by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, April 13.
- Spain Cases Slow Again; 70 Vaccines in Development: Virus Update
- Bolsonaro dragging Brazil towards coronavirus calamity, experts fear
- Russia reports biggest daily increase in cases, amid growing concerns in neighboring China
- China Reports 169 New Coronavirus Cases — Highest In 5 Weeks
- Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, China Bans Domestic Trade of Wild Animals, but Offers Tax Breaks for Exports (“China disapproves of ‘recklessly eating wild animals’ as its Finance Ministry offers incentives to ship them abroad” WTF???)
- Beijing tightens grip over coronavirus research, amid US-China row on virus origin
- Putin Makes Painful Climbdown as He Sues for Peace in Oil War
- Oil Nations, Prodded by Trump, Reach Deal to Slash Production (“The deal will reduce output by 9.7 million barrels a day. While significant, the cut falls far short of what is needed to bring oil production in line with demand…Before the coronavirus crisis, 100 million barrels of oil each day fueled global commerce, but demand is down about 35 percent.”)
- U.S. Stock Futures Drop, Oil Falters Despite Output Deal
- Europe’s largest solar park goes online despite Covid-19 (“Iberdrola’s 500 MW Núñez de Balboa solar park has started commercial operations, following the completion of construction in December.”)
- US’s global reputation hits rock-bottom over Trump’s coronavirus response (“International relations expert warns policy failure could do lasting damage as president insults allies and undermines alliances”)
- Inside the global race to prevent another depression (“Officials in the world’s leading economies are quickly rewriting old playbooks and trying to imagine new ones to fight a synchronized global downturn.”)
- Boris Johnson Leaves Hospital, Says “Things Could Have Gone Either Way” for Him
- Russian border becomes China’s frontline in fight against second virus wave (“China’s northeastern border with Russia has become a frontline in the fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic as new daily cases rose to the highest in nearly six weeks – with more than 90% involving people coming from abroad.”)
- Now is not the time for Trump to threaten the WHO
- Goldman Says U.S. Stocks Have Likely Bottomed (“Unprecedented policy support and a flattening viral curve have ‘dramatically’ cut risks, the bank says.”)
- Trump and Allies Push Toward Reopening Economy, as Governors Urge Caution
- Slow, Incompetent and Dishonest: Inside Trump’s Botched Response (“Urgent warnings were ignored by a president consumed by his impeachment trial and intent on protecting a robust economy that he viewed as central to his reelection chances.”)
- Virus may dash Trump’s plan for a ‘big bang’ economic opening
- Reopening economy by May 1 may be unrealistic, say experts, including some in administration
- 10 times Trump and his administration were warned about coronavirus
- White House still has no road map for restarting the economy
- Trump eager to restart economy by May as he weighs ‘toughest’ decision of his presidency
- The Memo: Political tide on crisis threatens to turn against Trump
- Joe Biden: My Plan to Safely Reopen America
- A Month After Emergency Declaration, Trump’s Promises Largely Unfulfilled
- When Will Life Be Normal Again? We Just Don’t Know (“As some enter a month or more of lockdown, we have more questions than answers.”)
- The test for those who want to reopen the economy too soon: You go first
- Fauci: U.S. Economy Could Open ‘in Some Ways’ in May (“Before any genuine progress can be made, serological tests will have to be rolled out on a massive scale to find out just how many Americans have been exposed to the virus; theoretically, they’d also determine who could return to work without risk of getting sick, or infecting others. But perhaps more concerning than any practical barrier to opening the economy is the reality that the Trump administration has no endgame for the crisis, despite pushing hard for a life after the shutdown.”)
- The COVID-19 Blame Game Is Going To Get Uglier (“And the party that handles the pandemic best will most likely gain.”)
- Democrats scramble to close YouTube deficit amid quarantine campaign (“Concerned Democrats compare the right’s advantage on YouTube to its dominance of talk radio.” Why do Democrats constantly allow the right wing to dominate social media, radio, etc? Whatever the reason, it’s not acceptable.)
- Demand from virus patients creates shortages of asthma drugs and sedatives for ventilator patients
- Examining Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden (“No other allegation about sexual assault surfaced in the course of reporting, nor did any former Biden staff members corroborate any details of Ms. Reade’s allegation. The Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden.”)
- How Mitch McConnell Became Trump’s Enabler-in-Chief
- Coronavirus may give President Trump a long sought chance to privatize the Postal Service
- ‘A perfect storm’: poverty and race add to Covid-19 toll in US deep south
- Study: Nearly a third of Americans believe a conspiracy theory about the origins of the coronavirus (“A new Pew study finds 30 percent of Americans believe scientists created Covid-19. That isn’t what happened.” Wonder if those 30 percent are Trump supporters.)
- Trump uses the pandemic to overturn decades of U.S. asylum law and rules
- ‘It feels like a war zone’: As more of them die, grocery workers increasingly fear showing up at work
- Juan Williams: What Tiger King tells us about Trump’s America (“America’s fascination with Joe Exotic fills me with fear that we may not have seen the height of celebrity politics with Trump. One day we may look back at Trump as a relatively dignified character given the excesses of the next generation of celebrity politicians.”)
- Will the Supreme Court let conservatives use the pandemic to trample abortion rights?
- Senate hits pause on confirming Trump’s judges(“Senate Republicans are vowing to renew their push on judicial nominees once they return to the Capitol.”)
- Fauci confirms New York Times report Trump rebuffed social distancing advice (“Health adviser says on CNN ‘you could logically say if you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives’”)
- Trump Lashes Out at Fauci Amid Criticism of Slow Virus Response (“The president retweeted a post calling for the government’s top infectious disease specialist to be fired after the doctor acknowledged that shutting down the country earlier could have saved lives.”)
- Trump Makes First Public Rebuke of Fauci With #FireFauci Retweet (Appalling. The one who needs to be fired, of course, is Trump.)
- ABC and CBS Sunday shows ignore bombshell NY Times report on Trump’s early failure to take coronavirus seriously (These shows are worse than worthless.)
- ‘There Will Be Losses’: How a Captain’s Plea Exposed a Rift in the Military
- Liberty University’s shameful crackdown on journalists
- Virginia governor makes Election Day a holiday and expands early voting
- Governor Northam Signs Sweeping New Laws to Expand Access to Voting (“Legislation expands early voting, makes Election Day a state holiday”)
- Governor Northam Signs Bold New Laws to Reform Criminal Justice
- New Virginia law could be Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s greatest barrier yet (“Virginia environmentalists are confident that a bipartisan ratepayer-protection measure championed by a House Republican will spell doom for Dominion Energy’s fiercely debated Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Not surprisingly, however, Dominion is still convinced the $8 billion natural gas pipeline still has a bright future.”)
- Gov. Northam Approves Bills to Decriminalize Marijuana and Legalize Medical Cannabis
- Gov. Northam Signs Virginia Clean Economy Act, Commits State to Move Towards 100% Clean Electricity (“Legislation makes it the seventh state aiming for a clean energy future”)
- Governor Northam Signs New Laws to Support Virginia Workers (Gov. Northam proposes delaying enactment of minimum wage, collective bargaining, “prevailing wage” legislation until May 1, 2021)
- ‘It’s a time bomb’: ICE detainees seek release amid growing coronavirus fears
- Northam seeks to delay skill games ban, tax profits for COVID-19 fund; put off minimum wage hike
- Editorial: Time to consider year-round schools (“With schools closed for the remainder of the academic year, it may be time for Virginia to reconsider the potential of year-round schools so students can make up for lost time.”)
- Policymakers search for ways to safeguard the right to vote during COVID-19 social distancing
- Minimum wage, gambling and weed: 6 big-ticket bills Northam wants to amend
- Virginia governor’s slew of bills heralds progressive new direction for state
- Sunday (4/12) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +197 Cases (to 5,274), +35 Hospitalizations (to 872), +11 Deaths (to 141) From Yesterday
- Nurse practitioners say supervision requirements are a hindrance amid COVID-19 pandemic
- Sen. Jill Vogel’s Democratic Opponent Last November Hits Her Coronavirus Comments as “the Height of Irresponsibility”
- Northam freezes new spending in the state budget amid coronavirus pandemic
- Northam recommends delay to increasing minimum wage, gives final approval to other labor bills
- Virginia’s confirmed coronavirus cases increase by fewer than 200
- ‘We’re definitely working on it’: More than 12% of Virginians are foreign-born, yet COVID-19 information is predominantly in English
- Qasim Rashid: It’s Time To Hold the GOP Accountable for their COVID Response
- Correctional facilities are Virginia’s landlocked cruise ships
- Mask crusaders: Area crafters create cover-ups to combat COVID-19 (“Style and fashion help fight pandemic.”)
- Raging winds and risk of severe storms
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