U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont underwent surgery Thursday after he broke his hip in a fall at his home. A spokesman for the 82-year-old Democrat says Leahy is “comfortably recovering” at a Washington area hospital after successful surgery. Leahy fell Wednesday night at his home in McLean, Virginia. Doctors said the best course of action was to have surgery as soon as possible. He is expected to make a full recovery and begin physical therapy. Leahy is the longest-serving sitting senator. He announced in November that he will not seek reelection this fall.

A prosecutor says Nipsey Hussle was a hip-hop star who sought to raise up his neighborhood with him until a friend from the same streets gunned him down. Deputy District Attorney John McKinney sought to humanize Hussle for jurors in his closing arguments at the trial of Eric Holder on Thursday. Holder's attorney Aaron Jansen told jurors that Holder was acting in the heat of passion after being publicly called a snitch by Hussle, a famous person whose words carried great weight in the world the two lived in. He said jurors should instead find Holder guilty of voluntary manslaughter.

The Supreme Court ruling limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants could have far-reaching consequences for the energy sector. It could also make it harder for the Biden administration to meet its goal of having the U.S. power grid run on clean energy by 2035. The nation has been gradually transitioning away from coal to cleaner sources of electricity such as natural gas, solar energy and wind, often because they are less expensive. The ruling could slow the transition to clean energy in the future because it imposes constraints on what the EPA can do without exceeding its legal authority.

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a sweeping inquiry into the New York Police Department unit that investigates sex crimes following years of complaints about the way it treats crime victims. The civil rights investigation announced Thursday will review the department’s Special Victims Division to examine whether it engages in a pattern of gender-biased policing. Justice Department officials say they will be reaching out to community groups and the public to learn about their interactions with the division. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace says the NYPD has already taken steps to address concerns, but authorities want to ensure sex assault victims are treated fair in the future.

A Florida judge says he will temporarily block the state's 15-week abortion ban. The judge said Thursday that ban violates the state’s constitution and he will issue an order blocking it, but not before it is scheduled to take effect Friday. In Kentucky, a judge has temporarily blocked that state’s near-total ban on the procedure triggered by the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. The cases reflect battles being waged in courts across the country after the Supreme Court left it up to the states to decide whether abortion is legal within their borders.