Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including FBI agents searched President Biden’s beach home as part of a probe into the potential mishandling of classified records; Inflation in the EU neared its lowest point since last summer; California leaders announced a new effort to pass tighter gun safety regulations, and more.

National

Social media’s harm to kids: The next blockbuster lawsuit?

Hundreds of families have already filed individual suits over alleged harm to children from social media, but a new case in Seattle is doing something different.

(Image by Cyn Yoder from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

Classified records probe reaches Biden home in Delaware

FBI agents searched President Joe Biden’s beach home in Rehoboth, Delaware, on Wednesday, as part of a probe by the Department of Justice into the potential mishandling of classified records.

U.S. Secret Service agents are seen in front of Joe Biden's Rehoboth Beach, Del., home on Jan. 12, 2021. The FBI is conducting a planned search of the property as part of its investigation into the potential mishandling of classified documents. (Shannon McNaught/Delaware News Journal via AP, File)

Regional

California to push for more gun legislation in wake of mass shootings

In the wake of multiple mass shootings in the past weeks, California Governor Gavin Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, and state Senator Anthony Portantino announced a new effort Wednesday to pass tighter gun safety regulations.

California Governor Gavin Newsom holds up Senate Bill 1327 after he signs it at a press conference in Santa Monica, Calif., on Friday. The legislation would allow private rights of action against gun dealers and manufacturers. (Photo by the Office of the California Governor)

Feds charge disbarred attorney Tom Girardi with embezzling more than $15 million in client money

Former attorney Tom Girardi has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of embezzling more than $15 million of his clients' money, U.S. Department of Justice officials announced Wednesday.

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

North Dakota argues for ‘seat at the table’ in reservation riverbed dispute

An attorney for North Dakota told a federal appeals court Wednesday the state simply wants a "seat at the table" in a lawsuit between three tribes and the U.S. Department of the Interior over ownership of a prosperous riverbed within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

The Missouri River runs through the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument near Fort Benton, Montana. (David Reese/Courthouse News)

International

Brussels mulls countering US green subsidies with its own

On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed an EU response to counter U.S. subsidies and at its core are plans to allow EU governments to shore up their own green technology companies with big handouts.

A pedestrian walks past the European Commission headquarters in Brussels in December 2020. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

New year brings lower inflation, steady employment to EU

The European Union seems to be making good on a New Year’s resolution to cut inflation. Data published by Eurostat on Wednesday tracked January inflation down to 8.5%, nearing its lowest point since last summer.

A customer pays for vegetables at the Maravillas market in Madrid. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

Science

New research on Egyptian embalming unravels mysteries of mummification

Scientists now have a clearer picture of the processes involved in ancient Egyptian mummification thanks to analyses of an ancient embalming workshop at the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo.

This Sept. 2020 photo provided by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities shows one of more than two dozen ancient coffins unearthed near the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, south of Cairo, Egypt. (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities via AP)