Top eight today

Top eight stories for today including the Kremlin lashed out as the West calls for Russia's defeat in Ukraine; The First Circuit appeared primed to sign off on the conclusion of Puerto Rico’s lengthy bankruptcy proceedings; Texas sued the Biden administration to block it from enacting a new asylum rule, and more.

National

Biden asks Congress to pass $33 billion in Ukrainian aid

President Joe Biden urged Congress on Thursday to allocate $33 billion to help Ukraine’s military push back against Russia’s ongoing invasion of the former Soviet republic, the largest funding request to come from the White House since the invasion began.

President Joe Biden speaks about the war in Ukraine in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Texas sues to block Biden asylum reforms

Texas sued the Biden administration Thursday to block it from enacting a proposed rule it says will make it easier for immigrants with meritless asylum claims to avoid deportation and stay in the United States.

A man waits on the Mexican side of the border on the beach in Tijuana in January 2022 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained his group attempting to cross. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

Biden’s pollution tabulations drive challenge from GOP-led states

Ten Republican-led states asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to put a halt to the Biden administration’s efforts to calculate the costs of greenhouse gas emissions.

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Regional

Resolution of Puerto Rico bankruptcy in final stretch

Against complaints from police officers, a prominent dairy company and a group of Puerto Rican credit unions that say they are being shortchanged in debt-restructuring efforts, the First Circuit appeared primed Thursday to sign off on the conclusion of the island’s lengthy bankruptcy proceedings.

(Illustration by Carlos Ayala/Courthouse News Service)

Pay-transparency law coming to NYC hit with delay

Just a few weeks before a measure aimed at leveling income disparities was set to go into effect, New York’s City Council voted to push back the deadline for businesses. But legislation passed Thursday also makes it clear that jobs with hourly wages are included in the measure.

New York City Councilmember Natansha Williams explains her vote in favor of amendments to a pay-transparency law that requires business owners to publicize the range of salary and hourly pay for job openings. (Screenshot via Courthouse News)

California AG subpoenas ExxonMobil for information on plastic pollution problem

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced he would begin investigating major petrochemical companies for their role in creating global plastic pollution problems. His first target: ExxonMobil.

Piles of bags of plastic and other waste. (Pixabay via Courthouse News)

International

Western support for Ukraine grows, Russia warns of ‘lightning-fast’ response

With the West calling for Russia's defeat in Ukraine, the Kremlin is lashing out and warning that Europe's security is at risk. The conflict is in its third month and the risk of an even larger war breaking out is growing.

Locals remove debris from destroyed houses after a Russian rocket, hit by Ukraine's anti-aircraft system, fell in a residential area of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

German consumer watchdog can sue Meta, top EU court rules

Ruling against Facebook’s parent company Meta, the European Court of Justice found on Thursday that Germany’s consumer protection association can sue the social media giant for privacy breaches.