Wall Street Journal

Microsoft can close its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a federal judge ruled, delivering a major setback to the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to rein in big mergers. The deal would combine Microsoft’s Xbox videogaming business with the publisher of popular franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush.

AT&T, Verizon and other telecommunications companies have left behind a sprawling network of cables covered in toxic lead that stretches across the US, under the water, in the soil, and on poles overhead. As the lead degrades, it is ending up in places where Americans live, work and play. The lead can be found on the banks of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, the Detroit River in Michigan, the Willamette River in Oregon, and the Passaic River in New Jersey, according to tests of samples from nearly 130 underwater-cable sites, conducted by several independent laboratories.