Good morning. It's Thursday, Dec. 12, and we're covering the end of a major grocery chain merger, FIFA World Cup hosts, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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Grocery chain Albertsons has abandoned a proposed $25B merger with Kroger and is now suing its rival for alleged breach of contract. The termination ends a two-year effort to combine the competitors into the largest supermarket in US history, which would have controlled roughly 13% of the grocery market.
Albertsons seeks a $600M termination fee and additional damages for legal expenses as well as lost shareholder value. Albertsons alleges Kroger failed to make sufficient efforts to secure regulatory approval for the merger, including refusing to divest enough assets and ignoring regulators' feedback. Kroger denied the claims, contending Albertsons isn't entitled to the termination fee because Kroger fulfilled its end of the agreement.
The move comes a day after federal and state courts halted the deal, citing concerns about reduced competition and higher consumer prices. A third judgment is pending in Colorado. The merger had faced opposition from nine state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission.
See the largest grocers in the US by revenue here. |
Franklin Fire Burns Malibu |
The Franklin Fire in Malibu, California, has burned roughly 4,000 acres of land and is 7% contained as of this writing. It has destroyed and damaged over 15 structures and placed roughly 20,000 people under evacuation orders—including celebrities Cher and Dick Van Dyke. Nearly 60,000 people have lost electricity.
The fire erupted late Monday evening as a brush fire north of Pepperdine University (see maps). The cause is still under investigation. Unusually dry mountains and grass have fueled recent wildfires in Southern California. The Franklin Fire has been further fueled by strong winds and low levels of humidity, creating "Red Flag" conditions and propelling the fire toward Malibu and the Pacific Ocean.
The Red Flag conditions lessened yesterday, with some shelter-in-place orders lifted; at its height, the Franklin Fire was spreading the equivalent of five football fields every minute, growing 39% over 12 hours.
See live updates here; see photos here. |
Six countries across three continents will host the 2030 FIFA men's World Cup, while Saudi Arabia is set to be the tournament's lone host in 2034. A majority of 200 regional soccer federations approved the unopposed bids at yesterday's Congress, though FIFA has faced criticism for an allegedly obscure bidding process.
Three opening matches in 2030—the centenary of the event—will be played in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay (the site of the first World Cup), before moving play to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. It marks the first time a North African country will host a World Cup match and will be the first such event to take place on more than one continent.
The 2034 World Cup adds to Saudi Arabia's expansion into sports, as its sovereign wealth fund has invested in golf, wrestling, motorsports, and more. Analysts say host countries see an uptick in tourism and short-term economic activity but note the long-term benefits of high-value, low-use stadium infrastructure are limited. |
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For 24 hours only, 1440 readers receive up to 40% off their best selling flavor before it sells out. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> 2025's Academy Awards ceremony will be livestreamed on Hulu alongside ABC broadcast (More) | Sundance Film Festival (Jan. 23 to Feb. 2) announces its lineup of 87 feature films (More) | Michael Cole, actor known for starring role in "The Mod Squad," dies at 84 (More) |
> Berlin tapped to host its first regular season NFL game in 2025 (More) | NCAA looking to expand March Madness tournaments to 72 or 76 teams in near future (More) | Rocky Colavito, nine-time MLB All-Star, dies at 91 (More) |
> Six-time Super Bowl champion coach Bill Belichick, who stepped down as coach of the New England Patriots in 2023 after 24 seasons, hired as next head coach at the University of North Carolina (More) |
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> James Webb Space Telescope detects and estimates the mass of a galaxy that existed just 600 million years after the Big Bang; "Firefly Sparkle" expected to shed light on how the Milky Way developed (More) | See the 1440 Topics page on the James Webb (More) |
> Researchers discover a new type of magnetism; altermagnetism phenomenon may lead to faster and more efficient digital memory devices (More) |
> Engineers develop microscopic robots for delivering drugs to specific locations inside the body; demonstration project successfully treated bladder tumors in mice (More) |
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In partnership with Mode Mobile |
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> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.8%, Dow -0.2%, Nasdaq +1.8%); Nasdaq tops 20,000 for first time, lifted by Alphabet, Tesla, Amazon, and Meta, which all closed at record highs (More) |
> Consumer price index rose 2.7% year-over-year in November and 0.3% month-over-month; both figures are in line with expectations but higher than the 2.6% and 0.2% growth rates in October (More) |
> SpaceX valuation rises to $350B as the company and its investors agree to buy back stock from insiders (More) | Stock buyback 101 (More) | Macy's misses analyst estimates, cuts earnings outlook after concluding investigation into employee who hid $151M accounting error (More) |
💰 1440 Business & Finance: This week, we're exploring capital gains and why they're prompting people to invest in art and jewelry. The deep dive comes out at 8:30 am ET today—sign up here for free! |
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> FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month; the announcement by Wray, who Trump appointed in 2017, comes after Trump named Kash Patel as his intended FBI director (More) |
> House of Representatives pass $895B defense bill for 2025 fiscal year, a 1% increase from 2024; the bill, which the Senate is expected to approve next week, would give 14.5% raise to junior enlisted service members (More) |
> Federal judge rejects satirical site The Onion's $1.8M bid to purchase Alex Jones' Infowars site as part of bankruptcy auction proceedings, citing problems with the auction process; sale now turns to trustee to manage (More) |
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> Humans at the Speed of Light
Popular Science | Lauren Leffer. Science fiction often assumes the ability of humans to travel at the speed of light. What can models and simulations show us about what that experience would feel like if it were somehow possible? (Read)
> The Ones Who Need Little Sleep
Knowable | Marla Broadfoot. Adults are encouraged to get seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Those who seem to function perfectly fine with less may benefit from a special gene mutation. (Read) |
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Struggling to Sleep? Try This. |
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