Ami Martinez

We'll hear from NPR's Ruth Sherlock in Damascus. Ami Martinez, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News.

And celebrations are settling down. People are starting to think about the huge challenges facing the war-torn country.

The alleged gunman's motive in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is still unclear.

Police have been sifting through Luigi Mangione's online history since his arrest and learned more about his ideology. We'll get an update on what they found.

He is a member of a prominent Maryland family. Mangione graduated top of his class from an elite prep school and received two degrees from an Ivy League school. He also reportedly suffered a major back injury and underwent surgery a couple of years ago.

Investigators and some extremism researchers have been sifting through this picture to see whether there's evidence of a clear ideology behind the killing.

It's the end of the grocery mega-merger of Kroger and Albertsons. Albertsons has now terminated the deal and sued Kroger after their merger was blocked by two separate judges in state and federal courts. It would have been the biggest grocery deal in U.S. history. Now it's turning into a bitter divorce. NPR's Alina Selyuk has followed it all. So what happened?

Yeah, I mean, take us back for a second. I mean, it's been two years that they've been trying to get this merger together.

Yeah. And you mentioned it was a tough sell. So what were the arguments in court?

Yeah, judges, though, didn't buy that.

All right. So it seems like this chapter is done. What happens now with Albertsons and Kroger?

Yep. That's NPR's Lania Selyuk. Thank you very much.

And I'm A. Martinez. You can listen to this podcast sponsor-free while financially supporting public media with Up First Plus. Learn more at plus.npr.org. That's P-L-U-S dot N-P-R dot org.