Refining, long one of the more predictable corners of the oil market, is caught in a climate bind.

(Bloomberg Government) -- Hundreds of lawmakers have been quick to sign up for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s new app Threads,

OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 20, 2023--

Microsoft has completed its deal to buy Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard in the biggest deal in gaming history. The $68.7 billion acquisition means the Xbox maker now owns games such as World of Warcraft and Diablo, as well as the Call of Duty series. Microsoft first announced the deal at the start of 2022. Since then it has faced intense scrutiny from regulators around the world – but the final of those investigations, from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, closed earlier on Friday. The process has forced Microsoft to make public commitments that its games will still be available on other platforms, such as PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch. “As one team, we’ll learn, innovate, and continue to deliver on our promise to bring the joy and community of gaming to more people,” said Xbox boss Phil Spencer. “We’ll do this in a culture that strives to empower everyone to do their best work, where all people are welcome, and is centered on our ongoing commitment of Gaming for Everyone. “We are intentional about inclusion in everything we do at Xbox – from our team to the products we make and the stories we tell, to the way our players interact and engage as a wider gaming community.” Microsoft has said that the deal will bring Activision’s games alongside its first-party offerings, including adding its titles to Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service. “Together, we’ll create new worlds and stories, bring your favourite games to more places so more players can join in, and we’ll engage with and delight players in new, innovative ways in the places they love to play including mobile, cloud streaming and more,” Mr Spencer said in the announcement. Read More Microsoft gets go-ahead to buy Call of Duty maker Activision Google is about to ditch passwords forever EU to investigate X’s handling of disinformation over Hamas attack on Israel

The Sun has been punching holes in the Earth’s magnetic field lately – but that’s not as alarming as it sounds. Instead, they have been sparking magnificent light shows across Europe and North America, made up mainly of crimson auroras and sustained periods of red sky. The displays have been caused by disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field, which happened after a massive ejection of plasma from the Sun came hurtling our way. The event, known as a coronal mass ejection, made a hole in the planet’s magnetic field, allowing highly charged particles to make their way in and cause a geomagnetic storm. Normally, the Northern Lights are made up of mainly green, with the occasional flash of other colours including red. However, longer periods of red light shows are very rare. The highly charged particles then get channelled towards the north and south poles, where they interact with gas molecules in the atmosphere. They, in turn, release photons, causing the aurora borealis in the north and aurora australis in the south. Normally, the Northern Lights are made up of mainly green, with the occasional flash of other colours including red. However, longer periods of red light shows are very rare. But what makes this geomagnetic storm different is that the particles coming from the Sun collided with oxygen atoms higher in the Earth’s atmosphere than normal. The altitude at which this interaction happens dictates the colour of the aurora. This time, the charged particles were between 300 and 400 kilometres in the sky. There, the oxygen is less concentrated and doesn’t need as much energy to cause it to react. It all adds up to a flash of crimson red light in the sky. Somewhat excitingly for aurora-watchers, this sort of event is likely to get more common over the next two years, as the Sun’s activity becomes heightened until its peak in roughly July 2025. Looks like there will be more of these incredible ruby light shows soon enough. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

If you have sub-par artistic skills, it may be your time to shine. Artificial intelligence

The YouTuber has garnered a substantial following of over 3.5 million YouTube subscribers for his unique content

SAVE 49%: Access Indian Netflix from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN. A one-year subscription

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 23, 2023--

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MrBeast is known for his elaborate videos, with over 175 million subscribers waiting to see what he gets up to next – this time, he has teased that his very own Extreme Olympics will be his "biggest video ever". The 25-year-old YouTuber is no stranger to breaking records. Recently, his '7 Days Stranded At Sea' video also became the most viewed non-music YouTube video in 24 hours. MrBeast is perhaps best known for his '$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life' video inspired by the Korean dystopian Netflix show, which has over 480m views and is also the fastest non-music video to reach 100 million views too. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter But according to the content creator, the Extreme Olympics is going to be even grander spectacle than this. In a tweet, he wrote: "Next Saturday's video I had a subscriber from every country on Earth compete in my own version of Extreme Olympics... "...the sets are 2x bigger than our Squid Game sets, and it's my biggest video ever." MrBeast also shared two stills from the video which show how large one of the sets is as competitors participate in the games, while another shows the YouTuber in a referee top clapping with competitors in the background. When asked in the comments how much the video cost, MrBeast replied: "Over $4 million." The Extreme Olympics video is set to be released on MrBeast's YouTube channel this Saturday (August 19). Elsewhere, MrBeast is being counter-sued for $100 million by Virtual Dining Concepts, the company behind Beast Burger restaurants. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.