Top Eight

Your Friday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top eight stories for today including G-7 leaders met in England to iron out concrete actions to tackle world problems and end the pandemic; California’s high-speed rail project got a much-needed boost when the federal government agreed to restore nearly $1 billion in grant funding; A federal judge put the brakes on a government program offering loan forgiveness only to farmers of color, and more.

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National

1.) A decision from a federal judge late Thursday put the brakes on a government program offering loan forgiveness only to farmers of color, which a lawsuit says is unconstitutionally discriminatory against white farmers.

2.) The inspector general of the Justice Department is launching an internal probe after it was revealed that the agency covertly seized data belonging to two House Democrats, their staff and family members, as well as reporters, in reaction to leaks that could damage then-President Donald Trump.

3.) The Justice Department will double the staff of its civil rights enforcement division within the next 30 days and take other actions to protect Americans’ right to the ballot, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday.

4.) Overall gains on Wall Street this week stood in perfect contrast to the worrying inflation data, with investors pinning their hopes to the Federal Reserve.

Regional

5.) California’s high-speed rail project got a much-needed boost Friday when the federal government agreed to restore nearly $1 billion in grant funding for the embattled infrastructure project. 

6.) Days before it was set to take full effect, a New York program to provide low-income families with affordable broadband was stopped in its tracks.

7.) A bill expanding broadband internet access had the support of almost every member of the Texas House, but it could be a year or more before underserved parts of the state start seeing results.

International

8.) President Joe Biden and his G-7 allies met Friday at a Cornish seafront holiday resort to lay out a common vision – and concrete steps – for tackling the crises besetting a world riven by a pandemic, warming atmospheric temperatures, radical technological changes and the rise of anti-democratic governments.

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