Monday News: “Novavax says its Covid vaccine is 90% effective”; “The fall of ‘King Bibi’”; “The Price of No Consequences for Trump”; “Five big upcoming Supreme Court decisions”; “Black Virginians Took Ralph Northam Back. Neither Has Forgotten.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, June 14.

• China, Russia Worry Allies Embracing Post-Trump Era: NATO Update
• Myanmar’s Military Junta Puts Ousted Leader Aung San Suu Kyi On Trial (“Suu Kyi’s prosecution poses the greatest challenge for the 75-year-old and her National League for Democracy party since February’s military coup.” Utter bullshit.)
• President Biden set to make first NATO visit as President after meeting G7 allies
• G7 leaders share a bold vision for a net zero future. But the devil is in the lack of detail
• G7 Nations Take Aggressive Climate Action but Hold Back on Coal (“President Biden pushed climate action after four years in which Donald Trump rejected cooperation with allies. But leaders failed to set an expiration date for burning coal.”)
• We Don’t Need Science Fiction to Avert Climate Catastrophe (“Europe is showing the world that a clean-energy transition is possible with existing technology.”)
• Trudeau says no deal on lifting border restrictions after talks with Biden
• G7 reaffirmed goals but failed to provide funds needed to reach them, experts say (“Climate finance for developing nations was supposed to reach $100bn a year by 2020, but has fallen far short”)
• Biden heads to Brussels after global win
• Biden rallies western allies in global ‘contest’ against autocrats
• America is back. And it’s popular. (“Biden makes an impressive return to the world stage.”)
• Biden’s Goal With Putin: Don’t Let U.S.-Russia Ties Get Worse
• 5 Things To Watch At The Biden-Putin Summit (“The June 16 Geneva summit between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin is a chance for the two leaders to map out how they will manage a difficult relationship. Here’s what to know.”)
• China denounces G7 after statement on Xinjiang and Hong Kong
• Biden prepares to confront Putin
• What Putin really wants from Biden
• Even Without Trump Tensions Simmer Between the U.S. and Allies
• Asia’s Stakes in the Biden-Putin Summit
• Peru’s New President Isn’t as Radical as He Looks (“Pedro Castillo ran as an anti-establishment leftist. Here’s why he won’t govern like one.”)
• Oil Hits Pandemic High as Investors Bet on Green Energy
• How Japan’s Big Bet on Hydrogen Could Revolutionize the Energy Market
• Attacking Russia appears to be a line ransomware hackers are loath to cross
• The fall of “King Bibi”
• Netanyahu, ‘King of Israel,’ Exits a Stage He Dominated
• Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Call with Prime Minister Bennett of Israel
• Israel Approves Coalition Government, Ending Netanyahu’s 12-Year Reign
• Netanyahu Plots Comeback Even Before New Government Sworn In
• Did Israel Just Have a Constitutional Revolution? (“This isn’t just a new government. It’s an entirely new way of governing.”)
• Naftali Bennett hails ‘new days’ for Israel as world leaders welcome incoming PM (“Figures including Joe Biden, Angela Merkel and Justin Trudeau congratulate new prime minister, with many urging path to regional peace”)
• Japan Gains Backing From Biden, G-7 for Staging ‘Safe’ Olympics
• Iran vote turnout poses test of youth frustrations and hopes
• From Ontario to Bordeaux, Islamophobia and right-wing terrorism must be confronted head-on
• Exclusive: US assessing reported leak at Chinese nuclear power facility
• Novavax says its Covid vaccine is 90% effective, plans to submit data to FDA in third quarter (“If Novavax’s vaccine is authorized, it would follow three Covid shots already approved for emergency use in the U.S. from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and J&J.”)
• Novavax Offers U.S. a Fourth Strong Covid-19 Vaccine
• Will Biden Be Forced to Give Up What Some Say is His Best Shot at Tackling Climate Change? (“Studies suggest the clean electricity standard the White House is proposing would give renewables a leg up in a nation awash in fossil fuel. But Congress is a stumbling block.”)
• Biden is about to confront two relentless forces that could seriously hamper his presidency
• Pelosi Says Trump DOJ’s Secret Data Seizures Go ‘Beyond Richard Nixon’ (“The House speaker insisted that former Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr testify before Congress about the subpoenas and gag orders.”)
• Democrats demand testimony from Trump’s attorneys general as media executives seek answers
• Five big upcoming Supreme Court decisions
• The Supreme Court Has Carved Out One Religious Exemption After Another. The Next May Be A Blow To LGBTQ Rights.
• Juan Williams: GOP preparing the ground to steal an election
• The Price of No Consequences for Trump (“Joe Biden and Merrick Garland are acting like Donald Trump was a crazy dream. But the threat to American democracy will only get worse the longer we ignore it.”)
• AP source: Justice Dept secretly subpoenaed McGahn’s records
• Apple Is Said to Have Turned Over Data on Trump’s White House Counsel in 2018
• The DOJ has a plan to protect voting rights. It might not be enough. (“Merrick Garland’s speech is a cry for congressional action.”)
• ‘Poor Chuck’: Schumer confronts midyear mess (“Defections are looming. The clock is ticking. But the majority leader is projecting confidence: ‘Unity brings us strength and success.'”)
• Senate Dems Don’t Know How to Salvage Their Voting Bill (“One holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), wants the bill to be bipartisan. His colleagues have no idea how to do that—or what it’d take to get Manchin to vote for a partisan package.”)
• In the Democratic Senate, the path to making law still goes through Mitch McConnell (Yeah, except 50/50 with Joe Manchin as one of the 50 Democrats isn’t really a “Democratic Senate.”)
• ‘A war on 100 fronts’: mapping the anti-trans laws sweeping America (“In an extraordinary attack on trans rights, conservative state lawmakers proposed more than 110 anti-trans bills this year”)
• Boeing Restarts Donations to Members of the So-Called ‘Sedition Caucus’ (Totally unacceptable.)
• Demonizing Critical Race Theory
• ‘I didn’t take an oath to defend Donald Trump’: Rep. Tom Rice tests whether Republican voters will support a conservative who crossed Trump
• The Big Stakes and Deep Weirdness of New York City’s Mayoral Race (“The future of the country’s largest city is on the line. This week, campaign reporting focussed on a candidate’s refrigerator.”)
• The NYC Mayor’s Race Is a Warning for Progressives
• Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany says she ‘never lied’ as Trump press secretary (Which is yet ANOTHER lie.)
• Why The New Yorker’s Stars Didn’t Join Its Union
• ‘Network’ & ‘Superman’ Actor Ned Beatty Dead at 83
• Bobby Scott: Time to battle for child-care funds
• Once again, Virginia Democrats are looking to female candidates to cement their grip on power (Three Democratic male delegates were unseated by females – Elizabeth Bennett-Parker over Del. Mark Levine, Irene Shin over Del. Ibraheem Samirah, Michelle Maldonado over Del. Lee Carter)
• We can’t fight racism if Whites see any remedy as a threat and an insult (“White fragility is on display as conservatives blast racial equity project in suburban schools.”)
• First Public Poll for the Virginia 2021 General Election Finds Democrats Leading, But By Narrow Margins (Note that in this poll, Biden’s approval is just +5 points, whereas Biden’s +12.5 points nationally according to 538’s polling average…)
• Black Virginians Took Ralph Northam Back. Neither Has Forgotten. (“Virginia’s governor survived a blackface scandal with the help of Black Democrats, who saw a chance for policy concessions. Both got more from the relationship than they could have imagined.”)
• Ralph Northam Reflects on His Journey Back From the Edge (“When a racist picture was discovered on his yearbook page, the governor of Virginia refused to resign. Now he’s leaving office with a widely praised progressive record on racial justice.”)
• If It’s Sunday: Democrats Highlight Record of Success, Youngkin Doubles Down on His Extreme Agenda (Youngkin “clarified his total fealty to the NRA and desire to put more guns into our communities”)
• Trump has been a gift to Va. Democrats for years. Now can they win without him in the White House? (Trump’s very much still around, and the GOP is still very much his party.)
• Phyllis J. Randall, David F. Snyder and Cathy McGhee column: Using technology to assess demand on Va.’s infrastructure after COVID-19
• Sunday (6/13) Virginia Data on COVID-19: Hospitalizations, 10-Day New COVID Cases Near Lowest Points Since Start of Pandemic
• Major staffing shortages beset Virginia’s child care providers
• Del. Danica Roem Explains That Her Legislation Banning the LGBTQ+ “panic defense that we passed this year will apply to the high-profile Blacksburg murder case that’s been all over the news”
• Virginia Beach City Council to vote on making Juneteenth a permanent city holiday
• Bob Tata was a successful athlete and coach. Then as a longtime Virginia Beach delegate, he championed education and the little guy. (“Tata was a popular, outspoken and quick-witted Republican legislator, representing Virginia Beach’s 85th district in the House of Delegates for 30 years until 2014. Tata died late Friday at age 91”)
• Justice Department requires Tidewater Community College’s Virginia Beach campus to improve disabled student access
• D.C.-area forecast: Humid with storm chance today before cooler, delightful conditions midweek