Top eight today

Your Tuesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

National

1.) In remarks following the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden defended his decisions and called the evacuation mission an extraordinary success.

2.) A federal judge granted permission for a Texas man who brought weapons to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to head to Louisiana and help with Hurricane Ida relief, volunteer work that the former Marine has done several times before. 

3.) A federal judge ordered a Trump fanatic charged with assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to remain in jail until his trial. 

Regional

4.) A controversial GOP-backed voting restrictions bill has cleared its last hurdle in the Texas Legislature and is now headed to Republican Governor Greg Abbott's desk for a final signature.

5.) At least four people have died as of Tuesday as Hurricane Ida plowed its way through the Southeast, knocking out power for the entire city of New Orleans and temporarily reversing the flow of the Mississippi River.

6.) Animal rights advocacy groups sued the state of Wisconsin on Tuesday to stop a gray wolf hunting and trapping season planned to start this fall and void a state law mandating a wolf hunt in the first place.

7.) In a unanimous ruling Tuesday, a panel of the 11th Circuit found that a rule limiting food-sharing inside Fort Lauderdale parks is unconstitutional as applied to Food Not Bombs’ hosting of free vegan meals for the homeless.

International

8.) Europe’s top rights court found on Tuesday that Russia failed to properly investigate the 2009 murder of a human rights advocate, citing in part Moscow’s refusal to hand over the full case file.