Shareholders of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) voted “overwhelmingly” to approve the company’s $110bn merger with Paramount Skydance, the parent company of CBS News, on Thursday.

But shareholders voted against generous proposed compensation packages for WBD executives, including a $550m payout to the outgoing chief executive, David Zaslav.

The boards of both WBD and Paramount have already approved the merger, and shareholders were encouraged to approve it as well.

“Today’s stockholder approval is another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction that will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders,” Zaslav said in a statement. “We will continue to work with Paramount to complete the remaining steps in this process that will create a leading, next-generation media and entertainment company.”

Corporate jargon bingo achieved ...

Wildfires tearing through the south have forced hundreds of Georgia residents to flee in minutes, leaving them distraught about the homes and animals they left behind.

The fires that spread this week during an extreme drought in Georgia and Florida have blanketed cities hundreds of miles away in smoke, leading to more air quality warnings Thursday across the southeast.

Driven by strong winds and low humidity, the two biggest fires in southern Georgia have spread rapidly over the past two days and destroyed more than 50 homes in rural areas. But the growing threat led to more evacuations and school closings on Wednesday.

“I don’t know if I have a house standing or not,” said Denise Stephens, who was forced to evacuate because of the fast-moving Brantley county fire near Georgia’s coast. “I know what it’s taken from other people, but I don’t know what I have left standing.”

The US Department of the Air Force (DAF) has selected three companies for possible nuclear microreactor projects at three of its installations under a program aimed at improving energy resilience if the electricity grid goes down.

According to the DAF, the companies selected are Radiant Industries, Westinghouse, and Antares Nuclear, which have each been paired with a different DAF site.

These are Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado for Radiant; Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana for Westinghouse Government Services; and Joint Base San Antonio in Texas for Antares Nuclear.

Next steps will involve siting and environmental analyses as part of the National Environmental Policy Act process. No formal contracts appear to have been awarded as yet.

The sites were selected as part of the department's approach to energy resilience, focused on aligning mission requirements and site-specific characteristics, it said. This is being conducted as part of the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) initiative, which was first announced back in 2024.

Its stated objective is to demonstrate the capability to provide safe and reliable electricity in support of mission critical assets, fielding a scalable microreactor system capable of producing enough electrical power to meet all loads at a given site.

The Trump administration has moved to reclassify marijuana, more than four months after Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to move it from schedule I to schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.

The schedule I classification meant marijuana was alongside heroin, LSD, MDMA and synthetic opioids, whereas a schedule III classification put it in the same category as ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.

Trump’s acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, signed the order on Thursday and said in a post on X that the Department of Justice was “delivering on President Trump’s promise to improve American healthcare”.

“These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana’s safety and efficacy, expanding patients’ access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions,” Blanche’s post read.

Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, a US appeals court ruled Tuesday in a victory for conservatives who have long sought to incorporate more religion into schools.

It sets up a potential clash at the US supreme court over the issue in the future.

The fifth circuit court of appeals said in the decision that the law did not violate either the establishment clause or the free exercise clause of the first amendment.

The law is among the pushes by Republicans, including Donald Trump, to incorporate religion into public schools. Critics say it violates the separation of church and state while backers argue that the Ten Commandments are historical and part of the foundation of US law.

I wasn’t looking for a revelation on a country road in southeastern Illinois. But on the outskirts of Galatia — a tiny town where Appalachian hardship seems to have drifted west and settled in — that’s what I found.

It was not a burning bush in some biblical wilderness, but an industrial 3D printer the size of a small garage — a machine, I would learn, that took a $1.1 million investment to get to Illinois, carrying with it the promise of an affordable housing renaissance across the region known as Little Egypt.

And it called to me.

I drove past it again and again. A year prior, in August 2024, this printer was at the center of a groundbreaking ceremony attended by more than 100 people, myself included. I covered the event for Capitol News Illinois and watched as the machine laid down the first layers of what was supposed to be a new beginning. Two local men had promised to help save Cairo, Illinois, by using the machine to print new homes in a town that desperately needed them.

I watched as state and local politicians ceremoniously tossed dirt. Officials posed for photographs beside the machine, holding it up as proof that a new era had arrived. They promised fast, efficient, modern homes — and with them, the sense that someone, at last, was paying attention to this corner of the state.

A year later, though, the printer had produced the framing for exactly one duplex — but the project was abandoned before the interior was finished. Before anyone could move in, the walls cracked.

So much for using his noodle.

A California man pilfered thousands of dollars in Lego toy sets from the retailer Target in a return-based scam, sometimes swapping valuable figurines with dried pasta pieces and before returning the construction-centric toys, authorities recently alleged.

The alleged plot ended with the arrest of 28-year-old Jarrelle Augustine, accused of grand theft for allegedly stealing the Lego sets, whose manufacturer is known for the interlocking miniature bricks and figurines, according to Irvine, California, police.

“You read that correctly,” police said in a Facebook post announcing the 14 April arrest. “We are talking about durum wheat semolina pasta, and what we are calling a pasta-tively terrible plan.”

Target told authorities that there were at least 70 thefts across the US tied to Augustine, “stacking up about $34,000 in losses”. Police quipped: “That’s a lot of missing pieces.”

Monterey Park, a small city seven miles east of downtown Los Angeles, became the first in California to pass a measure permanently banning the construction of data centers. The city council voted unanimously on three overlapping ordinances that officially label data centers a public nuisance, and “prohibit all data centers within city limits.”

The vote came after an hours-long public comment period, in which dozens of Monterey Park residents spoke out against the prospect of new data center construction, and after months of community organizing galvanized opposition to the project. No Data Centers Monterey Park (NDCMP), a small band of concerned citizens, and the San Gabriel Valley Progressive Action, a local activist group, made headlines earlier this year when they successfully pushed the city to halt a proposed data center project.

But the organizers weren’t done. They pushed city council to take up an ordinance installing a permanent ban, and to put a measure to voters to enshrine it at the ballot box, ensuring the ban could only be overturned by another such democratic vote. The ordinance passed on April 20th, and the ballot measure is up for a vote on June 2nd.

Emails released on Monday by California’s attorney general show Amazon allegedly colluding with other companies to raise the prices of pet treats, khaki pants, eyedrops and other products sold online.

According to a newly unsealed court filing released by attorney general Rob Bonta, Amazon employees have repeatedly worked with vendors using its platform to push retail vendors including Walmart and Chewy to set higher prices collectively.

In one case, according to Bonta’s office, Amazon raised prices on a set of dog treats and worked with a pet treat manufacturer to convince Chewy, the pet supplies retailer, to follow its increases, effectively protecting its market share while sticking consumers with higher prices.

Amazon emailed the manufacturer a list of products with price increases, instructing the vendor: “As you noted, Chewy should be aware of this update and follow suit accordingly.”

Two days later, in an internal message, the manufacturer confirmed that the price raise had gone up on both sites, Bonta’s office alleges. The prices “that went up on Amazon immediately went up on Chewy :)”, an employee of the manufacturer wrote, according to a court exhibit.

Such is the world we live in. Competition exists only to be extinguished.

The Trump administration has begun accepting applications from businesses seeking refunds for more than $166bn in tariffs, months after the supreme court ruled that the president had no legal authority to impose them.

The administration launched on Monday the digital claims system, named Cape, which they said in court filings could handle about 63% of affected import filings, with the remainder to follow.

Writing for the majority in February, Chief Justice John Roberts said the 1977 emergency statute Trump had invoked provided no such sweeping authority to implement the tariffs. Two of the president’s own appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, joined the majority. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh were the dissenters.

In court filings, customs officials acknowledged they had to construct an entirely new processing infrastructure essentially from scratch, including grappling with the fact that they initially had no mechanism to deposit money directly into most importers’ accounts.

The perfect microcosm of America. Businesses get huge refunds, while consumers get nothing for having paid higher prices. Still funneling all the money to the top.

archive link

Donald Trump’s labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is stepping down, the administration announced on Monday, after a series of misconduct allegations including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking on the job.

“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, wrote on social media. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”

Chavez-DeRemer is the third cabinet member – all women – to depart during the president’s second term, following homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and attorney general Pam Bondi. She wrote on the X social media platform: “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this historic Administration and work for the greatest President of my lifetime.”

But Chavez-DeRemer’s exit comes after she became entangled in a string of political and personal controversies. The labor secretary and her close aides are currently under investigation by the department’s inspector general over allegations of professional misconduct.

The FBI director, Kash Patel, is denying allegations detailed in a new report that he drinks to excess and has been unreachable at times during his tenure in office.

Patel threatened to sue the Atlantic over the story published on Friday, which detailed his alleged heavy drinking and how members of his security detail have on multiple occasions had difficulty waking him.

It also stated that Patel is concerned he might soon be fired, according to current and former government officials.

Patel told the Atlantic: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court – bring your checkbook.”

On Saturday, Patel published an X post on his official FBI account addressed to what he called “the fake news” over “the hit piece lies you write about me”.

“Keep talking,” Patel wrote. “It means I’m doing exactly what I should be doing. And no amount of BS you write will ever deter this FBI from making America safe again and taking down the criminals you love.”

The allegations, attributed to two dozen current and former officials, are just the latest incidents to raise questions about Patel’s professionalism and ability to lead the top US federal law enforcement and intelligence agency.

Sixteen bets made $100,000 accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before Donald Trump announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did.

These bets and other well-timed wagers accurately predicted the precise timing of major developments in the US-Israel war with Iran, creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers and experts over potential insider trading.

Betting – once largely siloed to sporting events – has now spread to include contracts on news events where insider information could give some traders an advantage.

The proliferation of online betting markets like Polymarket and Kalshi has allowed bets on virtually any news event. It’s also easier than ever to buy commodity derivatives like oil futures, where traders gamble on what the price of oil will be in the future.

I think it would be insulting to point out what's going on here, so I won't.

It never fails to astound me that people have been conditioned to truly believe basic human rights should be a profit source. That's Grade-A gaslighting.

Oh, and anything else is socialism (scary cackle).

Democrat Analilia Mejia won a New Jersey special election for the US House on Thursday, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway on a message of standing up to Donald Trump.

Mejia, a former head of the Working Families Alliance who had support from Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator, will fill the seat previously held by Mikie Sherrill, the state’s Democratic governor, and serve until January.

Her victory is a win for progressives and means Democrats hold on to the 11th district seat in the House, where Republicans hold a thin majority. It also adds to a string of victories for Democrats heading into this year’s midterm elections.

The Associated Press called the race for Mejia minutes after the polls closed.

Workers at the historic first Starbucks store are seeking to unionize as the coffee retail giant and its union appear stalemated over their first contract.

The first Starbucks store opened in 1971 in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, and the store serves as a tourist site in Seattle.

Nailah Diaz, a Starbucks barista for about five years, three of those at Pike Place, said the Pike Place store can often have lines out the door, with waits up to two hours for tourists to come inside and look around.

She said workers at Pike Place are tasked with greater customer service responsibilities and the significant tourist traffic can bring about issues with disruptive customers and safety.

OK, corporate, what's your game plan?

In response to the Pike’s Place location’s union drive, Anderson said the workers at the store earn more than typical Starbucks workers and that not all workers at the store are supportive of the union.

"More than typical," eh? So, are we talking a living wage, or like 15 cents an hour more? Because people don't unionize for no reason. It's a lot of fucking work.

There's nothing wrong with "liking it rough" -- there is however, an issue with this sort of tripe.

The University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker, who helped lead the university’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian students, appears to have made obscene sexual comments about a Democratic party strategist in a group chat, messages provided to the Guardian reveal. The Slack messages, attributed to Acker, also include lewd comments about a female U-M student and a picture of her with her friends.

The messages were shared with the Guardian just days before a heated primary convention election for two open U-M board of regents seats. The board is the university’s governing body, and the usually low-profile race is especially tense this year as pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian candidates compete for seats. The race has become a local flashpoint in the broader battle over criticism of Israel on campuses.

Acker is known to be a confrontational, pro-Israel leader at the large public university. He is an attorney who helped recruit the Michigan attorney general to bring highly unusual prosecutions against students, and, while he was on the board, it led a sprawling undercover surveillance operation against the students. The prosecutions and surveillance operations were dropped after Guardian stories on each. Acker has also drawn criticism for leading the university as it dismantled its diversity, equity and inclusion initiative amid pressure from Donald Trump.

The supreme court handed a win on Friday to oil and gas companies fighting lawsuits over coastal land loss and environmental degradation in Louisiana.

The 8-0 procedural decision gives the companies a new day in federal court after a state jury ordered Chevron to pay upward of $740m to clean up damage to the state’s coastline, one of multiple similar lawsuits.

Backed by the Trump administration, the companies argued the case belongs in federal court because they began oil production and refining during the second world war as US contractors. They deny responsibility for land loss in Louisiana and say it is wrong to sue them for what they did before state environmental regulations were in place.

Louisiana’s coastal parishes have lost more than 2,000 sq miles (5,180 sq km) of land over the past century, according to the US Geological Survey, which has also identified oil and gas infrastructure as a significant cause. The state could lose an additional 3,000 sq miles (7,770 sq km) in the coming decades, its coastal protection agency has warned.

The Federal Trade Commission pressured three advertising firms into settlements that will likely result in more ad spending on conservative media platforms.

The FTC and eight US states filed a lawsuit against ad firms Dentsu, Publicis, and WPP yesterday, and simultaneously announced settlements with all three companies. The complaint alleges a conspiracy of “various interested parties to demonetize disfavored conservative news and opinion sites by denying them digital advertising revenue.” The FTC filed suit in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which happens to be Elon Musk’s preferred judicial venue.

In a press release, the FTC claimed that starting in 2018, the three firms “unlawfully colluded to impose common ‘brand safety’ standards across the digital advertising industry… The ad agencies, together with their primary competitors Omnicom and Interpublic Group, operated through trade associations to establish a common ‘Brand Safety Floor’ to target ‘misinformation.’” The FTC also said that “firms like NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index used this misinformation designation as a means to promote the demonetization of disfavored political viewpoints.”