To Fight Apple and Google’s Grip, Fortnite Creator Mounts a Crusade

NEW YORK TIMES

Tim Sweeney, chief executive of Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, has railed against tech power. “The market is out of control,” he said.

His mission to rein in the power of the tech companies has now reached a fever pitch. Mr. Sweeney is preparing for a protracted legal battle after Apple and Google banned Fortnite, which is played by more than 350 million people, from their stores this month for trying to get around its payment systems. In response, Epic sued both companies, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by forcing developers to use those payment systems. read more »

UC Health to pay $3.1 million settlement in Medicare fraud lawsuit

Cincinnati Enquirer

UC Health confirmed Thursday it agreed to pay $3.1 million to settle a Medicare fraud lawsuit with nearly $800,000 going to the doctor who allegedly blew the whistle.

Dr. Donald Lynch filed the lawsuit in August 2018 stating that hospital officials illegally billed Medicare for dozens of transcatheter aortic valve replacements. read more »

Thousands allowed to bypass environmental rules in pandemic

AP News

Thousands of oil and gas operations, government facilities and other sites won permission to stop monitoring for hazardous emissions or otherwise bypass rules intended to protect health and the environment because of the coronavirus outbreak, The Associated Press has found.

The result: approval for less environmental monitoring at some Texas refineries and at an army depot dismantling warheads armed with nerve gas in Kentucky, manure piling up and the mass disposal of livestock carcasses at farms in Iowa and Minnesota, and other risks to communities as governments eased enforcement over smokestacks, medical waste shipments, sewage plants, oilfields and chemical plants. read more »