Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including Europe’s top rights court agreed to hear a series of cases against Russia over the nearly decadelong conflict in eastern Ukraine; The first member of the Proud Boys to plead guilty to Capitol riot-related charges testified against the leader of the organization; The Seventh Circuit ruled Chicago airport security officers are not police, and more.

National

Proud Boys member who inked plea deal testifies in seditious conspiracy trial

The first member of the Proud Boys to plead guilty to Capitol riot-related charges testified Wednesday against the leader of the organization, Enrique Tarrio, and four other members indicted in one of the government’s most high-profile cases yet related to the insurrection.

Proud Boys riot outside the Capitol building with other members of the mob on Jan. 6, 2021. (House Select Committee via Courthouse News)

Colombia drug boss who led ‘veritable army’ pleads guilty to US charges

A federal judge in New York presided over a guilty plea Wednesday in which the leader of a massive Colombia-based drug operation admitted to trafficking nearly 107 tons of cocaine, much of it into the United States, over a 12-year period.

One of Colombia's most-wanted drug traffickers, Dairo Antonio Usuga David, alias "Otoniel," is escorted in handcuffs in Bogota, Colombia, on Oct. 23, 2021. (Colombia Police Press Office via AP, File)

Regional

Routine journalism or felony solicitation? Fifth Circuit hears case of jailed reporter

A popular Texas independent journalist who was arrested on felony “misuse of official information” charges after publishing names she obtained from a police officer asked the full Fifth Circuit on Wednesday to revive her First Amendment lawsuit.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Kelsey Jukam/Courthouse News)

En banc Fourth Circuit hears fee dispute in suit over suspended licenses

The full Fourth Circuit heard arguments Wednesday in a dispute over legal fees stemming from a repealed Virginia law that automatically suspended driver's licenses for nonpayment of fines and court costs.

The Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Courthouse, home of the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Virginia. (Acroterion/ Wikipedia Commons via Courthouse News)

Chicago airport security guards are not cops, Seventh Circuit rules

The Seventh Circuit on Wednesday all but killed a class action suit brought by Chicago airport security guards, when an appellate panel ruled that airport security officers are not police.

(Barbara Leonard/Courthouse News Service)

International

Rights court agrees to hear cases against Russia over eastern Ukraine conflict

In a highly anticipated decision, Europe’s top rights court announced Wednesday it has jurisdiction to rule on most parts of a group of complaints brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against the Russian Federation.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. (Photo by CherryX from Wikipedia Commons via Courthouse News)

Science

Sea cucumbers inspire liquid robots

To create what an international team of engineers calls "liquid" robots, they had to overcome the limitations of both traditional and so-called "soft" robots."

A magnetic field was used to melt a phase-changing figurine and extract it from an enclosure. After the liquid was removed, it was recast in a mold and solidified to restore its original shape. (Sun Yat-Sen University and Carnegie Mellon University via Courthouse News)

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