Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including hopes for a Ukrainian victory are growing as the war entered its sixth week; The U.S. economy added 431,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6%; Amazon workers in New York City voted to form an independent union, and more.

National

Unemployment rate falls to 3.6% as economy adds 431,000 jobs

American employers added 431,000 jobs in March while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6%, a new pandemic-era low.

A hiring sign is shown at a booth for Jameson's Irish Pub during a job fair in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles in this September 2021 file photo. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

One of the most consequential decisions before the Supreme Court is not on its docket

The Supreme Court is embroiled in a scandal like the institution has never experienced before. With hyper-partisan politics, waning public trust and historic rulings coming to a head, legal experts say what the justices choose to do next could have consequences for the high court’s role in American democracy.

Seated, from left: Justices Samuel A. Alito, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor . Standing, from left: Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. (Fred Schilling/Supreme Court via Courthouse News)

Regional

Los Angeles settles sprawling lawsuit over homelessness crisis

Los Angeles officials announced a deal Friday with the plaintiffs in the LA Alliance lawsuit, which sought to force the city and the county to build more housing to alleviate its homelessness crisis.

Mayor Eric Garcetti announces the city's settlement in the L.A. Alliance homelessness lawsuit (Hillel Aron)

NYC Amazon workers form company’s first US union

Amazon union organizers cheered, hugged and popped champagne in celebration of their historic voting victory Friday, which created the company’s first-ever union in the United States.

Staten Island based Amazon.com Inc distribution center union organizer Chris Smalls celebrates with union members after getting the voting results to unionize Amazon warehouse on Staten Island, N.Y., Friday, April 1, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Rising gas prices are playing the wrong chords for Tennessee’s music scene

Nashville, Tennessee, has been a mecca for professional musicians for decades; artists of every genre are drawn to the Music City. But rising gas prices are stifling up-and-coming acts.

Good Grief plays a show at the Oasis Bar in Birmingham, Alabama, in October 2021. (Photo courtesy of Nate McDaniel/Good Grief)

International

Ukraine hits fuel depot in Russia, retakes areas near Kyiv

Hopes for a Ukrainian victory are growing as the war entered its sixth week on Friday and some Russian troops around Kyiv withdrew under attack from Ukrainian soldiers.

Firefighters work at the site of fire at an oil depot in the Belgorod region of Russia on Friday, April 1, 2022. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)

‘Humanitarian parole’ for Ukrainians highlights racial bias in US immigration policy

Nearly 600 Ukrainian citizens arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, on Thursday, joining the ranks of thousands of others seeking to cross into the United States.

Ukrainian citizens fleeing the Russian invasion of their country gather at a bus stop near the San Ysidro border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, in March 2022 to wait to enter the United States and receive humanitarian parole. (Cody Copeland/Courthouse News)

Bolivia and Chile dispute river rights before World Court

Bolivia and Chile kicked off an expected two weeks of hearings over water access before the U.N.’s high court Friday.

Exterior view of the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

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