USA

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Mourners will gather Friday at the funeral for Patrick Lyoya, a Black man who was fatally shot in the back of the head after a traffic stop and struggle with a white police officer in Michigan.

Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at the family’s request. Their lawyer, prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, also will speak at Renaissance Church of God in Christ in Grand Rapids.

SEATTLE (AP) — President Joe Biden is taking steps to restore national forests that have been devastated by wildfires, drought and blight, using an Earth Day visit to Seattle to sign an executive order protecting some of the nation’s largest and oldest trees.

Old-growth trees are key buffers against climate change and provide crucial carbon sinks that absorb significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told fellow GOP lawmakers shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection that he would urge then-President Donald Trump to resign, according to audio posted by The New York Times and aired on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show .

21 April 2022; MEMO: The White House has given up on asking Saudi Arabia to pump more oil after being repeatedly rebuffed by the Kingdom, The Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the report, the act from the US came with the latest sign of a growing rift between the two nations.

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five European countries called for an end to clashes in Jerusalem following a weekend of violence surrounding a holy site, in a joint statement issued after an emergency closed-door UN Security Council session.

  The United Arab Emirates and China did not join the statement, despite being among the countries that called the meeting.

WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden pledged $800 million in more weaponry for Ukraine on Thursday and said he would ask Congress for more money to help bolster support for the Ukrainian military as it faces a fresh onslaught by Russia on its eastern flank.

Addressing Americans from the White House's Roosevelt Room, Biden pledged to send heavy artillery, dozens of howitzers, and 144,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as tactical drones, as he called on Congress for supplemental funding to provide additional aid for Kyiv.

UNITED NATIONS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday strongly condemned Tuesday's terrorist attack against a school and an education center in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

According to the statement issued by council president for the month of April, Barbara Woodward, the council members condemned "in the strongest terms" the horrendous terrorist attack against the Abdul Rahim-e Shahid High School and Mumtaz Education Center in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of Kabul, Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The Biden administration is appealing a federal court ruling that struck down the government mask mandate for travelers using public transportation, citing an assessment by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement on Wednesday that a notice of appeal had been filed in light of a CDC assessment that "an order requiring masking in the transportation corridor remains necessary to protect the public health."

WASHINGTON (AP) — One year ago, Joe Biden marked his first Earth Day as president by convening world leaders for a virtual summit on global warming that even Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping attended. Biden used the moment to nearly double the United States’ goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, vaulting the country to the front lines in the fight against climate change.

21 April 2022; MEMO: An Israeli private detective detained in New York since 2019 on charges of involvement in a hacker-for-hire scheme pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit hacking and aggravated identity theft on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Federal prosecutors say the detective, Aviram Azari, organised a series of hacking missions on behalf of unnamed third parties against American companies based in New York, using fake websites and phishing messages to steal email account passwords.