Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including Democrats agreed on a bill to fund the fight against global warming and slash the deficit; The last remaining Massachusetts resident legally classified as a witch was given a reprieve; A record-breaking bird flu outbreak has hit the Swedish west coast, and more.

National

Schumer hammers out climate change, health care deal with recalcitrant Manchin

A climate change and health care package is primed to make its way through House goal posts, a stunning coup for the Biden administration after the Democratic majority leader of the Senate found middle ground this week with the coal-rooted Senator Joe Manchin.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on July 26, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Feds working to uncover full scope of court system data breach

A congressional oversight committee pressed one of the nation’s leading security advisers Thursday for an update into a security breach of the federal court digital document system dating back to early 2020.

Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general of the National Security Division, speaks before a congressional oversight committee on the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into a security breach of the federal court filing system known as PACER. (Screenshot via Courthouse News.)

Semiconductor bill passes House, heads to Biden’s desk

At a time of supply chain headaches and surging prices driven by an international shortage of semiconductors, a field where China has long been the dominant player, U.S. lawmakers passed legislation to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing and boost American competitiveness in the technology market.

President Joe Biden attends a March 9, 2022, event at the White House to support legislation that would encourage domestic manufacturing and strengthen supply chains for computer chips. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Ninth Circuit urged to revive Facebook housing bias lawsuit

A decades-old discrimination lawsuit against The New York Times could help resurrect housing bias claims against Facebook on behalf of a class of people who say the platform’s housing marketplace returned far fewer results when searched by racial minorities, single parents and people with disabilities.

The Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad. (Matt Rourke/AP)

Regional

Massachusetts grants absolution to its last remaining witch

The last remaining Massachusetts resident legally classified as a witch has been given a reprieve as part of a budget bill signed Thursday by Governor Charlie Baker.

Old Burying Ground in North Andover, Mass., where convicted witch Elizabeth Johnson is believed to have been buried in an unmarked grave in 1747. (Cassandra Michael photo courtesy of Richard Hite via Courthouse News)

CVS accused of using monopoly power to exploit federal drug subsidies

New York Attorney General Letitia James brought an antitrust complaint Thursday against CVS Health Corp., saying it forced hospitals that serve the state’s low-income patients to pay millions of dollars for exclusive access to discounted prescription drugs.

A sign at a CVS pharmacy informs customers that the store is sold out of kits to test for coronavirus infection. Antigen tests, while less precise, give results in about 15 minutes. (Barbara Leonard/Courthouse News Service)

International

Bird flu outbreak leaves Swedish coast littered with carcasses

A record-breaking bird flu outbreak has hit the Swedish west coast, leaving hundreds of wild birds dead. Local authorities are just starting to take action despite the problem existing all summer.

A northern gannet. (Wolfgang Vogt/Pixabay via Courthouse News)

Russia pummels Ukraine with missiles, grain shipments closer to resuming

Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine on Thursday as Kyiv and its Western backers claimed that Ukrainian forces were mounting a strong counteroffensive in the south of the country.

Ukrainian self-propelled artillery shoots towards Russian forces at a frontline in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

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