Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News
Top CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen told a House committee that the president knew about his longtime confidant Roger Stone’s attempts to contact WikiLeaks about releasing hacked Democratic Party emails during the 2016 campaign; A World War I memorial left the Supreme Court conflicted on where to take its establishment clause case law, even while all the justices appeared intent on not disturbing the massive stone cross that inspired the arguments; A new poll shows Americans now consider Russia a direct threat to the U.S. and an even larger concern than North Korea, and more.
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National
1.) Calling President Donald Trump a “cheat,” a “conman” and a “racist,” his former personal attorney Michael Cohen told a House committee Wednesday that the president knew about his longtime confidant Roger Stone’s attempts to contact WikiLeaks about releasing hacked Democratic Party emails during the 2016 campaign.
2.) A World War I memorial left the Supreme Court conflicted Wednesday on where to take its establishment clause case law, even while all the justices appeared intent on not disturbing the massive stone cross that inspired this morning’s arguments.
3.) Americans now consider Russia a direct threat to the U.S. and an even larger concern than North Korea, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
Regional
4.) Voters in Toledo, Ohio approved a bill that will amend the municipal charter to give Lake Erie legal standing so they can sue on its behalf, but the measure faced an immediate legal challenge Wednesday from a Wood County farmer.
5.) Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle, both progressive black women, won the most votes in Tuesday’s Chicago mayoral election and will head to a runoff election in April.
International
6.) Scientists and researchers around the world strive to rid Earth’s oceans of the plague of plastic, with the latest effort from a team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory who found a process called ‘upcycling’ could help alleviate the problem.
7.) In the midst of a record-setting warm February, wildfires broke out in Great Britain and partially burned a forest in southern England made famous in the Winnie-the-Pooh children’s classics.
8.) Due to his declining health, the trial of a 95-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard is unlikely to be finished, a German state court said.
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