July 1 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in

the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories

and does not vouch for their accuracy.

- Boeing ( BA ) said on Monday it would buy Spirit

AeroSystems ( SPR ) in a $4.7 billion all-stock deal following

months of talks, as it tries to resolve a sprawling corporate

and industrial crisis that has also engulfed the key supplier.

- The U.S. Justice Department will criminally charge Boeing ( BA )

with fraud over two fatal crashes and ask the planemaker

to plead guilty or face a trial.

- BlackRock ( BLK ) has agreed to buy UK data firm Preqin

for 2.55 billion pounds ($3.23 billion) in cash in an expansion

by the world's biggest asset management company into the private

markets data segment.

- Top Democrats on Sunday ruled out the possibility of

replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee after a

feeble debate performance and called on party members to focus

instead on the consequences of a second Donald Trump presidency.

- Former Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley

said Democrats need to dump President Biden as their presumptive

nominee following his halting debate performance as she

reiterated her calls for cognitive testing of all federal

candidates.

($1 = 0.7896 pounds)

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)