Today’s News
Verizon names board member as new CEO
Verizon Communications is tapping the former CEO of PayPal for its top role, taking over the post from Hans Vestberg. Dan Schulman, who has served as a Verizon board member since 2018 and is its lead independent director, will become CEO of the New York company immediately. Vestberg will serve as a special adviser through Oct. 4, 2026. During that time, he will focus on the transition process, which includes the integration with Frontier Communications, [...]
Nvidia, Fujitsu to partner on AI robots
TOKYO (AP) — American technology company Nvidia has agreed to partner with Fujitsu, a Japanese telecommunications and computer maker, on artificial intelligence to deliver smart robots and a variety of other innovations using Nvidia’s computer chips. “The AI industrial revolution has already begun. Building the infrastructure to power it is essential in Japan and around the world,” Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said, hugging his Fujitsu counterpart Takahito Tokita on stage. “Japan can lead the [...]
U.S. distillers struggling with falling exports
American distillers have been recipients of a costly cold shoulder from Canada, where their exports plunged 85 percent earlier this year, topping broad declines in key international markets amid global trade tensions, a spirits industry group said. The majority of Canadian provinces continue to ban American spirits from shelves, though Canada removed its retaliatory tariff on the products weeks ago, said the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. There’s another concern: that consumer reaction [...]
FBI cuts ties with Southern Poverty Law Center, ADL
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel says the bureau is cutting ties with two organizations that for decades have tracked domestic extremism and racial and religious bias, a move that follows complaints about the groups from some conservatives. Patel said the FBI would sever its relationship with the Southern Poverty Law Center, asserting that the organization had been turned into a “partisan smear machine” and criticizing it for its use of a “hate map” [...]
Fears of battery fires spark local opposition to storage projects
Big arrays of lithium-ion batteries are increasingly being hooked up to electrical grids around the country to store power that can be discharged in times of high demand. As more energy storage is added, however, residents in some places are pushing back due to fears that the systems will go up in flames, as a massive facility in California did earlier this year. Proponents maintain that state-of-the-art battery energy storage systems are safe, but more [...]
CBS buys commentary website
NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount says it has bought the commentary website The Free Press and installed its founder, Bari Weiss, as the editor-in-chief of CBS News, a newly created position. The announcement, while anticipated, is viewed as a bold move for the television news network initiated by new corporate leader David Ellison. Weiss’ experience is in print journalism, particularly in commentary. “I am confident her entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision will invigorate CBS News,” [...]
Fifth Third to purchase Comerica for $10.9 billion
Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp is buying Comerica for $10.9 billion in an all-stock deal, combining two big regional banks. The buyout will create the ninth largest bank in the country with approximately $288 billion in assets, the companies said earlier this week. The combined company will have operations in the Southeast, Texas and California, and will solidify Fifth Third’s position in the Midwest. It is anticipated that more than half of Fifth Third’s branches will [...]
Trump plans aid package for soybean farmers
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is planning to offer an aid package to soybean farmers to help them survive China’s boycott of American beans in response to his new tariffs even as the president says he is still seeking a soybean deal with Beijing. Farmers are worried, however, that time is quickly running out to reach a deal in time to sell any of this year’s crop to their biggest customer. Treasury Secretary Scott [...]
OpenAI and chipmaker AMD sign supply partnership
Semiconductor maker AMD will supply its chips to artificial-intelligence company OpenAI as part of an agreement to team up on building AI infrastructure, the companies announced earlier this week. OpenAI will also get the option to buy as much as a 10 percent stake in AMD, according to a joint statement announcing the deal. It’s the latest deal for the ChatGPT maker as it races to increase its AI computing resources. Under the terms of [...]
Sales from public lands expected to boost coal demand in coming years
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials in the coming days are set to hold the government’s biggest coal sales in more than a decade, offering 600 million tons from publicly owned reserves next to strip mines in Montana and Wyoming. The sales are a piece of President Donald Trump’s ambitions for companies to dig more coal from federal lands and burn it for electricity. Most power plants served by those mines plan to quit burning [...]
Legal News
Amazon to pay $2.5 billion FTC settlement
SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon has reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the online retail giant tricked customers into signing [...]
Judge OKs $1.5B copyright settlement
AN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge last week approved a $1.5 billion settlement between artificial intelligence company Anthropic and authors who allege nearly half [...]
Judge: Feds can’t tie states’ FEMA funds to immigration
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled last week that it’s unconstitutional to require states to cooperate on immigration enforcement actions to [...]
Business News
Recalls target frozen pasta, corn dogs
Federal health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain heat-and-eat pasta meals sold at Walmart and Trader Joe’s because they may be contaminated with [...]
Electronic Arts to be purchased for $55 billion
Electronic Arts, maker of video games such as “Madden NFL,” “Battlefield” and “The Sims,” is being acquired for $55 billion, the biggest leveraged buyout attempt [...]
Private equity firms seek increased investment in utilities
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Private investment firms that are helping finance America’s artificial-intelligence race and the huge buildout of energy-hungry data centers are becoming interested [...]
Real Estate
OHFA awards financing to local housing developments
Two central Ohio affordable housing projects have been granted financial assistance packages through the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. The agency’s board approved financing from various [...]
Home sales across the country are down 1.2% through first 8 months of 2025
Sales of previously occupied homes rose 1.8 percent last month compared to August of last year, according to the National Association of Realtors, but through [...]
Columbus-area home sales increase 3 percent in August
Home sales in central Ohio were up 3 percent last month compared to August 2024, according to new figures from Columbus Realtors. The number of [...]
Politics
Transportation department pulls trail, bike grants
CHICAGO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s transportation department has been pulling back grants already announced for recreational trails and bicycle lanes, telling local officials their [...]
U.S. renews funding for demining in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The United States will grant $675,000 for crucial demining programs in Cambodia, the U.S. Embassy said, after a freeze on [...]
State lawmakers attempt to regulate AI apps that people use for mental-health advice
In the absence of stronger federal regulation, some states have begun regulating apps that offer AI “therapy” as more people turn to artificial intelligence for [...]