Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including an election victory by pro-EU parties in the Czech Republic lets Brussels breathe a bit easier; California enshrined the right of journalists covering protests to access and report from areas closed off by police; Southwest Airlines has canceled over 2,200 flights in recent days, and more.

National

Southwest Airlines cancels more than 2,200 flights, reason unclear

Southwest Airlines canceled more than 360 flights Monday, pushing the total number of flights canceled by the airline over 2,200 since the weekend began.

A Southwest Airlines jet takes off from Love Field in Dallas in June 2020. (Tony Gutierrez/AP)

Fate of Boston Marathon bomber faces Supreme Court reckoning

In the midst of a moratorium on the death penalty for federal cases but little headway otherwise on President Joe Biden's campaign promise to end capital punishment in the United States, the Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear the Justice Department's appeal to reinstate the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

A courtroom sketch shows Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, center, standing with his defense attorneys at the Moakley federal courthouse in the penalty phase of his trial in Boston on May 15, 2015. (Jane Flavell Collins via AP)

Regional

California boosts protections for journalists covering protests

California has enshrined the right of journalists covering protests and civil demonstrations to access and report from areas closed off by law enforcement under a press freedom law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

A road sign warns protesters of the use of chemical agents for failure to disperse after a protest was declared unlawful on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP photo/Christian Monterrosa)

Judge signs off on 2-year sentence for ex-CEO behind failed nuclear facility

A two-year prison sentence for the former CEO of a South Carolina energy company who pleaded guilty to defrauding ratepayers received final approval on Monday from a state circuit judge.

Kevin Marsh, then-CEO of SCANA Corp., speaks to the media at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, S.C., in 2016. (Chuck Burton/AP)

International

Czech elections give EU a lift in clash of values in Central Europe

European Union leaders are breathing a bit easier after Czech voters delivered a weekend electoral loss to their billionaire and scandal-racked prime minister, Andrej Babis, who's grown into another Central European leader eager to challenge Brussels and its liberal democratic norms.

Andrej Babis, the Czech Republic's prime minister and leader of centrist ANO movement, holds his ballot at a polling station in Lovosice, Czech Republic, on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (Petr David Josek/AP)

Battle over EU budget rule kicks off at bloc’s top court

The European Union's attempt to rein in Poland and Hungary’s deteriorating judiciary is facing a major challenge before the bloc’s highest court.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, left, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attend a news conference in Lublin, Poland, in September 2020. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP)

Global arbitrators tackle naval incident that ratcheted Russia-Ukraine tensions

Moscow got in the first word Monday as the Permanent Court of Arbitration kicked off a week of hearings into the capture of three Ukrainian naval ships in the Kerch Strait, a narrow pass that connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.

The Peace Palace in The Hague, in the Netherlands, is home to both the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. (Peter Dejong/AP)

Science

Tobacco used 9,000 years earlier than previously thought, study finds

On an Air Force bombing range in western Utah, a team has found evidence that tobacco may have been enjoyed far earlier than previously thought

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