Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned into a grinding war of attrition; Northern California marijuana growers asked a federal judge for more time to prove local police have been running an extortion ring; Wall Street suffered one of its worst months in years, and more.

National

Second Circuit looks askance at $6 billion OxyContin settlement

A three-judge panel on the Second Circuit appeared hesitant to revive a settlement plan with drugmaker Purdue Pharma that would include protections for the individual members of the wealthy Sackler family from all current and future civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids.

"Pill Man" made by Frank Huntley of Worcester, Mass., from his opioid prescription pill bottles, is displayed during a protest by advocates for opioid victims outside the Department of Justice on Dec. 3, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Fire sale on Wall Street continues, with stagflation fears rising

April was one of the worst months for Wall Street in years, as investors were dismayed by data showing a receding economy, even as persistent inflation and rising interest rates put pressure on equities.

A currency trader holds his head at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on April 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Regional

Can you define ‘woman?’ One man may go to jail for his answer

A California man accused of threatening to blow up the offices of the Merriam-Webster dictionary because he objected to the use of the term “gender identity” in its definition of the word “girl” appeared Friday in federal court via Zoom in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the dictionary is headquartered.

Cannabis growers say they can prove Mendocino County shakedown conspiracy

Northern California marijuana growers asked a federal judge for more time to corroborate their claim that local law enforcement agencies have been running an extortion ring in Mendocino County.

(Image by NickyPe from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

Creator of parody Facebook page loses First Amendment case against police

An Ohio man arrested and tried for disruption of public services after he created a parody Facebook page for his local police department cannot pursue First Amendment retaliation claims against the city, the Sixth Circuit ruled Friday.

An iPhone displays a Facebook page. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

International

Russia pounds eastern Ukraine, strikes Kyiv with missiles

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned into a grinding war of attrition with its artillery and air force pounding Ukrainian forces on the battlefield to make way for its infantry to slowly make advances in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Clean-up crews prepare to work at the site of an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine on Friday, April 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Controversial UK voting reforms get last-minute approval

The British government is set to take control of the country’s independent elections regulator and introduce voter identification requirements as part of new and contentious laws that scraped through Parliament this week.

Speaker Lindsey Hoyle, center right, and Lady usher of the Black Rod Sarah Clarke, center left, attend the prorogation ceremony marking the close of the parliamentary session at the House of Commons in London on Thursday, April 28, 2022. (Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament via AP)

Uzbek men lose final appeal to stop deportation from Russia

Europe’s chief rights court gave the go-ahead Friday for Moscow to deport two members of the Uzbek ethnic minority to Kyrgyzstan, finding the group has not been systemically mistreated.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. (hpgruesen/Pixabay via Courthouse News)