Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including the House of Representatives passed a second measure aimed at tightening up background-check laws the chamber; The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Neomi Rao to replace Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit; The politics of Brexit are entering a new dramatic phase as Great Britain mulls the possibility of seeking to delay its exit from the European Union, and more.

Your Thursday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including the House of Representatives passed a second measure aimed at tightening up background-check laws; The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Neomi Rao to replace Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit; The politics of Brexit are entering a new dramatic phase as Great Britain mulls the possibility of seeking to delay its exit from the European Union, and more.

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National

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

1.) The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill changing rules for background checks on gun sales, the second measure aimed at tightening up background-check laws the chamber has passed in as many days.

Acting Environmental Protection Administrator Andrew Wheeler testifies at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 16, 2019. The EPA says it is moving forward with a response to a class of long-lasting chemical contaminants, amid criticism from members of Congress and environmentalists that it has not moved aggressively to regulate them. In an interview with ABC News Live, Wheeler calls the chemicals commonly referred to as PFAS, “a very important threat.” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

2.) The Senate voted along party lines Thursday to confirm Andrew Wheeler as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, putting an official stamp on his leadership at the agency.

Neomi Rao, President Donald Trump's nominee for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. Liberal activists are targeting Rao for what they call her extreme views on race, sexual assault and LGBT rights. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

3.) Overcoming last-minute concerns from Republicans about her views on abortion, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved the nomination of Neomi Rao to replace Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit.

A worker holds a sign promoting a sale for Huawei 5G internet services at a mobile phones retail shop in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. The chairman of Huawei challenged the United States and other governments to provide evidence for claims the Chinese tech giant is a security risk as the company launched a public relations effort Tuesday to defuse fears that threaten its role in next-generation communications. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

4.) Attorneys for Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of theft of trade secrets conspiracy, attempted theft of trade secrets and a raft of other charges related to a robot cellular provider T-Mobile uses to test its products.

Science

A trial NASA rover mission in the Mars-like Atacama Desert of Chile. (Prof Stephen B. Pointing)

5.) Ahead of a NASA 2020 mission to Mars, researchers have taken to a desert on Earth where they are searching and digging for microbial life in an extremely dry desert, similarly devoid of life on the surface to the red planet.

6.) Fisheries around the world are in decline as ocean temperatures rise due to climate change, according to a study published Thursday.

International

Demonstrators hold placards and flags at the "Brexit Betrayal Rally", a pro-Brexit rally, on Whitehall in London, Sunday Dec. 9, 2018. With a crucial parliamentary vote on Brexit looming, British Prime Minister Theresa May warned lawmakers Sunday that they could take Britain into "uncharted waters" and trigger a general election if they reject the divorce deal she struck with the European Union. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

7.) The politics of Brexit are entering a new dramatic phase as Great Britain mulls the possibility of seeking to delay its exit from the European Union.

Flames burn inside a van as the Camp Fire tears through Paradise, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. Tens of thousands of people fled a fast-moving wildfire Thursday in Northern California, some clutching babies and pets as they abandoned vehicles and struck out on foot ahead of the flames that forced the evacuation of an entire town and destroyed hundreds of structures. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

8.) The spontaneous fire that began with a car’s electrical system should qualify as a “use” of the car for insurance purposes, a magistrate with Europe’s highest court determined Thursday.

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