Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including the shelling of Ukrainian cities intensified in a war that has brought the world to the brink of a global catastrophe; President Biden’s climate agenda hung in the balance as the Supreme Court spent two hours probing the government's regulation of carbon emissions; West Coast states are lifting face covering requirements in public schools, and more.

National

Justices won’t hear bid to expand religious exception to worker rights

Avoiding questions of so-called ministerial duty for teachers at religious colleges, the U.S. Supreme Court passed Monday on an appeal from a Christian college in Massachusetts after the state's highest court allowed an employment discrimination case against the school to go to trial.

The Supreme Court is seen in Washington on Sept. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Armed Capitol rioter is first to take insurrection charges to trial

Jury selection began on Monday in the first trial for a Capitol rioter who has spurned the plea deals favored by defendants in similar cases.

The U.S. government says this photo shows Guy Reffitt rinsing his eyes out with water after being sprayed with a chemical irritant at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (DOJ photo via Courthouse News)

Power to regulate coal plant emissions at high court crossroads

President Joe Biden’s climate agenda hung in the balance Monday as the Supreme Court spent two hours probing the government's regulation of carbon emissions.

Emissions rise from the smokestacks at the Jeffrey Energy Center coal power plant near Emmett, Kansas, as the sun sets on Sept. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Regional

West Coast states dump mask mandates for schools

California, Oregon and Washington state will lift face covering requirements in public schools in two weeks, with the states’ Democratic governors saying Monday the continued drop in Covid-19 cases means K-12 students can safely return to school without the defining pandemic symbol.

In this April 13, 2021 file photo kindergarten students participate in a classroom activity on the first day of in-person learning. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)

Judge tosses challenge to California rules for housing pigs

An attempt by Iowa pork producers to block a California law that sets strict requirements for the amount of living space breeding pigs should receive looks in trouble after a federal judge tentatively dismissed their lawsuit.

International

Bombs hit Ukrainian cities as Russian economy sinks

The shelling of Ukrainian cities intensified on Monday as Ukraine and Russia exchanged accusations about war crimes and blamed each other for starting a war that has brought the world to the brink of a global catastrophe.

Ukrainian police rush a traveler to a railway station terminal during an airstrike alarm in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Ukraine fights Russian invasion at Hague court

The Ukrainian government has filed an application with the International Court of Justice, asking that it issue provisional measures against Russia.

View of a building in Kyiv, Ukraine, damaged in a rocket attack on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Top UN court wraps hearings in Rohingya genocide case

The International Court of Justice finished a week of hearings on Monday into whether it has jurisdiction to decide if Myanmar violated a 1948 treaty against genocide.

Rohingya refugees gather near a fence during a government-organized media tour to a no-man's land between Myanmar and Bangladesh, near Taungpyolatyar village, Maung Daw, northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, June 29, 2018. (AP Photo/Min Kyi Thein, File)

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