Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including the Eighth Circuit heard oral arguments in a First Amendment case brought by Courthouse News; The Republican National Committee voted unanimously to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates; Russia's flagship vessel in its Black Sea Fleet was severely damaged, and more.

National

Eighth Circuit pushes lawyers over dismissal of Courthouse News First Amendment case

In an hourlong argument Thursday over a lawsuit brought by Courthouse News, an Eighth Circuit judge recounted his own experience with the tradition of paper filing, where new complaints were placed into bins when they were filed and the press and anyone else could look them over right away.

RNC votes to leave presidential debate commission

The Republican National Committee voted unanimously Thursday to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, effectively barring future Republican presidential candidates from participating in the organization’s annual debates.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, right, speaks as Lara Trump, left, listens during a news conference for the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Second Circuit shreds Nunes defamation claims against CNN

Devin Nunes hit a dead end Thursday in his defamation suit against CNN.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif, left, speaks with then-Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in December 2019. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Regional

Charged with terrorism, subway shooting suspect kept in jail

The man accused of shooting 10 New Yorkers on the subway and inciting a panic that injured nearly two dozen more appeared in Brooklyn federal court Thursday, where his attorneys consented to his remaining in jail for the time being.

New York City Police and law enforcement officials lead subway shooting suspect Frank R. James, 62, center, away from a police station, in New York, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Key aspect of California assisted suicide law parsed in federal court

A federal judge appeared to be persuaded that a California law that prevents physicians from administering suicide drugs could be a violation of disability rights if the patients are too physically weak to give themselves the final dose.

An arrangement of oxycodone pills. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

International

Russian warship damaged in Black Sea, Kremlin raises war tone

The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet suffered major damage Wednesday night in what was seen as a big morale boost for Ukraine, which said one of its missiles struck the warship sitting off the coast of Odessa, claims rejected by the Kremlin.

This satellite image shows Russian cruiser Moskva in port Sevastopol in Crimea on April 7, 2022. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Chile and Bolivia wrap World Court hearings in river dispute

Chile had the final word on Thursday in its case against Bolivia, closing two weeks of hearings before the United Nations’ top court over access to a cross-border waterway.

Exterior view of the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch court sentences Afghan man to 12 years for war crimes

A Dutch court on Thursday convicted an Afghan refugee of war crimes for abusing prisoners in Afghanistan in the 1980s and ordered him to spend 12 years behind bars.

The District Court building in The Hague, Netherlands. (Photo courtesy of De Rechtspraak via Courthouse News)