by Lowell
Here are a few world, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, April 2.
- Tropical forests have big climate benefits beyond carbon storage
- New UN climate report to tackle reining in emissions
- How war has upended life for climate activists in Russia
- Why Rapid Russian Divestment Should Signal An End To Fossil Fuel Finance (Agreed; we should treat the climate crisis with the same urgency as we treat…anything, really, because nothing is more urgent.)
- Ukraine’s economy could contract 40% in 2022, ministry says
- China tells EU it will pursue Ukraine peace in its own way
- Pope Francis for the first time implicitly criticises Putin over Ukraine
- Russian Troops Pull Out of Ukraine’s North as Focus Shifts East
- ‘No hope for science in Russia’: the academics trying to flee to the west
- Evacuation corridors to open as Russia redirects military efforts
- Russian Retreat from Chernobyl Opens Door for Nuclear Monitors
- Ukraine Update: Kyiv Warns Russia Is Adding Troops in Moldova
- Zelenskyy: Russians create ‘complete disaster’ with mines
- U.S. Will Help Transfer Soviet-Made Tanks to Ukraine
- Ukraine Assesses Damage After Russian Pullback Near Kyiv (“Ukrainian forces were clearing mines and counting the dead around Kyiv following Russian troop withdrawals in recent days, as Moscow shifted military operations to the country’s east.”)
- A madman threatens to use nukes. It’s just not the madman we expected. (“The once-discernible line between rogue states and stable powers is harder to draw now. We are only as stable as the leaders we enable — and as dangerous as the weapons they possess.”)
- Shaken at First, Many Russians Now Rally Behind Putin’s Invasion (That’s utterly pathetic.)
- Ukrainian helicopters strike an oil depot in Russia, an official there says.
- Russian Strategy in Ukraine Shifts After Setbacks, and a Lengthy War Looms
- Poison, planes and Putin: Abramovich’s race to save a fortune and stop the war
- Ukraine rejects Kremlin claim it sent helicopters to attack oil depot in Russia
- No, Putin is not actually achieving his goals in Ukraine (“The ridiculous theory that Russia’s war is going according to plan, debunked.”)
- What diplomatic solution might end the war in Ukraine? (“Russia and Ukraine are talking, but huge gulfs remain.”)
- How Far Is the West Prepared to Go for Ukraine?
- U.S. quietly approves more aid as Ukraine braces for ‘chemical and biological’ attacks
- Why Putin Unites Extremists on Left and Right (“The Russian autocrat is adept at playing on the deep self-pity and sense of victimhood that permeates the far reaches of the political spectrum. “)
- Caged, Weakened, Misled: Why The West Thinks The Ukraine War Has Ruined Putin
- Painful choices lie in the path to peace in Ukraine (“Both sides have described the same basic terms, but many will flinch at an outcome that seems to reward Vladimir Putin’s brutal aggression.”
- How the West Got Russia’s Military So, So Wrong (“Good equipment and clever doctrine reveal little about how an army will perform in a war.”)
- Zelenskyy Removes 2 Ukrainian Generals After Accusing Them Of Being ‘Traitors’
- Red Cross tries again to reach devastated Mariupol
- The heavy losses of an elite Russian regiment in Ukraine (“In any war, there are units that distinguish themselves and others that become symbolic of failure. The 331st Guards Parachute Regiment had high hopes of being the first, but now represents the disintegration of Russia’s plan for a quick war.”)
- Russia threatens to fine Wikipedia if it doesn’t remove some details about the war
- Hungary’s Authoritarian Leader Might Be Reelected This Weekend (“Putin and the American far right are among his biggest fans.” Reelecting Orban would be a huge mistake.)
- Iran nuclear talks at stalemate over terrorism issue (“Tehran’s demand that the United States lift its designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, and the U.S. refusal so far to do that, have brought the negotiations to a halt.”)
- Number of COVID patients in US hospitals reaches record low
- Why People Are Acting So Weird (This article somehow manages NOT to mention four years of Trump’s toxic, divisive, horrendous presidency, not to mention his campaign in 2015/2016, and ongoing “Trumpism” now.)
- Here’s where the jobs are — in one chart (“As Covid restrictions eased, rebounds in the leisure and hospitality and business sectors continued last month and helped to drive a strong March jobs report.”)
- Biden on jobs report: ‘Americans are back to work’ (“March marks the 11th consecutive month of job growth above 400,000.”)
- March jobs report: Payrolls rise by 431,000 as unemployment rate falls to 3.6%
- Stocks Close Higher, Bond Yields Rise After Jobs Report
- America added 431,000 jobs in March, bringing the unemployment rate to a new pandemic low
- Strong Job Gains in March Keep a Flame Under the Recovery
- The U.S. is ending its pandemic border rules. It could mean a surge in migration
- Trump ‘Iced Out’ White House Record-Keepers in Days Before Jan. 6, Sources Say
- Garland says the only pressure DOJ feels on January 6 probes is to ‘do the right thing’
- Jan. 6 panel puts Garland in ‘precarious’ spot, ups pressure
- Will Trump be charged for Jan. 6? Committee floats crimes
- Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Probably Won’t Be Splitting a Milkshake With Two Straws Any Time Soon
- Trump’s presidential diarist tells Jan. 6 committee White House officials provided less detail about his activities days before riot (It was an insurrection/coup attempt far more than a “riot.”)
- What can Democrats do about Clarence Thomas?
- Ginni Thomas Pushed Trump to Hire Someone the White House Suspected Was a Foreign Spy
- Judge Blocks Military Vaccine Mandate Again, Dares Supreme Court to Stop Him
- McConnell leans hard on GOP senators to oppose Jackson
- Americans strongly disapprove of GOP pushback on Ketanji Brown Jackson
- GOP Makes “Price Gouge Diabetics on Insulin” Part of Its Official Party Platform
- Do Americans Back Abortion Restrictions? It’s Complicated.
- House passes marijuana legalization bill (again), but with no clear path forward (There’s not clear path forward BECAUSE OF REPUBLICANS. Why doesn’t the headline say that?)
- Trump’s lies are failing in Georgia. That’s good news for all of us. (“There has to be a political price for running on an open vow to subvert future elections.”)
- Press secretary Jen Psaki plans to depart White House for MSNBC in coming weeks
- Trump tells gay supporter they don’t “look gay”
- Man who brought ‘small armory’ to Capitol on Jan. 6 sentenced to 46 months in prison (Should have been a LOT longer.)
- Sarah Palin Announces She’s Running for Congress in Alaska (Gack.)
- GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker has been overstating his academic achievements for years
- Amazon Warehouse Workers Win Historic Union Vote on Staten Island
- Fox Business: Unionizing Amazon workers are driven by “anger” and “jealousy” about CEO pay
- Will Smith Resigns From Academy Over Chris Rock Oscars Slap Backlash
- After ‘The Slap,’ Will Smith’s Popularity Takes a Serious Hit
- The right-wing’s con culture comes for the Mouse
- “Not an April Fools’ joke, folks!” “The March #JobsData showed significant economic growth under @POTUS”
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says It’s “both despicable and pathetic that Donald Trump is out appealing to a war criminal, Vladimir Putin” (Warner: “my blood boils when I think about what Trump has done”)
- Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08): “It beggars belief to suggest that Justice Thomas was wholly ignorant of his wife’s efforts to overturn the election” (Beyer: “If Justice Thomas is unable or unwilling to rectify this behavior he should leave the Court”)
- Youngkin sends lawmakers back to work to pass a budget. They won’t. (Senate Finance/Appropriations Chair Janet Howell: “The budget is still at an impasse, and most bills that are outstanding have fiscal impacts. This is a total waste of time for legislators.”)
- Video: Tax Fairness for Virginia Coalition Unveils 3-Point “Prioritize Parents Plan,” Priorities Ahead of Special Session on Monday (Includes refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit, fully funding our K-12 schools.)
- Youngkin administration creating new parent-teacher office (“Youngkin’s press secretary, Macaulay Porter, said that this office would not field complaints about curricula and teachers.” Yeah, we’ll see.)
- How to go about providing tax relief to Virginians is a major budget sticking point
- Virginia 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 96% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Down to 266 From ~4,000 in January
- More violations found at beagle breeding facility in Cumberland
- Delegate Kory Condemns Beagle Breeder Envigo for EPA Violations (“Conditions at Envigo’s Cumberland facility are inhumane and have resulted in the suffering and deaths of their dogs”)
- Report details Virginia’s response to January snowstorm gridlock (“The report concludes that state agencies need to formulate plans to shut down interstates for long periods of time during bad weather…State agencies should also more effectively use social media to get a grip on the scope of emergencies, and directly communicate with the public about them.”)
- Rappahannock Tribe reacquires ancestral Virginia land, 350 years later
- Appeals court won’t revisit decision to reject Mountain Valley Pipeline permit
- Editorial: In trying times, Port of Virginia investments prove their worth
- Jury awards $5 million to former Virginia Beach City Council candidate in defamation suit over Facebook posts
- D.C.-area forecast: Cool weekend temperatures, but warming into early week
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
