Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including a federal judge ordering the federal government to halt deportations of families separated at the border immediately after reuniting them; hours after President Donald Trump held a high-profile meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, the Justice Department announces a 29-year-old woman has been charged of acting as a covert agent inside the U.S. on behalf of a senior Kremlin official; a campaign watchdog group is pressing the Federal Election Commission to investigate how the National Rifle Association spent money in relation to four past senatorial campaigns; on the fourth day of a jury trial over whether Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused a Bay Area man’s deadly lymphoma, a cancer-risk expert and a lawyer for the agrichemical company spar over the evaluation of scientific research on the herbicide’s potential carcinogenicity; a new study says charred remains of food found in a cave indicates hunter-gatherers knew how to bake bread 14,400 years ago; Courthouse News' foreign correspondent Cain Burdeau explores Taranto, Italy, a city residents called "the first city of the dead" due to its serious pollution problems, and more.

Your Monday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including a federal judge ordering the federal government to halt deportations of families separated at the border immediately after reuniting them; hours after President Donald Trump held a high-profile meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the Justice Department announces a 29-year-old woman has been charged of acting as a covert agent inside the U.S. on behalf of a senior Kremlin official; a campaign watchdog group is pressing the Federal Election Commission to investigate how the National Rifle Association spent money in relation to four past senatorial campaigns; on the fourth day of a jury trial over whether Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused a Bay Area man’s deadly lymphoma, a cancer-risk expert and a lawyer for the agrichemical company spar over the evaluation of scientific research on the herbicide’s potential carcinogenicity; a new study says charred remains of food found in a cave indicates hunter-gatherers knew how to bake bread 14,400 years ago; Courthouse News’ foreign correspondent Cain Burdeau explores Taranto, Italy, a city residents called “the first city of the dead” due to its serious pollution problems, and more.

Sign up * for CNS Nightly Brief, a roundup of the day’s top stories delivered directly to your email Monday through Friday.*

National

A mother migrating from Honduras holds her 1-year-old child as surrendering to U.S. Border Patrol agents after illegally crossing the border Monday, June 25, 2018, near McAllen, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

1.) A federal judge on Monday ordered the federal government to halt deportations of families separated at the border immediately after reuniting them.

Court papers unsealed Monday, July 16, 2018, photographed in Washington, shows part of the criminal complaint against Maria Butina. She was arrested July 15, on a charge of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian government. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick

2.) Federal prosecutors announced Monday that they have arrested a 29-year-old woman on charges of acting as a covert agent inside the U.S. on behalf of a senior Kremlin official.

3.) A campaign watchdog group is pressing the Federal Election Commission to investigate how the National Rifle Association spent money in relation to four past senatorial campaigns.

This June 28, 2018 photo shows 184 Kent Avenue in the Brooklyn borough of New York owned by the Kushner Cos. An Associated Press investigation into one of the Kushner Cos.’ largest residential buildings in New York City reveals what some residents say was a campaign that used noisy construction to push rent-stabilized tenants out and bring high-paying condo buyers in. More than a dozen tenants told the AP that they were subjected to relentless banging, drilling, dust and rats. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

4.) Jared Kushner’s family real estate firm was sued Monday by a group of tenants who say dangerous construction work and cancer-causing chemical dust were part of an effort to force them out of their building.

5.) Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai threw cold water on a highly anticipated $3.9 billion merger between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media Monday, saying he had concerns about Sinclair’s divestment if the deal is approved.

Regional

6.) On the fourth day of a jury trial over whether Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused a Bay Area man’s deadly lymphoma, a cancer-risk expert and a lawyer for the agrichemical company sparred over the evaluation of scientific research on the herbicide’s potential carcinogenicity, with neither side emerging a clear winner.

FILE - In this May 3, 2018 file photo, California state Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, poses for photos in his campaign office in Los Angeles. The California Democratic Party has snubbed U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein by giving its endorsement to her rival, de Leon. He won the party nod Saturday, July 14 after a vote of the party's roughly 360-member executive board made up of local officials and party activists. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

7.) California’s Democrat-on-Democrat clash for a U.S. Senate seat ratcheted up over the weekend, as party delegates spurned longtime Senator Dianne Feinstein in favor of progressive candidate Kevin de Leon. But many experts believe Feinstein will win handily in November anyway, despite the delegates’ fervent hopes.

The Ferguson Fire burns near Yosemite National Park on Sunday, July 15, 2018, as seen from El Portal, Calif. (Carrie Anderson via AP)

Science

One of the stone structures of the Shubayqa 1 site. The fireplace, where the bread was found, is in the middle. (Alexis Pantos)

9.) Charred remains of food found in a cave indicates hunter-gatherers knew how to bake bread 14,400 years ago – thousands of years before the advent of agriculture – according to a new study published Monday.

International

10.) “We are the first city of the dead,” Giovanni Scialpi, a street-side mussels vendor in Italy’s bootheel, says without a shadow of a doubt on his face. “Taranto is called the city of the dead. Everything is polluted. The water, the air. Everyone dies from tumors. So many health problems, and it’s always tumors.”

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to our free newsletters

Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.