By Jonathan Landrum Jr., Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Doja Cat could make the BET Awards her world later this month.
The chart-topping performer scored six nominations at the show airing live on June 26 from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Doja Cat is up for best female R&B-pop artist, best female hip-hop artist, album of the year for her No. 1 hit "Planet Her" and BET Her for "Woman." Her "Kiss Me More" with SZA is nominated for video of the year and best collaboration.
Drake and Ari Lennox are the second-most nominated acts, scoring four nods each. Three nominations went to several others including Baby Keem, Silk Sonic, Chloe Bailey, Future, H.E.R., Jazmine Sullivan, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Mary J. Blige and Tems.
Actor Taraji P. Henson ("Empire'') will host the BET Awards for a second consecutive year.
The winners in the 19 categories, including film and sports awards, will be selected by BET's Voting Academy, comprised of entertainment professionals and fans.
Drake will battle Kendrick Lamar, Future, J. Cole, Jack Harlow, Ye and Lil Baby for best male hip-hop artist. Doja Cat will face off against Cardi B, Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj and Saweetie for best female hip-hop artist.
WNBA star Brittney Griner, whose pre-trial detention in Russia was recently extended by a one month, is nominated for sportswoman of the year. The two-time Olympic gold medalist — who plays for the Phoenix Mercury — was detained at a Moscow airport in February after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage. She faces drug smuggling charges that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Griner is nominated in the same category as Candace Parker, Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Sha'Carri Richardson and Simone Biles.
Google is blasted by UK watchdog for what it calls anti-competitive behavior through digital ads
Google was slammed Friday by U.K. regulators who say it's taking advantage of its dominance in digital advertising to thwart competition in Britain, ratcheting up pressure that the tech giant is facing on both sides of the Atlantic over its "ad tech" business practices.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said that the U.S. company gives preference to its own services to the detriment of online publishers and advertisers in Britain's 1.8 billion pound ($2.4 billion) digital ad market. The watchdog leveled its accusations after an investigation, and the findings could potentially lead to a fine worth billions of dollars or an order to change its behavior.
Google is a major player throughout the digital ad ecosystem, providing servers for publishers to manage ad space on their websites and apps, tools for advertisers and media agencies to buy display ads, and an exchange where both sides come together to buy and sell ads in real time at auctions.
"We've provisionally found that Google is using its market power to hinder competition when it comes to the ads people see on websites," the watchdog's interim executive director of enforcement, Juliette Enser, said in a press release.
The watchdog's charges, known as a statement of objections, arrive two years after it opened its investigation. Google's digital ad business is also the focus of a European Union antitrust investigation and a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit that's set to go to trial this month.
The CMA said that Google's "anti-competitive" conduct is ongoing, but the company disputed the allegations Friday.
"Google remains committed to creating value for our publisher and advertiser partners in this highly competitive sector," the company said in a prepared... Read More