Sunday News: “Republicans are scuttling a Jan. 6 commission — and now a bill to secure the Capitol, too”; “New COVID-19 Cases Plummet To Lowest Levels Since Last June”; “Cheney calls Greene’s comments on House mask policy ‘evil lunacy'”; Santorum *Finally* Fired by CNN

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, May 23.

• The developing world desperately needs vaccines — and the U.S. can supply them
• Black fungus: India reports nearly 9,000 cases of rare infection
• Coronavirus live news: Pfizer and AstraZeneca jab offer protection against India Covid variant, PHE finds
• Israel’s Gaza challenge: stopping metal tubes turning into rockets
• Quiet Holds For 2nd Day In Israel And Gaza As Focus Turns To Rebuilding (“Any rebuilding effort will likely cost billions. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pledged $500 million. But other international donors — including the U.S. — are wary that aid could be misused for military purposes by Hamas or any investment in Gaza could be destroyed in another war.”)
• Gaza struggles with twin health crises of war injuries and feared coronavirus surge
• China’s Top Diplomat to Visit Russia for Strategic Talks
• China is using Covid-19 vaccine to flex its muscles in America’s backyard, experts say
• Iran says inspectors may no longer get nuclear sites images
• Germany Bans Most Travel From Britain Over Variant Fears
• Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications (“All over the globe, countries are confronting population stagnation and a fertility bust, a dizzying reversal unmatched in recorded history. Fewer babies’ cries. More abandoned homes. Toward the middle of this century, as deaths start to exceed births, changes will come that are hard to fathom.” Overall, that’s good news.)
• Cold weather in China kills 21 in ultramarathon, sparks outrage
• It’s Crunch Time and Biden’s Climate Gambit Faces Steep Hurdles (“President Biden wants to require power companies to replace fossil fuels with clean energy. It’s a popular idea, but its path in Congress is perilous.”)
• New COVID-19 Cases Plummet To Lowest Levels Since Last June (“As cases, hospitalizations and deaths steadily dropped this week, pre-pandemic life in America has largely resumed.”)
• An 8th US state just reached a critical Covid-19 vaccination milestone
• Members of military charged in Jan. 6 riot are still in uniform — for now (“Within days of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, some people who participated were fired from their jobs when images showing them storming the building appeared online. But the process is playing out differently for service members charged in the riot.”)
• Senators Reach Bipartisan Deal on U.S. Highway Funding Package (“The legislation, which is separate from President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan, will be considered by the full committee on Wednesday, the senators said. The panel is one of the four authorizing committees in the Senate for the legislation.”)
• A big abortion case could upend ‘Roe’ — and burn the court’s credibility (What credibility?)
• Abortion fight front and center ahead of midterms
• Republicans are scuttling a Jan. 6 commission — and now a bill to secure the Capitol, too (WTF?!?)
• Police records show threats to kill lawmakers in wake of Capitol attack (“Leaked files show how police stepped up surveillance efforts after January insurrections for signs of violence from far-right groups”)
• How Black Lives Matter changed the U.S. debate on the Mideast
• For Whites, George Floyd’s Murder Was a Reckoning That May Not Last (“Their approval for Black Lives Matter is lower today than it was before he was killed.”)
• Mother of Ronald Greene ‘hurting so bad’ after release of police video
• Why Do Police Keep Shooting Into Moving Cars? (“The killing of Andrew Brown Jr. highlights a problem departments have struggled to address.”)
• CNN Fires Rick Santorum Over Claim That White Settlers Found “Nothing” in America (“‘We have Native Americans,’ he said, but ‘there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.'” Disgusting.)
• Rick Santorum Out at CNN After Comments on Native Americans (He never should have been there in the first place, and he should have been booted years ago.)
• Cheney calls Greene’s comments on House mask policy ‘evil lunacy’
• Marjorie Taylor Greene compares House mask mandates to the Holocaust (Evil and completely unhinged.)
• They served in Congress as Virginia Republicans. Now they’ve joined a national effort to reform the party. (Scott Rigell, Barbara Comstock, Denver Riggleman)
• Other Than Donald Trump, the Top Endorser of Glenn Youngkin is Ted Cruz…Who’s Now Trending on Twitter (as “Kremlin Cruz”) For *ALL* the Wrong Reasons! (In addition to being a right-wing extremist, Cruz is “essentially become a Twitter troll at this point”)
• For Latino tenants, seeking rent relief has been fraught. Virginia promises more support is on the way.
• Schapiro: VMI’s march into uncertainty (“To remain the same, it has to change”)
• Saturday (5/22) Virginia Data on COVID-19: Hospitalizations, 10-Day New COVID Cases Hover Near Lowest Points Since Early in Pandemic
• In Virginia, masks may come off in most situations. Experts say that doesn’t mean they must.
• Editorial: Tricky to measuring Virginia’s political winds (Weird headline – “tricky to measuring?” Maybe they mean “tricky to measure?”)
• Editorial: With Richmond’s casino referendum, trust has yet to be earned among Council and residents
• Greed is destroying forests and the environment in Northern Virginia (“We point our fingers at other countries tearing down their forests but turn a blind eye to what happens here.”)
• Savage: Virginia should allow 16-year-olds to vote
• Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney: I Needed to Lead My City. But I Needed to Apologize First. (“Today, only the Lee Monument, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia and whose removal order by Gov. Ralph Northam is being challenged in court, remains on Monument Avenue. The bronze figures of Jackson, Davis, J.E.B. Stuart, and Matthew Fontaine Maury are gone; only their pedestals remain. Also remaining on the avenue is the monument to the Richmond native and tennis legend Arthur Ashe. Erected after much controversy in 1996, his statue represents the only true champion on that block.”)
• Trump-Loving Del. John McGuire’s Racist Slur Of Middle Easterners Demonstrates Why We Need To Help Democrat Blakely Lockhart Flip This Seat!
• Democratic primary for Virginia governor makes a star out of the city of Petersburg — and its problems
• Video: Fairfax County School Board Member Abrar Omeish Addresses Controversial Tweet About Israel/Palestine, Says “I stand strongly against anti-Semitism,” Calls For Dialogue and Empathy (Omeish adds that we must not “allow those seeking to instill hate and division to capitalize on our disagreement and our differences in points of view”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Summer-like heat through midweek, except for a cloudier and cooler blip tomorrow