Sports Interactive cancelled Football Manager 25 to work on the next entry in the series, but Sega has something else to fill the potential gap. Launching this year worldwide, Sega Football Club Champions 2025 is a free-to-play title for PS4, PS5, PC via Steam, iOS and Android. Check out the first trailer below. Described as a “multiplatform football management simulator” powered by Football Manager, Sega Football Club Champions 2025 has two core modes. Career Mode involves building and managing your team. Dream Team is about battling other players online. You can tussle in the Arena and Event Matches or set up Room Matches. Players can expect 10,000 professional footballers to bring to their teams. Japan’s J1-J3 leagues, FIFPRO, K League, and Manchester City F.C. contribute 1,500 players. While others have yet to be revealed, Sega says it’s partnered with “various leagues” worldwide. Interested participants can sign up for the closed beta here. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months, including additional gameplay and monetization.

Google's reckoning Google and DOJ tussle over how AI will remake the web in antitrust closing arguments Google and the DOJ get one last chance to make their cases. Ryan Whitwam – May 30, 2025 5:40 pm | 15 Credit: Ryan Whitwam Credit: Ryan Whitwam Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more From its humble beginnings in the late 20th century, Google has come to dominate online searches, putting it squarely in the US government's antitrust crosshairs. The ongoing search antitrust case threatens to upend Google's dominance, giving smaller players a chance to thrive and possibly wiping others out. After wrapping up testimony in the case earlier this month, lawyers for Google and the Department of Justice have now made their closing arguments. The DOJ won the initial trial, securing a ruling that Google used anticompetitive practices to maintain its monopoly in general search. During the time this case has taken to meander its way through the legal system, the online landscape has been radically altered, making it harder than ever to envision a post-Google Internet. To address Google's monopoly, the DOJ is asking United States District Judge Amit Mehta to impose limits on Google's business dealings and order a divestment of the Chrome browser. Forcing the sale of Chrome would be a major penalty and a coup for the DOJ lawyers, but this issue has been overshadowed somewhat as the case drags on. During closing arguments, the two sides dueled over how Google's search deals and the rise of AI could change the Internet as we know it. Collateral damage This case has examined the myriad ways Google used its influence and money to suppress competition. One of the DOJ's main targets is the placement deals Google signs with companies like Apple and Mozilla to be the default search provider. Google has contended that people can change the defaults anytime they wish, but the DOJ produced evidence at trial that almost no one does, and Google knows that. During closing arguments,  Mehta asked both sides about testimony from a Mozilla executive alleging that losing the Google search deal could destroy the company. Similarly, Apple's Eddie Cue said he loses sleep over the possibility of losing the Google revenue—unsurprising as the arrangement is believed to net the company $20 billion per year. Should Firefox die to teach Google a lesson? Credit: Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle Should Firefox die to teach Google a lesson? Credit: Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle The DOJ's David Dahlquist admitted that there could be some "private impact" but contended Apple and Mozilla are overestimating the risk. Mehta didn't seem totally satisfied with the government's position, noting that he didn't want to damage other markets in an effort to fix search. Google's counsel also went after the government on the privacy front. One of the DOJ's proposed remedies would require Google to license its search index and algorithm, which CEO Sundar Pichai claimed was no better than a spinoff of Google's core product. Google also claims that forcing it to license search would put everyone's privacy at risk because it has a vast amount of user data that fuels search. Google attorney John Schmidtlein said the DOJ's treatment of user privacy in the remedies was a "complete failure." Mehta questioned the government lawyers pointedly on the issue of privacy, which he noted was barely addressed in the remedy filings. The DOJ's Adam Severt suggested an independent committee would have to be empaneled to decide how to handle Google's user data, but he was vague on how long such a process could take. Google's team didn't like this idea at all. Case may hinge on AI During testimony in early May, Mehta commented that the role AI plays in the trial had evolved very quickly. In 2023, everyone in his courtroom agreed that the impact of AI on search was still years away, and that's definitely not the case now. That same thread is present in closing arguments. Mehta asked the DOJ's Dahlquist if someone new was just going to "come off the sidelines" and build a new link-based search product, given  the developments with AI. Dahlquist didn't answer directly, noting that although generative AI products didn't exist at the time covered by the antitrust action, they would be key to search going forward. Google certainly believes the AI future is already here—it has gone all-in with AI search over the past year. At the same time, Google is seeking to set itself apart from AI upstarts. "Generative AI companies are not trying to out-Google Google," said Schmidtlein. Google's team contends that its actions have not harmed any AI products like ChatGPT or Perplexity, and at any rate, they are not in the search market as defined by the court. Mehta mused about the future of search, suggesting we may have to rethink what a general search engine is in 2025. "Maybe people don’t want 10 blue links anymore," he said. The Chromium problem and an elegant solution At times during the case, Mehta has expressed skepticism about the divestment of Chrome. During closing arguments, Dahlquist reiterated the close relationship between search and browsers, reminding the court that 35 percent of Google's search volume comes from Chrome. Mehta now seems more receptive to a Chrome split than before, perhaps in part because the effects of the other remedies are becoming so murky. He called the Chrome divestment "less speculative" and "more elegant" than the data and placement remedies. Google again claimed, as it has throughout the remedy phase, that forcing it to give up Chrome is unsupported in the law and that Chrome's dominance is a result of innovation. Even if Mehta leans toward ordering this remedy, Chromium may be a sticking point. The judge seems unconvinced that the supposed buyers—a group which apparently includes almost every major tech firm—have the scale and expertise needed to maintain Chromium. This open source project forms the foundation of many other browsers, making its continued smooth operation critical to the web. If Google gives up Chrome, Chromium goes with it, but what about the people who maintain it? The DOJ contends that it's common for employees to come along with an acquisition, but that's far from certain. There was some discussion of ensuring a buyer could commit to hiring staff to maintain Chromium. The DOJ suggests Google could be ordered to provide financial incentives to ensure critical roles are filled, but that sounds potentially messy. A Chrome sale seems more likely now than it did earlier, but nothing is assured yet. Following the final arguments from each side, it's up to Mehta to mull over the facts before deciding Google's fate. That's expected to happen in August, but nothing will change for Google right away. The company has already confirmed it will appeal the case, hoping to have the original ruling overturned. It could still be years before this case reaches its ultimate conclusion. Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards. 15 Comments

Sophie Rucker had been living and working in London for five years when a trip to a yoga training school in Bali presented her with an alternative to the rat race. Despite enjoying life in London, witnessing digital nomads balance work with sun, sea, and relaxed vibes in the Indonesian island province prompted her to pursue more freelance work.  At the start of 2020, having set herself up as a communications strategist for NGOs and social impact organisations, Sophie quit her permanent role and moved to Bali. Despite the uncertainty of the progressing pandemic, she found the space she needed to grieve her mother, whom she had lost not long before. And to Sophie’s delight, the digital nomad lifestyle has fulfilled many of her expectations. She soon noticed, however, a distinct bias against her choice of location. Some potential clients wouldn’t even entertain a conversation, because she was based in Bali. “I couldn’t make sense of it — it felt so stupid,” she explains. “I’m working with organisations like Greenpeace and the UNDP to instigate positive global change, as well as being a somatic trauma counsellor, so when people assume I’m not doing ‘serious work’ out here, it grinds my gears.” Now she has greater control over the projects she pursues, Sophie tells employers she lives in Indonesia, and is transparent about exactly where once she’s secured a contract. It’s the same for many of her remote working friends in Bali, who don’t disclose their location to remote employers for fear of losing work. Getting snubbed from projects, haemorrhaging your savings on basic living costs and constantly edging on burnout are usually the hardships associated with full-time home-based working in a metropolitan centre like London, New York, or Amsterdam. Despite the dominant utopian narrative presented in the media — think bossing it at the beach, bottomless cocktails, and a perennial tan — the reality of balancing global travel with remote work has always been hard. And it’s only getting harder: surging costs, political turbulence, and fickle visa rules are pushing digital nomads in new directions. Forking out for freedom New research from the Dutch neobank Bunq has revealed the hidden financial, emotional and mental toll, with its survey of 5,000 workers across Europe who identify as digital nomads and/or living internationally. Indeed, just one in five say that working internationally has positively impacted their career, with Britons in particular (25%) saying their career has actually suffered as a result of being a digital nomad. It’s certainly not the picture that wistful salaried employees conjure when daydreaming at their desks. For experts in the field, however, the tough reality is widely known. “Many of those experimenting with the lifestyle can’t sustain it,” says David Cook, an anthropologist and researcher at University College London who specialises in remote work. “Maintaining self-discipline, staying productive, and finding the space to focus gets worse over time, not better, alongside all the other external circumstances.” Managing the finance side is an area of particular concern. Bunq found that 17% of study participants feel less financially secure, while 14% are spending more than expected. Although this cohort isn’t weighed down by a mortgage or a huge rental deposit, they do have to factor in local taxes, medical bills, nomad visa costs, insurance claims, legal assistance, and banking fees. Sophie boarding a flight from Bali to visit family in Australia. Credit: Sophie Rucker The top unforeseen expenses, according to Bunq, include medical expenses (16%) and local taxes (15%). Less common, but equally unsettling, is that 5% of nomads across Europe have had to pay for emergency evacuation costs.   All that is before budgeting for the rise in everyday living costs, which have impacted home-based and remote workers alike. Everyone is feeling the pinch, with the majority of Europeans (67%) noticing the rise in food and beverage prices in the past 12 months, as per data from the Dutch firm Innova Market Insights. Day-to-day budgeting trumps a laundry list of other anxieties too. In the first quarter of 2025, McKinsey’s ConsumerWise research found that Europeans ranked rising prices and inflation as their number one concern over issues such as job security, international conflicts, climate change, and political tension, to name a few. Geoarbitrage — decoupling life and work from a specific location to make your income go further — has long been a practice employed by digital nomads. Coined by Tim Ferriss in his 2009 book The 4-Hour Workweek, the tactic is now often being reconsidered due to increased outgoings. “Accommodation has always been the biggest challenge, but in the last few years, after COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, it’s significantly more expensive, sometimes €200 extra a month for the same place and conditions haven’t changed,” says Anna Maria Kochanska, a strategist who advises governments on digital nomad policy, and has been nomadic since 2017. Anna Maria tends to avoid Airbnb, negotiating directly with apartment owners for midterm rentals, but even so, her rental outgoings are much higher in 2025. “I’m based in Barcelona at the moment, and of course, one solution is to go to new and emerging destinations, with fewer tourists and nomads, but my travel costs are going up too, so I’m moving around less frequently.” Popular digital nomad hubs like Barcelona, Lisbon, and Mexico City are losing their affordable edge, as available housing dries up, prices rise, and neighbourhoods are transformed to meet the needs of itinerant knowledge workers. Local residents are tiring of the impact remote workers are having, and have been protesting against the influx. The souring of once-beloved hubs is leading nomads to look elsewhere and decamp to more off-the-beaten-track destinations. According to 2025 data from Nomad List, which tracks cities, locations and remote workers through the trips booked on its platform, cities like Sarajevo, Portimao, and Varna are emerging as some of the most popular among nomad, with 46% of them staying in one city for less than seven days, and 33% staying between seven and 30 days. Fatigued by visa strategising While some digital nomads are travelling less and avoiding established hotspots to mitigate rising expenses, others are turning their backs on location independence entirely. Kach Umandap has been nomadic since 2014, originally starting as a virtual assistant, then moving into blogging and e-commerce. “For a Filipino like me, there are a ton of limitations on the places I can visit visa-free, but I was determined to visit every single country in the world,” says Kach. “I had to be really strategic about planning and already figure out where I would go afterwards, which is perhaps not the carefree image you have of digital nomad life.”  During certain weeks, Kach would spend more time arranging visas and doing travel admin than her actual job. She often had to do expensive visa runs to neighbouring countries to reset the clock. For example, when based in Vietnam, she needed to travel to Laos every 30 days, pay for transport, a hotel, and a booking agent each time. Having achieved the goal of working from all 193 UN member states and spending thousands of dollars each year on visa applications, Kach has returned to the Philippines to slowly establish her base there. Kach in Turkmenista, one of the 193 UN states she’s worked in. Credit: Kach Umandap Although new digital nomad visas are being rolled out constantly — the latest include Taiwan and the Philippines — many are launched hurriedly, so governments can have a horse in the race in the global talent tussle. Each one has wildly different eligibility criteria and often high minimum income requirements. Iceland, for example, requires a monthly salary of $7,763 (€6,868). Few digital nomads actually even engage with these visa programs. Grappling with a messy landscape and muddy definitions of “a digital nomad,” those eligible are being deterred. For nomads who do try, an application can take months to process, and putting one in only to find out you aren’t eligible due to poor signposting is hugely stressful. “We have the best lifestyle in the world, yet the worst ecosystem,” says Gonçalo Hall, CEO of NomadX, a global platform for digital nomads and president of the Digital Nomad Association Portugal. “Nomads have the numbers, energy, and economic force, but the cohesion is missing.” What’s more, nomads with ”weaker” passports, such as those from Syria, Pakistan, and Nigeria, have a hard time travelling compared to those from the EU and North America. With ongoing conflicts, political instability, and changing immigration laws, crossing the next border for a period of remote work is getting more intimidating by the day.  People drop off from full-time digital nomad lifestyles for many reasons though, from loneliness and moving too often to dealing with bureaucracy and the precarity of their careers. “It’s not for everyone, and although many people experiment with the lifestyle, they discover the real struggle a few months to a year in,” says Cook, of UCL. “It gets harder over time, so successful, long-term nomads need to be disciplined, resilient and self-motivated — in many ways, the perfect neoliberal person.” Cook is in his eighth year of collecting data in Chiang Mai, Thailand with the same group of people and estimates that 90% of the nomads in his research give up the lifestyle in the first year or two. “They tend to start hyper mobile, but end up craving place and being embedded in communities, which is not easy to sustain while living on the move,” explains Cook. “This is compounded when their income situation is precarious.” A strong pull, no matter the cost With 60 million digital nomads predicted to have joined the ranks by 2030, the lifestyle — despite, or even because of its challenges — remains alluring. For the knowledge workers who are forcibly displaced due to war, climate disaster, or fears of persecution, digital nomadism offers the chance to earn, even when on the move. For today’s remote workers, change is the only constant, and roaming patterns will continue to shift, as people adapt and find ways to thrive amid global change. They might choose to housesit through platforms like Nomador and Trusted Housesitters instead of renting, become an e-resident in a country like Estonia to maximise profit and minimise cost, or travel less and embed themselves deeper in a community. After all, the same autonomy and flexibility that draws people to this lifestyle also enables them to overcome the hurdles that come their way. Back in Bali, the housing and rental market is booming — and the clamour about overtourism is getting louder. To slow its development and ease local worries, the Balinese officials have floated the idea of a tourist tax, set to cost around $100 (€88) per day. In the current climate, Sophie is paying £750 (€881) a month for her cabin in Bali — just £70 (€82) shy of the room she rented in London — so she cannot save and is feeling the pressure to maintain her earnings. “The only thing that means I can make it work is the culture and lifestyle — for example, I work when my clients are sleeping, because of the different time zones,” she explains. “It eases my anxiety and enables me to solve problems more creatively.”  As many of her friends return home due to rocketing costs, Sophie is committed to staying put. “I’m in a privileged position to be working on some big projects, and am paying taxes in the UK and contributing to the local economy here,” she says. “I have to keep checking in on myself, but I’ve come to a very conscious decision: loving Bali and this life as much as I do, why should it be any cheaper than where I started?”  Story by Megan Carnegie Megan Carnegie is a London-based independent journalist who specialises in writing features about the world of technology, work, and busines (show all) Megan Carnegie is a London-based independent journalist who specialises in writing features about the world of technology, work, and business for publications like WIRED, Business Insider, Digital Frontier and BBC. Her work is underpinned by a desire to investigate what's not working in the working world, and how more equitable conditions can be secured for workers — whatever their industry. Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

Morris, the Movie Star Alligator Who Appeared in ‘Happy Gilmore,’ Dies of Old Age Based on his growth rate and tooth loss, the 640-pound gator was estimated to be at least 80. He starred in movies and TV shows between 1975 and 2006 After starring in numerous movies and television shows, Morris retired in 2006 and lived out his final days at the Colorado Gator Farm. RJ Sangosti / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post via Getty Images Morris, the alligator who starred in Happy Gilmore and numerous other movies and TV shows, has died. In an announcement from the Colorado Gator Farm, where the beloved 640-pound reptile had lived for the last two decades, caretakers say the cause of death was “old age.” “He started acting strange about a week ago. Wasn’t lunging at us and wasn’t taking food,” says Jay Young, the farm’s owner and operator, while tearfully petting Morris’ head in a video posted on Facebook. Morris was nearly 11 feet long at the time of his death, according to another post the Colorado Gator Farm shared on Facebook. Based on his growth rate and tooth loss, Young estimates the gator was at least 80 years old. “While we knew this was inevitable, we are very saddened by his passing,” the Colorado Gator Farm writes. Morris was rescued from a Los Angeles backyard, where he was being kept as an illegal pet. He began his prolific career in 1975 and kept working until his retirement in 2006. His TV and film credits include Interview With the Vampire, Dr. Dolittle 2, Blues Brothers 2000, “Coach,” “Night Court” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” reports Thomas Peipert of the Associated Press. But he’s perhaps best known for Happy Gilmore, the 1996 comedy starring Adam Sandler as a down-on-his-luck hockey player who discovers his powerful golf swing. After Gilmore hits a shot in a tournament, Morris grabs his golf ball with his mouth. Gilmore confronts the alligator. “Give me my ball! Give it here!” he shouts, while waving his golf club in the alligator’s face. Morris responds by snapping his jaws a few times. After Gilmore tries unsuccessfully to grab the ball from the alligator’s gaping mouth, he sees the creature is missing one eye. Gilmore realizes it’s the same gator that bit off the hand of his mentor, Derick “Chubbs” Peterson (Carl Weathers). When Morris sprints into a nearby pond, Gilmore follows. After a brief tussle, Gilmore retrieves his ball from the gator’s mouth and holds it above his head as the crowd cheers. Later, he presents the alligator’s head to Chubbs, who is so shocked he falls backward through an open window to his death. On May 14, Sandler posted a tribute to Morris on Instagram.“You could be hard on directors, make-up artists, costumers—really anyone with arms or legs—but I know you did it for the ultimate good of the film,” the actor wrote in a caption accompanying a still from the movie. “The day you wouldn’t come out of your trailer unless we sent in 40 heads of lettuce taught me a powerful lesson: Never compromise your art.” He added: “I will miss the sound of your tail sliding through the tall grass, your cold, bumpy skin, but, most of all, I will miss your infectious laugh.” Sandler is working on a sequel to the film, called Happy Gilmore 2, which will be released on Netflix in July. Morris does not appear in the new film, since he died in the first movie. But his memory will live on. “We have decided to get Morris taxidermied so that he can continue to scare children for years to come,” the Colorado Gator Farm writes on Facebook. “It’s what he would have wanted.” The farm is located in Mosca, a small town roughly 200 miles southwest of Denver. Situated in the San Luis Valley, the farm is home to roughly 300 alligators, as well as snakes, lizards, crocodiles and tortoises, per CBS News Colorado’s Logan Smith. Young’s parents, Erwin and Lynne, started the operation as a tilapia farm in the late 1970s. They brought in baby alligators to clean up the dead fish, but as the reptiles grew, visitors began showing up to see them. Today, the farm serves as a refuge for unwanted, illegal and abused reptiles. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Fortnite's available on iOS in the US again, with Epic and Apple's legal tussle over it seemingly having concluded, at least for now. Epic Games has at least managed to get one of the outcomes it wanted out of all the hoohah, and its CEO has reponded as only he could - by letting all know we're his "fam". Read more

Meta’s building a new AI data center so massive in Louisiana that the local utility company has plans to construct three new gas-fired power plants to provide it with enough electricity. Now, advocates and lawmakers are pressing Meta for answers about how it’ll clean up pollution stemming from the data center’s energy consumption.Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, shot off a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday demanding answers about how much energy the data center would use and the greenhouse gas emissions that would be generated. Powering the new data center with gas “flies in the face of Meta’s climate commitments,” the letter says.Tech companies are rushing to build out data centers to train and run new AI tools, driving up electricity demand. In this case, power utility Entergy wants to meet that demand with new gas infrastructure, raising concerns about the impact Meta’s data center will have on the environment and local residents.“We urgently need corporate responsibility”“Meta’s backslide from its own climate pledges risks triggering broader economic harm at a time when we urgently need corporate responsibility,” Sen. Whitehouse said in a statement emailed to The Verge.In 2020, Meta pledged to reach net-zero emissions across its operations, supply chain, and consumer use of its products by the end of the decade. But the company’s carbon footprint is larger now than it was when it set that goal, according to its latest sustainability report, as it doubles down on AI. The company has tried to reduce its emissions by matching its electricity use with equal purchases of renewable energy. It’s a strategy Meta and other big companies often take: pay to support new clean energy projects to try to cancel out the environmental effects of your facilities plugging into a power grid that runs on dirty energy. Environmental advocates are increasingly concerned that this strategy still burdens communities with local pollution, and that the pressure to meet rising electricity demand from AI is boosting fossil fuel use rather than renewable energy. We’re seeing that tussle play out in Richland Parish, Louisiana, where Meta has plans to build its largest data center to date. It’s spending $10 billion on the project, the company announced in December. Once complete, the campus would span 4 million square feet, about as large as 70 football fields. But the project is moot unless Meta can ensure there will be enough electricity available for all those servers, a problem it’s working with Entergy to solve. Entergy proposed building three entirely new gas plants with a total capacity of 2,260 megawatts to support the data center, but it has to get regulatory approval first.Some advocates contend that there hasn’t been enough transparency around Meta’s data center plans to help the public understand the potential impact on the local power grid. The New Orleans-based Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Union of Concerned Scientists filed a motion in March asking the Louisiana Public Service Commission to add Meta as an official party to proceedings over whether to approve construction of the new gas plants. Doing so would compel the company to disclose more information, and the commission is scheduled to consider the motion on Monday. “It’s hard to wrap your brain around [whether] a facility like this either might be good for your community or bad for your community without understanding the possible impact to your electrical system, your bills, and your water,” says Logan Burke, executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy.There are already forecasts that rapidly growing data center electricity demand could raise electricity bills in the US. Meta said in December that it would contribute $1 million a year to an Entergy program that helps older adults and people with disabilities afford their bills. Data centers have also been notorious water-guzzlers, although Meta says it would invest in projects to restore more water than it would consume.RelatedSen. Whitehouse’s letter, meanwhile, asks Meta to answer a list of questions by May 28th. On top of questions about the data center’s electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions, Whitehouse wants to know what the justification is for building gas-fired power plants rather than renewable energy alternatives. And it presses Meta to explain how the proposal aligns with its 2030 climate goal.Meta maintains that it’ll continue matching its electricity use with support for renewable energy, including a commitment to help fund 1,500 megawatts of new solar and battery resources in Louisiana. It also said it would help fund the cost of adding technology to at least one power plant that would capture carbon dioxide emissions. Whitehouse wants to know how much funding it will provide and how much carbon will be captured. Carbon capture tech has been prohibitively expensive to deploy and costs are often offset by using the captured CO2 to produce more fossil fuels through a process called enhanced oil recovery.“We received the letter and look forward to providing a response,” Meta spokesperson Ashley Settle said in an email to The Verge. “We believe a diverse set of energy solutions are necessary to power our AI ambitions – and we continue to explore innovative technology solutions.”Entergy didn’t immediately respond to inquiries from The Verge. It has a goal of making sure that 50 percent of its generating capacity is carbon pollution-free by 2030. But the utility said that gas “is the lowest reasonable cost option available that can support the 24/7 electrical demands of a large data center like Meta,” in a statement to Fast Company, which first reported on Whitehouse’s letter.See More:

Apple and Epic Games sparred over whether the iPhone maker was obstructing access to the hit game Fortnite, the latest tussle in a long-running feud over Apple's control of game distribution revenue. From a report: The game developer said that Apple "blocked" its latest Fortnite app submission so that it can't be released in the US or on the third-party Epic Games Store in the EU. "Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it," the company wrote on its X account. An Apple spokesperson responded later on Friday, saying that the company "did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces" in the EU. Apple said that it asked the game company's European division, Epic Sweden, to "resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A cat with seasonal allergies tries to scratch his ear.getty Minnesota resident Mary Tan travels frequently with her outgoing “adventure cat,” Franklin, a rescued orange tabby. But a couple of years ago when she was traveling solo and her sister was pet sitting for her, she received a phone call that changed daily life. “My sister called me and said, ‘I think Franklin has ear mites.’ And I’m like, ‘What? There's no way,'” she said. “I was freaking out.” As soon as Tan got home, she rushed her cat to the veterinarian, who determined Franklin didn’t have ear mites: he had severe allergies. The “black crud” in the cat’s ears turned out to be bacteria and yeast. Tan, a longtime animal foster, adopter and founder of Whisker Media, learned through testing that Franklin is allergic to just about everything outdoors — particularly pollen and grass. Though he’s an indoor cat, he does take leashed walks in the neighborhood with Tan and travels to tradeshows as a brand ambassador and to a nursing home to offer comfort to residents. After about six months of trial-and-error treatments with different medications and dosages, Franklin’s veterinarian referred him to a board-certified veterinary dermatologist. He’s much better, but he doesn’t take leashed walks in the springtime when pollen levels are high, and his condition will need to be carefully managed for the rest of his life.Franklin Delano Tan, who is named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt “because you have to negotiate ... More with him,” suffers from severe seasonal allergies that affect his skin and ears, according to Mary Tan.Mary Tan Tan is committed to doing whatever it takes to help her cat with his severe seasonal allergies because it was “distressing” to see him so uncomfortable and itchy, often scratching his ears until they turned red. “I had to do something. My pets are my children,” she said. “I’ve never encountered anything like this.” A Veterinarian’s Perspective On Seasonal Allergies In Cats Cats can have mild to severe symptoms from season allergies — just like humans, according to Gary Richter, DVM, owner of Holistic Veterinary Care and Rehabilitation Center in Oakland, California and author of The Ultimate Pet Health Guide. “With cats, it's either skin or it can also be respiratory,” he said. “Just like with people, cats can be very sensitive in their respiratory tracts. So coughing, wheezing, even asthma, things of that nature.” Cats can react to the common allergens that affect humans, such as pollen, mold and dust, he noted. When allergies affect feline skin, symptoms include scratching at their face and ears, scabs on their skin and fur loss. “Cats being cats, they do a lot of grooming,” he said. “So sometimes what will happen is cats will start overgrooming and licking off fur. It can manifest in any number of ways."Cats fastidiously groom themselves, but they can overdo it when they are itchy from seasonal ... More allergies.getty Prevention Tips For Seasonal Allergies Dr. Richter’s top tip for helping cats with seasonal allergies — and to boost their overall health and longevity — is to keep them indoors. “Statistically speaking, cats live dramatically longer if they’re indoors than if they’re going outside,” he said. “It’s safer for the cat, it’s safer for the environment because cats are sort of relentless predators, so they’re always hunting things like birds and other small animals. It’s not impossible for a cat to have seasonal allergies indoors, but clearly their exposure is going to be dramatically lower if they’re not outside in the grass.” Indoor cats can also benefit from homes that run the air conditioner instead of opening windows. Dr. Richter recommends regularly changing or cleaning the filters in the air conditioner and possibly investing in a HEPA air purifier to help decrease exposure to dust and pollen. Additionally, he feels good nutrition can bolster a cat’s immune system. His preference is to feed pets whole foods, though he noted people concerned about bird flu in cats should avoid feeing them raw poultry. Treatment Options For Cats With Seasonal AllergiesKittens and cats can develop seasonal allergies to common allergens like grass and pollen.getty Treatment options run for cats with seasonal allergies run the gamut depending on the severity of symptoms, according to Dr. Richter. On the mild end of the spectrum, he suggests trying fish oil supplements and natural anti-inflammatories and antioxidants, such as quercetin and astaxanthin and herbal extracts like nettle extract. (Dr. Richter formulated a combination product called Feline Renew with omega fats and antioxidants.) Zimox, an over-the-counter enzymatic product, can help with some skin and ear infections without the potential side effects of pharmaceutical antibiotics and antifungals, he noted. “My preference as an integrative and holistic doctor is always to try and avoid the really strong immunomodulating immunosuppressive pharmaceuticals if we can get away with it,” he said. But if natural approaches don’t work, he “absolutely” recommends calling your veterinarian. Treatment for more serious allergies includes oral and injectable medications and medicated shampoos. Seeking Help For Seasonal Allergies Based on personal experience, Rachel Geller, Ed.D., founder of the nonprofit All Cats All the Time, recommends calling your veterinarian as soon as you notice any unusual symptoms in cats. Several years ago, she was concerned when her rescue cat, Sosil (a Yiddish word for “sweet"), appeared to have scabs on her face. She initially assumed the Maine Coon mix had tussled with one of her other cats. But when Sosil didn’t seem to be getting better, veterinary testing revealed she didn’t have a skin infection or cancer, but allergies.Sosil experiences severe seasonal allergies marked by itchy skin and lesions. “It’ll be raw, it’ll ... More be a little bloody, the fur will be gone,” says Dr. Rachel Geller. “You can see her skin, but the skin will be red and raw.”Dr. Rachel Geller Prescription food for cats with sensitive skin and stomachs kept symptoms at bay for a couple of years, but one dry winter, “these allergies reared their ugly head again,” according to Dr. Geller. “She will get these skin allergies and it can range from some raw lesions on her face to really bad lesions around her mouth and nose and even on her gums,” she said. “It can very easily become infected, which has happened before. Then it spreads.” During allergy flares, Sosil rubs her face on table corners to try to scratch the itchiness. So now at the first sign of any redness or rawness, Dr. Geller takes her cat straight to the animal hospital for a shot of steroids and the antibiotic injection Convenia. Sosil suffered abuse in her former home and mistrusted people when Dr. Geller adopted her six years ago, but she’s transformed into “the sweetest, wonderful cat" who is now part of the family. So Dr. Geller does whatever she can to help the 12-year-old cat — just as she would for any beloved family member. “She’s worth every penny,” she said. “I would do anything for this little baby to keep her healthy and happy. That’s what we sign up for.”