Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including the EU’s top court slammed Poland's justice minister for undermining the independence of judges; A town of 600 people in south-central Missouri is the new center of the U.S. population; Debate about the efficacy of President Biden's immigration policies took center stage at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, and more.

National

Senate Republicans roast Homeland Security secretary over Biden agenda

The Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing in three years on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, with Republicans taking the meeting as a chance to criticize U.S. immigration policies amid historic levels of pressure at the southern border.

Screenshot shows Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Nov. 16, 2021. (Image via Courthouse News)

Sex-trafficking trial spun off from Epstein probe kicks off with jury selection

From a 231-person pool down to a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates, a weeklong process prefacing the trial of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex-ring recruiter commenced Tuesday morning.

Ghislaine Maxwell attends a 2013 press conference at United Nations headquarters. Now 59, Maxwell is to go before a federal jury in Manhattan later this month on charges she groomed underage victims to have unwanted sex with her former boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein. (United Nations Photo/Rick Bajornas via AP)

Capitol rioter fights to suppress self-disparaging FBI interview

A man who used a stun gun on a police officer during the Jan. 6 insurrection asked a federal judge Tuesday to have his incriminatory FBI interview erased from the record, saying agents took advantage of his emotional state.

Insurrections loyal to President Donald Trump riot outside the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Regional

Small Missouri town designated as heart of US population

The U.S. Census Bureau announced on Tuesday that the center of the country's population is near Hartville, a town of about 600 people in the central southern area of Missouri.

Businesses at the intersection of Main and Rolla streets in Hartville, Mo., home to about 600 people. (Brian Stansberry/Wikipedia via Courthouse News)

Denver appeals court-ordered 7-day notice for homeless sweeps

Attorneys for the city of Denver asked a 10th Circuit panel on Tuesday to overturn a federal judge's order requiring the city to give a week's notice before clearing out encampments of unhoused people, or 48 hours’ notice with documentation of a public health and safety emergency.

Once the site of a homeless encampment across from the state capitol building, Lincoln Park was closed by the City and County of Denver throughout 2020. (Amanda Pampuro/Courthouse News)

International

EU court blasts Polish official’s political influence over judges

The European Union's top court on Tuesday ruled that Poland's justice minister, the chief architect of his country's controversial judicial reforms, has been given unlawful control over judicial appointments.

Police stand outside the Supreme Court in Warsaw, Poland, on May 6, 2021, while the court’s disciplinary chamber examines the case of a judge. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP)

Hungary’s ‘Stop Soros’ bill ruled illegal by top EU court

The EU's top court struck out at Hungary on Tuesday for passing a law dubbed the Stop Soros bill to criminalize refugee aid.

This photo shows a 2016 protest in Budapest where a banner depicting Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban with the slogan "mini-prime minister" was on display. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Not a done deal yet: Germany blocks Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline

Germany added to the rising tensions between the European Union and Russia on Tuesday by holding off on certifying a controversial Russian natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea.

Pipe systems and shut-off devices are pictured at a natural gas receiving station in Lubmin, Germany, on Tuesday, Nov 16, 2021. (Stefan Sauer/dpa via AP)