Sunday News: “Russian soldier death rate highest since first week of war”; “U.S. Jet Shoots Down Flying Object Over Canada”; “Trump campaign commissioned research that failed to prove 2020 election fraud claims”; “Va.’s behavioral health system is woefully underfunded”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, February 12.

• OPEC Chief Tells Climate Activists to ‘Look at the Big Picture’ (The “big picture” is that we need to transition OFF of fossil fuels and ON to clean energy on an emergency/crash basis.)
• Launching balloons high into the atmosphere to unload sun-reflecting particles: Big climate solution or colossal disaster?
• Russia continues to shell Ukraine amid grinding push in east (Give Ukraine ATACMs)
• Ukraine war: Russian soldier death rate highest since first week of war
• These Russians Are Fighting Against Their Homeland. Here’s Why. (“In the Free Russia Legion, soldiers outraged by Vladimir Putin’s invasion have engaged in some of the most heated fighting in the war”)
• Russia’s Wagner Group Claims Gains Near Bakhmut in Ukraine
• Japan Says Chinese Navy Ship Entered Its Waters Early Sunday
• Object Shot Down Over Canada in Escalating Aerial Drama
• U.S. Jet Shoots Down Flying Object Over Canada
• NORAD shoots down ‘unidentified object’ over Yukon, Trudeau says
• New unidentified ‘cylindrical’ object shot down over Canada
• What we know about the unidentified objects shot down over North America
• Pentagon Shoots Down Unidentified Flying Object Over Alaska and It’s Still A Mystery
• Chinese spy balloon has GOP saying no cuts to defense (If there are no cuts to Social Security, Medicare or defense, that leaves…not much left to cut.)
• Turkey-Syria Earthquake Death Toll Passes 28,000 as Recovery Efforts Ramp Up
• Turkey arrests building contractors 6 days after quakes (Of course, this corruption presumably goes a lot higher up. Are they going to arrest the government officials responsible?)
• After helping prince’s rise, Trump and Kushner benefit from Saudi funds (Let’s guess, this isn’t under investigation?)
• Bolsonaro says he may return to Brazil in the coming weeks
• Biden’s 46 Words About Israel at a Critical Moment (“The genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, on an independent judiciary. Building consensus for fundamental changes is really important to ensure that the people buy into them so they can be sustained.”)
• A Free Press Is Crucial to India’s Democracy
• In Australia’s Outback, a controversial cash crop is booming: Carbon
• Wind and solar output set landmark new milestone in Australia’s rapidly changing grid
• The Fight to Define Green Hydrogen, With Billions of Dollars at Stake
• A Huge, Uncharted Experiment on the U.S. Economy Is About to Begin
• Childbirth Is Deadlier for Black Families Even When They’re Rich, Study Says
• Trump campaign paid researchers to prove 2020 fraud but kept findings secret
• Washington Post: Trump campaign commissioned research that failed to prove 2020 election fraud claims
• Trump was issued subpoena for folder marked ‘Classified Evening Briefing’ discovered at Mar-a-Lago
• Biden and Democratic governors embrace the new (old) class politics
• Biden leans into attacks on GOP over Social Security, Medicare
• Biden’s on a winning streak and up for a fight: so why are voters so negative? (A lot of it’s the media.)
• Biden’s plea at dinner with governors: ‘We can get big things done if we do it together’
• Super Bowl ads for Jesus are setting off alarm bells among some Christians (It’s pretty weak when you have to spend millions of dollars advertising for your religion.)
• Musician Steven Van Zandt gifts Jamie Raskin a bandana, wishes him a ‘rapid’ recovery
• DeSantis wins new power over Disney World in ‘don’t say gay’ culture war
• Not Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie, George Santos’ Puppy Theft Charge From 2017 Resurfaces
• The rise of Rep. Scott Perry: The most dangerous insurrectionist you’ve never heard of
• Police Charged With Killing Tyre Nichols Allegedly Beat Another Man Days Before
• The Only Success Story in Right-Wing Social Media (“Unlike Truth Social and others, Rumble has built the beginnings of a real business.”)
• Sen. Tim Kaine says ‘ill-timed’ spy balloon was ‘incompetent’ move by China
• Virginia jousts with Maryland in final bid for FBI headquarters
• Youngkin administration hands health commissioner duties to Lindsay
• Column: Va.’s behavioral health system is woefully underfunded
• Virginia’s legislative session is halfway over. Here’s where bills stand.
• Friday Night Update from the ER in Arlington, VA: COVID Numbers “trending down for about 6 weeks” (But there are “still plenty of people who get quite sick and require hospitalization”)
• Editorial: Preserving Black history (“A bill in Richmond would designate Green Book sites for markers, but there is much more to be done to preserve and protect Black history in Virginia.”)
• Del. Marie March lists another property for sale
• Men charged after cutting fence at Va. power facility, authorities say (“The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said the men were likely there to take construction materials, not sabotage a power substation.”)
• Arlington, Alexandria resolve glitches with 911 systems
• D.C.-area forecast: Chilly showers and rain for Super Bowl Sunday, then another mild week