What Zander's been reading: Disney's absurd lawsuit response
Zander's Weekend Facts #132: Sunday, August 18, 2024
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know about from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! Download the podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, August 18, 2024:
What Zander’s been reading
A lawsuit against Disney drew massive attention last week due to the company’s response. Disney is arguing that a man cannot sue the company after his wife died due to a severe allergic reaction at a Walt Disney World restaurant because he had previously signed up for a free trial of the Disney+ subscription service, with terms that mandate any lawsuit against Disney be settled only in arbitration. While that might seem outlandish, Disney is apparently not the only company with that language in its terms of agreement.
Check out this week’s featured article in CNN - Disney’s not alone in saying your clicks means you can’t sue - (Apple News link)
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the latest headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
College Football: The preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll for the upcoming college football season was released on Monday, with Georgia taking the top spot. The Bulldogs were followed by Ohio State at #2, Oregon at #3, Texas at #4, and Alabama rounding out the top five. Defending champion Michigan, who lost head coach Jim Harbaugh over the offseason, sit in ninth. The SEC leads all conferences with nine teams in the top 25, followed by the Big Ten with six, the Big 12 with five, and the ACC with four. The college football season begins on Saturday with Week 0, featuring one high-profile matchup. #10 Florida State will face Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland at 12:00 pm ET on ESPN.
Summer Olympics: The Paris Olympic Games concluded on Sunday with the closing ceremony and handoff of the next Olympics. The games ended with a tie on top of the gold medal count, with both China and the United States having won 40 gold medals. The U.S. won more total medals with 126 compared to China’s 91. The U.S. has won the most gold medals in the last four Summer Olympics and seven out of the last eight. The U.S. won gold medals on the last day of competition in cycling and women’s basketball to tie China. In 2028, the next edition of the Summer Olympics will be hosted in Los Angeles.
European Club Soccer: Most of the major European club soccer leagues began their seasons this weekend. In England, Liverpool got their first win under new manager Arne Slot with a 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town, while Aston Villa got their first-ever victory in West Ham’s London Stadium, winning 2-1. Another new manager also got a victory in Spain, with Hansi Flick’s Barcelona beating Valencia 2-1. In Italy, the top two teams on last year’s table, Inter Milan and AC Milan, both got 2-2 draws against their opponents to open up the season. Today’s top matchups include defending Premier League champions Manchester City facing Chelsea at 11:30 am ET on USA Network, and defending LaLiga champions Real Madrid visiting Mallorca at 3:30 pm ET on ESPN+.
Jordan Chiles: Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal in the women’s individual floor event. During the event, an appeal by Team USA coach Cecile Landi bumped Chiles to third over Romania’s Ana Barbosu. However, it was later ruled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that the appeal was submitted too late and should not have occurred. A USA Gymnastics appeal of the decision was not successful, leading to Barbosu receiving the bronze medal on Friday. U.S. Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have announced they plan to challenge the decision in Swiss court, where the International Olympic Committee is headquartered.
Venu Sports: A federal judge temporarily blocked the launch of a joint venture sports streaming service between ESPN, Fox Sports, and TNT Sports, called Venu. The companies behind the service, Fox Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery, and The Walt Disney Company, were sued by FuboTV, who alleges that the service would be anticompetitive and upend its business. Fubo provides a cable-like television service through the internet. Venu was expected to launch in the coming weeks and cost $42.99 per month. The three companies behind Venu announced they would appeal the ruling.
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Democratic National Convention: The Democratic National Convention is set to begin on Monday in Chicago, where Democrats will select Vice President Kamala Harris to be their nominee in this year’s presidential election. Harris became the presumptive nominee on July 21 when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris. Harris will formally accept the nomination and speak on Thursday, with her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, speaking on Wednesday. Biden is expected to speak at the convention on Monday. Harris and Walz will face Republican nominee former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential nominee Ohio Senator J.D. Vance in November’s election.
Iran Hack: The presidential campaign of former President Donald Trump was allegedly hacked by Iranian actors. The campaign said that actors illegally accessed internal documents and sent them to news outlets. Iran has denied any involvement, although a Microsoft report released one day before the campaign announced the hack detailed previous Iranian attempts to interfere in U.S. presidential campaigns. The FBI is investigating the attack, as well as an alleged infiltration attempt into the campaign of President Joe Biden, which recently became Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign. In recent months, Iranian actors have been accused of encouraging protests against the Israel-Hamas war and spreading false information online to American audiences.
Inflation: The annual inflation rate in the U.S. fell to a three-year low last month. The Department of Labor released data on Wednesday showing that year-over-year inflation slowed to 2.9% in July, the lowest rate since March 2021. While the report shows a Consumer Price Index still above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2.0%, the lower-than-expected number makes it more likely the Fed will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September. From June to July, prices rose 0.2%, the highest month-over-month increase since April.
Drug Prices: The Biden administration announced the results of price negotiations between Medicare and pharmaceutical companies last week. The government, which named the 10 drugs that were subject to price negotiations, released the prices that Medicare would pay for the drugs. The list of drugs includes Eliquis, Jardiance, and Xarelto. The negotiated prices are expected to save the federal government billions of dollars per year and will take effect in 2026. The Biden administration said that had the new prices been in effect last year, the government would have saved $6 billion.
Israel-Hamas Ceasefire: Talks are expected to continue next week as negotiators aim for a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas. A U.S. official said on Friday that mediators hope to implement a ceasefire before a final agreement is agreed to. The U.S., Egypt, and Qatar have been mediating talks in Cairo, Egypt between Israel and Hamas, hoping to come to an agreement that would end the 10-month war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement expressing “cautious optimism” toward reaching a deal, while Hamas described reports of progress towards a deal as “selling illusions.”
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts Podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, August 25, 2024.