Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including President Biden announced five new federal judicial nominees; Wisconsin lawyers brought the heated dispute over drop boxes and other absentee voting rules to the state’s highest judicial body; Ukrainian marines surrendered in Mariupol as the southeastern port city falls under Russian control, and more.

National

With 5 new nominees, Biden marks 90 appointments to federal bench

President Joe Biden announced five new federal judicial nominees Wednesday, three for district court positions and two of them former Obama appointees now being vaulted to the appellate circuits.

Screenshot shows Salvador Mendoza Jr. testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2014 when he was nominated by then-President Barack Obama to serve as a judge in the Eastern District of Washington. (Image via Courthouse News)

Depp friend casts doubt on Heard abuse claims

In an outburst from the witness stand Wednesday, a close friend of Johnny Depp accused the actor’s ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, of having “phony pictures” taken showing bruises on her face before presenting herself as a domestic abuse survivor.

Witness Isaac Baruch testifies in Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard in Fairfax, Va., on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

CDC tacks 2 more weeks onto mask mandate for public transit

Covid-19 control measures have largely relaxed throughout the U.S. alongside a drop in cases in recent months, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it will extend its face mask requirement on public transit for an additional 15 days.

Masked travelers wait for a shuttle bus to arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Regional

Wisconsin justices hear debate on election drop boxes, absentee voting

Wisconsin lawyers brought the heated dispute over drop boxes and other absentee voting rules to the state’s highest judicial body on Wednesday, as critical races for the state’s governorship and a U.S. Senate seat loom in the fall.

The justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and lawyers representing Wisconsin voters, the state elections board, and liberal and conservative partisans prepare for arguments in a lawsuit over voting drop boxes in the high court hearing room in Madison on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (Courthouse News screenshot via WisconsinEye)

Subway shooting suspect arrested in Manhattan

The man accused of firing a gun into a subway car and injuring at least 23 people, leaving five in critical condition, is now in police custody and faces federal terrorism charges.

This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a Crime Stoppers bulletin displaying photos of Frank R. James, who has been identified by police as the renter of a U-Haul van possibly connected to the Brooklyn subway shooting, in New York, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday, April 13, that officials were now seeking James as a suspect. (Courtesy of NYPD via Courthouse News)

International

Mexico City artists resist borough’s attempt to tax public sale of their work

Members of Mexico’s Art Garden Association are defending their right to sell their work in public without being charged the tax the city imposes on artisans, food vendors and the multitude of others who make a living hawking on the streets of the capital.

Visitors appreciate artwork on display at the open-air art market in the San Jacinto Plaza in Mexico City's San Ángel neighborhood. Artists have exhibited and sold their work here every weekend here for decades, the streak only interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. (Cody Copeland/Courthouse News)

Troops surrender in Mariupol, Macron disagrees with Biden genocide charge

About 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in Mariupol as the southeastern port city falls under Russian control, according to Russia’s defense ministry.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)

EU excess mortality fell 20% during 2022 omicron surge

Although excess mortality has climbed with each new variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, the EU reported a significant drop in deaths at the beginning of the year even as omicron spread at record pace throughout the continent.

A person gets vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus as compulsory Covid-19 vaccination starts in Vienna, Austria, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)