Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including a conservative law firm appealed to the Supreme Court to halt President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan; Environmentalists argued against the removal of an air pollution control standard in Ohio; Year-over-year inflation in the 19-nation eurozone rose to 9.9%, and more.

National

Oath Keepers push back at trial: No plan, no smoking gun

Defense attorneys for five Oath Keepers associates charged with seditious conspiracy fought Wednesday to poke holes in the government’s core claim that they had a plan ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, to breach the Capitol building.

Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump stand outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Right-wing challenge to student debt forgiveness plan heads to Supreme Court

A conservative law firm appealed to the Supreme Court on Wednesday to halt President Joe Biden’s forgiveness plan for student loan debt.

New graduates line up before the start of a community college commencement in East Rutherford, N.J., on May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Air Force urges panel to lift block on Covid vaccine mandate

Air Force members who won a preliminary injunction to prevent being disciplined for their refusal to get the Covid-19 vaccine were not entitled to relief and threaten to impair the military mission, the federal government argued Wednesday before an appeals court panel.

A registered nurse fills a syringe with the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine at a pop-up vaccination site in Staten Island, New York, in April 2021. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Star witness in 1-800-GET-THIN fraud trial sentenced to probation

The government's star witness in the trial that led to the conviction of the mastermind of the 1-800-GET-THIN fraud scheme was sentenced to probation for his role in the conspiracy.

The U.S. courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. (Edvard Pettersson/Courthouse News)

Mentally ill man will be executed after high court denies stay

Despite warnings from attorneys that their client is not competent, the Supreme Court refused Wednesday to block the execution of a man who snapped the spine of his 9-month-old child after she interrupted him playing video games.

Collection of photos of Benjamin Cole on death row in Oklahoma beginning in 2004, far right, to 2018, at left. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via Courthouse News)

Regional

Appeals court hears dispute over change to Ohio clean air standards

Environmental watchdogs challenging the removal of a critical air pollution control standard first implemented in Ohio in 1974 told an appeals court panel Wednesday the decision was based largely on lobbying by an energy industry law firm.

(Ralf Vetterl/Pixabay via Courthouse News)

International

Eurozone inflation inches toward double digits

Year-over-year inflation in the 19-nation eurozone stood at 9.9% in September, one point below the 10.9% annual inflation rate experienced in the broader 27-member European Union, according to a report released Wednesday by the EU statistics agency.

This graph shows annual inflation rates in EU countries since September 2021. (Eurostat via Courthouse News)

López Obrador refuses to let defense secretary address army hack

Claiming it would “stain” his morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Wednesday refused to allow Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval to address reporters’ questions about a recent leak of army documents.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador gives his regularly scheduled morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Dec. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

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