Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, and rival Albertsons are merging in a deal that would value the combined company at $24.6 billion. Together, the companies will have more than 710,000 workers and operate nearly 5,000 stores, along with roughly 4,000 pharmacies. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,800 stores …

Mel Gibson can testify about what he learned from one of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers, a Los Angeles judge ruled Friday in the rape and sexual assault trial of the former movie mogul. Weinstein is charged with sexually assaulting five women. The 66-year-old Gibson was one of many witnesses, and by …

The Connecticut police officers who were fatally shot on Wednesday appear to have been tricked to respond to a home by a fake 911 call, state police said Thursday. Police officials said preliminary information suggests that the call, which reported a domestic violence incident between siblings at a home in …

Washington — The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with a copyright fight between rock-and-roll photographer Lynn Goldsmith and the Andy Warhol Foundation over the late artist’s use of her 1981 photo of Prince as the basis for a silkscreen image. The case could have ramifications for the entertainment industry and …

A federal judge halted key provisions Thursday of New York’s latest attempt to restrict who can carry a handgun in public and where firearms can be brought, saying multiple parts of a law the state passed this year are unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby focused on multiple parts of …

More U.S. companies are cutting jobs and freezing hiring as the economy cools, a sign that efforts by the Federal Reserve to tamp down inflation are hitting the labor market.  Layoff announcements spiked in September, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Job cuts last month rose to nearly …

A man convicted of raping and killing a woman 36 years ago on Minnesota’s Iron Range was sentenced Friday to life in prison. Michael Allan Carbo Jr., 54, of Chisholm, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder while committing criminal sexual conduct in the 1986 slaying of 38-year-old Nancy …

Jimmy Carter, the oldest living former U.S. president, celebrated his 98th birthday on Saturday. The Carter Center — which he and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, established in 1982 — announced it would hold a weeklong virtual celebration for the former president. “As the longest-living president in U.S. history, …

Former New Jersey Gov. James Florio, who championed a plan that substantially raised the state’s sales and income taxes leading to his reelection defeat in 1993, died Sunday. He was 85. His law partner Doug Steinhardt and current New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy confirmed Florio’s death in statements Monday. “Governor …

A 31-year-old man is facing federal hate crime charges in connection with a string of shootings in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, in which two homeless men were wounded and a third homeless man was killed, authorities announced Wednesday. The same suspect is also under investigation in the shootings of …