Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including Latvia prevailed in a 20-year disagreement over the pensions of noncitizen residents; Five of President Biden’s picks for federal judgeships advanced to the next step in the confirmation process; The FBI arrested a Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate on charges related to the Capitol riot, and more.

National

Five nominees to federal bench pushed to Senate vote

Five of President Biden’s picks for federal judgeships advanced to the next step in the confirmation process Thursday as August recess draws near for Congress.

Screenshot shows Salvador Mendoza Jr. testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2014 when he was nominated by then-President Barack Obama to serve as a judge in the Eastern District of Washington. (Image via Courthouse News)

White House unveils plans to vaccinate America’s youngest

With regulators set to review Pfizer and Moderna’s shots for children under age 5 next week, the government says it is putting distribution plans in place.

From left, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha and Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Dawn O'Connell speak on June 9, 2022, about the White House's plan for rolling out Covid-19 vaccines to Americans under 5 years of age. (Screenshot via Courthouse News.)

Justices will not block Pennsylvania count of undated mail-in ballots

The Supreme Court will allow the tally to proceed in Pennsylvania of more than 200 undated mail-in ballots for a state court race still undecided some seven months after the election.

This May 26, 2020 file photo shows an Official Democratic General Primary mail-in ballot and secrecy envelope, for the Pennsylvania primary in Pittsburgh. Philadelphia's top elections official is warning of electoral chaos in the presidential battleground state if lawmakers there do not remove a provision in Pennsylvania law that, under a days-old court decision, requires counties to throw out mail-in ballots returned without secrecy envelopes. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar/File)

Regional

Republican candidate for Michigan governor arrested on Capitol riot-related charges

The FBI raided the western Michigan home of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley and arrested him Thursday morning for charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Ryan Kelley, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks during a rally outside the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 8, 2022. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)

Sixth Circuit hears campaign finance case against Michigan governor

A war chest of over $3.7 million in political donations to Governor Gretchen Whitmer – over 95% of which was later given to the Michigan Democratic Party – was amassed in violation of state campaign finance laws, the Michigan GOP argued Thursday before a federal appeals court panel.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at a news conference in Lansing on March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/David Eggert, File)

International

British expats lost their right to vote in EU countries, court rules

British citizens living in the European Union do not get to keep their right to vote in local elections after the United Kingdom left the bloc, the EU’s highest court held Thursday.

An anti-Brexit campaigner waves European Union and British flags outside Parliament in London in January 2020. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Latvia off the hook for Soviet-era pension obligations

Latvia prevailed Thursday in a 20-year disagreement over the pensions of noncitizen residents, with the European Court of Human Rights ruling that Riga was not obliged to ensure pension equity between citizens and residents who could have obtained Latvian citizenship but never did.

Aerial view of traffic in Riga, Latvia. (Image by Aleksejs Bergmanis from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

Faroe Islands agree to install radar to boost Arctic surveillance

Denmark and the Faroe Islands signed an agreement on Thursday to build a radar system that will monitor activities in the airspace between Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Faroe Islands. (Knud Erik Vinding/Pixabay via Courthouse News)

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