Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including Donald Trump was arraigned in New York City Criminal Court; The saga of an embattled Maryland government official ended with gunfire in Tennessee; Kosovo’s former president denied the war crimes charges against him, and more.

National

Trump pleads not guilty to hush money criminal indictment

A decadeslong record of alleged business improprieties that have met with few major consequences finally ended Tuesday with the arraignment in New York City Criminal Court of Donald Trump.

An anti-Trump demonstrator waves a "TRUMP FELONY" sign at the pro-Trump rally outside of the Manhattan criminal courthouse ahead of former president's arraignment on April 4, 2023. (Josh Russell/Courthouse News)

Republicans ratchet up pressure on Manhattan DA ahead of Trump arraignment

In the hours before President Donald Trump turned himself in to authorities investigating a 2016 hush money scandal, House Republicans doubled down on claims that the whole exercise is political theater.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg at a news conference on Feb. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Fraudster whom Trump let out of prison denied high court relief

The Supreme Court advanced a $40 million judgment Tuesday against a man who swindled millions of dollars from the U.S. health care system but got his prison sentence cut short.

The Supreme Court building in Washington on Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Regional

Manhunt ends in death of former aide to Maryland governor

The saga of an embattled Maryland government official ended with gunfire in Tennessee on Monday night.

Roy McGrath, the former chief executive officer of the Maryland Environmental Service, speaks during a news conference at the State House in Annapolis, Md., on April 15, 2020. (Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

Massachusetts gun sale rules go before First Circuit

The First Circuit heard arguments Tuesday in one of several suits challenging gun regulations in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision creating new tests for such rules, this one seeking to overturn a Massachusetts law that forbids retailers from selling handguns that do not meet a number of safety standards.

International

Defense argues ex-president of Kosovo had no control over militia fighters

Kosovo’s former president denied the war crimes charges against him on Tuesday, telling a special tribunal that he expects to be “vindicated” at the end of the proceedings.

Supporters of former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci and three other war crimes defendants protest in The Hague, Netherlands, on Monday, April 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Rents rise, housing prices fall in European Union

Over the past year, housing prices in the European Union and eurozone rose 2.9% and 3.6%, respectively, according to data released Tuesday by Eurostat, representing a big decline from the third quarter of last year, when prices were up 7.3% annually in the EU and 6.6% in the eurozone.

Housing prices in the European Union and eurozone have increased as much as 47% since 2012 and reached a peak in late 2021, but have begun to fall in recent months. (Eurostat via Courthouse News)

Science

Politics shown to drive school priorities on diversity and globalization

Most school districts say they are preparing students for the future, but whether that future prioritizes diversity or the rest of the world can in part be linked to the surrounding area’s political affiliation, according to a Pew Research Center analysis published Tuesday.

(Steve Buissinne/Pixabay via Courthouse News)

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