States settle lawsuit over Paramount-Warner merger, clearing key hurdle for $81 billion deal
CHICAGO (AP) — Twelve states and Hollywood writers challenging Paramount’s buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery have agreed to settle their lawsuits against the mega merger. Monday's announcement effectively paves the way for the $81 billion deal to cross the finish line, with some new commitments. The blockbuster deal will bring together two of Hollywood’s oldest studios, key TV networks like CBS and CNN and streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+. It also will consolidate as decades-old libraries with titles ranging from “Harry Potter” to “Top Gun.” The agreement calls for Paramount to increase domestic production and establish monitoring of editorial independence of the company’s news operations. The settlement still needs a final sign-off by a judge.
What to know about Paramount's settlement and its impact on movies
NEW YORK (AP) — Movie studio Paramount has agreed to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed by 12 states, the last big obstacle blocking the company’s $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that would transform the movie industry landscape. In the settlement, which still needs to be signed off on by a judge, Paramount agreed to terms including a five-year movie production plan and to invest $1.5 billion in domestic movies. State attorneys general say the settlement guarantees investment in domestic movie production and provides worker protection. But analysts say the deal is still likely to lead to less competition in the industry — and higher prices for consumers.
News outlets sue Trump over lost White House access, citing 'blatant violation' of First Amendment
NEW YORK (AP) — CNN, MS NOW and Politico have filed a lawsuit over being denied White House access. The lawsuit calls the administration's actions barring reporters from the three news organizations a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment. Trump said last week he was barring them because of reporting he deemed “fake news.” On Monday morning, CNN was removed from its “pool” duties, which are shared by the major networks. Other networks said in response they were suspending their own pool coverage as well. The actions were an escalation of Trump’s long-running efforts in the courts and through administrative action to restrict news coverage by journalists he finds objectionable.
Man shot by ICE, detained in Texas with a bullet in his back is back in the hospital, attorney says
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The attorney for a Venezuelan man shot by a federal immigration officer in Texas says he is back in the hospital after being held at a detention center with a bullet still lodged in his back. Immigration Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said Monday Wilber Rafael Garces Perez is in the hospital. She said during a news conference earlier Monday that he was making a DoorDash delivery in Austin on Sunday when immigration officers in an unmarked vehicle sideswiped his car and forced it to stop. She said Perez was then shot and taken to a hospital, but he was transferred to an immigration detention center without the bullet being removed. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released little information about the shooting.
Jury convicts Vermont man of attempted murder in shooting of 3 Palestinian students
Burlington, Vt. (AP) — A jury has convicted a Vermont man of attempted murder in the shootings of three Palestinian college students who were walking near his home, rejecting an insanity defense rooted in his claims that he was acting on orders from the CIA and Mossad. Jason Eaton faces up to life in prison in the November 2023 attack near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington. The attack left Hisham Awartani paralyzed from the waist down and his friends, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid, wounded.
Flights disrupted across the US Northeast due to technical problems at a key air traffic center
Technicians have repaired data lines that failed at a key regional air traffic control center, and all major airports in the New York area began resuming operations after hundreds of flight cancellations rippled through the Northeast. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an online post that primary and backup telecom lines were fixed by Monday evening, allowing affected airports to resume operations. But he said significant delays were expected to continue through the rest of the evening. Hundreds of flights were canceled at the Newark, LaGuardia, Kennedy and Philadelphia airports due to the technical problems.
AP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding most detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, in a move that has made it harder for lawyers and relatives to find them. ICE this week quietly removed the names of those detainees — who make up more 1/3 of the agency’s recent bookings — from its online detainee locator system. The practice applies to detainees who are subject to final orders of removal from an immigration court. Nearly 16,000 people who were arrested and booked into ICE detention in July were subject to final removal orders, according to ICE data obtained by the Deportation Data Project based at U.C. Berkeley and UCLA.
UK to offer Saudi Arabia aerial refueling to counter Houthi attacks
ABOARD THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER’S PLANE (AP) — Prime Minister Andy Burnham says Britain has agreed to provide limited military support to Saudi Arabia to repeal attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Burnham told reporters as he flew to the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he had agreed the Royal Air Force will provide air-to-air refueling of Saudi planes. The agreement is for a matter of weeks, but Burnham said it will be kept under review. The conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has reignited, with Houthis aiming missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, including one that targeted Riyadh on Saturday before being intercepted.
Wall Street rallies within 0.4% of its record after oil prices and bond yields ease
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street climbed to the edge of its all-time high, and stocks rallied worldwide after oil prices and yields in the bond market surrendered their market-rattling gains from last week. The S&P 500 jumped 1.5% Monday and pulled within 0.4% of its record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2.3% as chip stocks led the way. Stocks benefited from a drop for Brent oil back toward $100 per barrel, while the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.95%. The easing pressure helped indexes rise more than 1% from Germany to Hong Kong to South Korea.
War, runaway AI and climate shocks to take center stage as world leaders meet at UN
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — World leaders are meeting under a global cloud of wars and bitter divisions for their annual meeting at the United Nations this week. And they're facing new fears that runaway artificial intelligence could threaten humanity, and more earthly worries that climate shocks and escalating prices are already making life much tougher for hundreds of millions of people. The meeting, starting Tuesday, will also be consumed with the major wars in Iran, Gaza, Sudan, Congo and Myanmar and a burning question:. Can the leaders do anything to end them?
