Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including the U.S. labor market added 467,000 jobs; A federal judge urged Vanessa Bryant to settle her lawsuit with Los Angeles County over photos of the remains of her husband and daughter; Turkey’s authoritarian leader is facing his biggest challenge yet, and more.

National

Economy shows resilience in face of omicron, adding 467,000 jobs

American employers added 467,000 jobs in January, a sign the U.S. economy held steady during a surge in coronavirus infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

A hiring sign is seen at a booth during a job fair in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles in September 2021. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

With court integrity on thin ice, the justices are sharpening their skates

Only weeks after a controversy about masking for arguments spurred two rare statements from the Supreme Court on its spirit of collegiality, questions of partisanship are heaping pressure on the justices to make more assurances.

Seated, from left: Justices Samuel A. Alito, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor . Standing, from left: Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. (Fred Schilling/Supreme Court via Courthouse News)

Jury finds Avenatti guilty of stealing from Stormy Daniels

Disgraced celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti was found guilty Friday afternoon of wire fraud and identity theft for having helped himself to nearly $300,000 from a publishing advance paid to his former client Stormy Daniels.

Michael Avenatti speaks to reporters outside the Manhattan federal courthouse on Feb. 2, 2022, the day the jurors began deliberations in the suspended attorney's second criminal trial in the Southern District of New York. (Josh Russell/Courthouse News Service)

Ninth Circuit gives Betsy DeVos a pass on deposition in student debt relief case

A federal judge made a big mistake when he ordered former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to testify in a class action over long delays and mass denials of student debt relief claims, a divided Ninth Circuit panel ruled Friday.

Then-U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos answers questions following a visit to Forsyth Central High School in Cumming, Ga., Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Regional

Winter Storm Landon hammers Midwest, South

Most of the country is still recovering Friday from Winter Storm Landon, which dumped massive amounts of snow, sleet and freezing rain from Texas to New England beginning Tuesday night and lingering into Friday morning for the East Coast.

Traffic along eastbound Interstate 70 near Stadium Blvd. is halted on Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022, in Columbia, Mo., following several accidents after a winter storm dumped about several inches of snow. (Don Shrubshell/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP)

Vanessa Bryant, LA County urged to settle lawsuit over crash site photos

A federal judge urged Vanessa Bryant to settle her lawsuit with Los Angeles County over photographs of the remains of her husband and daughter that were taken and shared by sheriff's officers and firefighters.

FILE - This Feb. 26, 2018 file photo shows Vanessa Bryant, from left, Kobe Bryant, Natalia Bryant and Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant at the world premiere of "A Wrinkle in Time" in Los Angeles. Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, died in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. He was 41. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

International

Northern Ireland in crisis as top minister resigns over Brexit customs checks

Northern Ireland has been plunged into a fresh political crisis after unionist First Minister Paul Givan announced his resignation.

First Minister of Northern Ireland Paul Givan speaks to the media at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, following his announcement that he will resign. (Peter Morrison/PA via AP)

Turkey’s economic crisis tests Erdogan’s power

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the authoritarian leader who's turned his country on its head for better and worse and made it into an undisputed regional power over the past two decades, is facing his biggest challenge yet: A massive financial and economic crisis.

A vendor waits for customers at a food shop, in Ankara, Turkey, on Jan. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

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