Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including Russia shattered the world order by launching a full-scale attack on Ukraine; An indictment of former President Donald Trump looks less likely after the breakup of the prosecution team conducting a criminal probe of his business deals; The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments in a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s restrictive abortion law, and more.

National

Biden announces new sanctions on Russia as attack on Ukraine unfolds

U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled a new set of sanctions, clamping down on Russian banks and Russian elites and limiting access to technology commerce Thursday, in response to the Kremlin's large-scale attack on Ukraine.

A woman walks past a TV screen showing images of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden in Tokyo, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Russian troops launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen.” (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Trump criminal probe at crossroads after departure of two prosecutors

Former President Donald Trump's personal attorney is advising him to breathe a sigh of relief after the departure of two prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s criminal probe.

Donald Trump poses with his children, from left, Eric, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, at the opening of the Trump SoHo New York on April 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Trump’s First Amendment lawsuit against Twitter on thin ice

A federal judge signaled a strong inclination Thursday to dismiss former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter for kicking him off its platform in 2021.

Then-President Donald Trump's Twitter feed is seen on a computer screen in 2017. (J. David Ake/AP)

Regional

Texas high court hears challenge to near-total abortion ban

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday in the federal case against a state law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Protesters walk along Jackson St. during the North Texas March for Life, celebrating the passage and court rulings upholding the Texas law known as Senate Bill 8, on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Dallas. (Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

NYC school staff who rebuffed vaccine mandate urge 2nd Circuit for relief

Already more than halfway through the academic calendar, a collection of school workers suspended for refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19 mounted an unlikely bid for an injunction at the Second Circuit.

Students wearing masks board a school bus outside New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math (NEST+m) school on the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)

Former cops convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights

A Minnesota jury on Thursday found three former Minneapolis police officers guilty on all counts of violating George Floyd’s civil rights during his deadly arrest.

In this image from surveillance video, Minneapolis police officers, from left, Tou Thao, Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane are seen attempting to take George Floyd into custody on May 25, 2020. (Court TV via AP, Pool, File)

International

Russia attacks Ukraine, bringing war back to Europe

A major war in Europe broke out in the early hours of Wednesday when Russia launched a full-scale attack against Ukraine, bombing airports and military installations and sending in troops and tanks.

Smoke and flame rise near a military building after an apparent Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Selling tobacco to kids can cost shops their licenses

Stripping a bar of its license for two weeks was not a disproportionate penalty for selling tobacco products to underage kids, the European Court of Justice ruled Thursday.

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay via Courthouse News)