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It took 156 tries, but the World Series of Poker Circuit has found its first female main event champion after Michelle Chin won the Horseshoe Council Bluffs $1,675 Main Event to the tune of $88,126.

After the event, she was elated, telling WSOP officials, "It feels really great. This is probably at most the 10th tournament I've ever played in my life. It's just awesome to make history."

Chin, a resident of Wichita, Kansas, made history when she topped the 235-entry field and took home the lion's share of the $352,500 prize pool. The road to victory included a heads-up battle with Mike Lang and another tough obstacle in the way in the form of Harvey's Lake Tahoe Main Event champion Jesse Wilke.

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Staff attorneys at the Justice Department's antitrust division are nearing a recommendation to block the proposed $45 billion merger of Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc , Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

A spokesman for Time Warner Cable questioned the report, saying the company had been working productively with both the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.

"We've had no indication from the DoJ that this is true," the spokesman said.

Bloomberg said that Justice Department attorneys investigating the deal are citing concerns for consumers as they lean against it. Their review could be handed in as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The final decision would be made by senior officials.

Time Warner Cable shares closed down 5.4 percent at $149.61 on the New York Stock Exchange while Comcast shares ended down 2.1 percent at $58.42 on Nasdaq.

On Friday, a coalition of companies, associations and public interest groups sent a letter to FCC Chair Tom Wheeler opposing the merger.

"The combined company would, among other things: control over half of the high-speed residential broadband connections in the United States; dominate pay-TV across the nation; combine even stronger distribution muscle with NBC-Universal's "must-have" video programming; and control critical advertising and set-topbox inputs," the letter stated.

"... the Commission should reject this merger because it would result in too much power in the hands of one company."

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Bloomberg LP’s data terminals experienced failures on Friday that appeared to stretch from Hong Kong to London.

The terminals, known as Bloomberg Professional, are the company’s signature product, connecting trading floors with its chat function and providing market data and news.

Bankers and traders in Europe and Asia said that the terminals went down Friday morning in Europe, about an hour before the end of the Asian trading day. Some banks were reporting that their terminals appeared to be coming back online in London by midmorning on Friday.

The company, in a statement on its website around noon in Europe, said, “We are currently restoring service to those customers who were affected by today’s network issue and are investigating the cause.”

CNBC.com reported that a Bloomberg representative said that the terminals were unavailable worldwide.

The terminals are used by more than 315,000 financial professionals around the world, according to Bloomberg, and they provide a vast majority of the company’s revenue. Last year, Michael R. Bloomberg returned to the company he founded after serving three terms as the mayor of New York City.

Many larger banks and financial companies have a variety of backup systems as well as alternative data suppliers, such as products from Thomson Reuters, in place to avoid a major disruption.

One sales trader, based in Geneva, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because his company did not authorize him to give interviews, said the issues there started around 9 a.m.

The trader’s company has a few dozen Bloomberg terminals and uses them mainly for buying and selling exchange-traded funds and credit and for research. None of the firm’s terminals were able to connect for at least 90 minutes.

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There is no doubt that HBO poses the biggest threat to Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) dominance of the streaming business even as CEO, Reed Hastings affirms they are not substitutes for each other. The streaming giant might have posted strong results for the first quarter but with the emergence of more competition in the space, there is no room to get too complacent.

The CEO might be justified on his remarks based on the fact that both offer differing content at different price points. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) holds the upper hand in terms of pricing at the moment as it offers its services at $7. 99 a month compared to HBO’s $14.99 package. However, content on offer could be a big bargaining tool in HBO gaining substantial market share in the space.

HBO’s threat will always be a niggling concern for investors who have seen the stock sink in valuation as a result of negative sentiments in the industry. Internally, Netflix might have acknowledged the potential threat that HBO possess having embarked on a massive international expansion drive that will be used to offset any weakness achieved in the US.

Adding a record 4.9 million subscribers in the first quarter has somehow offset some of the pressure the streaming giant has faced in the recent past. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) service in the U.S grew in popularity as a result of catering to cord cutters but going forward that won’t be a point of focus as HBO is also catering to the same people.

It may be too early for Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) to shrug HBO threat in the streaming space as the world may have room for both taking into considering the disparity in the type of content that people like. The streaming giant may be doing great, but it is not the time to get too complacent.

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The Chinese e-commerce giant will transfer the pharmacy business on its Tmall marketplace platform to Hong Kong-traded Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd. 0241, +65.19% in exchange for shares and convertible debt that would bring its stake in Alibaba Health to nearly 55% when fully converted.

According to Daniel Zhang, Alibaba Group chief operating officer, the integration of the online pharmacy business into Alibaba Health will place the company in a position to be able to execute a greater healthcare e-commerce strategy, such as entering the online prescription drugs market.

“China has not yet issued license to dispense prescription drugs online, but then you can actually see them going down that route, ” said Alexander Ng, a consultant at McKinsey & Co.

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Finnish telecommunications-equipment maker Nokia Corp. is in advanced talks to buy French rival Alcatel-Lucent SA, the companies said Tuesday, a deal that would create a new global networking behemoth to rival Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei Technologies.

The deal currently under consideration is a “full combination” that would entail Nokia making a public offer for Alcatel-Lucent stock, the companies said. The deal could still fall apart, they added.

It isn’t clear if the parties have agreed on a valuation. Alcatel-Lucent’s market capitalization stands at roughly €11 billion ($11.63 billion), while Nokia’s market capitalization is about €28 billion.

In response to the statement, Alcatel-Lucent’s shares rose 13% to €4.38 in morning trading in Paris, while Nokia shares fell 7.3% to €7.205.

A purchase of Alcatel-Lucent by Nokia could face a tricky political dance in France. French officials have promoted the idea of creating pan-European giants to compete globally, in the model of Franco-German aerospace firm Airbus. But Alcatel-Lucent is also a major employer and symbolic of French industry.

One French government official said that any deal involving Alcatel-Lucent would likely have to be structured to keep a significant French influence in the new company for the deal to pass muster in Paris.

A spokeswoman for Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron declined to comment.

The timing of any deal remains unclear, but the two companies will face shareholders in the next few weeks. Nokia holds its annual shareholder meeting on May 5, while Alcatel-Lucent is scheduled to hold its meeting on May 26.

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