by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, June 18.
- Hong Kong leader signals end to extradition bill, but refuses to step down
- Hong Kong’s protests challenge everything Xi Jinping stands for. How will he react? (“With the protests comes anxiety.”)
- Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s First Democratically Elected President, Dies
- U.N. officials: U.S. planning a ‘tactical assault’ in Iran (“The military action under consideration would be an aerial bombardment of an Iranian facility linked to its nuclear program, the officials further claimed.”)
- US sending 1,000 additional troops to Middle East amid Iran tensions
- Iran will not wage war against any nation, says Hassan Rouhani
- How Worried Should We Be About Escalation With Iran? (“Gauging if the tit-for-tat provocations will lead to something much scarier”)
- The Trump-Fox feedback loop could cause a war with Iran
- Saudis to Push for OPEC Cuts, Despite Tanker Attacks (“Saudi Arabia is set to push for OPEC to cut oil output in the second half of the year, as signs of slowing global demand for crude outweigh threats of war and worries about supply disruptions in the Middle East.”)
- Investors Haven’t Been This Bearish Since 2008 Financial Crisis (“Cash levels soar in the biggest jump since 2011, survey shows”)
- Trump vows mass immigration arrests, removals of ‘millions of illegal aliens’ starting next week
- President may be about to face his biggest test yet on the economy
- The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Are Laying Landmines in the Law (“Justice Thomas, in particular, seems determined to overturn stare decisis.”)
- Thomas Fires ‘Opening Salvo’ For SCOTUS To Overturn Own Precedents
- Justice Thomas just admitted he wants to burn down the very idea that courts should obey precedent
- Paul Manafort Seemed Headed to Rikers. Then the Justice Department Intervened.
- Why Isn’t Trump a Real Populist? (“He seems determined to betray his base.”)
- Don’t worry about China when breaking up Facebook (Tom Perriello: “There is little reason to believe American consumers will race to use a Chinese-based social network. No Chinese Internet company has ever made any meaningful entrance into the American consumer market, even in earlier periods when competition was more robust. Even if they did, it would encourage the American companies to compete in turn and improve their own service offerings.”)
- The Sandy Hook Hoax Case Against Alex Jones Turns Even Uglier
- Six GOP senators with 82 years combined congressional experience to host hearing on term limits
- Biden spars with Warren and Sanders at first event facing rival Democrats (“Event organized by The Poor People’s Campaign tackled issues ranging from bipartisanship to inequality and systemic racism”)
- Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Two Paths for the American Left
- Climate Change Deniers Aren’t Getting Very Far With America’s Judges (“When they go to court, fossil fuel companies don’t dare question the science.”)
- Mitch McConnell Calls Representative Democracy for Puerto Rico and D.C. ‘Full-Bore Socialism’ (McConnell, wrong as always.)
- Hundreds of Companies Beg Trump Not to Commit Economic Suicide
- Gunman shot dead after opening fire on federal courthouse in downtown Dallas
- “Crickets. They’re Gone”: Why the Mercers, Trump’s Biggest 2016 Backers, Have Bailed on Him
- Jon Stewart responds to Mitch McConnell over 9/11 victim fund: ‘Meet with them’
- Cities Start to Question an American Ideal (“A house with a yard on every lot? The single-family home is practically gospel in the United States. But a reckoning with that ideal has begun, driven by crises like housing affordability, racial inequality and climate change.”)
- Amazon to AOC: Excuse You, Our Employees Live Like Kings on $15/Hour
- The Kyle Kashuv-Harvard controversy, explained (“A teen conservative activist got in trouble for past racist comments. Then he lost his Harvard admission over it — and ignited a national controversy.”)
- Libra: Facebook launches cryptocurrency in bid to shake up global finance (“Digital currency will let billions of users make transactions but is raising privacy concerns”)
- Shell Brings Deep-Water Expertise to Boston to Capitalize on US Offshore Wind Boom (“The energy giant may shift employees from the Gulf of Mexico to the Northeast as the U.S. offshore wind market scales up.” Except here in Virginia?)
- Trump hits polling on Fox News: ‘Something weird going on at Fox’
- Inside Donald Trump’s Florida obsession(“The president has spent more than 100 days in the state since he took office. Naturally, he’s kicking off his campaign there.”)
- Reps. Beyer, Lieu Seek Office Of Special Counsel Investigation Of Jared Kushner For Hatch Act Violations
- Supreme Court dismisses challenge to findings of racial gerrymandering in Va.
- A Shocking Combination of Supreme Court Justices Just Handed Down a Fairly Surprising Decision (“Ruth Bader Ginsburg is joined by Justices Gorsuch (!) and Thomas (!!) on a Virginia redistricting case.”)
- SCOTUS Just Killed Off Virginia’s Racial Gerrymander. Its Decision Will Affect Elections for Years to Come. (“The new map creates more diverse and competitive districts, handing Democrats a major victory. Right now, Republicans hold a 51–49 majority in the House; under the new, fairer map, Democrats seem likely to seize the chamber in November. They’re also favored to take the Senate—and since the state has a progressive (if disgraced) governor, a legislative sweep would create a Democratic trifecta. That would give Virginia Democrats control over the 2020 redistricting process, preventing Republicans from drawing another round of gerrymanders to last another decade.”)
- BREAKING: Supreme Court, in 5-4 Vote, Upholds New, Racially-“Unpacked” House of Delegates Districts
- Editorial: The U.S. Supreme Court case proves why Virginia needs a redistricting commission
- Take politics out of creating General Assembly districts
- Sen. Kaine leads gun violence roundtable in Stafford
- Kaine, Stoney hold roundtable in Richmond on guns ahead of July state legislative session
- Supreme Court upholds Virginia’s decades-old ban on uranium mining
- Two Infographics: “Local Races Motivated Voters”; “Standout Precincts”
- BREAKING: Supreme Court, in 6-3 Vote, Upholds Virginia’s Ban on Uranium Mining
- Virginia’s Green New Deal: Democrats’ Moment for Clean Energy, Justice, and Seizing the General Assembly
- Post office could be named after Virginia Beach shooting victim, hero Keith Cox (“Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Norfolk, said in a news release that she plans to introduce a bill Tuesday that would rename a Virginia Beach post office at 2509 George Mason Dr. in Cox’s honor.”)
- 2 Virginia Beach council members want to ban firearms in government buildings
- Politicians from both sides back Virginia attorney general’s call for decriminalizing marijuana
- Fellow Democrats called for Northam to resign. Now many are taking his money.
- Vanity Fair Profiles Sheila Bynum-Coleman in Her Race Against Republican Speaker Kirk Cox
- “The Blue Wave Is Really Coming Back”: How the Supreme Court Just Flipped the Script in Virginia
- Editorial: 6 takeaways from Ross’ visit to Roanoke
- CASEY: Virginia’s first “sanctuary” — for people who love gun rights (“You’ve probably heard of so-called”sanctuary cities” that refuse to spend local money on immigration enforcement. How about “sanctuary counties,” which pledge the same with regard to gun law enforcement? Virginia has had one of those since April.”)
- Mountain Valley Pipeline will take longer and cost more to complete, company says
- Tax break helps make Virginia the leader in data centers; JLARC suggests tweaks, not big changes
- Virginia to move information technology operations from Chester to Henrico by 2022
- Sherman Witcher, rejected by Democrats, to challenge Sen. Bill Stanley as independent
- Scammers pretending to be from Dell stole $610,000 from Virginia locality
- Former Joe Morrissey aide qualifies to run against Morrissey as independent
- Roanoke OK’s funding increase to keep recycling program going
- Another round of storms likely later today; continued warm and muggy through Thursday
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