Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including Italy began enforcing one of the world's strictest vaccination mandates; The Justice Department is asking the Supreme Court to block Texas’ six-week abortion ban; Regulators paved the way for Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 booster shots, and more.

National

Boosters are 3 for 3: FDA rounds out week with J&J endorsement

Regulators paved the way Friday for those who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to up their waning immunity.

A nurse draws a syringe full of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine at a clinic at Mother's Brewing Company in Springfield, Mo., on June 22, 2021. (Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via AP)

Biden administration is taking Texas abortion war to top court

Just one day after the Fifth Circuit held that Texas’ near-total ban on abortions would remain in effect while it is challenged in court, the Justice Department said Friday it will keep the fight alive.

Jillian Dworin participates in a Sept. 1, 2021, protest at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, against the six-week abortion ban. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)

Former Nevada AG testifies to chasing ‘clownish’ Giuliani crony Lev Parnas for donations

Pressed by the defense during cross-examination Friday morning, former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt testified to having badgered Lev Parnas on a daily basis for last-minute campaign donations in 2018, even though the Republican candidate had considered the Ukrainian fundraiser to be a novice “clownish guy with a gold chain” and “a Brooklyn guy with a Florida home.”

Lev Parnas, left, a Rudy Giuliani associate with ties to Ukraine, walks outside the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Commission on Supreme Court reform struggles to find common ground

In their first full public meeting on Friday, members of President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court commission expressed strong opposition to the panel's own draft materials released less than 24 hours earlier suggesting resistance to court expansion.

The Supreme Court is seen in Washington on Sept. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Winning October continues, as corporate earnings and retail sales surprise

Starting the week off slow, markets hit their stride after a raft of positive corporate earnings and retail sales data caused investors to rally.

The New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan. (Barbara Leonard /Courthouse News Service)

Regional

Federal judge declines to block Washington state vaccine mandate for state workers

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate for public sector employees, educators and health care workers will go into effect Monday after a federal judge in Seattle declined to block it during a hearing Friday.

A worker readies syringes with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Protester accuses Kenosha cops of conspiring with armed militia members

A man shot by a counterprotester at an anti-police brutality demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year sued the city, county, law enforcement chiefs and unknown cops late Thursday, saying they coordinated with right-wing militia members to use violence and threats to unconstitutionally clamp down on protesters.

Gaige Grosskreutz, top, tends to an injured protester during clashes with police outside the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 25, 2020. (David Goldman/AP)

International

Italy heads into uneasy waters, forcing workers to show health pass

Italy began enforcing one of the world's strictest vaccination mandates on Friday by requiring all workers to present a coronavirus health pass or face being suspended without pay, a decree that leaves more than 2 million workers at risk of falling foul of the law.

People hold a banner reading “no green pass” during a protest in Rome on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)