Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including President Biden said on the first anniversary of the 2021 insurrection that his predecessor’s “web of lies” is to blame for the attack; Russian paratroops were sent to Kazakhstan to crack down on riots and demonstrations over rising fuel prices; Italy became the first major country to make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for anyone over the age of 50, and more.

National

One year after Jan. 6 attack, fight for justice remains a Herculean task

On the first anniversary of the insurrection, common ground over the attack is as remote for the American public as for the lawmakers, Republican and Democratic alike, whose lives were threatened that day.

Members of the DC National Guard stand outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after a day of rioting protesters. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Biden blames Trump ‘web of lies’ for inciting insurrection

Surrounded by statues of former presidents and activists in the very room through which rioters paraded one year ago, President Joe Biden spoke on the first anniversary of the 2021 insurrection, declaring that blame for the attack belongs to former President Donald Trump and his "web of lies."

President Joe Biden delivers a speech on the first anniversary of the insurrection from Statuary Hall on Jan. 6, 2022. (Screenshot via Courthouse News)

Backbone of Biden’s pandemic response faces high court dissection

An unusual session of arguments is on the horizon as the Supreme Court meets Friday to consider a linchpin of the U.S. strategy for overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic that has killed over 800,000 Americans.

President Joe Biden defends the importance of vaccine mandates at an event in an unfinished data center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, on Oct. 7, 2021. (Credit: White House Press Office via Courthouse News)

Regional

Judge engulfed in sex scandal demands NYAG defense

A former Rochester Supreme Court judge who resigned last year is suing New York Attorney General Letitia James for not defending him against a former secretary who says the judge raped her and made her fellate him in chambers on a monthly basis.

Vanessa Bryant’s lawsuit over graphic images from crash site headed for trial

Vanessa Bryant's lawsuit against Los Angeles County over graphic photos of her dead husband and daughter taken and shared by LA County Sheriff's officers and firefighters should go before a jury, a federal judge ruled late Wednesday.

FILE - This Feb. 26, 2018 file photo shows Vanessa Bryant, from left, Kobe Bryant, Natalia Bryant and Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant at the world premiere of "A Wrinkle in Time" in Los Angeles. Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, died in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. He was 41. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

International

Dozens killed, Russian troops sent to quell riots in Kazakhstan

Dozens of people were killed and hundreds more wounded, according to news reports, as Russian paratroops were sent to Kazakhstan on Thursday to crack down on riots and demonstrations sparked by anger over a rise in fuel prices.

Russian peacekeepers board on a Russian military plane at an airfield outside Moscow to fly to Kazakhstan on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. A Russia-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, said early Thursday that it would send peacekeeper troops to Kazakhstan at the request of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Rights court rejects gay discrimination claim in British cake case

In 2014, Gareth Lee ordered a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan from a Belfast bakery, but the owners refused to make it. Eight years later, the European Court of Human Rights found his claim of discrimination was inadmissible.

(Photo by Kampus Production from Pexels via Courthouse News)

Italy makes Covid shots mandatory for over 50s, Macron targets unvaccinated

With infections exploding globally due largely to the more contagious but less severe omicron variant, Italy has become the first major country to make vaccination mandatory for anyone over the age of 50 and France is seeking to tighten even further rules against the unvaccinated.

People line up at a rapid Covid-19 testing site in Rome on Dec. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

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