Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including a landmark report found pervasive sexual abuse of children took place within France's Catholic Church over the past 70 years; A judge refused to let unvaccinated employees of New York City public schools bypass a deadline to get their Covid-19 shots; A former product manager for Facebook told lawmakers the company consistently chose profits over public safety, and more.

National

Facebook whistleblower urges senators to regulate social media

Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee who shared internal documents with regulators and the Wall Street Journal, urged Congress on Tuesday to strengthen online privacy regulations and demand transparency from the tech giant.

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies during a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Pool via AP)

Sandy Hook families want information kept away from Alex Jones

Worried that a standard protective order is not enough to keep Alex Jones in line, families of teachers and children slain nearly a decade ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School say the court must go to extra lengths to protect their privacy in a defamation suit against the conspiracy theorist.

This Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, file photo shows radio show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones at Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Justices grapple with hearsay used to close slain toddler case

The Supreme Court held its cards close to the vest Tuesday as it considered whether the government's duty to correct a criminal defendant's misleading testimony outweighs his Sixth Amendment right to confront an accuser.

(Image by Adam Love from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

Regional

Unvaxxed NYC school staff denied emergency free pass

Ruling from the bench Tuesday morning, a federal judge denied a temporary restraining order to nine unvaccinated employees of New York City public schools who could be suspended or fired for refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

New York City teachers and other school staff members had until Monday, Oct. 4, to be vaccinated against Covid-19 — one of the first districtwide mandates responding to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Ninth Circuit freezes California ban on private prisons

Siding with the for-profit prison industry, a divided Ninth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday that California’s ban on private prisons is unconstitutional as it undercuts the federal government’s ability to execute immigration policy.

Detainees exercise at an ICE processing center in California. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

Derby winner can’t halt suspension effort by NY racing body

Finding that the New York Racing Association had patched constitutional issues from the first go-around, a federal judge refused Tuesday to issue a contempt order against it as the trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit faces a protracted suspension battle.

Horse trainer Bob Baffert leaves federal court in the Brooklyn, New York, on July 12, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

International

Report: 330,000 children sexually abused in French Catholic Church since 1950

An independent commission on Tuesday estimated at least 330,000 children within France's Catholic Church institutions were sexually abused since 1950, a finding that left the deeply Roman Catholic nation in shock and anger.

Jean-Marc Sauve, president of an independent commission, arrives at a news conference on the commission’s report into sexual abuse by church officials in Paris on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Thomas Coex, Pool via AP)

In Paris, Blinken seeks to repair relations with France

With U.S.-French relations at an extremely low point following France's exclusion from an Indo-Pacific military pact, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tried to smooth out tensions during a visit to Paris this week.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, meets with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)

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