Category: World

A group of video game testers has formed Microsoft’s first labor union in the U.S., which will also be the largest in the video game industry.

The Communications Workers of America said Tuesday that a majority of about 300 quality-assurance workers at Microsoft video game subsidiary ZeniMax Studios has voted to join the union.

Microsoft already told the CWA it would accept the formation of the union at its Maryland-based video game subsidiary, fulfilling a promise it made to try to build public support for its $68.7 billion acquisition of another big game company, Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft bought ZeniMax for $7.5 billion in 2021, giving the Xbox-maker control of ZeniMax’s well-known game publishing division Bethesda Softworks and popular game franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Doom and Fallout.

Senior game tester Wayne Dayberry said in an interview with The Associated Press that the unionization campaign began before Microsoft took over and reflected workplace concerns that are common at video game companies.

“Throughout the industry, the quality assurance departments are treated poorly, paid very little, and treated as replaceable cogs,” said Dayberry, who has worked for five years at ZeniMax’s Rockville, Maryland headquarters on games such as Fallout, Prey and The Evil Within.

“There’s not a lot of dignity involved in it,” he said. “That’s something we’re hoping to show people in the industry who are in like situations, that if we can do it, they can do it as well.”

The unionization campaign accelerated thanks to Microsoft’s ongoing bid to buy California-based game giant Activision Blizzard. Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, made a June pact with the CWA union to stay neutral if Activision Blizzard workers sought to form a union.

The worker-friendly pledge sought to appeal to U.S. regulator concerns under President Joe Biden about the labor implications of massive business mergers, though it didn’t stop the Federal Trade Commission from suing last month to block Microsoft’s planned Activision Blizzard acquisition. The antitrust case had its first hearing Tuesday and could drag on for months.

Two small units of Activision Blizzard workers were the first to certify unions last year in Middleton, Wisconsin and Albany, New York. A third, Boston-based Activision Blizzard subsidiary Proletariat, filed a Dec. 27 petition with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize its 57 workers.

Microsoft’s legally binding neutrality agreement specifically applied to Activision Blizzard workers after the closing of the merger. But it also reflects Microsoft’s broader principles on handling unionization, which is still uncommon in the tech and gaming industries.

Dayberry said Microsoft’s neutrality promise gave workers confidence that there wouldn’t be any “retaliation or union-busting, which there has been none of.”

Microsoft’s green light allowed the ZeniMax union certification to go through a third-party arbitrator rather than the lengthier process typically overseen by the NLRB. A weekslong election period ended on Dec. 31 and was formally certified Tuesday. Microsoft said in a statement that it recognizes the union.

“They have definitely stood by their word all along,” said CWA spokesperson Beth Allen. “It’s pretty momentous. Microsoft is an outlier in the way tech companies have been behaving.”

The unionizing workers are based in Hunt Valley and Rockville, Maryland, as well as the Texas cities of Austin and Dallas.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Buffalo defensive back Damar Hamlin was in critical condition early Tuesday after the Bills say his heart stopped following a tackle during the Monday Night Football game, which was indefinitely postponed.

Hamlin collapsed on the field during the first quarter of the nationally televised game against the Cincinnati Bengals and was given medical treatment for nearly 20 minutes before being taken to a hospital.

“Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment,” the Bills said in a statement. “He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition.”

Jordon Rooney, a family representative who described himself as a good friend of the player, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday that Hamlin’s relatives are in good spirits but going through a lot and need their privacy. He declined to give details on Hamlin’s condition other than to say he is sedated.

“All I can say is he’s fighting; he’s a fighter,” Rooney said.

In a chilling scene, Hamlin was administered CPR on the field, ESPN reported, while surrounded by teammates, some of them in tears, while they shielded him from public view. He was hurt while tackling Bengals receiver Tee Higgins on a seemingly routine play that didn’t appear unusually violent.

The NFL announced Hamlin’s condition shortly after he was taken to a hospital, but neither the league nor the hospital released any other details about the 24-year-old’s medical condition. The team’s statement was released before its flight arrived back in Buffalo early Tuesday. There was no immediate update about the future status of the game.

On the play the 6-foot, 200-pound Hamlin was injured, Higgins led with his right shoulder, which hit the defensive back in the chest. Hamlin then wrapped his arms around Higgins’ shoulders and helmet to drag him down. Hamlin quickly got to his feet, appeared to adjust his face mask with his right hand and then fell backward about three seconds later and lay motionless.

Hamlin was treated on the field by team and independent medical personnel and local paramedics, and he was taken by ambulance to University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Teammate Stefon Diggs later joined Hamlin at the hospital.

About 100 Bills fans and a few Bengals fans gathered on a corner one block from the emergency room entrance, some of them holding candles.

Jeff Miller, an NFL executive vice president, told reporters on a conference call early Tuesday that the league had made no plans at this time to play the game, adding that Hamlin’s health was the main focus.

An ambulance was on the field four minutes after Hamlin collapsed while many players embraced, including quarterbacks Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.

“Please pray for our brother,” Allen tweeted.

Hamlin collapsed at 8:55 p.m., and when he was taken off the field about 19 minutes later in what seemed like an eternity, the Bills gathered in prayer. A few minutes after the ambulance left the field, the game was suspended, and players walked off the field slowly and into their locker rooms where they awaited word on Hamlin and the game.

“I’ve never seen anything like it since I was playing,” NFL executive Troy Vincent, a six-time Pro Bowl cornerback during his career, said in the conference call early Tuesday. “Immediately, my player hat went on, like, how do you resume playing after seeing a traumatic event in front of you?”

Hamlin’s uniform was cut off as he was attended to by medical personnel. ESPN reported on its telecast that Hamlin was also given oxygen.

Vincent said the league took no steps toward restarting the game and did not ask players to begin a five-minute warmup period as ESPN’s broadcasters had announced.

“It never crossed our mind to talk about warming up to resume play,” Vincent said. “That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. That’s not a place we should ever be in.”

Vincent said the Bills were returning early Tuesday morning to the team facility in Orchard Park, New York, with the exception of a few players who stayed behind with Hamlin.

There was a heavy police presence at Buffalo Niagara International Airport when the team arrived at about 2:45 a.m. A small group of fans gathered across the street from the players’ parking area near the airport. Police blocked off the road to allow the players to leave.

The Bengals led 7-3 in the first quarter of a game between teams vying for the top playoff seed in the AFC. Cincinnati entered at 11-4 and leading the AFC North by one game over Baltimore, while AFC East champion Buffalo was 12-3.

“The NFLPA and everyone in our community is praying for Damar Hamlin,” the players’ union said in a statement. “We have been in touch with Bills and Bengals players, and with the NFL. The only thing that matters at this moment is Damar’s health and well being.”

The unfinished game has major playoff implications as the NFL enters the final week of the regular season, with the wild-card playoff round scheduled to begin on Jan. 14.

The aftermath of the injury was reminiscent of when Bills tight end Kevin Everett lay motionless on the field after making a tackle on the second-half opening kickoff in Buffalo’s 2007 season-opening game against the Denver Broncos.

Everett sustained a spinal cord injury that initially left him partially paralyzed.

Hamlin spent five years of college at Pittsburgh — his hometown — and appeared in 48 games for the Panthers over that span. He was a second-team All-ACC performer as a senior, was voted a team captain and was picked to play in the Senior Bowl.

He was drafted in the sixth round by the Bills in 2021, played in 14 games as a rookie and then became a starter this year once Micah Hyde was lost for the season to injury.

By Tuesday morning, a community toy drive organized by Hamlin had surged to more than $3.7 million in donations. His stated goal was $2,500.

Kathryn Bersani and her mother, Gayle, were among the Bills fans who traveled from Buffalo for the game and went to the hospital from the stadium.

“This is our family Christmas,” Kathryn Bersani said. “We thought it would be a great game. Joe (Burrow) and Josh (Allen) are such great men. Sad, sad time. Such a shock. I just hope he can live a normal life. It stunned us.”

Chuck and Janet Kohl went to the hospital after watching the game at home.

“This is much more important than football,” Chuck Kohl said. “Had to come and pray for Mr. Hamlin.”

Entering the game, Hamlin had 91 tackles, including 63 solo tackles, and 1 1/2 sacks.

A tweet from the Pitt football account was simple and clear: “Damar Hamlin is the best of us. We love you, 3,” the tweet said, referring to Hamlin by his college jersey number. “Praying for you.”

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AP freelancer Jeff Wallner, AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi and AP Sports Writers John Wawrow and Ben Nuckols contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands has fired the attorney general of the U.S. territory who pursued various cases against disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, including a lengthy legal fight that resulted in a $105 million settlement.

The removal of Denise George comes just days after she filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase in New York and accused the company of helping Epstein finance the illegal exploitation of women and children in the U.S. Virgin Islands and beyond.

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. did not provide a reason for relieving George of her duties in a statement Sunday, saying only that she would be replaced by Assistant Attorney General Carol Thomas-Jacobs.

Governor spokesman Richard Motta did not return a message for comment, nor did executive assistant to the attorney general Jennifer Springette.

In the lawsuit filed against JPMorgan Chase on Dec. 27, the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands alleges the company “knowingly facilitated, sustained, and concealed the human trafficking network operated by Jeffrey Epstein from his home and base in the Virgin Islands, and financially benefited from this participation, directly or indirectly, by failing to comply with federal banking regulations.”

It also alleges that the company concealed wire and cash transactions.

“Human trafficking was the principal business of the accounts Epstein maintained at JP Morgan,” the lawsuit reads. “JP Morgan turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking over more than a decade because of Epstein’s own financial footprint, and because of the deals and clients that Epstein brought and promised to bring to the bank.”

A JPMorgan Chase spokeswoman declined comment in a message Tuesday to The Associated Press.

On Dec. 30, JPMorgan Chase asked that a federal judge throw out lawsuits filed by two unidentified women alleging that big banks should have seen evidence of Epstein’s sex trafficking. The bank also said it didn’t commit any negligent acts.

The lawsuit that George filed against JPMorgan Chase comes after Epstein’s estate reached the $105 million settlement with the U.S. Virgin Island’s government in late November.

The Virgin Islands Daily News, a local newspaper, reported that Epstein had made various donations to schools and organizations across the U.S. territory, and that the island’s former first lady was the office manager for one of his companies, Southern Trust. It also noted that Bryan, the governor, had granted Epstein’s company various hefty tax exemptions when he served as chairman of the Economic Development Commission.

In the previous lawsuit, George, the former attorney general, alleged that Southern Trust Company was used as a cover for Epstein’s illegal activities.

Epstein killed himself at a federal jail in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial. He had pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually abusing dozens of girls, some as young as 14 years old.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Latin American leaders converged on Brazil to meet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his first full day in office Monday, welcoming him back to power and hoping his country assumes a great role on the international stage.

Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, rarely traveled abroad or received visiting heads-of-state and found himself increasingly isolated.

But South American heads of state – some of them fellow leftists, though not all – clearly welcomed Lula’s third term in office and want greater participation from the continent’s largest economy.

“It was a very powerful symbol of desire in the region that leaders want Brazil to be back,” according to Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university. “Latin American leaders want an active, engaged Brazil.”

On Monday, Lula met with presidents Argentina’s Alberto Fernández, Bolivia’s Luis Arce of Bolivia, Ecuador’s Guillermo Lasso, Chile’s Gabriel Boric and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro. Other leaders also traveled to the capital, Brasilia, on Sunday and congratulated Lula on his inauguration, including Uruguay’s President Luis Alberto Lacalle Po.

On Monday afternoon Lula also met with Wang Qishan, the vice president of China, by far Brazil’s biggest export destination. Although Bolsonaro toned down his attacks on China in the latter half of his administration, it is important for China to dialogue with Lula’s administration and ensure Latin America’s biggest nation remains a true partner, Stuenkel said.

Lula is later scheduled to receive the president of Angola and representatives from Cuba, Venezuela and Peru.