Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were hit with a federal lawsuit for the extensive damage they caused to the District of Columbia on Jan. 6; The Senate voted along party lines to raise the debt ceiling; A Belarus opposition leader was sentenced to 18 years in prison, and more.

National

DC goes after extremist groups that led Jan. 6 insurrection

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine filed a federal lawsuit against the far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers on Tuesday for the extensive damage they caused to the District of Columbia on Jan. 6.

D.C. Attorney General Racine announces a lawsuit against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers for their role in planning the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and causing the District of Columbia millions of dollars in damages. (Screenshot via Courthouse News)

Prison time ordered for man who threatened to kill DC mayor and Speaker Pelosi

A Georgia man who drove to Washington with a slew of weapons that he threatened to use against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was sentenced Tuesday to 28 months in prison.

Screenshot of exhibits from the government's case against Cleveland Meredith who brought over 2,500 of rounds of ammunition to Washington the day after the Capitol riot. (Image via Courthouse News)

Senate votes to raise the debt limit

The Senate voted along party lines to raise the debt ceiling Tuesday, paving the way for a House vote to solidify the measure into law and narrowly avoid a default on the nation's debt.

Congressional Democrats voted to increase the debt limit by $2.5 trillion after a one-time agreement to change the rules allowed them to push through the legislation on Dec. 14, 2021.

Christianity continues to decline among US adults

Though they still make up most of the U.S. population, the percentage of Americans identifying as Christian continues to decrease, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Tuesday.

A member of Waldoboro United Methodist Church sings a hymn during a service in Waldoboro, Maine, in June 2021. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Regional

NYC school workers who spurned vaccine orders strike out in court

One day after the Supreme Court denied emergency relief to health care workers who have thumbed New York state's mandate that they get the coronavirus shot, a federal judge shut the door Tuesday on two groups of unvaccinated employees of city schools.

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)

Arizona asks high court for leave to enforce ban on selective abortions

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich raced to the Supreme Court’s shadow docket on Tuesday with an emergency request on behalf of its law banning abortions based solely on the fetus's race, sex or genetics.

Anti-abortion protesters rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington, as the court hears arguments in a case from Mississippi, where a 2018 law would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, well before viability. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

International

Belarus opposition leader sentenced to 18 years

Belarus sentenced Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a businessman and blogger who played a pivotal role in sparking an opposition movement seeking to bring down the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko, to 18 years in prison on Tuesday.

Blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, speaks to people gathered in Minsk, Belarus, in May 2020. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

EU court slaps at Bulgaria for letting child with two moms go stateless

Bulgaria's stance against gay marriage does not justify its denial of a birth certificate to a baby of Bulgarian descent, born in Spain to lesbian parents, the European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday.

(Image by Public Co from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

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