Microsoft Purchase Call Of Duty Maker Activision Blizzard for $69 Billion

Oct 14 2023

Tech giant Microsoft has just secured its purchase of video game-maker Activision Blizzard, the company responsible for Call of Duty and other titles, for the whopping amount of $69 billion.

Following approval from Britain’s competition watchdog, Microsoft got the green light to close one of the most expensive acquisitions in tech history, with many fearing potential repercussions this could have on the video game industry.

In addition to the Call of Duty franchise, Activision Blizzard is also responsible for Diablo and Overwatch, and is slated to boost Microsoft’s Xbox console, which currently trails PlayStation and Nintendo in sales at third place.

This deal will also mean that Microsoft will own Activision’s mobile game branch, most notable for titles such as Candy Crush.

“Whether you play on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC or mobile, you are welcome here – and will remain welcome, even if Xbox isn’t where you play your favorite franchise,” said Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft’s Xbox.

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September 2023 Hottest On Record By ‘Extraordinary’ Margin

Oct 14 2023

The EU climate monitor has revealed that September 2023 was the hottest on record by an “extraordinary” margin as countries around the world continue to brace the effects of climate change.

With researchers almost certain that 2023 will be the hottest year in human history, September hit a number of other records, with the report calling September “the most anomalous warm month.”

C3S director Carlo Buontempo told AFP that from a climate view, the month was “beyond belief”, with the average surface air temperature of 16.38°, 0.93°C above the 1991-2020 average for the month and 0.5°C above the previous record in 2020.

Meanwhile, Malta’s Met Office has revealed that September was drier, winder and hotter than average, with just 29.6 millimetres of rain compared to the average 59.2mm.

September in Malta also saw a daily average of 8.6 hours of sunshine, with the brightest day clocking in at 11.7 hours of sunshine and the darkest being completely sunless. The Met Office measured 258 hours of sunshine throughout September, which is slightly sunnier than the month’s average.

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Near-Certainty That 2023 Will Be The Hottest Year On Record

Oct 14 2023

After yet another record-breaking stint of hot weather in September, a US agency has stated that it is near-certainty that 2023 will be the hottest year on record.

This news comes ahead of a meeting of world leaders in Dubai in November, where the discussion of phasing out fossil fuels will be tabled as humanity’s main driver of climate change is increasingly used.

In its monthly update, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated that “There is a greater than 99% probability that 2023 will rank as the warmest year on record.”

NOAA chief scientist Sarah Kapnick also stated that not only was it the warmest September on record, it was also the most atypically warm month in 174 years of climate keeping, warmer than the average July from 2001-2010.

September was also characterised by a handful of climate anomalies and events such as Storm Daniel, a wave of strong winds and rainfall in Eastern Libya which left over 10,000 people dead.

What do you make of this?

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Shark Spotted In Delimara Waters

Oct 13 2023

A video sent to this newsroom shows what seems to be a great white shark swimming the Delimara waters.

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The sailors came across the shortfin mako (scientific name Isurus oxyrinchus), expressing their bewilderment at catching a glimpse of the magnificent but understandably terrifying creature.

MaltaDaily has reached out to Researcher Alex Sharkman, who as of yet can confirm, along with Ian Fergusson, a Mediterranean shark specialist, that this is a shortfin mako.

The shark probably measures around 4 metres in length – a size which is still very rare to be spotted in the islands’ waters. The species is also protected.

‘While this shark bears many characteristics of a white shark, the clear frames of the rounded apex to pectoral fin; the pelvic fin & caudal peduncle lean more to this being a particularly large Isurus oxyrinchus, unusually close inshore’.

#MaltaDaily