Dewine to increase Opportunity Zone credits

Gov. Mike Dewine on Wednesday announced a potential income tax credit for businesses that invest and create jobs in economically distressed parts of Ohio.

Dewine told a group at the University of Akron that a 10 percent income tax credit for the state’s 320 Opportunity Zones (including 43 in Franklin County) will be included in his proposed 2020-21 budget that will be unveiled on Friday.

Opportunity Zones, created in the 2017 tax reform package, provide federal tax credits for investors.

Claire’s recalls makeup that may contain asbestos

A week after disagreeing with the FDA about asbestos in three of its makeup products, girls’ fashion chain Claire’s did what the FDA wanted: issued an official recall of the three products.

Claire’s pulled eyeshadows, compact powders and contour palettes from stores last week.

“Any consumers who have purchased these products should discontinue use and return them to a Claire’s store for a full refund,” Claire’s recall notice says of the products sold since October 2016.

It said it was not aware of any adverse reactions to the products.

863K Fiat Chrysler vehicles recalled over emissions

Fiat Chrysler is voluntarily recalling 862,520 vehicles in the U.S. because they don’t meet the country’s emission standards.

The vehicles involved in the recall include 2011-2016 Dodge Journey with front-wheel drive, 2011-2014 Chrysler 200/ Dodge Avenger with frontwheel drive, 2011-2012 Dodge Caliber with front-wheel drive and continuously variable transmission, and 2011-2016 Jeep Compass/patriot with front-wheel drive and continuously variable transmission.

The recall will be performed in phases during the year, with the oldest vehicles first. Owners of vehicles involved in the recall must wait until they receive notification before scheduling a dealership appointment. They can continue to drive their vehicles in the meantime.

Spotify says Apple app store is anti-competitive

The Swedish music site Spotify has complained to European Union regulators about Apple for allegedly abusing its dominant position in music streaming and stifling competition.

Spotify founder Daniel Ek said the company has filed a formal antitrust complaint with the executive European Commission against Apple.

Ek said Apple is acting “as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers” by bringing in new rules to its App Store that intentionally limit choice and constrain innovation.

VW to cut thousands of jobs without layoffs

German carmaker Volkswagen AG says it expects to shed between 5,000 and 7,000 jobs at its core brand by 2023 as a result of increasing automation of “routine tasks.”

The Wolfsburg-based company said Wednesday that the Volkswagen brand can cut the posts by not recruiting replacements for employees who retire.

It said that, at the same time, it will create some 2,000 new jobs in technical development. The company noted in a statement that “Volkswagen has given its workforce a job security guarantee until at least 2025.”

Partial outages reported on Facebook platforms

Users of Facebook and two of its popular side shoots, Instagram and Messenger, experienced technical difficulties Wednesday afternoon.

Reports on Downdetector, a website for reporting problems on applications and websites, ranged from troubles logging into accounts to the inability to post comments or photos.

By the evening, Facebook had restored service to some, but not all users. It said that the outage was not the result of a cyberattack.