Unbiased headline news for Thursday May 16, 2024 – The Supreme Court will permit Louisiana to utilize a congressional map comprising a second district where Black voters make up the majority for the 2024 elections.

This Supreme Court ruling represents a triumph for Democrats, who are poised to secure an additional seat in Louisiana under the redrawn congressional boundaries. It further marks the latest development in a protracted legal battle over the state’s House district lines, which commenced following the 2020 Census.

The U.S. military has commenced the positioning of components for a temporary pier, which will facilitate the transportation of humanitarian aid into Gaza from the Mediterranean Sea.

Last week witnessed the completion of the two components, the floating platform and the causeway, though inclement weather had delayed their final placement. With the components now being situated, the temporary pier could become operational in the imminent days, potentially as early as Thursday, according to a defense official.

The parliament of Georgia has ratified a law that critics perceive as a threat to media freedom and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.

Tens of thousands of protesters brought a major intersection in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to a standstill. The law would mandate media outlets, non-governmental organizations, and other non-profits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

President Biden and former President Donald Trump will engage in presidential debates on June 27th and September 10th.

Plans for the debates materialized swiftly after the president’s campaign expressed in a letter his willingness to debate his Republican opponent twice before the November election. This prompted a series of competing proposals and social media posts from the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees.

Three individuals have lost their lives after a small plane crashed in Tennessee on Wednesday, according to authorities.

Around noon on Wednesday, a 911 caller reported an explosion in Williamson County, believed to have been a potential plane crash, authorities stated. The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that a Beech V35 aircraft had crashed near Franklin. While the cause of the crash remains unclear, “it does appear that the plane did break up in the air,” Chief Deputy Mark Elrod said.

A barge collided with a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, resulting in an oil spill in waters near busy shipping channels.

The impact dislodged sections of the bridge, which connects Galveston to Pelican Island, causing them to tumble onto the barge and necessitating the closure of a stretch of waterway to facilitate cleanup operations. The accident knocked one man off the vessel and into the water, but he was swiftly recovered and unharmed.

The iconic Mirage hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip will cease operations this summer.

The closure on July 17 will pave the way for major renovations and construction on the 80-acre property, which is scheduled to reopen in 2027 as the Hard Rock Las Vegas, featuring a hotel tower resembling a guitar soaring nearly 700 feet (about 210 meters) above the heart of the Strip.

Walgreens Boots Alliance has announced plans to sell its own generic version of the overdose reversal drug Narcan.

Narcan is administered as a nasal spray, and its active ingredient — naloxone — can rapidly restore breathing if someone is experiencing an opioid overdose, provided it is administered promptly. The nasal spray became available in fall 2023 at pharmacies, drugstores, and grocery stores.

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