Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, one of the country's largest newspaper chains, appeared to approve a $630 million takeover bid by hedge fund Alden Global Capital on Friday.

In a statement, Alden said it had purchased Tribune, adding that the move “reaffirms our commitment to the newspaper industry.” In a blog post, the president of the union representing Tribune journalists lamented that Tribune's shareholders had “let everyone down” by approving the deal, but said the union would “continue to hold Alden Global Capital accountable.”

Alden, already owner of nearly one-third of Tribune, stands to take full control of the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and other Tribune papers. Through its Digital First Media chain, Alden owns the Boston Herald, Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell for the third straight month in April as the number of properties for sale hit a record low, driving prices to new highs.Existing home sales fell 2.7% last month from March to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 5.85 million annualized units, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Sales jumped 33.9% from April last year, when the pandemic caused sales to slow sharply.April's sales pace was the slowest since last June and well below the 6.01 million sales rate economists expected, according to FactSet.“Even with home sales declining modestly, one can describe the market as being hot,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.” All indications is that buyer demand remains strong.”Sales through the first four months of this year are running 20% higher than they were a year ago, the NAR said.

United, Delta and American said Friday they are resuming flights to Tel Aviv after Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in violence that had included rockets fired at Ben Gurion International Airport.Delta Air Lines will “closely monitor the security situation and will make adjustments to our flight schedules as necessary,” spokesman Morgan Durrant said.United Airlines also said it expects to resume service Friday night, with a flight from Newark, N.J., to Tel Aviv. A spokeswoman said the airline plans to also resume flights from Chicago and San Francisco over the weekend. American Airlines said it plans to restart New York-Tel Aviv flights on Monday.