News

The New York Times reports: In a move that will further consolidate the luxury retail market, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue has agreed to acquire Neiman Marcus in a $2.65 billion deal, creating the ultimate high-end department store behemoth. The deal, which had been rumored since Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy protection during the pandemic, comes just over …

The Nebraska Examiner reports: Nebraska appears poised to follow six states since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade to vote on the future of abortion rights in its state constitution. Abortion-rights petition campaign Protect Our Rights said it turned in a record 207,000 signatures since its mid-November 2023 launch, the most in state history for any petition effort. …

SF Gate reports: A Northern California wildfire tearing through parched vegetation on the outskirts of Oroville, 150 miles northeast of San Francisco, has triggered 13,000 people to evacuate their homes. The Thompson Fire was at 3,002 acres on Wednesday morning with zero containment, according to Cal Fire. “Conditions out there in our county this summer are much different than what …

NBC News reports: A proposed amendment to enshrine access to abortion in Arizona’s constitution is one step closer to appearing on the November 2024 ballot after organizers submitted far more than the required number of valid signatures to state officials on Wednesday. Arizona for Abortion Access, the group leading the effort, announced it had collected the signatures of more than …

USA Today reports: A Delta Air Lines flight heading to Amsterdam made an emergency landing in New York City after reports that some of the in-flight meals were spoiled. The 277 passengers on board Delta flight 136 heading from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to Amsterdam Tuesday night were diverted to John F. Kennedy International Airport after it was discovered …

“It’s a pretty dark world. There’s a lot of darkness, a lot of negativity, and it’s just really at odds with what feels good for me as a human being. And, you know, it’s a really rough business. So for me and my family, it feels right to not participate. “On a human level, it’s my father and I love …

Raw Story reports: Stormy Daniels spoke with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in an interview that aired Tuesday night, detailing harassment and dire financial struggles she faces due to the case. “The biggest thing is that they’re not hiding like they used to,” she said, referring to those wishing to harm her and her family. “It used to be bots, you know, …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Joe Biden pulled even with his Republican challenger Donald Trump this week in the race to win the November election, a sign the contest remains close even after a widely panned debate performance by the Democrat, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Biden and Trump each had 40% support among registered voters in the two-day poll …

Politico reports: Demand Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group, is mounting a major effort to advocate for Supreme Court reforms and prepare for the effects a second Trump administration could have on the judiciary. According to plans first shared with POLITICO, the group intends to spend $10 million by the end of this year on a range of activities, from …

Reuters reports: Opponents of France’s National Rally (RN) stepped up their bid to block the far-right party from power on Tuesday as more candidates said they would bow out of this weekend’s run-off election to avoid splitting the anti-RN vote. Some 180-plus candidates have confirmed they will not stand in Sunday’s second-round for France’s 577-seat national parliament, according to local …

CNN reports: Hurricane Beryl roared across the Windward Islands on Monday as an extremely dangerous Category 4, delivering catastrophic winds, intense rainfall and life-threatening storm surge. Beryl made landfall shortly after 11:00 a.m. EDT on Grenada’s Carriacou Island in the Caribbean Sea with max winds of 150 mph. It is the strongest known hurricane to pass through the Grenadines, according …

The Associated Press reports: Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the parent of DVD rental operator Redbox, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy filing comes after months of a series of financial struggles for the company and piling unpaid bills. Chicken Soup for the Soul has accumulated nearly $1 billion in debt, the Chapter 11 filing submitted …

Reuters reports: Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party won the first round of France’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, exit polls showed, but the final result will depend on days of horsetrading before next week’s run-off. The RN was seen winning around 34% of the vote, exit polls from showed. That was ahead of leftist and centrist rivals, including …

USA Today reports: Tropical Storm Beryl formed Friday evening in the Atlantic east of the Windward Islands and could become Hurricane Beryl by Sunday as it moves westward, the National Hurricane Center said. It becomes the second named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, formally turning into a tropical storm about 1,100 miles southeast of the Windward Islands at …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: Mr. Biden answered an urgent question on Thursday night. It was not the answer that he and his supporters were hoping for. But if the risk of a second Trump term is as great as he says it is — and we agree with him that the danger is enormous — …

CNN reports: CNN’s Thursday night debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was watched by 47.9 million viewers on television, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen. CNN offered a live feed of the telecast to any network free of charge but with strict conditions over its presentation and branding. On television, CNN drew 8.7 million viewers on …

“Understand, it ain’t easy debating a pathological liar, which is what Joe Biden had to do last night. Donald Trump lied about everything, from his record to the direction he wants to take people in this country. “Hell, John, he even lied about saying Democrats want to kill babies after they’re born. I mean, come on! It’s nonsense! Frankly, I …

ABC News reports: A teenager accused of making a hit list and planning a mass killing at a high school near Cincinnati pleaded guilty Thursday to reduced charges of inducing panic. Prosecutors dropped a charge against the 14-year-old, leveled in February, of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder. He will be sentenced in July. Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers said the …

CNN Business reports: Walgreens is set to close a substantial number of its roughly 8,600 locations across the United States as the company looks to reset the struggling pharmaceutical chain’s business. The company didn’t announce a specific number of store closures, but it said Thursday that it is planning “significant” closures of underperforming stores across America as part of a …

North Carolina Newsline reports: North Carolina Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved an amended version of House Bill 942, also known as the “Shalom Act,” that would establish a definition of anti-Semitism in state law. If the bill becomes law, North Carolina would, by reference, make the “Working Definition of Antisemitism Adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) on May …