNN) — Scientists have created tiny living robots from human cells that can move around in a lab dish and may one day be able to help heal wounds or damaged tissue, according to a new study.A team at Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have dubbed these creations anthrobots. The research builds on earlier work from some of the same scientists, who made the first living robots, or xenobots, from stem cells sourced from embryos of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis).“Some people thought that the features of the xenobots relied a lot on the fact that they are embryonic and amphibian,” said study author Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush professor of biology at Tufts’ School of Arts & Sciences.“I don’t think this has anything to do with being an embryo. This has nothing to do with being a frog. I think this is a much more general property of living things,” he said.“We don’t realize all the competencies that our own body cells have.”While alive, the an...

Speaker Johnson wrote foreword for book filled with conspiracy theories and homophobic insults

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson wrote the foreword and publicly promoted a 2022 book that spread baseless and discredited conspiracy theories and used derogatory homophobic insults.Written by Scott McKay, a local Louisiana politics blogger, the book, “The Revivalist Manifesto,” gives credence to unfounded conspiracy theories often embraced by the far-right – including the “Pizzagate” hoax, which falsely claimed top Democratic officials were involved in a pedophile ring, among other conspiracies.The book also propagates baseless and inaccurate claims, implying that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was subjected to blackmail and connected to the disgraced underage sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.Other sections of the book defend podcaster Joe Rogan from racism charges after it was revealed he used the N-word, which Rogan later apologized for. The book also disparages poor voters as “unsophisticated and susceptible to government dependency” and easy to manipulate with “Black L...

Tiger Woods endures rocky finish in first start since Masters

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:05:16 GMT

(CNN) — Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf on Thursday at the Hero World Challenge in Albany, the Bahamas.Playing in his first tournament since withdrawing from the Masters in April, the 15-time major champion had an up-and-down first round, finishing with four birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey.Woods opened the first nine holes at even-par and found himself at one-under-par after the 14th before closing out the final four holes with two bogeys, a double bogey and par.“I was rusty, I didn’t have my feels,” Woods told the Golf Channel broadcast after the round. “Conditions were tough early. I kind of hung through there and I did not finish off my round the way I needed to and consequently it kind of went sideways at the end.”The 47-year-old finished at three-over 75 and in 18th place of the 20-man field. Meanwhile, 2023 Open champion Brian Harman and Tony Finau sit in a tie for first place after a five-under 67 first round at Albany Golf Club....