Sunday News: Putin Mired In “Brutal Slog,” “Zelensky steps up diplomatic efforts”; ” Trump’s violent political rhetoric is metastasizing in the Republican Party”; “Virginian-Pilot reporter among 2 killed in Norfolk shooting”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, March 20.

• Arctic, Antarctica See Freakish Extreme Heat At Same Time (“Parts of Antarctica are more than 70 degrees warmer than average. Areas of the Arctic are more than 50 degrees warmer.” Get. Off. Of. Fossil. Fuels. ASAP!)
• Climate Change Is Disrupting the Global Supply Chain Too
• Mainland China Reports First Coronavirus Deaths in More Than a Year
• EU May Refrain From Stepping Into Energy Market as Nations Split
• After Oil’s Surge, Saudi Aramco Hikes Spending to Boost Output
• Food Security Panics Governments as Ukraine War Blocks Supplies
• Cutting Oil Demand Would Hurt Russia and Ease a Supply Crisis
• Why We Should Read Hannah Arendt Now (“The Origins of Totalitarianism has much to say about a world of rising authoritarianism.”)
• Russian mercenaries in Ukraine linked to far-right extremists (“Wagner Group connected to white supremacists, Tech against Terrorism investigation finds”)
• Ukraine says Russia bombs another shelter in besieged city
• As Russia shells civilian targets, Zelensky steps up diplomatic efforts
• Advance of Russian Forces in Ukraine Appears to Stall (“War Has Reached a Stalemate, Analysts Say…A study concluded that Russia has lost its initial campaign and does not have the weapons or manpower to seize Kyiv.”)
• Zelenskyy accuses Russia of ‘war crimes’ as fighting rages in besieged city of Mariupol
• Ukrainian Forces Try to Hold Mariupol (“Combat reaches city streets after Russian forces push in; Mariupol is a key target for Moscow”)
• Russia’s bombs and bullets not the only things killing Ukrainians. Stress is, too.
• The Russia I Know Is Being Erased. What’s Coming Next Is Darker.
• For the U.S., a Tenuous Balance in Confronting Russia
• Reported Detention of Russian Spy Boss Shows Tension Over Stalled Ukraine Invasion, U.S. Officials Say
• Ukraine war: Putin has redrawn the world – but not the way he wanted
• The power of the new Ukraine
• Biden’s strategy with Putin is decades in the making
• The Russians Fleeing Putin’s Wartime Crackdown (“Resisters are leaving Russia because the country they worked to build is disappearing—and the more people who leave, the faster it vanishes.”)
• Russians board International Space Station in Ukrainian colours
• It’s Just a Color: Russia Denies Symbolism in Cosmonaut Suits
• Fury greets Boris Johnson’s claim Ukraine fight is like Brexit (Boris Johnson is a clown and idiot.)
• Mariupol residents are being forced to go to Russia, city council says
• Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich Races to Outpace Western Sanctions
• School sheltering 400 hit by Russian strike, Ukraine says
• Ukraine war: Western agents seek to get inside Putin’s head (“Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin is trapped in a closed world of his own making, Western spies believe. And that worries them.”)
• Some Syrian veterans ready for Ukraine fight, commanders say
• Russian Military Slog In Ukraine A ‘Dreadful Mess’ For Putin (“More than three weeks into his invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initial aim of easily changing over the government in Ukraine is long gone.”)
• The Battle for Kyiv Looms as a Long and Bloody Conflict
• Lindsey Graham called for Putin’s assassination. Even discussing it brings danger to US, experts say.
• India’s Dependence on Russian Weapons Tethers Modi to Putin
• World’s Top Alumina Supplier Australia Bans Exports to Russia
• America’s Energy Security Is Falling Apart (“… unlike during previous crises, renewables and electric vehicles are now mature technologies that could be deployed immediately to cut oil demand. We no longer have to dream: A future where the U.S. economy is far less vulnerable to wild oil price swings—the goal of U.S. energy policy for the past 50 years—is now within reach. But instead of seizing it, lawmakers are sitting around. For the first time in many years, America has no credible plan for how to maintain its energy security in a geopolitical crisis.”)
• The omicron wave’s unequal toll
• Another Covid Surge May Be Coming. Are We Ready for It?
• Can Ashish Jha, ‘a Comforting Voice,’ Tamp Down Covid’s Political Divide?
• James Webb telescope sends back new image of star (“Although only a test image, the shot shows the telescope is working better than expected.”)
• Senate GOP eyes Hunter Biden, Fauci probes after midterms (We’d better make sure Republicans don’t get the majority.)
• The U.S. may force companies to disclose climate risks, marking a historic change
• Cut the Gas Tax? No, No, No.
• Trump’s violent political rhetoric is metastasizing in the Republican Party
• The States Poised to Be the New Abortion Battlegrounds (“If Roe v. Wade is reversed this year, seven politically divided states will likely become the front line in the fight for reproductive rights.”)
• Senate plan for permanent daylight saving time faces doubts in the House
• Marie Yovanovitch says Rudy Giuliani was Trump’s ‘personal dirt-digger’ and corrupt Ukrainians used him to spread ‘lies and half-truths’ in the US
• Nearly half of the U.S. requires no permit to carry a concealed weapon. It’s a growing trend. (What could POSSIBLY go wrong? /snark)
• A Surge in Ballot Rejections Across Texas Hit Houston’s Black Voters Hard (“Two new reports reveal GOP’s voter suppression tactics bearing fruit.”)
• Informant: Whitmer kidnap suspect wanted to blow up COVID-19 vaccine plants, kill doctors
• Video: Democratic Party of Virginia Reelects Susan Swecker as Chair with 80% of the Vote, Selects Other Officers(Swecker rips Glenn Youngkin, says he “walked right into a brick wall, much like his…basketball career”; says “we’re going make his terms a VERY long four years for him, we’re not going to give him an inch “)
• Swecker easily wins reelection as Virginia Democratic Party chairwoman
• Swecker easily wins re-election as DPVA chair
• DPVA’s state central committee elected Susan Swecker as party chair again
• Despite Youngkin’s request, college board picks new leader
• Youngkin’s crusade against equity hurts white people too
• 2022 Virginia General Assembly “Batting Averages”…Presented with the Usual Slew of Caveats
• Williams: ‘The objective is not to make saintly men out of the presidents.’ In Virginia, we need history without hagiography.
• Editorial: Support for mental health reform (“Following through on planned reforms, aid to hospitals and crisis intervention programs would all improve mental health services in Virginia.”)
• Friday Night Update from the ER in Arlington, VA: “This past week was the best COVID week we’ve had in a long time in the ER” (“However, with waning immunity from those who got boosters last fall, a more transmissible variant, and increasing cases in Europe, I’m more and more concerned that we will be returning to mask wearing in the near future.”)
• Gibson: Virginians open arms to Ukrainian refugees
• With construction at a standstill, Mountain Valley Pipeline looks for solutions
• Virginia misses new pact with booming shellfish market in Europe
• Virginian-Pilot reporter among those killed in Granby Street shooting in downtown Norfolk (Horrible.)
• Virginian-Pilot reporter and former CNN news assistant Sierra Jenkins killed in shooting
• D.C.-area forecast: Cool breezes rush in for the first day of spring; brighter and warmer tomorrow