Friday News: “Thirteen dead as Russian missiles hit cities”; “Republicans threaten to tank economy. Media blames Biden.”; “Senate GOP blocks Equal Rights Amendment”; “At VMI, Youngkin’s diversity chief slams diversity, equity, inclusion”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, April 28.

• Can Iceberg Surges in the Arctic Trigger Rapid Warming at the Other End of The World?
• A Security Camera for the Planet (“A new satellite, funded by a nonprofit, aims to pinpoint emissions of methane—a gas that plays a major role in global warming.”)
• Carbon Removal Projects Leap Forward With New Offset Deal. Will They Actually Help the Climate?
• Euro zone ekes out slim growth, but misses expectations as Germany stagnates
• Ukraine war: Thirteen dead as Russian missiles hit cities
• Russian Warplanes Are ‘Trying to Dogfight’ US Jets Over Syria, General Says
• The communication breakdown between the U.S. and China raises the risk of an unintended crisis
• DeSantis and Netanyahu: Shameless, Dangerous Anti-democratic Brothers-in-arms
• Beware Netanyahu’s Smoke-and-mirrors Show. Israeli Democracy Is Still in Danger
• On Eve Of Coronation, Charles Is King Of Nation With Less Influence Than In His Mother’s Time (“The U.K. is navigating the effects of Brexit and other historic changes that could define its role on the world stage for years to come.”)
• BBC Chairman Richard Sharp resigns after breaching rules over Boris Johnson loan
• How Sudan’s military factions set path to war as mediation stalled
• First 1 GW phase of world’s second-largest PV project goes online (“State Grid Ningxia Zhongwei Power Supply Co. has completed the first section of a 3 GW solar plant in the Tengger Desert, in China’s Ningxia Hui region.”)
• Republicans threaten to tank economy. Media blames Biden.
• White House reiterates refusal to negotiate on debt limit as pressure mounts
• Biden’s student loan help would be ‘annihilated’ by GOP bill
• Wage, Inflation Data to Inform Fed Rate Decision
• Wages and Prices Could Show a Cool-Down Before a Fed Meeting
• Biden and the Not-So-Bad Economy
• Will Any Other Republicans Back SCOTUS Reform? (“Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski is out with a bipartisan bill to hold Supreme Court justices to the same ethical standards as other federal judges.”)
• The Polite Disdain of John Roberts Finds a Target
• Pressure grows on Supreme Court to embrace ethics reforms
• Revealed: Senate investigation into Brett Kavanaugh assault claims contained serious omissions (Kavanaugh has no business being on ANY court, let alone the Supreme Court. He’s an utter disgrace.)
• Senate Democrats Demand Answers From John Roberts Amid Supreme Court Ethics Controversy
• One Republican Senator is Backing Supreme Court Reform. Will Any Others Follow?
• Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021
• Senate GOP blocks Equal Rights Amendment
• Multiple red flags weren’t enough to prevent 21-year-old who leaked classified docs from getting top-secret clearance
• Fox News Poll: Voters favor gun limits over arming citizens to reduce gun violence
• Eric Trump Deletes Tweets About His Dad’s Rape Trial After Judge Warns There Could Be Legal Consequences (“The judge had warned Donald Trump about his own social media attacks on accuser E. Jean Carroll earlier in the day.”)
• Judge Dismisses Jury in Trump Rape Trial for the Day
• Pence Appears Before Grand Jury on Trump’s Efforts to Retain Power
• Pence testifies about Trump and the Capitol riot
• Trump lawyers ask House GOP for ‘legislative solution’ to block classified documents probe
• In N.H. stop, Trump embraces woman convicted in Jan. 6 case (Completely sick.)
• A second firm hired by Trump campaign found no evidence of election fraud
• Trump Lawyer’s Shameful Cross-Examination of E. Jean Carroll (“Thursday’s showing by Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina may have been the most tone-deaf cross-examination in a rape trial since ‘To Kill A Mockingbird.'”)
• Biden looks to elevate Harris’ work as core to re-election bid
• Democrats begin to target vulnerable GOP seats
• This Week, the Biden-Trump Rematch Got Real
• Nikki Haley Really Went There, Huh?
• Nikki Haley: Biden will likely die within five years (Anyone who refers to Nikki Haley as a “more moderate” Republican is an idiot.)
• Ted Cruz Tapes Will Be Given to Feds Probing Jan. 6: Report
• Scoop: DeSantis dines with Miriam Adelson, other major GOP donors in Israel
• DeSantis’s Miscalculation: ‘Disney Is Playing the Long Game’
• Florida’s book-ban frenzy targets Nora Roberts, and she’s not happy
• The Memo: Republicans worry DeSantis has erred in Disney feud
• DeSantis’ Cartoon Villainy Gives Disney’s Lawsuit a Clear Path to Victory (“The governor’s authoritarian style means he’s always admitted anti-gay revenge was the goal.”)
• Ron DeSantis Backers Urge Him to Jump Into 2024 Race ASAP, as Pudding Boy’s Poll Numbers Bite the Dust (“He’s starting to look like a Scott Walker in 2015, Newt Gingrich in 2012 and Fred Thompson in 2008.”)
• Climate protesters paint case housing Degas ballerina sculpture in D.C. (Not helpful at all.)
• Joe Manchin Is Having a Hard Time (“Much of what he’s doing lately is close to a political Hail Mary”)
• ‘A dangerous trend’: Florida Republicans poised to pass more voter restrictions
• A Transgender Lawmaker Is Exiled as Montana G.O.P. Flexes New Power
• GOP uses state capitol protests to redefine ‘insurrection’ (“The silencing of a transgender lawmaker in Montana marks the third time in five weeks that Republicans have attempted to compare disruptive but nonviolent protests at state capitols to insurrections. It’s a move experts say dismisses legitimate speech and downplays the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.”)
• Republicans deny they want to erase trans people — Montana silencing Zooey Zephyr proves otherwise
• Texas Is “Fixing” Its Power Grid in the Most Texas Way Possible (“Pending legislation imperils ordinary Texans—but it’s great for the gas industry.”)
• 2 US Army helicopters crash in Alaska, killing 3 soldiers
• Marjorie Taylor Greene Says They Didn’t Raise Taxes to Combat Climate Change In the Ice Age (The fact that this completely deranged individual is a top Republican says it all about that party.)
• In win for transgender rights advocates, effort to enact Kansas trans health care ban fails
• Feds: Rioter Couple Raided Pelosi’s Office, Stormed the Senate, Then Kicked a Cop in the Groin
• Rep. Jamie Raskin in remission after cancer treatment
• Montana Governor’s Nonbinary Son Calls on Him to Reject Transgender Bills
• California Enters ‘Uncharted Territory’ After Cutting Payments to Rooftop Solar Owners by 75 Percent
• Fired Tucker Carlson Producer: Misogyny and bullying ‘trickles down from the top’
• “Disinformation can come at a cost”: What Fox News learned from Tucker Carlson (“But it’s not clear that Fox will abandon its business model of feeding on division and extremism”)
• Newsmax Ratings Climb After Tucker Carlson’s Exit at Fox
• Fox Ratings Tumble In Tucker Carlson Slot After His Firing (“Hundreds of thousands of Fox News viewers are reacting to Tucker Carlson’s firing by abandoning the network in his old time slot — at least temporarily.”)
• Bluesky is Jack Dorsey’s attempt at a Twitter redo and it’s already growing fast
• What to know about Bluesky, as Dril and AOC join the new Twitter alternative
• New York City Subway Ends Twitter Service Alerts After Musk Raises Price
• Conservative dissenters block abortion limits in Nebraska, South Carolina (The headline should say that Democrats, plus a few Republicans, blocked those abortion limits.)
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Comments on Ft. Gregg-Adams Renaming, Debt Ceiling, AI’s Promise and Perils, Bijan Ghaisar Case, etc.
• Rep. Jennifer McClellan Statement on Renaming of Fort Lee to Fort Gregg-Adams (“Fort Lee, one of the top Army logistics bases in the country, has borne the name of Confederate General Robert E. Lee for far too long”)
• New Report on “Decade of Dirty Secrets” by the Carlyle Group, Where Glenn Youngkin Was a Top Executive for Years, Finds Firm a Disaster for Climate, Environmental Justice
• Right Wing Watch: “Gov. Youngkin Proclamation Praises Christian Nationalist ‘Re-Covenanting’ Featuring Viciously Anti-LGBTQ Speakers” (Far-right priest ranted about “crush[ing] like vermin…every filthy school board member or teacher who tries to shove their mentally ill tranny freak show down the throats of our precious children”)
• Advocates worry thousands of Virginians could lose health insurance as pandemic rules come to an end
• Virginia budget negotiators at odds over Youngkin’s corporate tax cut plan: ‘Clearly off the table’
• Virginia parents, teachers worry about gun violence after school shootings
• ‘DEI is dead’: At VMI, Youngkin’s diversity chief slams diversity, equity, inclusion (Completely bonkers.)
• Pope & Schapiro: Bruising primaries, big donations, and an overseas trip
• Video: Delegate Sickles, Health Advocates Discuss Medicaid Unwinding and GOP’s Ongoing Threats following House Passage of Legislation to Take Away Health Care
• In FOIA ruling, Va. Supreme Court upholds public’s right to be in meeting rooms
• Focal Point: How Virginia communities are enduring floods
• A slow start to Virginia’s solar pollinator program
• Two GOP nominating contests kick off election year crucial to Youngkin
• MARC eyes regional service expansion to Delaware, Virginia
• Former VA Secretary of Education Atif Qarni Explains His Endorsement of Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef for Reelection
• Three found dead in Fairfax Co. home in apparent domestic shooting
• Campaign for more long-distance flights at Reagan National draws local opposition
• D.C.-area forecast: Welcome rain makes today a washout; maybe Sunday, too