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Wednesday, April 23, 2025

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Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump taking issue with “each and every part” of an order that advanced defamation claims against him from former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos; Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin tells Congress the president's request that the Commerce Department reconsider sanctions against ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications company, was not born from a “quid pro quo”; the Environmental Protection Agency bars the Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E from a national summit on harmful water contaminants; a California judge rules Pacific Gas and Electric must face claims that its power lines sparked at least some of the Wine Country wildfires that killed 44 people and caused billions of dollars in damage last fall; citizen scientists in France and several French territories discover five species of hammerhead flatworms; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tells the European Parliament he regrets the company’s role in recent privacy and political scandals, and more.

Your Tuesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump taking issue with “each and every part” of an order that advanced defamation claims against him from former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos; Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin tells Congress the president’s request that the Commerce Department reconsider sanctions against ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications company, was not born from a “quid pro quo”; the Environmental Protection Agency bars the Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E from a national summit on harmful water contaminants; a California judge rules Pacific Gas and Electric must face claims that its power lines sparked at least some of the Wine Country wildfires that killed 44 people and caused billions of dollars in damage last fall; citizen scientists in France and several French territories discover five species of hammerhead flatworms; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tells the European Parliament he regrets the company’s role in recent privacy and political scandals, and more.

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**National **

1.) President Donald Trump brought an appeal Monday night to New York’s highest court, taking issue with “each and every part” of an order that advanced defamation claims against him from former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos.

Joined by her attorney Michael Avenatti, porn actress Stormy Daniels sat down with the co-hosts of “The View” on April 17, 2018, for her first live television interview, joined in studio by her attorney Michael Avenatti. (ABC/Heidi Gutman)

**2.) ** Embattled Trump attorney Michael Cohen is leaking audio tapes about Stormy Daniels, an attorney for the porn actress told a federal judge Tuesday.

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2014, file photo, people gather at the ZTE booth at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show in Barcelona, Spain. Chinese telecommunications company ZTE has halted its main operations after U.S. authorities cut off its access to American suppliers as President Donald Trump steps up pressure over trade and technology issues with Beijing. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

3.) President Donald Trump’s request that the Commerce Department reconsider sanctions against ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications company, was not born from a “quid pro quo” agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told senators Tuesday.

4.) The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday barred the Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E from a national summit on harmful water contaminants.

A rack of burned bottles of wine are seen at the Signorello Estate winery Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, in Napa, Calif. Worried California vintners surveyed the damage to their vineyards and wineries Tuesday after wildfires swept through several counties whose famous names have become synonymous with fine food and drink. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

7.) Pacific Gas and Electric must face claims that its power lines sparked at least some of the Wine Country wildfires that killed 44 people and caused billions of dollars in damage last fall, a California judge ruled Monday.

The head office of Valeant Pharmaceuticals in Montreal, Canada, is pictured here in 2013. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP, File) MANDATORY CREDIT

8.) A federal jury returned guilty verdicts Tuesday morning in the fraud trial of former executives from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and the mail-order pharmacy it helped create.

9.) The Houston Texans stiff its cheerleaders for the hours they spend in the gym and at official team events, and fires them for complaining about the squad’s weight-shaming coach, a former cheerleader claims in a federal class action.

10.) A former Service Employees International Union executive filed a $2 million defamation lawsuit claiming he was fired amid a widely reported harassment investigation even though his employee file shows that no female staffers ever accused him of misconduct.

Shown is the Robert Indiana sculpture "LOVE" in John F. Kennedy Plaza, commonly known as Love Park, in Philadelphia, onMay 21, 2018. Indiana, best known for his 1960s LOVE series, died from respiratory failure on May 19, 2018, at his home in Maine, Indiana's attorney said. He was 89. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

11.) Describing a $30 million forgery scheme, the longtime patron of pop artist Robert Indiana claims in a federal complaint that an art publisher is exploiting the elderly creator of the iconic “LOVE” sculpture.

**Science **

Hammerhead flatworm discovered in French Guyana. (Sebastien Sant)

12.) Five species of hammerhead flatworms, two of which may be new discoveries, have been found by citizen scientists in France and several French territories on other continents.

**International **

Global citizens movement Avaaz display life-sized Zuckerberg cutouts near the EU Commission to protest against fake Facebook accounts spreading disinformation on the platform, in Brussels, Tuesday, May 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

13.) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the European Parliament on Tuesday he regretted the company’s role in recent privacy and political scandals.

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