Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including President Biden ordered the release of 50 million barrels of oil from America's emergency stockpile; Jurors began deliberations in the trial over the killing of Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery; The European Court of Justice asserted its power over national courts, and more.

National

To combat sky-high gas, energy prices, US to tap oil reserves

President Joe Biden ordered the release of 50 million barrels of oil from America's emergency stockpile on Tuesday in response to soaring gas and energy prices.

Total refinery site in Port Arthur, Texas. (Guillaume PERRIN, Total, via Courthouse News)

Apple sues Israeli spyware firm to stop iPhone hacks

Calling out an Israeli spyware firm for helping authoritarian governments hack into the phones of journalists and dissidents, global technology giant Apple sued NSO Group on Tuesday, less than three weeks after it was blacklisted by the United States.

A logo adorns a wall on a branch of the Israeli NSO Group company, near the southern Israeli town of Sapir, Aug. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

Most Americans blame people or society instead of God for bad things

Most Americans say people or society are to blame rather than God for bad things such as the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a groundbreaking survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

Parishioners wear face masks as they attend an in-person Mass at Christ the King Catholic Church in San Antonio in 2020. (Eric Gay/AP)

Regional

Jury begins deliberations in trial over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery

After nearly two weeks of arguments and testimony from 30 witnesses, jurors began deliberations Tuesday to determine the guilt or innocence of three white Georgia men charged with murder for killing 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.

Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski makes her final rebuttal before the jury begins deliberations in the trial over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (Octavio Jones/Pool Photo via AP)

LA to send outreach workers to nonviolent 911 calls involving homeless

Starting in December, Los Angeles will begin a bold experiment and send unarmed outreach workers and trained crisis responders instead of police officers to respond to nonviolent homelessness-related 911 calls.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaking at a press conference about homelessness. Behind him is, left to right, City Council members Monica Rodriguez, Mike Bonin, MItch O'Farrell, Deputy Mayor Che Ramirez, and CIRCLE team members (Hillel Aron/Courthouse News)

International

EU court asserts its power over highest one in Hungary

The European Court of Justice asserted its power over national courts Tuesday after it found that Hungary's high court unlawfully blocked a judge in Budapest from getting the EU court to weigh in on legal questions.

Supporters of Hungary's political opposition display a banner during a 2017 anti-government protest at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. (Balazs Mohai/MTI via AP)

Belarus-Poland border grows calmer, but tensions remain

Tensions are easing along the border between Poland and Belarus after Minsk removed makeshift camps where hundreds of asylum seekers were staying in the hope to get into the European Union.

Migrants rest inside a logistics center at a checkpoint on the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (Andrey Pokumeiko/BelTA via AP)

Russia loses pair of religious freedom cases at European rights court

Two fringe religious groups won cases against Russia before Europe’s top rights court on Tuesday.

The Kremlin in Moscow, the seat of the Russian government. (Peggy_Marco/Pixabay via Courthouse News)

Categories / Closing Arguments

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.