Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including Poland's constitutional court has sparked a crisis for the European Union's legal system; Eighteen former professional basketball players are accused of submitting fraudulent reimbursement claims for fictitious medical and dental expenses; A New Yorker who smoked a joint after storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6 accepted a misdemeanor plea deal, and more.

National

Feds say 18 ex-NBA players defrauded league health care to tune of $4 million

With three players still at large, New York's top federal prosecutor announced the indictment Thursday of 18 former professional basketball players and one spouse who are accused of submitting fraudulent reimbursement claims for fictitious medical and dental expenses.

The Department of Justice on Thursday charged 18 former NBA players on counts of health care fraud for filing $3.9 million in false health care reimbursement claims, of which they received $2.5 million in payouts. (Courthouse News Service)

Like the ‘doobie’ guy before him, Capitol weed smoker pleads guilty

A New Yorker who made his way into Senator Jeff Merkley’s office to smoke a joint after storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6 accepted a misdemeanor plea deal — all but escaping the 20-year prison sentence he faced from a felony count in the original indictment.

Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump breach the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Regional

Bankruptcy shields are no match for tribal reach, Chippewa tell 1st Circuit

An Indian tribe accused of abusive debt-collection practices that led to an attempted suicide told the First Circuit Thursday that they do not have to honor bankruptcy protection.

(Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels via Courthouse News)

Federal judge blocks Texas’ 6-week abortion ban

The Texas law considered the nation’s most successful attack on abortion rights was blocked by a federal judge Wednesday evening. Since taking effect in September, the law effectively prevented most abortions, with many border states seeing an influx of Texas residents seeking the procedure.

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)

International

Crisis erupts as Warsaw court declares Polish constitution trumps EU law

Poland's constitutional court set off a legal crisis within the European Union on Thursday by declaring that Poland's constitution and not EU laws are the primary law of the land.

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal is seen in Warsaw in 2017. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP)

WHO urges vaccine sharing to bring pandemic under control

With the coronavirus pandemic's global death toll nearing 5 million, the World Health Organization on Thursday urged rich nations to share more vaccines with the poorest parts of the world to tame the pandemic by the end of the year.

A health worker administers a dose of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in the Medina neighborhood of Dakar, Senegal, in July 2021. (Leo Correa/AP)

Science

New images from Mars point to ancient river delta that formed billions of years ago

A fresh batch of pictures taken by the Perseverance rover on Mars points to the existence of a river delta in one of the planet’s craters that scientists believe was formed by water flow into a massive lake eons ago.

This April 6, 2021, image shows the Perseverance rover, foreground, and the Ingenuity helicopter about 13 feet behind on Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP)

Opinion

The calculator’s tale

The night before the hearing, we scrounged through the law firm for a hand calculator. When it was handed to a state witness the next morning, the result was what lawyers rarely see, the drama of a witness admitting her testimony was false.