All posts tagged: blocked

SpaceX blocked from early US benchmark index entry as S&P reaffirms existing rules

SpaceX blocked from early US benchmark index entry as S&P reaffirms existing rules

Published by Sam Flores

June 4 : S&P Global said on Thursday it was not changing the requirements for entry into its major indices, dealing a setback to Elon Musk’s SpaceX by effectively ruling out a swift entry for the world’s biggest-ever IPO into the benchmark S&P 500 index. Musk has rewritten the IPO playbook for ⁠SpaceX in many ways from planning to give retail investors a bigger role in allocations to pushing for early index inclusion, and structuring governance to preserve strong founder ​control. The company is raising $75 billion and targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation that would place it among the top 10 most valuable U.S.-listed firms, even as only a fraction of its shares are available for trading. But S&P said “exceptions to the financial viability, seasoning, and IWF (investable weight factor) requirements should not be granted solely based on market capitalization”. To be included in the S&P 500, a company must be profitable under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in its most recent quarter as well as for the sum of its most recent four quarters, …

Hasan Piker, Cenk Uygur Blocked From U.K., Will Miss SXSW London

Hasan Piker, Cenk Uygur Blocked From U.K., Will Miss SXSW London

Published by Daniella Wilson

Left-wing political commentator Cenk Uygur and his nephew, Hasan Piker, have been denied entry to the U.K. by the government’s Home Office, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. It’ll mean they can no longer make their scheduled SXSW London appearances. The Home Office said in a statement to THR on Monday that the pair’s Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) has been cancelled on the grounds that their “presence in the U.K. may not be conducive to the public good.” They added: “Decisions to refuse or cancel an ETA on these grounds are based solely on an assessment of the potential risk an individual may pose to U.K. Society.” On social media, Uygur, host of populist political talkshow The Young Turks, said that he was banned for “criticising Israel.” “I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticising Israel,” he wrote. “Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country.” Piker responded to his …

Trump Blasts “Barack Hussein Obama Judge” After Kennedy Center Renovation Blocked

Trump Blasts “Barack Hussein Obama Judge” After Kennedy Center Renovation Blocked

Published by Jenni Sidey

President Donald Trump lashed out Saturday after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the planned closure and renovation of the Kennedy Center, accusing the Obama-appointed judge of halting what Trump described as a badly needed structural and aesthetic overhaul of the performing arts venue. In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump said millions of dollars in marble, furniture, steel, heating, air conditioning, and other materials had been ordered or were about to be ordered for what he called a “magnificent structural and aesthetic rebuilding” of the center. He argued the building had serious problems involving rust, rot, pests, failing pipes, aging HVAC systems, and structural beams that needed replacement, making it unsafe to keep audiences inside during major construction. Trump also attacked Cooper personally, alleging a conflict of interest involving the judge’s wife, attorney Amy Jeffress, and tying the Kennedy Center ruling to broader complaints about what he called a “rigged” court system. He said the decision could force the center to remain open despite safety concerns and warned that the institution may soon close …

Trump DOJ ‘lawfare’ fund temporarily blocked by judge as suit proceeds

Trump DOJ ‘lawfare’ fund temporarily blocked by judge as suit proceeds

Published by Sam Flores

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday temporarily blocked the Department of Justice from taking any further action to create or disburse money from its so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund as one of three lawsuits challenging it proceeds. Judge Leonie Brinkema said she would hold a hearing on June 12 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on whether to maintain the injunction against the DOJ’s $1.8 billion fund. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche earlier this month said he was creating that fund as part of a settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit by President Donald Trump against the Internal Revenue Service for the leak of his tax records by an IRS employee. Blanche is Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer. Hours after Brinkema’s order a judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging the fund in Washington, D.C., federal court scheduled a hearing for Wednesday on the request by the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to issue a temporary restraining order that would block the DOJ’s fund from operating as that suit plays out. The fund is …

Luigi Mangione backpack evidence blocked in CEO murder case

Luigi Mangione backpack evidence blocked in CEO murder case

Published by Sam Flores

Luigi Mangione during a pretrial hearing at New York State Supreme Court in New York, US, on Monday, May 18, 2026. Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images A New York state court judge on Monday blocked prosecutors in the murder trial of Luigi Mangione from using some of the evidence from his backpack when he was detained by police at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, on the heels of the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro said that because the backpack was not sufficiently in Mangione’s control when Altoona police were detaining him, “the evidence found during the search of the backpack at the McDonald’s must be suppressed, including the [loaded ammunition] magazine, cellphone, passport, wallet and computer chip.” However, a 3D printed gun, which is suspected of having been used in Thompson’s murder, and journal in the backpack, which was later inventoried by police at their headquarters, can be used as evidence, Carro ruled. Mangione is accused of fatally shooting the 50-year-old Thompson on a midtown …

Trump ballroom security funding blocked by Senate parliamentarian

Trump ballroom security funding blocked by Senate parliamentarian

Published by Sam Flores

Construction cranes are seen, from the Washington Monument, on the site of the former East Wing of the White House on April 17, 2026. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images President Donald Trump’s push to secure taxpayer-funded security upgrades tied to his proposed White House ballroom hit a roadblock after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a $1 billion Secret Service provision could not be included in a GOP immigration enforcement bill as drafted. The Senate GOP vowed to find another way to get the funding included in the bill. Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined Saturday that the provision, which included $220 million for security upgrades tied to the East Wing ballroom project, fell outside the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Budget reconciliation bills must comply with strict rules, including the Byrd Rule, which bars provisions deemed extraneous to federal spending or outside the jurisdiction of the committees that drafted them. It’s up to the parliamentarian to determine what fits and what doesn’t. That means Republicans will have to rewrite the language if they want to keep …

This DNS switch blocked junk on my smart TV and game console, and I didn’t need to install a thing

This DNS switch blocked junk on my smart TV and game console, and I didn’t need to install a thing

Published by skeptic

Smart TVs cost a lot of money, so you expect a good experience from them. Unfortunately, you’re not going to get the speed you could until you start looking at how you can stop advertisers in their tracks. You paid for the hardware, don’t let yourself get treated like the product. Changing your DNS settings is important, and one of the easiest ways to push back against that. Related Change These Settings to Instantly Make Your Smart TV More Private With just a few small tweaks, you can boost your smart TV privacy. Your smart TV has too many ads Hardware you own shouldn’t be a billboard for tracking and digital junk A smart TV can cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. You would expect that you now own this device and don’t need to worry about sales and finances, but the moment you boot up these devices, your screen is hijacked by intrusive advertisements, sponsored content, and auto-playing videos. It’s even recording what you choose to watch and when. Manufacturers are just …

Politics Home | Labour Mayor Says Andy Burnham’s Return To Government Should Not Be Blocked

Politics Home | Labour Mayor Says Andy Burnham’s Return To Government Should Not Be Blocked

Published by Sam Flores

Andy Burnham is reportedly meeting with MPs today (Alamy) 2 min read5 hr Exclusive: Labour mayor Helen Godwin has told PoliticsHome that Manchester mayor Andy Burnham “should not be blocked” from returning to Westminster and that she “wouldn’t dislike the idea” of Burnham being Prime Minister. Speaking to PoliticsHome, Godwin, who was elected mayor for the West of England last year, said that she “does not know” if Keir Stamer can deliver the reset government needs.  She added that she did not know if Starmer would lead Labour into the next election. PoliticsHome has reported that Labour leadership hopeful Burnham is to meet Labour MPs in London today in the hope of ensuring there is a timetable for a leadership change that would allow him a run. Burnham is one of the candidates favoured among Labour MPs to replace Starmer, but he would first have to return to Parliament as an MP. On Tuesday afternoon, pressure was growing on Starmer to resign. Two ministers have so far resigned, and four junior aides quit on Monday evening.  …

China Presses Pause on Self-Driving Taxis Nationwide After Issue Where They Blocked Streets. America Could Learn a Lot From That

China Presses Pause on Self-Driving Taxis Nationwide After Issue Where They Blocked Streets. America Could Learn a Lot From That

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Earlier this year, dozens of autonomous vehicles from the Chinese company Baidu suddenly stopped in their tracks in Wuhan, China, triggering major chaos and sparking alarm among lawmakers in Beijing. Not much later, the country’s government decided to stop issuing new licenses for new autonomous vehicles altogether, as Bloomberg reported last week, once again highlighting persistent pain points in the rollout of the tech — not to mention how far Beijing is willing to go to intervene when things go south. As Fortune points out, a strikingly similar situation is playing out in the United States — yet federal regulations are nowhere in sight. Robotaxis from both Waymo and Tesla are still relying on human operators, stealing luggage, or colliding with objects and animals in the streets. Federal regulators are even investigating a Waymo vehicle crashing into a child outside of an elementary school. A massive power outage in San Francisco caused Waymo’s fleet to clog up the …

Trump just blocked 165 US wind projects – here’s what’s behind it

Trump just blocked 165 US wind projects – here’s what’s behind it

Published by skeptic

Photo: Cordelio Power The Trump administration has effectively frozen 165 new onshore wind farm developments in the US, leaving the projects on private land in limbo, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Combined, they represent around 30 gigawatts of electric generating capacity. The Financial Times, citing the American Clean Power Association and other sources, reports that the Pentagon is holding up approvals* across a wide swath of projects – including some that were close to final sign-off, others still under negotiation, and even projects that wouldn’t normally fall under Pentagon review. Since August 2025, wind developers have faced canceled meetings, long stretches of silence, and applications that are no longer being processed, according to people familiar with the situation, the Financial Times reported. Letters sent to developers in early April said the Pentagon is now reviewing how it evaluates the national security impact of energy projects. That justification has been wheeled out before. The Trump administration tried to halt offshore wind projects by pointing to classified national security concerns tied to radar interference – a move …