Friday News: “Russia’s Black Sea Flagship Sinks”; “If Trump Was Still President, Ukraine Would Be So Screwed Right Now”; “Greg Abbott declares war on international commerce”; “Fairfax chooses new superintendent as NAACP, parents, students protest pick”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, April 15.

• Green infrastructure helps cities with climate change. So why isn’t there more of it?
• China Covid: Clashes in Shanghai over lockdown evictions
• Making the Case for an Immediate Energy Embargo on Russia
• Kyiv hit with most powerful explosions heard in weeks; Finland ‘highly likely’ to join NATO.
• Russia warns of nuclear weapons in Baltic if Sweden and Finland join Nato (“Lithuania plays down threat, claiming Russians already have such weapons in Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad”)
• Russia loses warship, says will increase attacks on Kyiv
• Russia’s Black Sea Flagship Sinks After Ukraine Claims Missile Strike
• ‘Massive blow for Russian credibility’: Sunk warship is a symbolic, tactical win for Ukraine
• This May Be Russia’s Most Embarrassing Loss Yet (“The flagship battleship that menaced Snake Island sunk on Thursday, and Ukraine says its missiles are responsible.”)
• Russian forces prepare for a renewed offensive (“The sinking of one of the Russian Navy’s most important warships has dealt a major blow to forces as they congregate in east Ukraine”)
• What the ruthless new commander of Russia’s military in Ukraine signals for the war (“General Aleksandr Dvornikov is infamous for his ruthlessness while leading Russia’s intervention in Syria. Now he’s heading Russia’s war in Ukraine, signaling that the violence could intensify.” War criminal.)
• Russian warship sinks in the Black Sea after Ukraine claims it was hit by a missile
• U.S. to train Ukrainian troops, confirms attack sank Russian warship
• Russia warns U.S. to stop arming Ukraine (F.U. Putin.)
• After Series of Setbacks, Russia Appears Close to Capturing Mariupol
• Ukraine’s port of Mariupol holds out against all odds
• Donbas, Ukraine’s ravaged heartland, has suffered eight years of warfare. Here’s why Putin wants it (“A Russian victory in the region would appall the West but could salvage Putin’s war aims, while a defeat could cement his invasion as a historic failure. Either way, it is almost certain to devastate yet more of the Donbas region, a historically and culturally significant place whose proximity to Russia has dictated much of its turbulent existence”)
• Opinion: Why the ‘Battle of Donbas’ will be a critical moment in the war’s outcome
• C.I.A. Director Airs Concern That Putin Might Turn to Nuclear Weapons
• As two U.S. lawmakers visit Kyiv, the trip’s organizer says he hopes more officials, and weapons, will follow.
• Meet the activists who projected a giant Ukrainian flag on Russia’s Embassy in D.C.
• Ukraine seizes 55 homes, 26 cars and yacht from Putin ally Medvedchuk
• Atrocities are piling up across Ukraine. CNN witnessed some of the horrors.
• Let Biden be Biden on Ukraine (“So far, he has consistently been on target.”)
• Putin’s Depraved Secrets Exposed in New Trail of Horrors (“Freshly discovered massacres in Ukraine indicate that the worst of the Russian army’s atrocities have yet to be uncovered.”)
• Don’t Just Freeze Russia’s Money. Seize It. (Agreed. And use it to help Ukraine.)
• If Trump Was Still President, Ukraine Would Be So Screwed Right Now
• Trump Brags About His Deep and Enduring Bond With Putin as Russia Rapes and Murders Ukrainians
• Ukrainians Come Home to Wreckage, Booby Traps and Fresh Laundry
• Jared Kushner strikes a dubious deal with Saudi Arabia’s dictator
• Kushner’s Saudi deal must be scrutinized to protect U.S. democracy
• China is struggling to ride out geopolitical shock waves from the war, nowhere more so than in its relations with Europe.
• British ISIS militant guilty in deaths of 4 American hostages
• How Marine Le Pen moderated her image and brought herself closer to the French presidency (She can change her image all she wants, but voters need to understand that she’s still a fascist.)
• EXCLUSIVE White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy planning to step down -sources
• Greg Abbott’s border stunts show the GOP doesn’t want to fix immigration
• The silent majority against Republicans’ moral panic on schools
• The G.O.P. Is Still the Party of Plutocrats
• Republicans Look To Cut Off Legal Paths To Challenge Partisan And Racial Gerrymandering (“‘No argument is too crazy to try’ before the Supreme Court’s six-vote conservative supermajority, one attorney said.”)
• Gerrymander vs. gerrymander: How Democrats clawed the House map (mostly) back (“Democrats fought fire with fire during redistricting.” Except in Virginia, where Democrats unilaterally disarmed for some f’ed-up reason.)
• The Memo: Democrats hope Trump will save them from midterm disaster
• Jan. 6 Panel Presses Stephen Miller on Whether Trump Sought to Incite Crowd
• Jury convicts Jan. 6 defendant who blamed Trump for Capitol breach
• Judge to January 6 rioter found guilty: ‘You make your bed, you lie in it’
• Does the mainstream media want Trump to run again and win?
• The RNC Pulling Out of the Presidential Debates Is the Clearest Sign Yet That Trump Is Running
• RNC votes to withdraw from presidential debates commission
• RNC to Require GOP Presidential Candidates to Sign Debate Pledge
• What Happens When An Election Official Believes The Big Lie
• In Texas, Authoritarianism Is in Bloom
• Greg Abbott is starving his own voters to own the libs
• Gov. Greg Abbott announces deals with two more Mexican governors to halt Texas’ vehicle inspections at the border
• Economic toll in Texas worsens as trucks remain stopped at Mexico border
• Greg Abbott declares war on international commerce
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein defends her job performance, says she won’t step down after colleagues raise concerns
• GOP Primary poll reveals front runners in Georgia (“CBS46 obtained a Landmark Communications survey of nearly 700-people which shows Kemp at the top of the poll with 52% support, David Perdue at 28%, and Kandiss Taylor with 10%.”)
• Federal judge rejects Abrams bid to use fundraising law that helps Kemp (“Abrams’ lawyers argue that she should be treated as the Democratic nominee now since she didn’t draw a primary opponent.”)
• Trump plans J.D. Vance endorsement in crowded Ohio Senate race, sources say
• Ohio Supreme Court rejects 4th set of legislative maps
• Anti-LGBTQ Twitter account “Libs of TikTok” seemingly inspired attacks from Florida governor’s press secretary (“Christina Pushaw, who used “grooming” smears to justify Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, has said Libs of TikTok ‘truly opened her eyes’ on LGBTQ education in schools”)
• Fox host: People who still wear masks have “a psychosis” (Or they’re immunocompromised, or they have allergies, or they just feel more comfortable wearing a mask, or…)
• Twitter Weighs Poison Pill to Prevent Musk From Increasing Stake Significantly
• Elon Musk Trolls the Internet (“The long con is just for fun”)
• Elon Musk is the last person who should take over Twitter
• Analysis: Why Musk’s Buffett-like playbook won’t work on Twitter (“Investment bankers, investors and analysts said Elon Musk needed a blowout bid and more details on his financing for his take-it-or-leave-it strategy to work.”)
• Elon Musk, Baloney King
• Twitter CEO tells employees the board is still evaluating an Elon Musk takeover
• Musk Hints at Twitter Plan B, Lambastes SEC Over Settlement
• Family seeks charges, officer’s ID in Patrick Lyoya’s death
• Video: Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA02) Tells Rachel Maddow That 1/6/21 Committee Aims to Start Public Hearings In Late May, Early June (“We’re getting a massive amount of information and facts from those who are cooperating”)
• Virginia 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 95% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Down to 147 From ~4,000 in January
• Virginians are finding ways to combat opioid addiction
• One gubernatorial veto would’ve helped localities address issues with slumlords
• Video: VA House Dems Blast Youngkin’s “Petty” Vetoes of Substantive, Bipartisan Bills on Medical Debt Relief, Protecting Tenants Against Slumlords, Lowering Virginians’ Health Insurance Premiums, etc. (Youngkin “responded to the needs of [Virginians] in these horrible situations with a slap in the face”)
• Youngkin vetoes include bipartisan measures to address medical debt issues
• Pope & Schapiro: Veto pen fireworks
• Video: Roland Martin Schools Loudoun GOP Chair Who Falsely Claimed Historically African American Sorority Delta Sigma Theta Is “taking control of our country at all levels of govt” (“So is the real issue that you’re bothered that Phyllis Randall, who is the supervisor the head of Loudoun County, that she’s a Delta and she’s a proud Delta?”)
• Virginia 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 95% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Down to 147 From ~4,000 in January
• Nearly half of bills vetoed by Gov. Youngkin had Arlington ties
• Local election reform: It’s time
• Office of Virginia attorney general denies it gave pedophile cop a plea deal. But it did.
• Editorial: Their unrealized promise (“Fifteen years since the deadly Virginia Tech shooting, ruminate on the awful toll gun violence takes from our communities.”)
• Virginia Tech remembers victims of 2007 shootings, 15 years later
• Fairfax chooses new superintendent as NAACP, parents, students protest pick (“Fairfax County Public Schools has named its next superintendent — but the pick, Michelle Reid, is opposed by the county NAACP chapter, a Black educators’ group, several parent groups and hundreds of students, dozens of whom left class Thursday morning to protest both Reid and how she was selected.”)
• 375 Fairfax County students signed a petition asking for input on the search for a superintendent
• Michelle Reid named Fairfax County schools superintendent
• Loudoun rejects new police department, seeks minimum sheriff standards (“Cost of adding a police department, overseen by board of supervisors, is estimated at least $213 million by IACP”)
• Norfolk unveils ‘massive’ school reconstruction plan funded by casino tax revenue
• D.C.-area forecast: Seasonable through Saturday, when a shower chance returns