2023-06-24 14:39:50
After the US Federal Trade Commission asked to suspend Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Pete Hines, vice president of Bethesda, confirmed that the parent company ZeniMax had reached an agreement with Disney when questioned by lawyers. However, following Microsoft acquired ZeniMax, the content of the relevant agreement was revised, making this new game an exclusive work for the Xbox game console. Bethesda executives confirmed that the new work of “Indiana Jones” was originally scheduled to be released on multiple game console platforms, and the lawyer appointed by the US Federal Trade Commission even believed that “Starfield” (Starfield), which was launched by Bethesda and exclusive to the Xbox game console platform, should have been released. It was also planned to be on the PlayStation platform, but adjustments were made following ZeniMax was acquired by Microsoft. In addition, the vampire-themed first-person shooter game “Redfall” (Redfall), developed by Arkane Austin and released by Bethesda on the Xbox and Windows PC platforms, was previously reported to have originally intended to launch a version on the PlayStation platform, but eventually became a game platform owned by Microsoft. Exclusive works. However, Pete Hines said that under the license of Disney, the new work of “Indiana Jones” has become an exclusive work on the Xbox platform. It does not involve issues that affect players’ rights to play. Prior to this, Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox business, stated that the acquisition of ZeniMax would not affect the established game cross-platform release plan. Therefore, game works such as “Death Loop” and “Ghost Wire: Tokyo” will not only be released on the Xbox platform, but also on the Xbox platform. A PlayStation platform version is also available. But in related notes, Phil Spencer also mentioned that platform exclusivity will enable the Xbox platform to provide better game content. At present, regulators in many countries and regions have approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but the US Federal Trade Commission obviously does not accept Microsoft’s argument, believing that it may acquire Activision Blizzard’s game assets, thereby creating a monopoly in the game market and affecting players’ games rights and interests.More Mashdigi.com reports: The U.S. government plans to seek volunteer experts to form a working group to solve the concerns of automatic generation artificial intelligence technology Bethesda executives confirm that the new work of “Indiana Jones” was originally scheduled to be released on multiple game console platforms in the United States Entertainment Software Association Stresses It Will Still Organize E3 Events, But Also Explains Need for Transformation
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#Bethesda #exec #confirms #Indiana #Jones #originally #scheduled #released #multiple #console #platforms
Daily Archives
June 24, 2023
After fixing the central interest… What is the fate of interest rates on certificates in banks?
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
2023-06-24 14:05:00
05:05 PM, Saturday, June 24, 2023
I wrote – Manal Al-Masry:
Bankers, Masrawy spoke to, expected the continuation of issuing high-yield certificates without change, with the exclusion of reducing or raising the return on them in the near term, provided that the same conditions stabilize, following the central bank’s decision to fix the interest rate for the second time in a row.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank decided to fix the interest rate for the second time in a row at its meeting last Thursday, keeping it at 18.25% for deposits and 19.25% for lending.
The central bank’s decisions regarding the interest rate are included in determining the banks’ vision of the structure of their interest rates on savings vessels, the most important of which are savings certificates, which are highly sought following by customers due to the attractiveness of the return offered on them.
Banks offer high interest rates of up to 19% and 20% in most banks on 3-year certificates.
Mohamed Abdel-Aal, a banking expert, told Masrawy that the decision to continue issuing savings certificates with the same return submitted on them following the central bank’s decision to fix the interest rate will be left in the hands of the assets and liabilities committees of each bank, according to its liquidity levels.
Abdel-Al added that the continuation of the same return on certificates as they are is possible and the closest in the near term, although Abdel-Al tends – in a personal capacity – to reduce them to stimulate production and growth, and following correcting the distortion in the liquidity structure and the return of migrant funds once more from the National Bank and Egypt to private banks.
For the first time, during the current year, private banks began competing with the high-yield certificates offered in Al-Ahly and Egypt Banks by offering high-yield prices to attract the savings of their customers locked in the previous certificate of 18% in the two government banks, with its maturity starting from March 22 until the end of last May.
The Central Bank, upon its approval of the Al-Ahly and Egypt Banks, to offer two high-return certificates last April, took into account that the return on them approximates the prices offered in competing banks to avoid affecting customers and withdrawing their savings from these banks in favor of the two banks under the lure of the high return.
Al-Ahly Bank and Egypt Bank, the two largest government banks, offered two certificates for a period of 3 years, the first with a fixed interest rate of 19%, the return on which is paid monthly, and the second with a graduated return that is paid monthly, ranging between 22% in the first year, 18% in the second, and 16% in the third.
Muhammad Badra, a banking expert, predicted that savings certificates available in banks will continue to be offered with the same return as they are without change, in light of the competition of interest rates offered on treasury bills, which approach 19% following tax deduction.
He explained that the banks will remain in a state of monitoring their liquidity rates and the extent of customer demand before taking any decision to reduce or raise the interest on the certificates.
Why raise interest on certificates is not proposed?
Muhammad Badra said that the decline in gold prices and the decline in the price of the dollar in the parallel market for currency trade (the black market) in recent days enhances the attractiveness of returning to invest in certificates offered in banks once once more for fear of losses from the decline of the yellow metal as well as dollarization, which does not require him to Increase interest on current certificates.
Observers, who spoke to Masrawy last week, said that the price of the dollar on the black market had fallen below the level of 40 pounds, following a slight return in currency concessions at ATMs and President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s talk regarding excluding a fourth devaluation of the pound in the current period.
Badra explained that the continued decline in the price of gold and the dollar in the parallel market supports the trend towards the continuation of the same returns provided on certificates in banks without a raise, provided that there are no surprises and the return of the pound’s price decline once morest the dollar.
Mohamed Abdel-Aal ruled out raising the return on current certificates in banks or offering others at a higher interest rate due to their economic futility and negative consequences on the production wheel, as well as their inability to curb inflation (controlling the price increase), which is more linked to the exchange rate.
The central bank uses the interest rate as a weapon to curb inflation, which rose to record levels in recent years during the month of May, in normal economic conditions and not linked to unusual movements of the currency exchange rate once morest the dollar, such as the current situation, according to Abdel-Al.
The Central Bank had raised the interest rate by a total of 10%, starting from March 2022 until last March, with the aim of controlling inflationary pressures resulting from the decline in the exchange rate of the pound once morest the dollar.
The price of the dollar rose once morest the pound during the 15 months, by regarding 96%, to rise from 15.76 pounds on March 20, 2022, to 30.94 pounds at the end of bank transactions last Thursday.
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#fixing #central #interest.. #fate #interest #rates #certificates #banks
Japan records the first human death in the world due to the tick virus
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
2023-06-24 23:21:07
A woman died this Saturday in Japan following contracting the Oz virus, which is transmitted through tick bites. The health authorities of the Asian country confirmed the cause of death, clarifying that “it makes it the first death in the world from this infection, which is deduced, has been transmitted by these parasites.”
“The woman had already gone to the Ibaraki medical center (one of the forty-seven prefectures that make up Japan) last summer, following experiencing symptoms such as fever, fatigue and vomiting. There she was diagnosed with pneumonia, they gave her treatment, asking her to recover at home, ”the Europa Press agency reported.
Tokyo television station Kiodo News detailed: “After her condition worsened, she was hospitalized and a swollen tick was found on the upper part of her right thigh.” And she added that the patient presented myocarditis 26 days following being hospitalized. Medical staff detected that the Oz virus was present in heart muscle cells.
“There is currently no vaccine once morest this virus, which was only found in Japan, although being infected is not necessarily fatal, but more studies should be carried out on its symptoms and dangers,” explained the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo. . “The virus was discovered in 2018 and is believed to be transmitted through tick bites, a very common species throughout the island nation in the Pacific Ocean,” the Jiji Press agency said.
For its part, the Ministry of Health of Japan clarified that no other cases of people who have died from the virus have been confirmed so far. Ticks are primarily blood-feeding parasites of mammals, often found in tall grasses. They are vectors of multiple diseases, many of their larvae attack livestock and it is difficult to detect their presence, it only becomes noticeable when thousands have already adhered to the animal, making its eradication difficult.
Although it is the first death from this virus, it is not the first death caused by a tick bite. These insects are transmitters of diseases such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Typhus and Lyme disease. These animals are responsible for the death of more than 700,000 people in the world every year from their bite.
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#Japan #records #human #death #world #due #tick #virus
Ex-Apple slams Phil Schiller, App Store review guidelines
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
2023-06-24 16:30:00
Former member of the application review team at App Store, Phillip Shoemaker harshly criticized his former colleague and current head of Apple’s app store, Phil Schiller. The speeches came in an interview given by him to the Mobilegamer.bizin which he spoke regarding current game and app review guidelines for the company’s operating systems.
Advocating for an automation of the review process, Shoemaker said that Schiller is strongly once morest this idea — perhaps influenced by a board of directors. Steve Jobs so that software submitted to the App Store was always reviewed by human eyes. Suggesting that Apple should simply remove Schiller from the App Store helm, he opined that executives such as Eddy Cue (Senior Vice President of Services) and Greg Joswiak (Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing) are more likely to adopt a more automated process. .
The highlight of the conversation was a discussion of the unclear rules of the store’s guidelines. According to Shoemaker, they were written that way to make the process of accepting or rejecting applications more relative, but the goal was to refine them over time. According to him, this did not happen in the revision that took place in 2017, which made these rules even more vague.
He also defended that Apple should receive a percentage for the sale of applications in the store, but argued that 30% – a percentage that, according to him, “Tim Cook does not want to give up” – is too high for today. For Shoemaker, by charging developers something around 5%, the company might pay for the store’s review teams and marketing expenses and still make a good profit.
At a certain point in the interview, Shoemaker went more personal and reported an alleged difficulty in working with Schiller, stating that he even insulted his children in some company meetings. “He was one of those guys who would love to insult people,” commented the former Apple executive.
via 9to5Mac
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#ExApple #slams #Phil #Schiller #App #Store #review #guidelines