Tuesday News: “Time Is Running Out to Avert a Harrowing Future, Climate Panel Warns”; “Huge Russian convoy approaches Kyiv” as “Ukraine war enters new, uglier phase”; “In State of the Union, Biden Will Focus on Economy and Russia”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, March 1.

• The world is already hitting its limits of adapting to climate change (“There are still effective ways to adapt that can also lower emissions, the latest report from UN scientists finds.”)
• UN releases dire climate report highlighting rapid environmental degradation
• These Climate Scientists Are Fed Up and Ready to Go on Strike (“Evidence on global warming is piling up. Nations aren’t acting. Some researchers are asking what difference more reports will make.”)
• Time Is Running Out to Avert a Harrowing Future, Climate Panel Warns
• As climate dangers rise, scientists predict disasters before they happen
• Oil giant Shell buys half share in one of Australia’s biggest wind farm developers
• Climate change brings extreme, early impact to South America
• Huge Russian convoy approaches Kyiv as fears of all-out assault on the city grow
• Ukraine Heading for More Brutal Phase of War as Russia Regroups
• Zelensky accuses Russia of terrorism as Ukraine war enters new, uglier phase
• Russian invasion escalates as massive convoy nears Kyiv, Kharkiv is ‘surrounded’
• Russia pummels Ukraine’s No. 2 city and convoy nears Kyiv
• Frustrated Putin may order escalation of violence in Ukraine, U.S. officials say
• Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s second city intensifies as talks fail to yield breakthrough
• Large Convoy of Russian Forces Nearing Kyiv
• Russia is using controversial ‘cluster munitions’ in Ukraine, humanitarian groups say
• Ukraine invasion opens faint, but once unthinkable, fissures between Putin and Russian oligarchs
• In just 72 hours, Europe overhauled its entire post-Cold War relationship with Russia
• No breakthrough in talks; West increases financial pressure on Russia
• How Vladimir Putin Miscalculated the Economic Cost of Invading Ukraine (“The Russian leader apparently failed to anticipate the unprecedented targeting of the Central Bank of Russia, a step that has battered the ruble and shaken the country’s financial system.”)
• Why Ukrainians Believe They Can Win
• Europe’s Aggressive New Stance Toward Putin’s Regime (“The defiance of Ukrainian citizens in the face of the Russian onslaught has inspired the European Union to action.”)
• Russia Is a Potemkin Superpower
• The West Is Winning, Russia Is Losing, and Biden Is Doing a Good Job
• Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war (“The Russians may yet conquer Ukraine. But Ukrainians have shown in the past few days that they will not let them hold it”)
• Suddenly welcoming, Europe opens the door to refugees fleeing Ukraine
• Major oil companies pull out of once-promising Russia
• Putin’s nuclear threats remind us arms control is dangerously unfinished business
• ‘Putin might do the unthinkable’: Former intelligence chief warns that the conflict in Ukraine has increased the risk of nuclear war.
• Coverage of Ukraine has exposed long-standing racist biases in Western media
• Monaco clamps down on Russian assets after Ukraine invasion
• Warlord who persecuted gay Chechens killed in Ukraine fighting (Good riddance.)
• Crypto Exchanges Refuse to Freeze All Russian Accounts
• West’s Sanctions Barrage Severs Russia’s Economy From Much of World
• FIFA suspends Russia from World Cup, UEFA throws teams out of European competition
• Russian oligarchs move yachts as U.S. looks to ‘hunt down’ and freeze assets
• The tide has turned against the Russia apologists — and the neutrals (Why didn’t the 1/6/21 insurrection do the same for the Republican Party?!?)
• Russia faces financial meltdown as sanctions slam its economy
• ‘Cruel’ attack on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv
• The West ramps up the pressure on Putin’s inner circle
• Putin using barbaric tactics – Boris Johnson
• US officials fear the worst is yet to come for Kyiv
• RT sees its influence diminish as TV providers and tech companies take action against the Russia-backed outlet
• Hungary will not allow lethal weapons for Ukraine to transit its territory – FM
• Statement of ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, on the Situation in Ukraine: “I have decided to proceed with opening an investigation.”
• Foreign students fleeing Ukraine say they face segregation, racism at border
• When You’ve Lost Switzerland and FIFA…. (“Vladimir Putin has comprehensively lost the battle of public opinion regarding his war of choice on Ukraine.”)
• More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers killed in Russian attack on base near Kharkiv
• ‘I’m afraid Russia will invade us next’: alarm among Ukraine’s neighbours (“People in Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia, Romania and Poland fear Nato membership may not stop more Russian incursions”)
• Weapons from the west vital if Ukraine is to halt Russian advance (“Analysis: previously there has been a reluctance to supply arms to the under-siege state, but that appears to be changing” Speed it up!)
• Flood of Russian misinformation puts tech companies in the hot seat (“With Facebook and other platforms key to spreading news from Ukraine, officials and activists urge broader crackdown” Also crack down on anti-democracy disinformation.)
• ‘Cultural catastrophe’: Ukrainians fear for art and monuments amid onslaught
• Biden adopts play-it-cool strategy with Putin
• QAnon followers are casting Putin in a positive light (“Is it a case of mass delusional, or textbook cult dynamics?”)
• Bewildered conservatives call Putin a “Soviet dictator” who runs a “communist country” (“On Saturday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, described Putin as a ‘Soviet dictator'”)
• U.S. Positioned to Withstand Economic Shock From Ukraine Crisis (“Effects could push inflation higher from already elevated levels, but economic expansion appears to be on solid ground”)
• Character is contagious. Look what Ukraine has inspired. (“Something is afoot. The West is doing the right thing.”)
• Republicans have laid a dangerous trap for Biden. Here’s how to avoid it. (“The State of the Union is an opportunity for him to reframe the economic debate.”)
• In State of the Union, Biden Will Focus on Economy and Russia
• Quick! Rewrite the State of the Union. (“A democratic renaissance.”)
• The challenges Biden faces in his State of the Union address
• Romney is right: MAGA Republicans are ‘almost treasonous’ (“Donald Trump and his ilk still betray America. Let’s call them what they are.”)
• Why the Senate is taking a doomed vote on abortion rights (“Democrats want to show voters they tried on abortion rights.”)
• Senate rejects Democratic bill to codify abortion rights
• ‘Stand your ground’ doesn’t save lives. It leads to needless killing.
• Let’s Have a Look at the Latest Climate Report Before We Get to Revisiting the Keystone Pipeline (“Meanwhile, the Supreme Court could eviscerate the EPA’s regulatory authority based on legal principles from Dr. Otto Yerass.”)
• Conservative Justices Express Some Support for Limiting Biden’s Ability to Curtail Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• The Supreme Court Is Preparing to Dismember the Clean Air Act (Totally unacceptable. If the Supreme Court really continues to dismantle our rights, environmental protections, etc., we need to seriously consider other options, from adding justices to term limits to circumscribing its authority, etc.)
• Scoop: Biden to deny executive privilege for Flynn and Navarro
• Bill Barr’s “Oh-My-God-How-Did-This-Happen?” Trump Book Might Be the Worst of the Form (“The former attorney general has come to the same conclusion most Americans came to a minute and a half after the inauguration.”)
• Bill Barr’s sudden conversion shows how Trump will keep haunting the GOP (“They can try to repudiate him or change the subject, but history will not be so easily rewritten.”)
• How the seeds of GOP voter suppression are bearing fruit in Texas (“Voting should not be this hard.”)
• Laura Ingraham’s latest attempt to undermine investments in green energy reveals Fox’s sinister motives (Ingraham is evil.)
• Election 2022: Texas primary tests GOP’s rightward shift
• GOP leaders denounce Greene, Gosar for speaking at white nationalist event
• House centrists: Tlaib “keying your own car” (” Centrist House Democrats are unloading on Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for her plan to give a response to President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.”)
• Five dead, including three children, in Sacramento County church shooting
• Chris Licht Appointed Head of CNN Following Jeff Zucker’s Fall (“The Late Show executive producer will be stepping into a network in flux, still blindsided by the ouster of its former leader, and heading into the final stretch of a merger that has left many wondering what’s next.”)
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says Ukrainian President Zelenskyy “has been Churchillian in his response,” While Putin Is “an isolated, authoritarian leader” (Also, Sen. Warner is worried about “A-level cyberattacks” by Russia…)
• Spanberger pens letter to Biden urging him to release petroleum from reserve (That’s really not what the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is for, but…alrighty.)
• VA Senate Majority Leader Says Youngkin Administration Report on Eliminating “inherently divisive concepts” From Virginia Public Schools Is “Chilling”
• Gov. Youngkin Has It Completely Backwards: In Fact, *Elimination* of Cultural Competence and Teaching About History Is What’s “Inherently Divisive” (“Prohibiting instruction and student input on diverse experiences and histories explicitly divides children, and indoctrinates them into a society that is silent on inequity and injustice.”)
• Video: In Black History Month Speech, Del. Jeff Bourne Says Gov. Youngkin’s “Assault on Black History” Absolutely IS “Personal” (“Black folks in particular don’t have the privilege of treating what happens in this room and on this Capitol Square purely as a policy discussion.”)
• VA Republicans’ Clean Energy Rollbacks Hit Senate Democrats’ Brick Wall (This, as a new UN climate report says “fossil fuels are choking humanity” and warns that we need to get off those fossil fuels ASAP!)
• Editorial: Focus on the bay (“Two new reports underscore the need for Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts to remain a top priority in Richmond.”)
• Virginia Republicans Block Legal Cannabis Sales, Leaving Black Market Unchecked (“Governor Youngkin and Republicans Break Key Promise to Virginians”)
• Virginians will have to wait for legal marijuana sales as GOP kills massive bill
• A regulated marijuana marketplace in Virginia likely isn’t happening this year
• Bill stripping citizen air and water boards of permitting power headed to governor
• Va. lawmakers pass bill allowing parents to review sexually explicit school material, a win for Gov. Youngkin
• Elmore: An open letter to concerned parents of Virginia’s public-school children (“Will these books make them uncomfortable? Most likely they will. Powerful authors have a way of tapping into our deepest humanity. Heck, I STILL cry when I read “Charlotte’s Web”! Again, discomfort is not to be feared. A world without understanding, compassion, and empathy is.”)
• Virginia lawmakers give parents a say on sexually explicit classroom materials
• Virginia Senate Democrats kill GOP gun measures
• House Republicans killed the Senate’s second look bill
• Virginia ABC puts $77K worth of Russian vodka into storage (That will accomplish nothing, of course, but sure.)
• An effort to roll back Virginia’s red flag law is done for the year
• 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 91% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Below 1,000 For First Time Since Late November; Deaths Remain Relatively High
• Virginia’s self-styled ‘top cop’ thwarted in bid to expand powers on violent crime (“A Virginia Senate committee has dealt a blow to a key campaign promise by the new Republican attorney general.”)
• House budget would defund Virginia Beach mass shooting commission. Delegates are sparring over who is to blame.
• Virginia Beach School Board member removed from Youngkin’s education working group after ESL comments (Her comments were appalling.)
• Richmond School Board unanimously approves smaller annual budget that maintains chief operating, wellness officer positions
• D.C.-area forecast: A mostly mild and mellow start to March