Today’s News
Video game performers approve contract to officially end nearly yearlong strike
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Unionized video game performers have voted to approve a new contract with their employers. The vote, the results of which were announced last week by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, ends a nearly three-year-long effort from union negotiators to obtain a new contract for the performers. The process, which included an 11-month strike against several major game makers, hinged on how artificial intelligence would affect performers [...]
FTC rule to easily cancel subscriptions is blocked
A “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required businesses to make it easier for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships, has been blocked by a federal appeals court just days before it was set to go into effect. The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed changes, adopted in October, required businesses to obtain a customer’s consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trial offers. The FTC said at the time that businesses also [...]
Nvidia first public company with $4 trillion market value
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia last week became the first publicly traded company to surpass a $4 trillion market valuation, putting the latest exclamation point on the investor frenzy surrounding an artificial intelligence boom powered by its industry-leading processors. The milestone reflects the influence of AI on technology. AI is widely viewed as the biggest tectonic shift in technology since Apple co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone 18 years ago. Underscoring [...]
X CEO resigns after two years at the helm
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said she’s stepping down after two years running Elon Musk’s social media platform. Yaccarino posted a positive message last week about her tenure at the company formerly known as Twitter and said “the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with” Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, maker of the chatbot Grok. She did not say why she is leaving. Musk responded to Yaccarino’s announcement with his own [...]
Chinese scholarship program questioned
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are urging seven American universities to cut ties with a Chinese scholarship program that lawmakers call a “nefarious mechanism” to steal technology for the Chinese government. In letters to Dartmouth College, the University of Notre Dame and five other universities, leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party raise concerns about the schools’ partnerships with the China Scholarship Council, a study abroad program funded by China. The [...]
Appellate panel reverses lower court’s ruling due to review of evidence
A Fifth District Court of Appeals panel reversed a trial court ruling in which the judge failed to conduct a proper review of evidence, instead relying on dashcam video captured by an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper. The three-judge panel accepted the state’s argument that the trial court was mistaken to base its ruling solely on the video without considering the credibility of the trooper’s testimony. “Although the trial court stated its policy in declining [...]
Trump announces plans to impose 50 percent import taxes on Brazil
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump last week imposed import taxes of 50 percent on Brazil, citing the country’s treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro. Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, specifically tying his tariffs to the trial of Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss. Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in [...]
Nutella-maker Ferrero to buy WK Kellogg for $3.1 billion
Italian confectioner Ferrero, known for brands like Nutella and Kinder, is buying the century-old American cereal company WK Kellogg in a deal valued at approximately $3.1 billion. The Ferrero Group last week said it will pay $23 for each Kellogg share. The transaction includes the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of WK Kellogg Co.’s portfolio of breakfast cereals across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Kellogg, which was founded in Battle Creek, Mich., in 1906, [...]
DNO Produce unveils new packaging
Columbus-based DNO Produce has eliminated traditional single-use plastics from its FRESHEALTH product line, officials said in a news release. The family-owned fresh-cut produce manufacturing company has been able to accomplish the feat by using integrated film packaging with enhanced biodegradation and compostable cups for its individually packaged fresh food products. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for individually packaged produce surged, and we saw an opportunity to innovate our packaging to reduce landfill volume for [...]
AI was used to impersonate secretary of state and contact foreign, U.S. officials
WASHINGTON — The State Department is warning U.S. diplomats of attempts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and possibly other officials using technology driven by artificial intelligence, according to two senior officials and a cable sent last week to all embassies and consulates. The warning came after the department discovered that an impostor posing as Rubio had attempted to reach out to at least three foreign ministers, a U.S. senator and a governor, according [...]
Legal News
Appeals panel denies man’s request for a second continuance
A Franklin County appeals court panel affirmed a trial court’s denial of a Grove City man’s request for a second continuance in a civil protection [...]
Supreme Court will take up transgender sports case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case over state restrictions on which school sports teams transgender students may join. Just [...]
$95M overdraft case against Navy Federal dismissed
NEW YORK (AP) — Navy Federal Credit Union no longer will have to refund $80 million to servicemen and women for illegally charging them overdraft [...]
Business News
Wendy’s names interim CEO as Tanner departs for Hershey
Wendy’s announced this week that Ken Cook will serve as interim chief executive officer as current President and CEO Kirk Tanner prepares to leave the [...]
Japan, South Korea hit with 25 percent tariffs, new import taxes levied on 12 other countries
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump this week set a 25 percent tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff [...]
Microsoft’s largest layoff in years hits Xbox, sales divisions
Microsoft says it is laying off about 9,000 workers, its second mass layoff in months and its largest in more than two years. The tech [...]
Real Estate
Investors snap up growing number of homes in U.S.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high [...]
New coal sales from public lands considered
DENVER (AP) — Federal officials this week took a first step toward reopening vast areas of public lands in two Western states to new coal [...]
Stadium where Ruth played in Tokyo set for demolition
TOKYO (AP) — Plans to demolish an historic baseball stadium at which Babe Ruth played and an adjacent rugby venue are at the heart of [...]
Politics
Local road project receives $2.5 million in state funding
A roundabout planned for Cassady Avenue in Columbus is one of 55 new traffic safety projects statewide to receive a total of $137.5 million in [...]
Administration to review grants for school programs
The Trump administration has accused states and schools of using federal education grants earmarked for immigrants’ children and low-income students to help fund “a radical [...]
Senate strikes AI provision from GOP bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — A proposal to deter states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade was soundly defeated in the Senate, thwarting attempts to insert [...]