Associated Press

Microsoft is paying the enormous sum of nearly $70 billion for Activision Blizzard, the maker of Candy Crush and Call of Duty, a deal that would immediately make it a larger video-game company than Nintendo while raising questions about the deal’s possible anti-competitive effects.

The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing and modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March.

Earlier this year, when I was reporting on the number of young children ending up in the emergency room because of a mental health crisis, I did not have much difficulty connecting with families. Interestingly, everyone who agreed to talk was white. They were either keen to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness or did not consider it a shameful subject. 

President Joe Biden took office at a particularly polarized time in American history, so it’s not surprising that citizens are divided on his performance at the one-year mark.

Three teenage boys were killed in Southern California when the car they were in struck a curb, collided with a fence and rolled over on an embankment, authorities said.