An antitrust remedy decision that could bring an end to Google's search dominance is expected soon. During closing arguments in late May, US District Judge Amit Mehta indicated he would be likely to release his remedy order for Google by early August.
According to court filings, Mr Mehta on Tuesday asked the search company to file a brief to clarify an issue related to device manufacturers who have agreed to use the company's Chrome browser by default.
Mr Mehta gave Google until August 1 to file the brief, which likely means he is nearing a decision.
Because of lengthy litigation, which began in 2020, followed by the remedy portion of the trial, which began this year, it's easy to forget that Mr Mehta had decided in late 2024 that Alphabet-owned Google unfairly used its search monopoly to hurt competition, and as a result, harm consumers.
And in a separate antitrust case, Google was also found to have unfairly boxed out competition in search advertising by coupling its publisher advertising server and advertising exchange technologies. The search giant is appealing part of that decision.
Throughout the remedy portion of the trial, which heard testimony from technology executives, economists and regulatory experts, the Justice Department made clear that it wants Mr Mehta to enact far-reaching penalties against Google that would be a warning to other companies, while also providing more choice for consumers.
Federal prosecutors want Google to divest its Chrome browser from its portfolio, and it wants the tech giant to share coveted search data with competitors.
Yet, Google and its bench heavy with lawyers have pushed for a far less stringent remedy that would allow it to retain control of its Chrome browser, while also giving device manufacturers, and ultimately users, more windows of opportunity to change their default search provider within browsers.
“Our proposal allows browsers to continue to offer Google Search to their users and earn revenue from that partnership … but it also provides them with additional flexibility,” Google said during closing arguments in May.
The decision has browser companies like Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser, walking a tightrope between wanting more market share amid Google's Chrome dominance, and also not upsetting existing revenue streams provided by contracts with Google.
“Essentially, the remedies may hand even more power to Big Tech, threatening long-term competition and the health of the open web,” read an email from a public relations firm hired by Mozilla.
Google's influence is unrivalled and its deep pockets have allowed it to secure a presence on various devices through lucrative contracts with companies like Apple. Depending on the severity of the remedy, Apple could lose out on reoccurring payments from Google.
Eddy Cue, one of Apple's senior executives, took the witness box during the remedy hearings in May, claiming that Google's power was beginning to erode, with users starting to pivot from search engines to AI chatbots.
Sceptics of antitrust intervention might look at those comments and say that a harsh penalty on Google would be superfluous, and that the free market should be allowed to, eventually, dethrone the company.
Others, however, might point to the wealth that's been stockpiled from Google's search dominance, and how that wealth has enabled the company to create an arsenal of AI technologies like Gemini and its research division DeepMind, and that the Alphabet-owned company would just find ways to abuse its power in the emerging sector.
Mark MacCarthy, a senior fellow at the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, who has studied antitrust policy for several decades, acknowledged in a previous interview with The National that Google’s dominance presents a unique challenge for Mr Mehta.
He said that with Google's recent antitrust defeat over its advertising business and the forthcoming decision related to browsers and search dominance, there could be a large amount of co-operation between the courts involved.
But Prof MacCarthy said that the current regulatory agencies might not be up to the challenge of properly enforcing the remedy.
“My view is that this would be better done by a new digital regulatory agency,” he said.
That said, given the sweeping layoffs in the federal government under President Donald Trump, there's little indication that the White House has any appetite for a new regulatory agency.
All of the moving parts, combined with a dismantling of the federal workforce, invariably forces Mr Mehta to approach his decision with delicacy, and it will also likely work in Google's favour.
Yet, even if the remedy is all bark and no bite, it could be enough of a distraction that a technology company like Google dreads amid a rapid rise in competitors.
Barbie
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The biog
Name: Atheja Ali Busaibah
Date of birth: 15 November, 1951
Favourite books: Ihsan Abdel Quddous books, such as “The Sun will Never Set”
Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry
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SPECS
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'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
