IN BRIEF (Page 12)
European Union
EU fines Google $1.7b for blocking ad rivals
Google was fined 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) on Wednesday for blocking rival online search advertisers, the third large European Union antitrust penalty for the Alphabet business in two only years. The European Commission, which said the fine accounted for 1.29 percent of Google's turnover in 2018, said in a statement that the anticompetitive practices had lasted a decade. The misconduct included stopping publishers from placing any search ads from competitors on their search results pages, forcing them to reserve the most profitable space on their search results pages for Google's ads.
Pakistan
6 security personnel killed in firing
At least six security personnel were killed when unknown militants opened fire at a security check post in Balochistan province on Wednesday, local reports and officials said. The attackers sprayed bullets indiscriminately on the security forces' check post in Ziarat, adding the terrorists fled the scene after carrying out the attack, according to officials. Following the incident, heavy contingent of police and rescue teams reached the area and shifted the bodies to a nearby hospital for medico-legal formalities. No group or person has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
India
Devastating blaze guts 200 huts
Around 200 huts were gutted in a devastating fire in India's eastern state of Bihar, officials said on Wednesday. No loss of life or injury to anyone was reported in the fire. The fire broke out Tuesday night at Ahiyapur in Muzaffarpur district, about 78 kilometers north of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police officials said they were trying to ascertain the reasons that triggered the devastating blaze.
Reuters - Xinhua
(China Daily 03/21/2019 page12)