Former FBI director and Trump foe James Comey indicted again: US media

President Donald Trump hailed Charles III as the "greatest king" at a White House farewell Thursday -- and said the United States needed more people like Britain's monarch.

The formal goodbye capped a four-day diplomatic marathon by Charles and Queen Camilla aimed at easing transatlantic tensions over the Iran war.

"He's a great king -- the greatest king, in my book," Trump told reporters as the king and queen arrived at the South Portico of the White House for the brief ceremony.

Minutes later, as the royal couple drove off following handshakes and a bit more chat, Trump added: "Great people. We need more people like that in our country."

Trump didn't say who he meant. But the 79-year-old has frequently joked about becoming a king himself, and critics accuse him of acting like one by rolling back limits on presidential powers.

The president's evident fascination for monarchy is particularly jarring given the United States is celebrating the 250th anniversary of independence from the British empire -- and Charles's ancestors.

The British king's state visit was officially meant to mark the US-UK alliance in the anniversary year but has ended up being more about salvaging the so-called "special relationship."

Trump has bitterly criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his opposition to the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Charles and Camilla were later paying their respects to fallen US troops at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, before meeting with Native Americans at a national park.

They will then depart for the British island territory of Bermuda in the Atlantic.

dk/sms

Mexico is seeking "irrefutable" evidence to back up the shock US drug trafficking charges against a sitting governor and other officials before proceeding with extradition requests, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday.

The US Justice Department unveiled charges on Wednesday against Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and nine others, accusing them of working with the notorious Sinaloa cartel to distribute "massive quantities" of narcotics to the United States.

Rocha Moya, a member of the Sheinbaum's left-leaning Morena party and close ally of her predecessor, has governed the violent state since 2021.

The 76-year-old has a long history in public life that included stints as a state lawmaker in the 1980s, the head of the University of Sinaloa in the 1990s, the advisor of two governors in the 2000s and then a state leader for Morena. 

"If the Office of the Attorney General... receives solid and irrefutable evidence in accordance with Mexican law, or if, in the course of its own investigation, it finds elements constituting a crime, it must comply" with the US extradition request, Sheinbaum told her morning press conference.

She added that if evidence was not provided or found, it will be evident that "the goal of these Justice Department accusations is political."

Rocha Moya, in a social media post on Wednesday, rejected the charges as an attack against the populist Morena political movement, founded by Sheinbaum predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The other officials facing US charges are also part of Morena.

Sheinbaum noted this was the first time that the United States had made narcotrafficking charges public against a sitting governor or other high-ranking official.

"We aren't going to protect anyone," she vowed.

The stunning charges add to already strained diplomatic tensions with US President Donald Trump's administration, following the recent death of two US agents -- reportedly CIA personnel -- in connection with a drug bust operation.

The agents, who died in a car accident in the border state of Chihuahua, had not received permission from Sheinbaum's government to operate on Mexican territory. 

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of six Mexican narcotrafficking groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration. 

Sheinbaum has faced pressure from Washington to accept US intervention, such as drone strikes or military personnel, to fight cartels.

While supporting greater collaboration on intelligence gathering, she has rejected the prospect of US forces in Mexico as a threat to the country's independence.

bur-jpo/des

A US Supreme Court ruling curbing protections for minority voters has reignited the political battle over electoral maps, with Republicans and Democrats racing to redraw districts in ways that could shape control of Congress for years to come.

The high court's decision on Wednesday makes it far harder to challenge electoral maps that dilute minority voting power -- weakening a key protection of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a historic attempt to redress the legacy of racism.

It immediately emboldened Republicans across the South to push for new district lines that could tilt the balance of power in their favor, although analysts say its impact on November's midterm elections is likely to be limited.

Primaries -- the internal elections that parties use to choose their candidates -- are already underway or looming in many states, and with legal challenges all but certain, there is little time to implement sweeping changes before voters head to the polls. 

Even in the most aggressive scenarios, experts say the ruling may deliver Republicans only a handful of additional seats this year -- potentially decisive in a closely divided House, but far from transformative.

"We are swimming in uncharted waters," analysts Amy Walters and Matthew Klein wrote in an autopsy of the ruling for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

"Republicans could conceivably push for redraws that net them a few seats in 2026, but it's unclear at this point how many of those maps will go into effect, given the challenges of the timeline and the inevitable torrent of litigation to come."

- Scramble -

Still, the political scramble has begun. 

Republican officials in states including Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina quickly called for special sessions to redraw congressional maps, targeting districts with large Black populations that were previously protected under the Voting Rights Act.

Louisiana -- the state at the center of the case -- suspended upcoming primaries to pass a new map, underscoring the urgency with which some Republicans are seeking to act.

The ruling is widely seen as a boon for the Republican Party, particularly in the South, where majority-Black districts have long helped elect Democratic lawmakers.

By weakening those protections, the court has opened a path for some of those districts to be broken up or reshaped.

"Yesterday's decision is huge -- if not for 2026 then certainly for 2028," said veteran political strategist Matt Klink. "It will force states, primarily in the South, to redraw as many as 18 districts."

Democrats are already signaling they could respond in kind, using the same legal logic to redraw districts in liberal-leaning states such as New York and California to maximize their own gains.

President Donald Trump, whose Republicans narrowly control both chambers of Congress, welcomed the ruling, but it remains unclear how forcefully he will push state leaders to act before November.

- 'Rigged maps' -

Timing may ultimately prove the biggest constraint.

In several key states -- including Texas, North Carolina and Mississippi -- primary elections have already taken place, effectively locking in current district lines. In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey said the state was "not in a position" to hold a special redistricting session. 

Even where changes are still theoretically possible, the legal and logistical hurdles are steep. Redrawing maps typically triggers court battles, and US courts are often reluctant to approve last-minute changes that could disrupt elections.

"With the midterm elections only six months away, the decision's immediate impact will be muted," Michael R. Dimino, a law professor at Pennsylvania's Widener University, told AFP.

"But the decision is very significant for the future -- particularly in the redistricting that will follow the 2030 census, as it will remove an unfair advantage for Democrats."

Political strategist Caroline Welles, who works to elect first-time Democratic women to state legislatures, said the decision mattered less for November than for what it signals about the court's willingness to let states dilute minority voting power. 

"Voting rights litigation has been the main way to challenge rigged maps since 2013. If that tool gets blunted, Democrats are looking at structural disadvantages that feel insurmountable," she said. 

"Communities of color will continue to be systematically underrepresented in the places where they have the numbers to elect candidates of their choice."

ft/sms

Waddling across a Warsaw expressway, a brood of wild sea ducks brought traffic to a halt as volunteers held motorists at bay -- an annual ritual to protect the bustling Polish capital's famous ducklings.

Every spring, dozens of days-old ducklings must make the risky trek from a centrally located park where they hatch to the Vistula river.

Local volunteers are mobilised to help ensure their safe passage, scrambling in hi-vis vests to stop cars and shepherd the birds across one of Warsaw's busiest roads.

Waddling through the city of 1.8 million people, the groups of mergansers -- fish-eating sea ducks -- are led by their silver-feathered mothers, with their distinctive brown head crests.

"We call mergansers ambassadors of Warsaw's wildlife -- or our celebrities," said Barbara Rozalska from the city parks department.

She was speaking over the rumble of the six-lane expressway -- "one of the biggest threats" for the wild birds on their kilometre-long journey.

Rozalska is in charge of coordinating the volunteers, who, through April and May, monitor the park and tree cavities where ducks lay their eggs and the possible routes they may take towards the river.

Around 30 people -- trained by the city's ornithologist -- take turns to stay alert for any sighting of the mergansers.

"It's a bit like being on call at the accident and emergency department -- you get a call and you have to go, no matter if it's at dawn or in the afternoon," Rozalska told AFP.

The array of threats is not limited to road traffic.

"There are seagulls and crows, which can snatch a chick that gets away from its mother for a moment. There are also predatory fish that can drag a chick underwater," she said.

- No honking -

One of the first merganser mums to cross this season took almost 24 hours to make it from the park to the river, testing the patience of the volunteers monitoring their every step and stumble.

That included the 11 hours the birds spent nestled in the roadside greenery, waiting for their moment.

Daria Grzesiek, 38, on duty, called it a "very difficult day" for her team.

"But once she set off and began making her way towards the Vistula... the fatigue was gone. There was only the satisfaction of having successfully guided her safely along the way," Grzesiek told AFP.

The volunteers' job involves asking passersby to keep their distance and put their dogs on a leash.

They also take on the task of explaining to drivers why the traffic needs to be stopped -- normally only for a few minutes.

As their efforts have gained traction and the birds have shot to local fame, there is more understanding among those sat behind the wheel, Grzesiek said.

One person, she recounted, "was getting upset that we stopped traffic".

But "the other drivers simply explained to him that he should calm down -- because mergansers are coming".

bur-mmp/jc/jhb

Long an emblem of the summer road trip, squashed bugs on the car have become less numerous over the years, many people say -- causing concern about the health of the world's insect populations.

While drivers may be happy to have less yuckiness to clean from their windscreens, a perceived decline in flying insects hit by vehicles has some experts worried about the creatures, which play a vital role in the environment as pollinators, ecosystem balancers and food sources for other species.

But anecdotal evidence is one thing. Studying the so-called "windshield phenomenon" is another.

So scientists in France have launched an app-based study that enlists drivers as volunteer researchers.

Users download the free app, Bugs Matter, count the number of squished bugs on their number plates at the end of a trip, and send the results to be compiled as part of what the programme's creators hope will be a massive citizen science project.

The study is being run by the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), the environmental groups OPIE and Noe and the French Biodiversity Office.

One app user, Marjorie, brought AFP on a car trip with her to Enghien-les-Bains, north of Paris, to take the app for a test drive before using it on a long road trip.

Step one: wipe the licence plate clean. Step two: enter geolocation data. Step three: drive.

"I'm 53, and I remember how as a kid, on long car trips when we stopped to fill the tank, there was always the obligatory clean-the-windscreen stage," said Marjorie.

"We hardly do that anymore."

- 'Pretty incredible' -

The study follows others around the world that have found declining insect numbers, including previous car-based studies in Denmark and the United Kingdom that both found sharp reductions in splats.

The two-decade-long Danish study, which ran until 2017, found reductions of 80 and 97 percent on two stretches of road in Denmark, while the UK study -- which also used the Bugs Matter app and is still ongoing -- found a decline of nearly 63 percent from 2021 to 2024.

A German study published in 2017 found a "dramatic decline" of more than 75 percent in the average biomass of flying insects in protected nature reserves.

"It's pretty incredible. Imagine going into the supermarket and finding only two out of every 10 products are in stock," said MNHN's Gregoire Lois.

Scientists say the decline is driven by human activity, including habitat loss, pesticide use, pollution and climate change.

But part of the study's goal is to understand the exact mechanisms behind the decline, and whether the results vary between urban areas, agricultural regions and forest land, Lois said.

Researchers hope to eventually expand the project to collect the insects' DNA and identify which species are being hit, he said.

Why use number plates as a reference?

"It's the only shared, standardised thing on every car, in both size and position: facing the road, perpendicular to the ground and travelling forward," said Lois.

After making her test trip, Marjorie parked her car, went to count her specimens and found a troubling data point.

"We just drove 22 kilometres" (14 miles), she said, "and there are absolutely no insects."

vip/uh/dsa/tmt/jhb/sbk/phz

From the safety of Mauritania, Mali refugee Mosso said he would only return home if Russian mercenaries leave his country, something he is more hopeful of following large-scale attacks by jihadists and separatists last weekend.

On Saturday, Tuareg rebels and Al-Qaeda-linked fighters launched a coordinated offensive against strategic junta positions across Mali, dealing a blow to the country's military and its Russian paramilitary backers.

In the Mauritanian town of Fassala on the Mali border, crimes committed by the Russian paramilitaries constitute painful memories for a number of refugees interviewed by AFP.

In 2021, the Russian mercenary Wagner Group began fighting alongside Malian forces battling jihadists. The group was replaced last year by Africa Corps, an organisation under the direct control of the Russian defence ministry.

In Fassala, those living in exile still refer to the Russian presence as "Wagner".

Sitting under a makeshift tent to escape the scorching Sahel heat, Mosso, whose name has been changed for security reasons as with all other refugees in this story, said he hoped for the fall of Mali's junta leader Assimi Goita.

Afterall he said, "it was he who brought Wagner upon us".

The 57-year-old nomadic Tuareg herder with a long white beard fled Mali's central Mopti region three weeks ago when white men, whom he identifies as Russian paramilitaries, arrived in his camp and abducted some men.

His own brother was killed by Russians one year ago as his then 14-year-old son watched on, he said.

In Mali, civilians accused of collaborating with either side are regularly subjected to reprisals and abuse by the army and its Russian proxies or jihadists.

In late April three civil society organisations including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) filed a case before the African Union's human rights court over alleged abuses by Mali's armed forces and Wagner.

- Kidal gives hope -

During the weekend attacks the key northern city of Kidal was returned to Tuareg control.

Images of Russian convoys leaving Kidal have sparked a glimmer of hope among many of the refugees.

Just like Mosso, some 300,000 Malians have sought refuge in Mauritania's Hodh Chargui region since a security crisis began in 2012, fuelled by violence from jihadists, local criminal gangs and pro-independence groups.

About 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border, Mauritania's Mbera camp now hosts some 120,000 refugees who have fled the violence.

Along one of the camp's sandy paths Ahmed said he "hopes for the return of peace and to go back to (his) country".

The 35-year-old said he wants a toppling of the military government "which has brought on all the problems in the country".

"It is because of Wagner that everyone came here" the Tuareg man said.

However Abdallah, another refugee, said he is not pleased with the latest turn of events.

"I am far from happy that the FLA has retaken Kidal", the sun-weathered 77-year-old said.

According to him the alliance between the Tuareg-dominated separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and jihadists is bad news.

"For me, JNIM is a terrorist movement. Their objective doesn't align at all with our ideologies as moderate Muslims, peaceful Muslims".

Blockades imposed by JNIM jihadists on Malian towns since late last year have triggered a wave of refugees arriving in the region.

Nearly 14,000 people, the majority women and children, have taken refuge in Mauritania since just last October, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

- Resource tensions - 

The latest hostilities in Mali have humanitarian organisations worried about a new influx of refugees, with resources already strained.

"We are following the evolving situation with great attention and deep concern", Omar Doukali, UNHCR spokesman in Mauritania, told AFP

With the Sahel region increasingly a global epicentre of jihadist violence, Mauritania, which is home to some 5.5 million people, stands out for its remarkable stability.

But the large number of Malian refugees in Mauritania is creating tensions "on grazing land, water resources and all basic services, including healthcare", Cheikhna Ould Abdallahi, mayor of Fassala, told AFP.

The municipality hosts 70,000 refugees and Abdallahi is worried about the intensification of fighting in Mali.

With a one-year-old daughter in arm, 22-year-old Tilleli recounted her escape from Mali a month ago when Russians and the army looted and burned her village in the Mopti region.

"I can only return home after the Wagner Group leaves my country", she said.

"I have no hope that there will be peace anytime soon", she added.

els/bfm/cw

(The Center Square) — The Trump administration is taking New Jersey Gov. Mikkie Sherrill to federal court over newly signed legislation banning ICE agents from wearing masks during immigration operations in the state. 

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Newark, alleges that the so-called Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act violates federal law by giving state officials control over federal immigration enforcement activities. The DOJ asks a federal judge to block the law, saying it threatens the safety of federal officers who have faced a wave of harassment, doxing, and even violence.

"To be clear, the Federal Government will not comply with this blatantly unconstitutional law," the DOJ wrote in the 24-page complaint. "But the threat of enforcement by Defendants chills individual officers from protecting themselves and performing their duties. The consequences for public safety are severe."

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate called New Jersey's law an "illegal attempt to regulate the federal government" and said threatening officers with prosecution "for simply protecting their identities and their families also chills the enforcement of federal law and compromises sensitive law enforcement operations."

"The Department of Justice will steadfastly protect the privacy and safety of law enforcement from unconstitutional state laws like New Jersey’s," Shumate said in a statement.

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport vowed to defend the new law in court, saying it "protects both law enforcement and the public by limiting the use of masking while including careful exceptions to protect law enforcement safety and operational needs." 

The Democrat said allowing ICE agents to wear masks during operations in the state will "undermine public trust and accountability, and make it easier for criminals to impersonate our officers." 

"To this day, the Federal Government still cannot explain when its officials need to mask or forgo identification in violation of this law, or why they actually need to do so, particularly given the serious safety concerns inherent in anonymized policing," she said in a statement. "New Jersey responded thoughtfully and carefully to these profound public safety concerns, and we look forward to responding in court." 

Last year, the DOJ filed a similar lawsuit against California after Democrats in the state passed a mask ban. A federal judge blocked the state from enforcing the law. 

New Jersey Democrats and immigrant rights groups say the new restrictions are necessary amid an uptick in ICE operations in the state targeting people for deportation. 

"When federal immigration officers violate the law and sow fear in our communities, they undermine public trust in law enforcement and make it harder for us to keep the public safe," Sherrill said in a statement at the time.

The Justice Department sued New Jersey in February over an executive order signed by Sherrill that barred ICE agents from using state-owned property as staging areas for operations, accusing her administration of "harboring criminal offenders" from law enforcement.

The governor was also criticized by the Trump administration for launching a new public website urging the public to report ICE activity, upload videos of enforcement actions, and "Know Your Rights" information for people who are detained.

US economic growth rebounded less than expected in the first quarter as consumer spending cooled, while inflation surged in March with fallout from the Middle East war beginning to bite, government data showed Thursday.

Even as the world's biggest economy appears to remain resilient, analysts warn of its reliance on an AI investment boom -- and consumers are showing fatigue that could intensify as the energy shock from the war worsens.

Gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the January to March period, according to an advance estimate released by the Commerce Department.

This was significantly higher than the 0.5 percent figure in the final three months of 2025, but still below the 2.2 percent expansion that economists predicted.

White House spokesman Kush Desai was quick to laud the growth rate, saying it was "driven by an astonishing surge in business investment." He touted President Donald Trump's agenda of tax cuts and deregulation.

But Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long called it "a split-screen economy" where companies and investors involved in artificial intelligence are flourishing while middle- and moderate-income households grapple with cost hikes.

Steeper costs are expected to weigh on households and create steep political risks for Trump's Republican Party heading into the November midterm elections.

- 'Big warning sign' -

An uptick in government spending and investment boosted the GDP figure, but this was "partly offset by a deceleration in consumer spending," the Commerce Department said.

Long estimates that "nearly half of the larger tax refunds have already gone to pay for higher gas prices for many families," although it remains encouraging that layoffs are low.

"But it's a big warning sign that consumption has slowed to just 1.6 percent in the first quarter," she said in a note.

A separate Commerce Department report on Thursday showed that the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge surged in March as energy costs skyrocketed over the war.

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index jumped 3.5 percent from a year ago, up notably from 2.8 percent in February.

Excluding food and energy, the index rose 3.2 percent from a year prior.

Energy costs have soared since US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran on February 28 triggered Tehran's retaliation in virtually blocking off the Strait of Hormuz.

The waterway is a key route of transit for energy and fertilizers, sending global costs up.

This has caused prices at US gasoline stations to spike, with the average price of a gallon (3.78 liters) of regular gasoline hitting $4.30 according to data from the AAA motor club.

- 'Anemic' outside AI -

"The big picture is that growth already was sluggish ahead of the energy shock, with the economy's underlying momentum anemic outside the continued surge in AI-related capital expenditure," said Oliver Allen, senior US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

While there was a jump in government spending, boosting GDP growth, this was "entirely due to a sharp rebound in federal government spending following the shutdown in the fourth quarter," he said.

Allen added that consumer spending in the first three months this year was also weaker than its average pace over the past four quarters.

"The subdued labor market, depressed confidence, meager real income growth, and exhaustion of pandemic-era excess savings all are starting to weigh on households," he warned.

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management, expects the US economy can withstand short-term global shocks.

"But we are becoming more concerned that the global economy is going to have a much more difficult time weathering the upcoming storm," Zaccarelli added.

bys/sms

King Charles III was set to pay his respects to fallen US troops at a military cemetery on Thursday, the final day of a state visit aimed at healing ties between Britain and the United States strained by the war in Iran.

By all accounts, the four-day visit has been a success, with President Donald Trump rolling out a pomp-filled welcome for Charles and Queen Camilla, including a 21-gun salute, military jet flyby and lavish white-tie White House banquet.

Charles will lay a wreath late Thursday morning at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, then attend a "block party" to mark 250 years since American independence from Britain.

The couple will later meet with Native Americans at a national park, before departing for the British island territory of Bermuda in the Atlantic.

The centerpiece of the whirlwind trip was Charles's speech Tuesday to the US Congress, the first by a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II in 1991.

The address was warmly received, even as Charles ranged over subjects from climate change and the need for restraints on presidential power to the importance of NATO and the defense of Ukraine -- sensitive issues for Trump's Republicans.

The 77-year-old monarch skirted around tensions between Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Britain's refusal to join the war against Iran,  insisting the partnership between the two countries was "born out of dispute, but no less strong for it."

The royals visited New York on Wednesday, where they stopped at the 9/11 memorial and met leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Charles, who is passionate about gardening and the environment, later visited an urban sustainable farming project in Harlem, while Camilla celebrated the 100th birthday of Winnie the Pooh at the New York Public Library. 

Security has been tight for the royal visit, which came just days after an alleged assassination attempt against Trump at a Washington media gala.

The trip has seen light moments between Charles and Trump, including the US president joking that his Scottish-born mother had a crush on the the future king when he was younger.

acb/sms

(The Center Square) – Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern on Thursday submitted a new merger application to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board that would create the country's first transcontinental railroad.

The $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern by Union Pacific would "drive growth, enable substantial cost savings for shippers and strengthen the U.S. supply chain," Norfolk Southern said.

“After completing the additional work requested by the STB, the facts remain clear: This merger enhances competition and delivers real public benefits that make America’s supply chain stronger,” Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said in a statement. “Our analysis uses complete systemwide traffic data provided by all Class I railroads to identify even more opportunities for our combined railroad to grow and compete.”

The Surface Transportation Board declined to approve the rail companies' initial application, saying it needed more information on how the merger would impact the competitive balance in the industry.

Supporters argue that the deal would create a freight rail network spanning from the East Coast to the West Coast, modernize freight transportation, and improve the country’s supply chain, reducing transportation times and cutting shipping costs.

President Donald Trump has endorsed the merger, saying it “sounds good to me.”

The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD), the country's largest rail union, also supports the deal, saying it would save industry jobs and create stability.

“SMART-TD evaluates every merger based on how it will affect our members’ jobs, livelihoods, and long-term stabilty,” SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson wrote in a letter to lawmakers. "“Union Pacific has committed that employees of both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern will not face involuntary furloughs, guaranteeing job protection for the duration of their careers,” 

Opponents of the merger say it would give one company control over nearly half of U.S. rail traffic and reduce competition.

"This did not begin with a customer asking for a UP-NS merger to happen," President and Chief Executive Officer of BNSF Railway Katie Farmer said in a news release. "It's driven by Wall Street on the promise of a big shareholder payout. It will eliminate competition, raise costs for consumers, and destabilize the supply chain that powers the American economy."

BNSF Railway is a competitor of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, whose CEO said the merger will lead to growth.

“This merger is fundamentally about growth,” Norfolk Southern President and CEO Mark George said in a Thursday statement. “Shippers have been clear about what they value, and the data backs it up. When single-line rail service is available, they choose it. Our combined network will deliver seamless freight moves within and across the Mississippi watershed markets with one Class I railroad accountable from origin to destination.”

The Surface Transportation Board oversees railroad mergers and must decide whether the deal serves the public interest.