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Trump’s FTC agrees to Omnicom merger — with a gift to X

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The all-Republican Federal Trade Commission agreed to approve a $13.5 billion ad merger if it includes a ban on steering ad dollars away from platforms or publishers based on “political or ideological viewpoints.” The order, which was reported by The New York Times earlier this month, would prevent ad giant Omnicom from wholesale avoiding platforms like X based on their political viewpoints without explicit direction from its advertiser customers. X lost advertisers in 2023 after placing ads next to pro-Nazi content.

On Monday, the agency published a proposed consent order that it says would “resolve antitrust concerns” over Omnicom’s acquisition of Interpublic Group, which it says are the “third- and fourth-largest media buying advertising agencies in the U.S.” Under the proposed terms, the newly-merged company could not direct or deny advertisers’ spending on any given platform based on that website’s political or ideological views, or those of the content the ads might run alongside. Advertisers who work with Omnicom can still directly request that the media buying agency avoid certain publishers based on political viewpoints.

The FTC commonly places conditions on companies seeking to merge through consent orders to prevent anticompetitive effects, but this unusual provision addresses a particular complaint of congressional Republicans and former “First Buddy” Elon Musk, whose company X (formerly Twitter) claimed advertisers engaged in an “illegal boycott” by pulling ads off the platform in the wake of reports on far-right content and Musk’s own promotion of antisemitic conspiracies. The FTC is investigating news outlet Media Matters for encouraging advertisers to drop X; Media Matters sued in response today.

One of Musk’s primary targets was the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a voluntary initiative organized by the World Federation of Advertisers that helped companies avoid advertising against illegal or otherwise harmful non-”brand safe” content. GARM disbanded due to limited resources in the wake of the antitrust suit from X.

The FTC mentions GARM in its complaint against the Omnicom merger, saying allowing two major companies to merge could have a similar impact.. “With one fewer major competitor in the Media Buying Services industry as a result of the Acquisition, the remaining competitors have fewer impediments to coordinating the placement of advertisements, monitoring one another, and punishing one another for taking actions that harm them collectively,” the complaint says.

The Supreme Court has previously protected the right to boycott. But in a statement, Republican Chair Andrew Ferguson claimed the provision would not infringe on advertisers’ First Amendment rights. “The decree goes to great lengths to avoid interfering with the free, regular course of business between marketing firms and their customers,” Ferguson says. “Omnicom-IPG may choose with whom it does business and follow any lawful instruction from its customers as to where and how to advertise. No one will be forced to have their brand or their ads appear in venues and among content they do not wish.”

The order, however, says Omnicom can’t maintain any policy that “declines to deal with Advertisers based on political or ideological viewpoints” or “directs Advertisers’ advertising spend based on the Media Publisher’s political or ideological viewpoints.”

The proposed order was approved by Ferguson and Commissioner Melissa Holyoak, with Commissioner Mark Meador recused from the matter. President Donald Trump previously attempted to fire the agency’s two Democratic commissioners and has not yet nominated new ones, leaving the typically bipartisan and five-member agency in the hands of three Republicans.

AC Milan’s Theo Hernández nears €30m move to Al Hilal – sources

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Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal are in advanced negotiations with AC Milan to sign Theo Hernández for a fee close to €30 million ($34.6m), sources have told ESPN.

The French international was reportedly under consideration by Atlético Madrid, but negotiations fell through.

Sources told ESPN that all indications are he will continue his career in Saudi Arabia.

A source admitted to ESPN that the 27-year-old full-back had some doubts about a move to Al Hilal, but added that negotiations are progressing well, with some minor details still pending.

Dolly Parton Announces Special Live in Las Vegas Shows

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Why Dolly Parton Always Rejects Offers to Join ‘American Idol’ and ‘The Voice’ (Exclusive)

Dolly Parton is working 9 to 5 on her latest show-stopping venture.

The singer-songwriter announced Dolly: Live in Las Vegas, her first extended run at the Las Vegas Strip in over 32 years. The once-in-a-lifetime experience will feature six performances between December 4 and December 13 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

“To say I’m excited would be an understatement” Dolly said in a press release obtained by E! News. “I haven’t worked Vegas in years and I’ve always loved singing there. I’m looking so forward to the shows in The Colosseum at Caesars and I hope you are as well. See you there!” 

As for which classic hits from the singer’s iconic catalogue fans can expect during her set, they include “9 to 5,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.” 

Tickets—including the several VIP packages offering various deluxe opportunities—go on sale through Ticketmaster starting June 25 at 10:00 a.m. PT for the six performance dates: December 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, and 13.  

Dozens of Labour MPs back bid to block benefits changes

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About 80 Labour MPs are supporting a fresh effort to block the government’s planned changes to the benefits system, the BBC has been told.

The MPs have signed an amendment that would give them an opportunity to vote on a proposal to reject the welfare reform bill in its entirety.

Dozens of Labour MPs have expressed concerns about the plans to cut disability and sickness-related benefits payments to save £5bn a year by 2030.

Ministers have attempted to soften the impact of the welfare changes, but many Labour MPs remain discontented with the package of benefits reforms.

The welfare reform bill – called the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill – will include proposals to make it harder for disabled people with less severe conditions to claim personal independence payment (Pip).

The amendment, which has been seen by the BBC, notes “the need for the reform of the social security system” before outlining reasons why the bill should be rejected.

The reasons it lists for thwarting the bill include the number of people the plans are expected to push into relative poverty, a lack of consultation, and an inadequate impact assessment on the consequences on the jobs market and on people’s health.

It is known as a reasoned amendment, which is a parliamentary mechanism which allows MPs to record their reasons for objecting to a bill.

If the reasoned amendment is selected by House Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and the majority of MPs vote in favour of it, the bill will not be allowed to continue its passage through Parliament.

While the success of the amendment is not assured, the level of support for it among Labour MPs indicates the extent of the potential rebellion facing ministers.

A list of the Labour MPs who have signed it – which, the BBC has been told, includes 10 Labour select committee chairs – is expected to be published on Monday evening.

It is understood that many members of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs have not yet had the opportunity to sign it, which may mean the number of signatories heads beyond 100 in the coming days.

This number of Labour opponents to the government’s welfare plans could be enough to inflict defeat on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the House Commons, were all the opposition parties to oppose the plans too.

The government has a working majority of 165 in the Commons, meaning that 83 Labour MPs would need to oppose the bill to force a parliamentary defeat.

Earlier, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she did not want to alert Labour to her plans before the welfare reform bill was voted on.

A senior Conservative source said the shadow cabinet would be discussing whether to help the government vote through the welfare reforms when they meet on Tuesday morning.

It is thought about half the amendment’s signatories so far are from the new intake of Labour MPs – those elected at the general election last year.

The vote on the government’s bill is currently due to take place a week tomorrow – on Tuesday 1 July.

In a meeting of Labour MPs on Monday evening, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall defended the welfare reforms, arguing greater spending on benefits alone was “no route to social justice”.

“The path to fairer society – one where everyone thrives, where people who can work get the support they need, and where we protect those who cannot – that is the path we seek to build with our reforms,” Kendall said.

“Our plans are rooted in fairness – for those who need support and for taxpayers.

“They are about ensuring the welfare state survives, so there is always a safety net for those who need it.”

One of the main co-ordinators behind the amendment, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC the government’s U-turn on cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners “demonstrates that they are susceptible to pressure”.

They said the decision emboldened many of those who have signed the amendment, saying MPs “all voted for winter fuel [cuts] and have taken so much grief in our constituencies, so colleagues think why should I take that on again?”.

It is understood that plans for the amendment began when the government offered a partial olive branch, by expanding the transition period for anyone losing the personal independence payment.

The same MP who has been helping to co-ordinate the amendment said the offering by the government earlier this month was “pathetic” and “angered people even more”.

They said direct phone calls from Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves that were supposed to placate would-be rebels had instead “been entrenching people” to vote against the bill.

They accused Number 10 of thinking MPs can be “bullied into voting with them” and said the aim of the amendment was to “send the government back to the drawing board” by forcing them to withdraw next week’s vote.

The welfare package as a whole could push an extra 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into relative poverty, according to the government’s impact assessment.

The Department for Work and Pensions says it expects 3.2 million families – a mixture of current and future recipients – to lose out financially, as a result of the total package of measures, with an average loss of £1,720 per year.

This includes 370,000 current Pip recipients who will no longer qualify and 430,000 future claimants who will get less than they would previously have been entitled to.

But ministers have stressed the figures do not factor in the government’s plans to spend £1bn on helping the long-term sick and disabled back into work, or its efforts to reduce poverty.

Ministers hope these efforts will boost employment among benefits recipients, at a time when 2.8 million people are economically inactive due to long-term sickness.

If nothing changes, the health and disability benefits bill is forecast to reach £70bn a year by the end of the decade, a level of spending the government says is “unsustainable”.

The government is planning to put the welfare reforms in place by November 2026 and no one will lose out on benefits payments until that happens.

Masked men in Border Patrol vests take California father after repeatedly hitting him

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In graphic video that has since gone viral, some seven or more masked men wearing U.S. Border Patrol vests were seen violently detaining a father in Santa Ana, Calif., before forcing him into the back of an unmarked car on Saturday.

The violent incident sparked protests in the following hours, and an online fundraiser was started through GoFundMe, where family members identified the victim as Tustin, Calif., resident Narciso Barranco, a father to three sons who are all U.S. Marines.

One of those sons, 25-year-old Alejandro Barranco, told KTLA that his father was pepper-sprayed in addition to repeatedly being punched in the face during his detention. According to Alejandro, Narciso was picked up by alleged federal immigration officers while he was working as a landscaper at the IHOP on Edinger Avenue and Ritchey Street.

The video shared by the Instagram account @SantaAnaProblems shows a group of men wearing hats and face coverings and police vests converge on Narciso, holding him down while one man repeatedly hits him on the head. Some men are standing guard around the scene before the group again seizes Narciso, with one man holding a baton at the back of Narciso’s neck to push him into the backseat of a silver SUV.

KTLA has reached out to city and state officials and is awaiting a response. A Santa Ana Police spokesperson said they are aware of the video circulating on social media, but had no further details. No local or federal officials have confirmed to KTLA whether the masked men were federal officers.

“He is a good, hard working man. He has raised his family here and has established himself here,” reads the GoFundMe page. “Please help the Barranco family with whatever you can to ensure he is able to receive the proper legal counsel to represent him.” As of Saturday evening, Alejandro was working on getting in contact with his father.



Analyst Report: Deere & Co.

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Analyst Report: Deere & Co.

New York’s getting a new nuclear power plant

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans today to develop a new nuclear power plant, the first to be built in the state in decades.

It’s the latest signal that nuclear energy could see a comeback in the US thanks to wide-ranging support from some strange bedfellows: the Trump administration purporting to seek “energy dominance”; tech companies in need of more electricity for AI data centers; and climate hawks on board with nuclear energy as a carbon pollution-free alternative to fossil fuels.

Nuclear energy could see a comeback in the US thanks to wide-ranging support from some strange bedfellows

“The use of advanced nuclear technology can provide the State with a greater diversity of its energy resources that will support New York’s goal of a growing economy with a reliable, zero-emission electricity system,” New York State Energy Research and Development Authority president and CEO Doreen Harris said in a press release.

Hochul is directing the New York Power Authority to construct at least one new site for nuclear energy upstate with the capacity to generate at least 1 gigawatt of electricity (about half the capacity of Hoover Dam power plant).

The state is interested in advanced reactors that are still under development, in the hopes of overcoming some of the obstacles the nuclear energy industry has faced over the years. After a boom in nuclear reactors built in the 1970s and ‘80s, the technology struggled to compete as gas-fired power plants and solar and wind farms became cheaper sources of electricity. Fears about nuclear accidents like the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island and conflicts over where to store radioactive waste have also bogged down the industry.

The Vogtle power plant in Georgia has become an example of the kinds of problems that have plagued nuclear power projects; it’s the site of the first all-new reactors built in the US in more than three decades. After construction started in 2009, Vogtle units 3 and 4 finally came online in 2023 and 2024, roughly $17 billion over budget.

Now, the average age of a nuclear reactor in the US is 42 years old, with many retiring recently or scheduled to soon shutter. That trend is starting to reverse, with help from Big Tech and government incentives. Google and Amazon have both inked agreements to support the development of next-generation nuclear reactors. Meta signed a deal this month to help keep a reactor built in the 1980s alive for another 20 years. And Microsoft announced a power purchase agreement last year that’s supposed to lead to the restart of one reactor at Three Mile Island.

Sources – Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton has torn Achilles tendon

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Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sustained a torn right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City, sources told ESPN on Monday.

He’ll likely miss the 2025-26 season.

Haliburton, who played through a calf strain in the NBA Finals for the opportunity to win a championship, will soon undergo surgery, sources told ESPN.

The seriousness of the injury was apparent from the moment the Pacers’ star guard — who had been playing through a strained right calf — crumpled to the floor without contact as he was attempting to drive to the basket with 4:55 remaining in the opening quarter.

He immediately began slapping the court in frustration and remained on the floor as most of the Pacers team surrounded him.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said: “All of our hearts dropped.”

Haliburton put no weight on the leg and had his face wrapped in towels as he was taken to the locker room. He spent the rest of the 103-91 loss surrounded by family, with applause that could be heard from outside the locker room as he watched the Pacers fall short in their attempt to clinch a championship without him.

He suffered the calf strain in Game 5 of the Finals, but he insisted on playing through the injury, saying, “If I can walk, I want to play.”

The day before Game 7, Haliburton acknowledged after practice his leg was “still stiff, still sore,” but he said he planned to play through it.

Haliburton, 25, had been the breakout star of the postseason, leading Indiana on its improbable run to the Finals. In all four rounds, he hit a tying or winning shot in the final seconds, becoming the league’s first player do so in a single postseason.

He was averaging 17.7 points and a playoff-leading 9.0 assists on 46% shooting entering Sunday. His 197 assists were a franchise record for a single postseason.

“He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play,” Carlisle said. “It was something that no one’s ever seen and did it as one of 17. You know, that’s the beautiful thing about him: As great a player as he is, it’s always a team thing.”

ESPN’s Jamal Collier contributed to this report.

Kristin Juszczyk, Kyle Juszczyk’s Wife, Defends Term WAG

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Kristin Juszczyk thinks being a WAG is a major win.

The fashion designer, who is married to San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, has fully embraced the “sisterhood” of fellow sports wives and girlfriends.

“I’ve met the most incredible women in the NFL,” she exclusively told E! News at Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club at Fanatics Fest NYC on June 22. “Once you’re in it, you realize that it’s one of the best titles ever.”

In fact, the 31-year-old doesn’t mind being referred to as a WAG, despite admitting there “used to be a little bit of a negative connotation to it.”

“I feel so proud to be even adjacent to the sports world and my husband playing,” she emphasized. “I love athletics so much, so to me, it’s not a knock.”

Ultimately, if it means supporting her husband, she’s proud to be a WAG.

“I’m proud of my husband and everything that he’s done,” Kristin added. “I think any spouse really feels that way.”

Jofra Archer: England bowler returns for Sussex – how did he fare?

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It was national selector Luke Wright who said at the start of June that Archer could be available for the second India Test, suggesting he is in England’s thoughts for this summer, nevermind a potentially box-office reunion against Australia in the Ashes in the winter.

He did not take the new ball for Durham, instead replacing another former England Test bowler in Ollie Robinson after six overs, with Durham 9-0.

From his first delivery – with England bowling coach Neil Killeen in attendance – Archer appealed for caught behind down the leg side but the umpire was unmoved.

While Archer’s opening spell of four wicketless overs for 11 runs was accurate, it was a pacey second spell 45 minutes after lunch that caught the eye.

Archer had Durham left-hander Gay fending from in front of his helmet on a slow pitch, another lively bouncer followed to Will Rhodes in his next over and in his third he had a loud lbw appeal against Gay turned down.

Archer, who was the quickest bowler on show in a match that also featured Robinson, Durham’s England bowler Matthew Potts and Australia international Gurinder Sandhu, would not be denied.

He went fuller to Gay from round the wicket with the second ball of his next over, found a hint of inswing and trapped the Durham opener in front.

After the umpire’s finger was raised, Archer celebrated with a beaming smile – the wicket his first in whites since he dismissed Jordan Cox in a match against Kent on 14 May 2021.

He continued for a further two overs and was cruising to the crease by the end.

When he beat right-hander Colin Ackermann outside off stump he bent double in frustration mid-pitch. It was the final ball of an impressive six-over spell.