Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including congressional Republicans and White House negotiators temporarily called off talks aimed at avoiding a fast-approaching debt crisis; California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to reform decades-old development processes; The English water industry issued an unprecedented apology, and more.

National

Debt ceiling talks stall as default looms

As lawmakers headed out of town for the weekend and President Biden jetted off to the G7 diplomatic summit, congressional Republicans and White House negotiators temporarily called off talks aimed at avoiding a fast-approaching debt crisis.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of Calif., talks to reporters, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Pyramid scheme lawsuit drops claims against Trump children

Donald Trump’s adult children Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric will dodge civil liability for their roles in a multilevel marketing scheme. A New York federal judge on Friday granted their dismissals from a fraud lawsuit against their father and the family’s namesake company.

FILE - Donald Trump, right, sits with his children, from left, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel on July 23, 2014, in Washington. New York’s attorney general sued former President Donald Trump and his company on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, alleging business fraud involving some of their most prized assets, including properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Courthouse News’ podcast Sidebar, tackling the stories you need to know from the legal world.

Regional

Newsom touts plan to cut red tape and speed up green infrastructure projects

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans Friday to reform decades-old development processes in order to get green energy projects moving — and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

Gavin Newsom speaks at an unveiling in Patterson, Calif. (Screenshot via Courthouse News)

Texas high court rules against law firm in anti-SLAPP case

A lending company that claims a Dallas law firm’s bungled filing cost it $1.2 million has a viable legal malpractice case, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday, rejecting the firm’s reliance on a state law that protects First Amendment rights.

The Texas Supreme Court building in Austin, which is also home to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. (Kelsey Jukam/Courthouse News)

The plan to save and/or kill Texas drag

At the Texas Capitol on Friday, a bill that has prompted deep anger and fear in the Texas LGBTQ+ community came up for a vote on the House floor.

Prominent Austin drag queen Brigitte Bandit is escorted out by Capitol police earlier this month after going over her speaking time to testify against SB 12, a bill targeting drag. A new Democratic strategy on SB 12 has torn a rift in the LGBTQ+ community, pitting queen against queen. (Stephen Paulsen/Courthouse News)

International

Greece heads into topsy-turvy elections centered on economy, scandal

Greeks go to the polls on Sunday in an election that pits a ruling conservative party claiming it's taking depression-hit Greece toward prosperity against a fractured opposition on the left warning Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is turning the country into an authoritarian state in the service of oligarchs.

A father and his daughter attend a pre-election rally of a leftist group in Athens on Monday, May 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

English water industry apologizes for sewage spills

The English water industry issued an unprecedented apology Thursday amid growing public anger over the increasingly widespread release of untreated sewage into waterways.

Op-ed

Willful ignorance

A fatuous front-page article on immigration in a recent edition of The New York Times shows the extent to which willful ignorance and kneejerk-ism have neutered our national mind.

FILE - In this July 16, 2019 file photo, a woman sits with her sons as they wait to apply for asylum in the United States along the border in Tijuana, Mexico. A federal judge says a Guatemalan family cannot be returned to Mexico to wait for their next hearing in U.S. immigration court without being allowed to consult an attorney. The ruling challenges a key part of a Trump administration policy that has resulted in more than 55,000 asylum seekers being returned to Mexico to wait. The judge scheduled a hearing Dec. 13 to consider whether his temporary restraining order should apply throughout California. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Categories / Closing Arguments

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.