Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including sparks flew in court as one of the Russian firms charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller lobbed bias allegations at a federal judge; The federal courts system said it will be able to run a week longer than initially anticipated during the ongoing partial government shutdown; There seems to be no end in sight for large-scale anti-government protest movements in France, Hungary and Serbia, and more.

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National

Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs after a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 21, 2017. Mueller’s team considers President Donald Trump a subject, not a criminal target, in the wide-ranging Russia investigation. The designation, first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by The Associated Press, has raised questions about what legal threat Trump personally faces from the special counsel and whether it has any impact on his decision to sit for an interview with prosecutors. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

1.) Sparks flew in court Monday as one of the Russian firms charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller lobbed bias allegations at a federal judge.

2.) The federal courts system said Monday it will be able to run through Jan. 18 during the ongoing partial government shutdown, a week longer than initially anticipated.

In this Feb. 16, 2016, photo, Republican state Sens. Dan Soucek, left, and Brent Jackson, right, review historical maps during The Senate Redistricting Committee for the 2016 Extra Session in the Legislative Office Building at the N.C. General Assembly, in Raleigh, N.C. (Corey Lowenstein/The News & Observer via AP, File)

3.) After sweeping away the opportunity last term to tackle partisan gerrymandering, the Supreme Court announced it would hear new cases this spring out of Maryland and North Carolina.

Regional

A 2007 gun show at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. (Photo credit: M&R Glasgow/Wikipedia)

4.) Virginia Democrats proposed a series of new gun-control measures Monday as they gear up to try to regain the majority this fall when every seat in both chambers of the Legislature is up for grabs.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

5.) Minutes after taking over for one of California’s most accomplished politicians in fellow Democrat Jerry Brown, Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday offered up a progressive agenda and a promise of dissension from President Donald Trump’s “corruption.”

FILE - In this Oct. 19, 2018, file photo, Democratic challenger Tony Evers, left, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, shake hands during gubernatorial debate in Madison, Wis. Republicans pushing to hang on to power in Wisconsin and Michigan aren't stopping at curbing the authority of incoming Democratic governors. They're also trying to hamstring Democrats who are about to take over as attorneys general. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

6.) Former state schools superintendent Tony Evers was sworn into office as Wisconsin’s 46^th governor Monday, officially ending the controversial eight-year tenure of Republican Scott Walker.

International

Women in yellow vests observe a moment of silence for victims in the Yellow Vest movement in Paris on Jan. 8, 2018. (AP photo/Michael Euler)

7.) There seems to be no end in sight for large-scale anti-government protest movements in France, Hungary and Serbia. If anything, the desire to protest is likely to broaden across Europe as crucial European elections in May draw nearer.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin waits for the start of his trial at the Lyon courthouse, central France on Jan. 7, 2019. Cardinal Barbarin and five others are going on trial in France accused of covering up for a pedophile priest who abused Boy Scouts. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

8.) It was a sight never seen before in France: A Roman Catholic Church cardinal walked into a courtroom Monday to face allegations that he covered up a priest’s sexual abuse.

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