News

The Associated Press reports: Kroger and Albertsons will sell more than 400 stores and other assets for about $1.9 billion, seeking to clear a path for a merger with antitrust regulators reviewing a deal that would unify two of the nation’s largest grocery chains. The 413 stores are being sold to to C&S Wholesale Grocers. The grocery chains say they …

Changing America reports: Is it safe to use a COVID-19 test that is past the expiration? The answer, it turns out, depends on what brand of test you have. The FDA has extended that date for a number of different at-home COVID-19 tests. The expiration date for multiple lots of BinaxNow COVID-19 antigen tests that were sold at CVS, for …

Axios reports: Over three-fourths of Americans think there should be a maximum age limit for elected officials, according to a CBS News/YouGov survey. The poll comes as attention toward the age of politicians has been in the spotlight after several incidents, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) freezing in front of reporters and ongoing concerns about President Biden’s age. …

“I worry about democracy. I worry about the fetishness for autocracy that we’re seeing not just from Trump, but around the world, and notably across this country. I’ve made the point about DeSantis that I think he’s functionally authoritarian. “I’m worried more, in many respects, about Trumpism which transcends well beyond his term and time in tenure. I think the …

Reuters reports: Brazil’s Supreme Court on Saturday authorized a cooperation deal between former President Jair Bolsonaro’s former aide and the country’s Federal Police, tightening the vice on the ex-leader who faces multiple criminal probes that could land him in jail. He has already been ruled politically ineligible until 2030 by Brazil’s federal electoral court. The aide, Mauro Cid, has been …

Courthouse News reports: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito released a sharp statement on Friday, rebutting a request from lawmakers to step down from an upcoming tax case after he gave an interview with an attorney involved in the matter. In July, Alito sat for an interview with David Rivkin Jr. and James Taranto to discuss the workings of the court. …

The Associated Press reports: Apple released a significant security update for iPhones and iPads Thursday to patch newly discovered security vulnerabilities in the devices’ system software. The issue was discovered by researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, who said the software flaw was being “actively exploited” to deliver commercial spyware called Pegasus developed and sold by the Israeli …

The Weather Channel reports: Hurricane Lee is rapidly intensifying and is forecast to reach Category 5 intensity by Friday, then pass north of the Leeward Islands, but its future beyond that is uncertain regarding potential impacts later next week in Bermuda, Atlantic Canada and possibly parts of the Northeast Seaboard. Hurricane Lee is centered more than 700 miles east of …

The Messenger reports: Bill Gates bought 1.7 million shares of struggling Anheuser-Busch last quarter in a $95 million transaction made through The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Gates’s bet on Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, comes as the beer company struggles to recover from a conservative backlash to its …

The Associated Press reports: Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion nationwide Wednesday, two years after ruling that abortion was not a crime in one northern state. That earlier ruling had set off a grinding process of decriminalizing abortion state by state. Last week, the central state of Aguascalientes became the 12th state to decriminalize the procedure. Judges in states that still …

Congress Minutes reports: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse wrote to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Monday to lodge an ethics complaint against Justice Samuel Alito and ask Roberts to investigate. “On the Senate Judiciary Committee, we have heard in every recent confirmation hearing that it would be improper to express opinions on matters that might come before the Court,” Whitehouse (D-R.I.) …

The Independent reports: Burning Man attendees were permitted to begin exodus on Monday afternoon after severe flooding left thousands stuck on site. After heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary caused the typically dry Nevada ground to turn into a slippery mud pit, organisers for the festival said people can begin leaving and the annual burning of the man will occur …

Rolling Stone reports: Steve Harwell, who cofounded the band Smash Mouth in 1994, has died at the age of 56, band manager Robert Hayes confirmed. The musician, best known for hits like “All Star” and “I’m a Believer,” died at his home in Boise, ID “surrounded by family and friends.” Harwell had been in hospice care following medical complications. The …

NPR reports: The popular singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett died on Friday after living with Merkel cell skin cancer for four years, according to an announcement posted to his website on Sunday. “He continued to perform during treatment, playing his last show, a surprise appearance in Rhode Island, in early July,” the post read. Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare form of …

Bloomberg News reports: Apple is set to shift its iPhone charging port from Lightning to USB-C after pushing back on such a change for years. If Apple Inc. had its way, the iPhone would continue to use the current Lightning connector for the next few years — until the point when the company is ready to begin phasing out ports …

Reuters reports: Nevada authorities on Sunday said they were investigating one death after a severe rainstorm left tens of thousands of revelers attending the annual Burning Man festival stranded in mud, and asked that they shelter in place and conserve food and water. The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office in northern Nevada said in a statement that the death happened during …

Ars Technica reports: The day before a Texas anti-porn law that requires age verification to access adult websites was set to take effect, the state’s interim attorney general, Angela Colmenero, has been at least temporarily blocked from enforcing the law. US District Judge David Alan Ezra granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking enforcement after the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) joined …

The Associated Press reports: Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into an empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76. “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” a statement posted …

The Washington Post reports: The nation’s top health agency is recommending easing restrictions on marijuana in what could portend a landmark shift in federal policy on cannabis. The Department of Health and Human Services has recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that marijuana be reclassified as a lower-risk, Schedule III controlled substance. Marijuana is currently a Schedule I controlled substance, …

Atlanta’s NBC affiliate reports: Eleven people were hospitalized after a Delta flight landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the airline said. A flight from Milan, Italy to Atlanta “experienced severe turbulence” just before landing in Atlanta. According to records on FlightAware, the flight landed just before 7 p.m. Tuesday. Delta said the plane had 151 passengers and 14 crew aboard …