Amazon workers in New York City have declared victory following preliminary results of a union election at a Staten Island warehouse, where employees have voted to form the first union among the company’s warehouse workers in the US, a bitter defeat for one of the world’s largest companies during a historic wave of labour organising across the country.

Roughly 6,000 people work at the JFK8 warehouse, the company’s largest fulfillment center in New York.

Marijuana would be decriminalized at the federal level under legislation the House approved Friday as Democrats made the case for allowing states to set their own policies on pot.

The bill is unlikely to become law since it is expected to die in the Senate. That would mirror what happened when a similar House-passed measure removing marijuana from the list of federally-controlled substances went nowhere in the Senate two years ago.

Still, Friday’s vote gave lawmakers the chance to state their view on a decriminalization push that appears to have broad support with voters across the country.

Unemployment in the US is now at a low of 3.6 per cent, reaching a level it hasn’t sunk to since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As Andrew Feinberg reports:

According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, “total non-farm payroll” rose by 431,000 from 1 March to 31 March, with “notable” gains across “leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and manufacturing”.

The total number of unemployed persons in the US fell by 318,000 to a level of 6 million.

BLS said the March 2022 numbers are “little different” from those recorded in February 2020, the month before the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic sent the US and world economies reeling.

Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin took a potshot at his Republican colleagues on the House floor while debating legislation that would legalise marijuana at the federal level.

The phrase “cocaine-fueled orgies” is now on the congressional record.

Joe Biden used his speech on the jobs report and his proposed budget to proclaim he is getting the deficit “under control” – this after the Trump administration’s “reckless policies and mismanagement”.

Safi Rauf, a 27-year-old naval reservist who has been held by the Taliban since December, has been released after months of negotiations. As reported by CNN, he and his brothers co-founded a group that worked to evacuate people seeking to escape from Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul last year.

Bevan Hurley has the story.

I welcome the announcement today of a two-month truce in the Yemen conflict. This initiative is a long-awaited reprieve for the Yemeni people. It entails a halt to all military activities by any party inside Yemen and across its borders, the entry of fuel ships into Hudaydah port, and the renewal of commercial flights to and from Saan’a to agreed destinations.

These are important steps, but they are not enough. The ceasefire must be adhered to, and as I have said before, it is imperative that we end this war. After seven years of conflict, negotiators must undertake the hard and necessary work to reach political compromises that can bring about an enduring future of peace for all the people of Yemen.

I am grateful for the leadership role of Saudi Arabia and Oman in bringing this initiative to fruition before the Holy Month of Ramadan. I am also grateful for the hard work of the Yemeni Government and the confidence they have placed in UN-led mediation.

The United States of America will work to deter threats to our friends and partners as we continue to strive for de-escalation and peace throughout the region. I wish the people of Yemen a peaceful Ramadan, and assure them of our ongoing commitment to help end this terrible war.

Following reports that she is soon to depart the White House for a career in cable news, press secretary Jen Psaki faced reporters on Friday afternoon and said she had nothing to confirm about her continued public service or what plans she may have.

The Biden administration’s decision to end sweeping asylum limits at the border this May satisfied demands by prominent Democrats eagerly awaiting the end of a program created by Donald Trump in the name of public health.

But it creates thorny political challenges for border-region Democrats who face the likely prospect of an increase in migrants who have for two years been denied the chance to seek asylum in the United States.

In unusually harsh critiques of a president from their own party, some of the congressional Democrats with the toughest reelection prospects are warning that the administration is woefully unprepared to handle the situation.