Top eight today

National

Judge advances sex abuse suit against Prince Andrew

A civil case against Prince Andrew from Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s underage sex ring, can proceed to trial, a New York federal judge ruled Wednesday morning.

North Korea hit with US sanctions after touting hypersonic missile test

The U.S. Treasury issued sanctions Wednesday against five officials in North Korea, one day after military detection confirmed the country's announcement that it had launched its second hypersonic missile in one week.

The kratom playbook: Working the refs

In the third part of our series on the botanical supplement kratom, we uncover how a police officer’s death prompted an army of keyboard warriors and the American Kratom Association to double-down on a narrative of moral panic — and the media went along for the ride.

After the blue slip burned with Trump in office, Biden-era Republicans feel its absence

Now on the other side of political changes they made to silence dissent when their party was in control of federal court nominations, Republicans are voicing frustration as judges appointed by President Joe Biden fly through the Senate Judiciary Committee without the approval of lawmakers from the states they are going to serve.

Regional

Environmentalists blast cattle grazing at critical habitat in Agua Fria Monument

Environmental groups sued the Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday for failing to monitor cattle grazing in Arizona’s Agua Fria National Monument, putting endangered fish and birds as well as critical habitat at risk.

Expansion of solar power may come at expense of Florida panther

The Sunshine State’s rapid installation of utility-scale solar energy facilities is threatening the habitat of the endangered Florida panther, raising questions about the tradeoffs that come with clean energy production.

South Dakota asks appeals court to allow July 4 fireworks at Mount Rushmore

In the hope of seeing the rockets’ red glare over the Mount Rushmore National Memorial this Fourth of July and in future years, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem urged a federal appeals court Wednesday to rule that last year’s planned show was illegally canceled by the National Park Service.

International

‘Partygate’ row threatens to end Boris Johnson’s premiership

Boris Johnson came into Downing Street as the mop-haired bad boy of Tory politics who dreamed of becoming a new Winston Churchill. No doubt, he will go down in history as the prime minister who got Brexit done, but now he's watching all his dreams and his own premiership at risk of becoming undone by “Partygate.”

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