The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is opening a formal investigation into whether Microsoft's bundling of Windows, Office, Teams, Copilot, and related products harms competition. Engadget reports: "Our aim is to understand how these markets are developing, Microsoft's position within them and to consider what, if any, targeted action may be needed to ensure UK organizations can benefit from choice, innovation and competitive prices," CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said in a statement published by Reuters.

She also stressed the importance of the investigation by noting that hundreds of thousands of UK residents use business software and Microsoft products. The organization will take a look into the company's cloud licensing practices. The CMA has stated that the inquiry will conclude by February. At that point, Microsoft could get slapped with a strategic market label.

Microsoft says it's "committed to working quickly and constructively with the CMA to facilitate its review of the business software market." A strategic market designation doesn't automatically assume wrongdoing, but will give the CMA more leeway when conducting further interventions.

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AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have agreed in principle to form a joint venture (JV) aimed at reducing U.S. mobile dead zones through satellite connectivity, especially in rural areas and during emergencies when ground networks fail. Here are three of the customer benefits listed by the JV (as highlighted by Droid Life):
Fewer coverage gaps: Will nearly eliminate dead zones in the U.S. currently without mobile service, reaching previously unserved areas.
Reliable connectivity in emergencies: Redundant connectivity will become available when existing ground-based networks are unavailable due to extreme natural disasters or other unusual disruptions.
Improved network performance: Will give customers more consistent performance and simpler access to satellite services across providers. This will speed up feature updates and improve connectivity for everyone, everywhere. "It will still take time for these improvements to be available to customers, but this all seems like a positive step," writes Droid Life's Tim Wrobel.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

Or Roberts?

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

WASHINGTON (ANP) - Het Amerikaanse Hooggerechtshof heeft donderdag besloten de toegang tot mifepristone na een telefonisch consult per post tijdelijk te handhaven. Mifepristone is de pil die in de overgrote meerderheid van de abortussen in het land gebruikt wordt.

De rechters willigden het verzoek in van twee fabrikanten van mifepristone om de blokkade van een lagere rechtbank op te heffen. Een federaal hof van beroep besloot eerder om de verzending van de abortuspil op te schorten, na een verzoek van de staat Louisiana.

Die Republikeinse staat heeft een van de meest restrictieve abortuswetten van het land. Louisiana vreest dat het strikte beleid ondermijnd wordt door de mogelijkheid om de pil per post te versturen.

Door de eerdere beslissing van het hof van beroep moest de pil weer persoonlijk worden opgehaald door vrouwen bij een arts of kliniek.

Abortus leidt momenteel tot veel controverse in de Verenigde Staten met de Amerikaanse congresverkiezingen in november in het vooruitzicht. In 2022 werd in de VS het landelijke recht op abortus geschrapt. Staten gaan sindsdien zelf over abortuswetgeving.

THE BOTTOM (ANP) - De overheid op Saba heeft donderdag om 18.00 uur lokale tijd laten weten dat de zoektocht naar de vermiste Nederlandse wandelaar nog steeds gaande is. Ondanks uitgebreide zoekacties is de man nog niet gevonden.

"Door analyse van camerabeelden is het zoekgebied bevestigd, waardoor andere wandelroutes konden worden uitgesloten. Op basis hiervan en informatie uit de zoektochten op de wandelpaden is het zoekgebied nu beperkt tot het gebied tussen Middle Island en de Sulphur Mine Trail", zo staat in een persbericht.

De man raakte woensdag vermist tijdens het wandelen in Wells Bay, in het noordwesten van het eiland. Volgens lokale media gaat het om een ervaren wandelaar.

• American world No 1 among those shooting 3-under 67s

• Rory McIlroy finishes on four-over after four straight bogeys

It was gridlock on the opening day of the US PGA, where the leaderboard was backed up like Philly traffic. By the time it was all over, seven men were tied in the lead on three-under par, and another 42 were within three shots of them. Altogether a third of the field was within easy reach of the lead. It was record for a major championship, and they have been playing them since 1860. There are 16 major winners spread among them, including, ominously for everyone else, that man Scottie Scheffler. All the talk before the tournament was that it would be a turkey shoot, but it turned out to be one long tailback. The only thing missing was the traffic police.

Actually they had one of them, too, or something near enough. A rules official on the first tee gave the 27-year-old South African Garrick Higgo a two-shot penalty for arriving 30 seconds late from the practice green. He still shot a 69. The really odd thing was that in a field where even a man who dropped two shots because he missed his tee time managed to end the day in contention, a couple of the biggest names in the game wound up all but out of it.

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Although blood test reduces deaths by two for every 1,000 men screened, many could face unnecessary treatment

Screening for prostate cancer with a blood test can save men’s lives, but the “absolute benefit is small” and many men could face unnecessary treatment and medical complications, according to the most comprehensive study yet.

In a review that analysed six trials involving nearly 800,000 men, screening with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test reduced prostate cancer deaths by two for every 1,000 men screened, meaning 500 men must be screened to prevent one death from the disease.

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Het is omstreeks 1960 op een dinsdag, de dag van de wekelijkse veemarkt in Sneek. De markt is al afgelopen en we zitten in de bus van Sneek naar Franeker, een Scania Vabis.

Plaats de cijfers 1 tot en met 9 zo in het diagram dat elk cijfer precies één keer voorkomt in elke rij, kolom, de negen vetomrande 3x3 vakken, én de vier grijze 3x3 vakken.