by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, June 24.
- Why it’s so damn hot in the Arctic right now (“Siberia’s triple-digit heat wave and wildfires are a glimpse into the future of the Arctic.” Disastrous.)
- UN chief urges Israel to back away from West Bank annexation
- Global demise of coal-fired generation driven by idle and unprofitable plants (“China grapples with overcapacity by slowing coal plant construction while more U.S. plants have closed during the first three years of the Trump administration than in Obama’s two terms.”)
- Coronavirus Races Across Brazil and Latin America, a Warning to Poor Nations
- E.U. May Exclude U.S. as It Reopens Borders, Citing Failures on Virus
- China and America Are Heading Toward Divorce
- Syria’s brutal dictatorship suffers a severe setback
- Trump’s corrupt dealings with Turkey are some of the most startling stories in Bolton’s book
- U.S. Eyes $3.1 Billion of EU, U.K. Imports for New Tariffs
- Americans Face New Virus Limbo as Some Reopenings Are Halted (“Some states and counties are delaying and even reversing reopenings as virus cases mount in the South and West. Experts say more opening and closing could go on for months.”)
- The Pandemic Is Still Raging. The President Pretends Otherwise.
- Federal government to scale back testing support even as hospitalizations reach new highs (That’s criminally irresponsible.)
- U.S. 7-day average of coronavirus cases surges 30% from week ago
- Virus Surges Across U.S., Throwing Reopenings Into Disarray
- Approval of Trump’s coronavirus response sinks to lowest on record amid surge in cases: Reuters/Ipsos poll (It’s astounding that literally a single American would approve of Trump’s appallingly bad, pathetic, failed COVID-19 response.)
- Fauci: Coronavirus vaccine could be available by end of 2020 (“The nation’s top infectious disease doctor says he believes a vaccine is a matter of ‘when and not if.'”)
- Fauci warns of disturbing trend as Trump ignores viral surge
- Donald Trump Is Using The Pandemic To Push His Anti-Immigration Agenda (And xenophobe/nativist Ken Cuccinelli is in the middle of it. Ugh.)
- Here’s the Ugly Truth Behind Donald Trump’s ‘Jokes’ (“His aides fell over themselves post-Tulsa to explain that he was speaking in jest. And in a way, he was. But there’s still a malevolent truth behind it.” Trump has zero sense of humor.)
- Most Americans believe the government should do more to combat climate change, poll finds
- Prosecutor to tell Congress of pressure from ‘highest levels’ of Justice Dept. to cut Roger Stone ‘a break’ (“A federal prosecutor and another Justice Department official plan to tell Congress on Wednesday that Attorney General William P. Barr and his top deputies issued inappropriate orders amid investigations and trials ‘based on political considerations’ and a desire to cater to President Trump.”)
- Prosecutor says he was pressured to cut Roger Stone ‘a break’ because of his ties to Trump (Get Barr the hell outta there, then remove Trump in November.)
- Poll: Black Americans think Floyd’s death may lead to change
- These numbers show that black and white people live in two different Americas
- Rayshard Brooks’s mourners see his death as ‘much bigger than him’
- 21 times Trump baselessly accused people he doesn’t like of a crime
- Mattis urges people to wear face coverings and ‘work together to beat COVID’
- D.C. police clear out fledgling ‘autonomous zone’ near White House
- How the Republican Party became a death cult
- Tell me again, which side is in disarray?
- Trump’s language is racist. Period.
- Trump’s Happy Place Is Grunting and Fantasizing About Real Men
- The Republican convention is gearing up to be a disaster
- Senate Democrats call GOP policing bill ‘not salvageable,’ signal they will block measure
- The Republican Choice (“How a party spent decades making itself white.”)
- Trump Family Asks Court to Stop Publication of Tell-All by President’s Niece
- 3 takeaways from primary night in New York, Kentucky and North Carolina
- McGrath leading, Engel in trouble after Tuesday’s primaries
- On a Big Primary Night, It’s Time to — Wait For Results
- Republican senators refuse to back Trump’s ‘treason’ claim against Obama
- Top Pentagon nominee pushed conspiracy theories that former CIA director tried to overthrow Trump and even have him assassinated (Alrighty then…)
- Joe Biden and Barack Obama raise $11m in first 2020 fundraiser together (“In official return to the campaign trail, former president urged 175,000 viewers not to be ‘complacent’ about 2020 race”)
- Biden Takes Dominant Lead as Voters Reject Trump on Virus and Race (“Mr. Biden is currently ahead of Mr. Trump by 14 percentage points, garnering 50 percent of the vote compared with 36 percent for Mr. Trump. That is among the most dismal showings of Mr. Trump’s presidency, and a sign that he is the clear underdog right now in his fight for a second term.”)
- Prepare for a Biden landslide (“The biggest warning sign for Trump’s reelection: He’s starting to see softening support from his base.”)
- Exclusive: Republican former U.S. national security officials to back Biden
- With Tweets, Videos and Rhetoric, Trump Pushes Anew to Divide Americans by Race
- Trump’s sway over Lindsey Graham — and all Republicans — is weakening
- Big Business Opposes President Trump’s New Limits On Foreign Workers
- Funny how Trump’s dislike for ‘losers’ doesn’t extend to Confederate generals
- Bruce Springsteen’s Playlist for the Trump Era (“I don’t know if our democracy could stand another four years of his custodianship.”)
- As Texas hits all-time high in new COVID-19 cases, Gov. Greg Abbott tightens outdoor gathering rules (Abbott is definitely among the nation’s worst governors.)
- FBI announces noose found in Bubba Wallace’s garage had been there since 2019; no federal crime committed
- Sen. Kaine calls for colleagues to ‘rise to the occasion’ for police reform (Spoiler: Republicans won’t rise to the occasion.)
- Republican Daniel Gade wins Virginia primary to challenge Mark Warner
- Virginia Primary Day 2020 Results: Live Blog [Winners: Rashid in VA01-Dem, Webb in VA05-Dem, Taylor in VA02-R, Gade in US Senate-R]
- Virginia primaries: GOP taps Taylor for rematch with Luria; Democrats back Webb vs. Good (“Three GOP seats flipped to the Democrats in 2018”)
- Gade wins GOP nod to challenge Warner; Dems pick Webb to face Good in 5th; Rashid to face Wittman in 1st
- Rashid defeats Williams to win Democratic nomination in 1st District congressional race
- Cameron Webb clinches Democratic nomination in 5th Congressional District
- Webb wins Democratic VA05 nomination in landslide; Gade wins GOP Senate primary (“Former Rep. Scott Taylor wins GOP nod to face Rep. Elaine Luria (D) in a rematch of 2018 contest.”)
- Virginia Republicans Nominate Scott Taylor While He’s Still Under Criminal Investigation
- Virginia Primary Day 2020: Open Thread
- Metro board creates transit police review board; critics say it’s not enough
- Virginia Democratic Party urges voters to defeat redistricting reform amendment
- AG Mark Herring Challenges Trump Admin’s Refusal to Open Special Enrollment Period on Healthcare.gov in Response to COVID-19
- Northam says Virginia will move to Phase 3 on July 1
- Video: Gov. Northam Announces ALL of Virginia Will Move Into Phase 3 on July 1
- Tuesday (6/23) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +529 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 58,994), +44 Hospitalizations (to 5,913), +25 Deaths (to 1,645) From Yesterday
- Gun advocates file suit seeking to prevent Virginia from imposing universal background checks for firearms purchases
- Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D-Prince William County) Announces She’s Exploring 2021 Virginia Lt. Gov. Campaign, with “Potential Labor Day Launch” (“So when protesters today haul down those statues, what we’re seeing is vandalism — but also our own version of a color revolution.”)
- Editorial: What’s happening? (“So when protesters today haul down those statues, what we’re seeing is vandalism — but also our own version of a color revolution.”)
- New Report on Fairfax County Police Use of Force in 2019 Shows Major Racial Disparities (“African-Americans make up just 9.7% of the county’s population, yet account for 45.6% of use of force incidents”)
- Fairfax County School Board votes to change name of Robert E. Lee High School
- Conor Powell and Michael R. Purdy column: Time for VMI to take a stand and take down Stonewall Jackson
- 26 nights in, protesters in Richmond say they’re not going anywhere (“Gov. Ralph Northam expressed befuddlement Tuesday at ongoing protests against police brutality in Richmond, defending city and state police officers who earlier in the morning used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear a sit-in outside of City Hall that was blocking a side street.”)
- Hampton has a school named after a Confederate officer. Leaders are investigating all of the district’s namesakes.
- Portsmouth council OKs money to move Confederate monument. But politics may complicate how.
- Richmond City Council Moves to Rename Lee Memorial Bridge
- Editorial: How the Franklin County Confederate statue is historic
- Editorial: Tackling the “food desert” crisis
- Less humidity and lower storm chances the next few days; heat and humidity rise again this weekend
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