Sunday News: “In North Korea, the Fourth Man Could Be a Woman”; “Coronavirus recovery plan ‘must tackle climate change'”; “A cult of personality is no match for a pandemic”; “We Need Herd Immunity From Trump”; “‘SNL’ returns with Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, April 26.

• Kim Jong Un Mystery Grows With Reports of Trains, Medical Teams
• In North Korea, the Fourth Man Could Be a Woman
• Will a Woman Run North Korea? Kim’s Sister Outshines Male Rivals
• Coronavirus recovery plan ‘must tackle climate change’ (“Tackling climate change must be woven into the solution to the Covid-19 economic crisis, the UK will tell governments next week.”)
• Praised For Curbing COVID-19, New Zealand’s Leader Eases Country’s Strict Lockdown
• U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson To Return To Work Monday
• Exclusive: China sent team including medical experts to advise on North Korea’s Kim
• Spain Has Fewest Deaths in Month as Lockdown Eases: Virus Update
• China Claims Wuhan Has No Hospitalized Coronavirus Patients (“Chinese officials said the city of Wuhan, the pandemic’s original epicenter, had no new cases and was showing signs of recovery. Weeks after being treated in a London hospital’s intensive care unit, Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, will return to work on Monday.”)
• Bolsonaro Bet Big With Two Promises And Both Are In Trouble (Bolsonaro is as bad as Trump.)
• Coronavirus: French PM to set out road to normality, restrictions ease in Australia (“Western Australia and Queensland cautiously loosen social distancing rules, while Beijing bans ‘uncivilised’ behaviour”)
• Coronavirus and the Price of Trump’s Delusions (“A cult of personality is no match for a pandemic.”)
• Trump expands battle with World Health Organization far beyond aid suspension (Crazy.)
• Trump, Putin issue joint commemorative statement triggering concerns from government officials
• The Next Chapter of the Oil Crisis: The Industry Shuts Down
• “Immunity passports” in the context of COVID-19 (“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.”)
• Tensions emerge between Republicans over coronavirus spending and how to rescue the economy
• We Need Herd Immunity From Trump and the Coronavirus (“It will take more care than the president is currently demonstrating to loosen restrictions but still protect the vulnerable.”)
• Donald Trump and the Luxury of Irresponsibility (“When washing one’s hands isn’t just a precaution against the coronavirus”)
• White House weighing plan to replace Azar (“Among the candidates to take over as HHS secretary is coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx, according to people familiar with the talks.” Yuck.)
• Trump says briefings ‘not worth the effort’ amid fallout from disinfectant comments (The real issue is that Trump’s an irresponsible, ignorant buffoon who should be the LAST person speaking to the nation right now.)
• Fauci’s absence from recent coronavirus briefings draws notice (And, of course, Fauci is the person who SHOULD be speaking to the nation right now.)
• The cost of Trump’s deadly state of denial
• Exclusive: Coronavirus caused heart to rupture in nation’s first known victim, autopsy shows
• Even Trump’s Allies Want Him to Scale Back Unhinged Coronavirus Briefings (“The president’s boastful and misleading daily pressers may be contributing to his sagging poll numbers. Trump kept it uncharacteristically brief Friday—and some Republicans hope that trend continues.”)
• We are nearing the end of the beginning of the covid-19 crisis. Bigger challenges lie ahead.
• Hundreds of thousands join gig economy after losing jobs to Covid-19
• Trump Is Making Cadets Return to Campus So He Can Give a Speech (“The president’s impromptu announcement shocked West Point’s officials, and comes as Trump is reportedly itching to get out of the White House.” 100% unacceptable.)
• Birx says deaths will be ‘dramatically decreased’ by end of May, criticizes media coverage as ‘very slicey and dicey’
• COVID-19 Conspiracies Are Turobocharged Through Conservative Media (“Fox News hosts, right-wing radio hosts, and social media users have contributed to an ‘infodemic’ plaguing society alongside the spread of the coronavirus.”)
• Biden wants a new stimulus ‘a hell of a lot bigger’ than $2 trillion (“In an interview, the 2020 candidate courts the progressive left by calling for a huge, new green infrastructure bill—while hammering banks, and Trump.”)
• With rallies banned, Joe Biden welcomes voters to another kind of show
• Biden Assails Stimulus, Calls U.S. Corporations ‘Greedy as Hell’
• FBI says coronavirus scams are on the rise
• We can’t have another Wisconsin. States should emulate Virginia and Maryland on voting.
• When Is It Safe To Ease Social Distancing? Here’s What One Model Says For Each State
• Coronavirus Disrupted Supply Chains That Companies Are Still Fixing (“Firms have stocked up on raw materials and helped smaller suppliers, among other moves, but their problems keep evolving”)
• Cuomo to expand testing in NY to 40K people daily
• California heat wave draws large crowds to beaches despite stay-at-home order (“‘We’ve had very good compliance,’ a lifeguard said. ‘People are spreading out.'”)
• The whiteness of anti-lockdown protests (“How ignorance, privilege, and anti-black racism is driving white protesters to risk their lives.”)
• Study: 71 percent of jobless Americans did not receive their March unemployment benefits (“A new Pew study found only 29 percent of jobless Americans received benefits in March.”)
• New York and Kentucky just made it easier to vote by mail
• ‘SNL’ returns with Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci
• Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci Absolutely Destroys Trump on SNL (“Appearing from home, Brad Pitt debuted his spot-on Dr. Fauci impression to refute the president point-by-point on the coronavirus.”)
• A spike in New Yorkers ingesting household cleaners following Trump’s controversial coronavirus comments
• I work at Smithfield Foods. I’m suing them over putting our lives at risk for your dinner.
• Trump Is Seething About Michael Cohen’s Tell-All (“The president is considering siccing his lawyers on his ex-fixer, whose dishy new book allegedly includes more details about Trump’s treatment of women.”)
• Why the DeVos family’s backing of the Michigan protests is no surprise (“The Trump-supporting education secretary and her billionaire family have for years promoted rightwing causes and candidates”)
• Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton holds virtual town hall to update Virginians during COVID-19 crisis
• ICYMI: Reps. Donald McEachin and Elaine Luria & State Senator Jennifer McClellan Hold Virtual Roundtable on the Impacts of Climate Change in VA
• Congresswoman Luria stands up for shipyard workers during COVID-19 pandemic
• Saturday (4/25) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +772 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 12,366), +105 Hospitalizations (to 1,942), +26 Deaths (to 436) From Yesterday (Greatest daily increase in confirmed cases so far; third-greatest increase in hospitalizations. No, Virginia doesn’t appear to be past the peak yet.)
• Editorial: COVID-19 and Public Safety: A Q&A with Brian Moran
• If VA Legislators Want a Special Session, They Can Call It
• Opinion/Editorial: Assembly addresses budget realism
• EDITORIAL: Gov. Northam’s reopening dilemma
• Responding to Sen. Chap Petersen’s Latest Criticisms About Virginia’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
• It was a landmark year for education funding in Virginia – until COVID-19
• Editorial: Senators’ folly will put voters at risk (“The state Senate declined to reschedule the May and June elections, putting voters in the unenviable position of risking their health to participate in their democracy.”)
• Editorial: How to read the VDH data (it’s not what you think it is) (“Virginia has basically been on a plateau since April 6 — so we’ve flattened the curve but haven’t bent it downwards yet.”)
• Gordon C. Morse: A tale of two parties at Wednesday’s veto session
• Seabirds return to the HRBT — but to a different island this time (“The state paved over the nesting site of Virginia’s largest seabird colony as it prepared to expand the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.”)
• Lucius Kellam: Virginia Coast Reserve holds key to future resilience
• At McGuire VA hospital in Richmond, 23 staff members have tested positive and 45 await test results. Nurses fear the masks they wear don’t protect them
• UMW to resume “normal academic operations” in August (Yeah…that’s very unlikely.)
• Fredericksburg-area farms, market vendors adapt amid coronavirus outbreak
• ‘The struggle is real’: Richmond-area parents struggle to balance work and homeschool during the coronavirus crisis
• Showers early and late today, but not bad in between; dry and breezy tomorrow (“Temperatures trend modestly warmer into midweek, before rain chances increase again Wednesday.”)