Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including the Supreme Court received nine emergency applications challenging a federal Covid-19 vaccine mandate; Donald Trump sued New York’s attorney general to stop an investigation into his business dealings; Christmas festivities in Europe are once again being overshadowed by the pandemic, and more.

National

Challenges mount at high court over OSHA vaccine-or-test mandate

The Supreme Court received nine emergency applications on Monday morning challenging the federal mandate for businesses with over 100 employees to require Covid-19 vaccinations or weekly testing.

A medical staff member prepares the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at Tudor Ranch in Mecca, California, on Jan. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Trump sues to block fraud investigation ramping up in New York

Former President Donald Trump sued New York’s attorney general on Monday to stop an investigation into his business dealings, days after her office announced that it plans to subpoena Trump to testify.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announces a federal lawsuit Sept. 25, 2019, that challenges the trend of immigration raids at state courthouses. At right is Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who collaborated in the suit. (Josh Russell/Courthouse News Service)

Maxwell closing arguments: ‘She was in on the whole thing’

Ghislaine Maxwell “ran the same playbook over and over and over again as she exploited young girls,” federal prosecutors told jurors on Monday morning, delivering their closing argument in the criminal sex trafficking trial of the woman said to have recruited and groomed victims for sexual abuse by late millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein.

This courtroom sketch shows jurors seated according to Covid-19 health guidleines during the Ghislaine Maxwell sex abuse trial in New York on Dec. 9, 2021. (Elizabeth Williams/AP)

Regional

First Amendment action filed against clerks in California’s Central Valley

After years of petitioning for timely access, Courthouse News has filed a First Amendment action against court clerks in Merced, Stanislaus, Yolo, Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties.

The Yolo County, California, Courthouse in Woodland. (Chris Marshall/Courthouse News)

Defense urges jury to acquit Kim Potter: ‘A mistake is not a crime’

Attorneys in former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter’s manslaughter trial made their closing arguments Monday, summarizing their cases for whether or not Potter should be held liable for the April shooting death of 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright.

Defense attorney Earl Gray delivers closing arguments in former police officer Kim Potter’s manslaughter trial at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

International

Omicron fears cast gloom over Christmas in Europe

With new coronavirus cases soaring across Europe, Christmas festivities are once again being overshadowed by the pandemic as countries impose tougher restrictions to keep their health systems intact.

A couple wears face masks to curb the spread of Covid-19 as they walk through a Christmas market in Nottingham, England, on Monday Dec. 20, 2021. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Leftist millennial wins election as Chile’s next president

Chilean voters have elected leftist Gabriel Boric as president after winning 56% of the vote in the second round, beating José Antonio Kast, an ultraconservative and staunch defender of the Pinochet dictatorship which ruled the country from 1973 to 1990.

Supporters of Gabriel Boric, of the "I approve Dignity" coalition, gather at his election day headquarters after polls closed and partial results were announced in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Prosecution begins closing statements in MH17 trial

Prosecutors on Monday started a multiday presentation in a high-security courtroom in the Netherlands summarizing their case against four men accused of shooting down a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine seven years ago.