Nightly Brief

Your Thursday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including Senate leadership withdrawing the nomination of President Donald Trump’s choice for the Ninth Circuit, as Sen. Tim Scott expressed reservations about racial remarks the nominee made as an undergraduate student; meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee approves seven more of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees, including four to federal appeals courts; a federal judge rules New York City cannot litigate its way out of the climate change crisis; in a bid to discredit a cancer expert who says Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer is carcinogenic, lawyers for the agrichemical giant accuse him of lying under oath; a new study says rising Arctic temperatures force barnacle geese to rush north along their migration routes, but speeding up their trip is not helping their reproduction; scientists at the Natural History Museum of Utah reveal the discovery of fossils belonging to a bony-tailed dinosaur with armor-like skin that walked the earth 76 million year ago; Nigeria could learn Friday at a court in Milan whether it can pursue damages against oil giants Shell and Eni in a sprawling international corruption case, and more.

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National

1.) Senate leadership on Thursday withdrew the nomination of President Donald Trump’s choice for the Ninth Circuit, as Sen. Tim Scott expressed reservations about racial remarks the nominee made as an undergraduate student.

2.) The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved seven more of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees, including four to federal appeals courts.

**3.) ** The Senate on Thursday approved a resolution warning President Donald Trump against letting the Russian government question diplomats and other officials.

**4.) ** Season tickets to the New York Yankees, photos of fine clothing and personal jewelry, and even a receipt for the purchase of a Mercedes-Benz SL550 luxury car were among the items that made the evidence list Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted for Paul Manafort’s upcoming trial in Virginia.

5.) To stave off another lead crisis like that in Flint, Michigan, the Inspector General for the Environmental Protection Agency urged the agency to improve its oversight of state drinking water systems.

Regional

6.) New York City cannot litigate its way out of the climate change crisis, a federal judge ruled Thursday, dismissing a lawsuit against oil giants BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell.

7.) A federal judge hinted Thursday that the U.S. government may have relied on biased information when it decided not to list the weasel-like Pacific fisher as an endangered species.

8.) In a bid to discredit a cancer expert who says Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer is carcinogenic, lawyers for the agrichemical giant accused him on Wednesday of lying under oath about the purported link between Roundup and cancer.

9.) Conceding to Disney, media giant Comcast said Thursday it will stop pursuing assets from 21st Century Fox to focus on battling Fox owner Rupert Murdoch for control of European group Sky, another media company in which Murdoch has ownership stakes.

Science

10.) Rising Arctic temperatures force barnacle geese to rush north along their migration routes, but speeding up their trip is not helping their reproduction according to research published Thursday.

11.) Scientists at the Natural History Museum of Utah on Thursday revealed the discovery of fossils belonging to a bony-tailed dinosaur with armor-like skin that walked the earth 76 million year ago.

International

12.) Nigeria could learn Friday at a court in Milan whether it can pursue damages against oil giants Shell and Eni in a sprawling international corruption case.