Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including French President Emmanuel Macron suffered a stinging defeat after his centrist coalition lost its majority in parliament; An appeals court ruled a group that advocates for an end to racial preferences in college admissions can challenge the University of Texas’ policies; Gustavo Petro has been declared the winner in Colombia’s presidential election, and more.

National

A win for House panel on Capitol riot needs AG, GOP and John Q Public on board

Not quite halfway into its hearing schedule, the House Jan. 6 committee is aiming at some pretty lofty goalposts.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing on June 9, 2022, to reveal the findings of a yearlong investigation. (Jabin Botsford//The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Regional

Fifth Circuit rekindles challenge to University of Texas admissions policies

A group that advocates for an end to racial preferences in college admissions can challenge the University of Texas’ policies, a Fifth Circuit panel ruled Monday, reviving and remanding the case to a federal judge who dismissed it.

The Main Building at the University of Texas at Austin. (Photo courtesy of Larry D. Moore via Wikimedia Commons)

Wisconsin parade crash suspect to enter insanity plea

Lawyers for the suspect in the November 2021 Christmas parade car crash in Waukesha, Wisconsin, announced Monday their client plans to plead not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

The suspect in the November 2021 Christmas parade crash in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Darrell Brooks, far right, appears in court with his defense attorneys and prosecutors at a hearing to decide his motion to move his trial out of Waukesha on Monday, June 20, 2022, during which his defense also said he plans to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. (Screenshot via Courthouse News)

International

French politics in chaos after Macron loses majority

French President Emmanuel Macron suffered a stinging defeat on Sunday after his centrist coalition lost its majority in parliament, delivering a major blow to the president’s neoliberal plans to overhaul France’s economy and society.

Ahead of French legislative elections set for June 12-19, 2022, a campaign poster of the French Animalist Party is displayed next to other candidates' posters in Lyon on June 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Colombia taps leftist ex-guerrilla Petro for president in historic election

Gustavo Petro has been declared the winner in Colombia’s presidential election, with the former guerrilla fighter winning 50.44% of the vote — a historic moment for the South American country as it prepares for its first left-wing government.

Then-presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, left, and his running mate Francia Marquez, with the Historical Pact coalition, stand before supporters on election night in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, May 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

British insurer ordered to pay Spanish bill for oil spill cleanup

The European Union’s top court handed a victory to Spain on Monday, ordering a British insurance company to pay hundreds of millions in damages after 70,000 tons of oil was spilled off the Spanish coast.

The European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, is the European Union’s supreme court in matters concerning EU law. (Molly Quell/Courthouse News)

Research

New computer model can identify cancer mutation cells, study finds

In a study released Monday, researchers at MIT have developed a breakthrough computer model which will allow scientists to identify harmful cancer mutation cells, allowing them to better target such cells with anti-cancer drugs.

This undated fluorescence-colored microscope image made available by the National Institutes of Health in September 2016 shows a culture of human breast cancer cells. (Ewa Krawczyk/National Cancer Institute via AP)

Scientists detect early Alzheimer’s with just one brain scan

British scientists announced Monday that they have developed a machine-learning algorithm that can determine, with 98% accuracy, whether Alzheimer’s disease is present in a patient by looking at a single brain scan.

An MRI scan of a human head. (Image courtesy of Pixabay)

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