Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including the release of a 90,000-page environmental report on a $15.5 billion tunnel planned to pass below the largest freshwater estuary on the West Coast; President-elect Donald Trump raises the possibility of the United States ramping up its nuclear arsenal; scientists say reindeer are playing an important role in slowing down climate change, and more.

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1.) 90,000-Page Environmental Report on Delta Tunnels Released

After nine years of planning and 12,000 public comments, California and federal officials on Thursday released the final environmental blueprint for a $15.5 billion project to tunnel below the largest freshwater estuary on the West Coast and send water to the parched south state.

2.) Trump Echoes Putin Call for Nuclear Proliferation

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday raised the possibility of the United States ramping up its nuclear arsenal, apparently a response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calls for Russia to do the same.

3.) Judge Won’t Stay Planned Parenthood Case Against Video-Snooper Enemies

A federal judge Wednesday tried to strike a conciliatory tone between Planned Parenthood and the anti-abortion activists who nearly shut it down last year after posting doctored videos online accusing it of selling aborted fetal tissue.

4.) Obama Acts to Block Plan for Muslim Registry

Taking action against Donald Trump’s plan to have people register as Muslims with the U.S. government, President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he would dismantle an archetype for the program created 14 years ago.

5.) Today's Reindeer Games: Combating Climate Change

Guiding Santa’s sleigh isn’t the only thing Rudolph and his reindeer friends are responsible for: they also play an important role in slowing down global climate change.

6.) Defeat for Turtles in Sirius XM Copyright Case

Dealing a blow to musicians scrambling for royalties in the digital-music era, New York’s highest court sketched out defeat for an attempted class action by the duo behind the 1967 hit “Happy Together.”

7.) Trio of Corruption Convictions Overturned

The First Circuit overturned three convictions at the heart of a 2010 Massachusetts corruption scandal involving state Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo.

8.) North Carolina Senate Fails to Pass ‘Bathroom Bill’ Repeal

North Carolina GOP-controlled Senate on Wednesday night failed to pass a bill to repeal the state’s controversial ‘Bathroom Bill,” a state law seen as stripping the state’s LGBT community of discrimination protections, after hours of acrimonious debate.