DALLAS – American Airlines and US Airways will merge and create the world’s biggest airline. The boards of both companies approved the merger late Wednesday, according to four people close to the situation.

The carrier keeps the American Airlines name but will be run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker. American’s CEO, Tom Horton, will become chairman of the new company, these people said. They requested anonymity because the merger negotiations were private.

Grave warnings no laughing matter

Warnings about the zombie apocalypse may seem pretty amusing, but officials say they’re dead serious about figuring out who hacked into the nation’s public warning system to broadcast such messages in a handful of states.

So far, people in California, Michigan, Montana and New Mexico have heard the warnings about attacking zombies that have been sent over the Emergency Alert System.

“Local authorities in your area have reported the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living,” one message warned. “Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are considered extremely dangerous.”

Carnival ship had problems earlier

Carnival Cruise Lines has canceled a dozen more planned voyages aboard the Triumph and acknowledged that the crippled ship had been plagued by other mechanical problems in the weeks before an engine-room fire left it powerless in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company’s announcement on Wednesday came as the Triumph was being towed to a port in Mobile, Ala., with more than 4,000 people on board, some of whom have complained to relatives that conditions on the ship are dismal and that they have limited access to food and bathrooms.

Rebels make gains near Syria airport

Syrian rebels knocked down army defenses and moved in on the country’s second-largest airport Wednesday, reportedly killing more than 40 soldiers and bringing them closer to what could be their biggest conquest since the beginning of the civil war.