Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including President Biden nominated D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court; A fierce battle for control of Kyiv is taking place between Russian and Ukrainian forces; A New York judge appeared unlikely to give the National Rifle Association a pass in a case brought by the state attorney general, and more.

National

Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court

President Joe Biden nominated D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court that will be created with Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement at the end of the term.

In this Wednesday, April 28, 2021, file photo, Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Swiping Pelosi’s podium will put Capitol rioter behind bars

A Florida man infamously pictured grinning and waving to the camera as he toted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s podium around the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection was sentenced on Friday to 75 days in prison.

Evidence the government collected against Capitol rioter Adam Johnson includes this photo of him smiling and waving as he carries House Speaker Pelosi's podium around the halls of the government he stormed on Jan. 6, 2021. (Image courtesy of DOJ via Courthouse News)

Regional

New York AG scoffs at gun group’s counterclaims in dissolution suit

A New York judge appeared unlikely Friday to give the National Rifle Association a pass as it faces a campaign by the state attorney general to dissolve the 150-year-old gun group for financial malfeasance.

A protester holds a sign outside the National Rifle Association's headquarters building during a vigil for recent victims of gun violence on Aug. 5, 2019, in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Judge declines to block Arizona AG threat to prosecute elections chief over system takedown

A Maricopa County judge rejected a motion Friday that would have blocked state Attorney General Mark Brnovich from pursuing criminal action against Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs over her plans to take a candidate signature-gathering system offline for maintenance.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.

International

Russian forces advance on Kyiv, face stiff opposition

Russian and Ukrainian forces were engaged in bitter combat in the capital Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine on Friday with casualties mounting in a war that has put Europe and the rest of the world on edge.

Ukrainian soldiers take position on a bridge inside the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Latin American leaders react to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

With Russia launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, international leaders are reacting to the escalating conflict in eastern Europe, including those in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Russian army tanks are loaded onto railway platforms to move back to their permanent base after drills near Ukraine on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Cancún company turning plastic waste into fuel

The company’s patented distillation method has torn down traditional barriers to recycling. Now it aims to scale up capacity to try and make significant change to the crisis of plastics pollution.

The "raw material" Petgas turns into gasoline, diesel and other fuels piles high at its collection center. Its process allows it to overcome the recycling barrier of separating different kinds of plastics. (Cody Copeland/Courthouse News)

UK moves to expand oil and gas drilling amid energy price crisis

The United Kingdom's Committee on Climate Change said it would not object to the government issuing licenses for new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, as Britain faces an escalating gas price crisis and the threat of long-term energy insecurity.

An oil rig in the North Sea. (Claus Bonnerup/Polfoto via AP, File)

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