Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including European and NATO leaders are worried Russia is planning an invasion of Ukraine; A federal magistrate knocked down a defensive wall that state court clerks have been hiding behind while they resist the First Amendment right of access; The wife of the drug kingpin known as “El Chapo” was sentenced to three years in prison, and more.

National

El Chapo’s wife sentenced to 3 years for helping run drug cartel

The wife of one of the most powerful known drug traffickers in the world, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, was sentenced to 36 months in prison on Tuesday for her involvement in the Sinaloa Cartel.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, center, wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, arrives for his sentencing at Brooklyn federal court in July 2019. (Mark Lennihan/AP)

Medicare drug-pricing case puts deference standard in high court’s crosshairs

The high court’s justices toyed with overturning the cornerstone doctrine on agency deference Tuesday in oral arguments over a government reimbursement scheme alleged to underfund safety-net hospitals.

At her home in Longwood, Fla., retiree Donna Weiner shows some of the daily prescription medications that cost her over $6,000 a year through a Medicare prescription drug plan on Oct. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Trump effort to block Jan. 6 probe runs aground at DC Circuit

A three-judge panel appeared ready, during a nearly-four-hour hearing at the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday, to reject attempts by former President Donald Trump to withhold nearly 800 pages of documents regarding the Capitol riot from the Jan. 6 select committee.

Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington as Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Regional

Federal report in Texas knocks out central defense by clerks fighting First Amendment

A federal magistrate in Texas on Monday knocked down a defensive wall that state court clerks have been hiding behind while they resist the First Amendment right of access.

LA shopping malls get reprieve from vaccination mandate for entry

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to remove shopping malls from the list of indoor venues that must require customers to show proof of Covid vaccination before entering.

The Beverly Center, in 2004 (John Lopez / Flickr)

International

Immunity for European central bankers limited to official acts, EU court rules

A former European central banker is not immune from bribery charges brought by the Latvian government, the European Union’s top court ruled Tuesday.

A man walks past the Euro sculpture outside the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

War fears hang over Ukraine as Russia spars with NATO

Could a major war break out between Russia and Ukraine? As unlikely as this is, European and NATO leaders are worried Moscow is planning an invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a video call of the VTB Capital "Russia Calling!" Investment Forum in Moscow on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Romanian tennis star loses human rights case over article on debt

A Romanian newspaper didn’t violate the rights of a billionaire ex-tennis star when it wrote about his unpaid taxes, the European Court of Human Rights held Tuesday.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. (hpgruesen/Pixabay via Courthouse News)