by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, April 5.
- Should Big Oil Be Tried for Homicide? (“A group of activists and legal experts are promoting the argument that fossil fuel companies should be charged for homicide and other crimes for their roles in driving climate harms.”)
- ‘A lot of grim realism’: What our columnists heard in Ukraine
- Dwindling Ammunition Stocks Pose Grave Threat to Ukraine
- Reign of Fear: Secret Raids Sweep Russia After Terror Attack
- Blinken says Ukraine will eventually ‘become a member of NATO’
- Russian military ‘almost completely reconstituted,’ US official says
- Exclusive: Republicans to face pro-Ukraine deluge on return to D.C.
- Europe is finally cranking up its creaky defense factories
- A blinking red light for Israel in American politics
- Blinken warns: Israel risks becoming indistinguishable from Hamas if it doesn’t protect Gaza civilians
- Israel to open Gaza aid routes after Biden’s demands in call with Netanyahu (“Biden said the U.S. would reassess its policy on the war if Israel does not take immediate steps to address the humanitarian situation and safety of aid workers.”)
- Biden to Netanyahu: Protect civilians or else
- Errors in Israel’s Gaza evacuation warnings, BBC finds (“Experts say these errors could violate Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.”)
- US awaits Netanyahu’s response after Biden’s ultimatum (“A sustained Israeli pivot will be needed to ease criticism of Netanyahu and to mitigate Biden’s own domestic political exposure”)
- Biden Should Suspend Military Aid to Israel Immediately
- Trump Urges Israel To ‘Get It Over With’ In Gaza — Because It’s Bad PR
- After 6 Months of War, Some Israelis Ask: Is Netanyahu Dragging It Out? (Sure seems like it – Netanyahu dragging out the war to keep himself in power.)
- Israel is at a crisis point: The world has had enough
- My gut-wrenching visit to Israel revealed mournful isolation — and essential context
- Six months into Gaza war, Israel faces deepening isolation
- Behind the Deadly Mistakes of Israel’s Military in Gaza
- Israel braces for Tehran’s response after deadly Damascus strike
- China Is Targeting U.S. Voters and Taiwan With AI-Powered Disinformation
- Australia should prepare for 20-year megadroughts as the climate crisis worsens, study finds
- ‘Building an authoritarian axis’: the Trump ‘envoy’ courting the global far right (“Richard Grenell’s shadow foreign policy campaign is unsettling diplomats and threatens to collapse US interests” UGH.)
- New mass graves in Rwanda reveal cracks in reconciliation efforts, 30 years after the genocide (“New mass graves are still being found in Rwanda, 30 years after the country’s genocide in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed by extremist Hutu in massacres that lasted over 100 days.”)
- There is still some life left in Turkey’s democracy
- The Beltway’s Favorite Autocracy Stands Accused of a Shady Smear Campaign (“Two cases cast unflattering light on Western journalists and academics who were allegedly manipulated by the UAE.”)
- White House Awards $20 Billion to Nation’s First ‘Green Bank’ Network
- Job gains expected again in March. Here are all the things to look for in Friday’s report
- U.S. Job Growth Is Expected to Have Been Robust Last Month
- Biden Administration Issues New Rule on “protecting the merit-based civil service and preventing a return to Donald Trump’s disastrous Schedule F proposal” (Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11): “But the threat of a politicized civil service is too great, and too real, for this to be the end of our efforts”)
- “Screws up female brains”: MAGA leaders are conditioning Republicans to back birth control bans
- Republicans down, abortion up. What did overturning Roe achieve? (“With an abortion referendum on the ballot in Florida, it’s worth taking stock of just how badly the GOP and the pro-life cause have been routed since 2022.”)
- The Washington press corps doesn’t have a freaking clue (“I’ve been away for nearly two weeks, almost entirely unplugged, and let me tell you, a little distance makes the failure of the American political press even more horrifying and inexcusable.”)
- Let Me Rewrite That For You: NY Times Misinforms Readers About RFK & Biden (The NY Times’ political coverage is irredeemably awful/harmful/makes you stupider if you read it; the paper would be MUCH better if they just got rid of it.)
- Judge rejects Trump’s bid to dismiss classified documents case based on Presidential Records Act
- Judge rejects Trump request to dismiss classified documents prosecution
- Trump Honors Violent, Law Enforcement-Assaulting Rioters (“Trump embraces political violence and honors those who assaulted law enforcement and attempted to overturn our democracy on January 6.”)
- Is Trump’s $175 million civil fraud bond valid in New York?
- Trump says he’ll jail his opponents. Members of the House Jan. 6 committee are preparing
- Trump Struck Out in Two Separate Courts of Law Today
- Trump suffers setbacks in his efforts to derail two cases
- Blame the Lawyers! Will Trump’s Attorneys Be the Ones Responsible for Upending Democracy? (“The shadow of Nixon’s legal cabal looms large as lawyers John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, and Sidney Powell face reprimand.”)
- The Amnesia Advantage of Donald Trump (“This year’s race comes down to just how much America has lost its collective mind about its disastrous former President.”)
- Don’t Let Trump Exhaust You (“This election is about fortitude and endurance.”)
- Steve Bannon is telling MAGA to give up on suburban women
- Jeffrey Clark’s bid to aid Trump election scheme violated attorney rules, DC Bar panel finds
- Why Trump wants to game Nebraska’s electoral vote, mapped
- Joe Biden for Re-Election (This is at “Virginia’s Conservative Voice,” Bearing Drift. Interesting.)
- No Labels, Deciding Not to Siphon Votes From Joe Biden, Says It Won’t Run a Third-Party Candidate
- No Labels Will Abandon 2024 Presidential Campaign Effort (Good f’ing riddance.)
- No Labels won’t run a third-party campaign after spending millions trying to recruit a candidate
- RFK Jr. campaign describes Jan. 6 defendants as ‘activists,’ then disavows email
- RFK Jr. campaign says Jan. 6 ‘activists’ have been ‘stripped of their Constitutional liberties’ (RFK Jr. is evil and completely f’ed up.)
- Before stoking fear about LGBTQ inclusion and sex ed in schools, Chris Rufo helped high schoolers produce films about being gay or pregnant (Ee gads.)
- Ted Cruz Is Getting Nervous He’s Going to Lose His Senate Seat (Youngkin’s BFF.)
- Biden Takes Aim at SpaceX’s Tax-Free Ride in American Airspace
- Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar subpoenaed in Arizona probe of Trump fake electors
- Roseanne Barr Pushed QAnon Blood Drinking Conspiracy at Kari Lake’s Mar-a-Lago Event
- Kari Lake is a friend and supporter of Laura Loomer, who has described herself as “pro-white nationalism” and a “proud Islamophobe” (Glenn Youngkin campaigned for Kari Lake, even called her “AWESOME!”)
- Musk’s X pivots again, restoring blue checks to popular accounts
- Port of Baltimore to partially open by end of April, officials say
- Excellent, Succinct Overview, by Sam Shirazi, of the Highly Competitive VA10 Democratic Primary (“This district is based in Loudoun and surrounding NOVA suburbs/exurbs”; “Rep. [Jennifer] Wexton is retiring, unfortunately due to health reasons”)
- The key to the Good-McGuire primary could be Haley voters in Charlottesville and Albemarle
- An unlikely sight: Freedom Caucus chief asks GOP speaker for help surviving (“Rep. Bob Good is the second straight chair of the conservative bloc to face political peril. This time it’s coming from within his own party.”)
- Late Virginia budget could hurt long-term finances, former official says
- Del. Paul Krizek: Youngkin’s Veto of 91 Bills (So Far) in 2024 “highlights the Governor’s disconnect from the concerns of average Virginia families” (Youngkin’s vetoed bills on gun violence prevention, increasing the minimum wage, setting up a cannabis market, combatting invasive plants, etc, etc.)
- Pope & Schapiro: Time is running out for 2024 bills
- Youngkin takes action on legislation related to animal cruelty, toxic exposures for government employees
- Lawmakers and advocates urge governor to sign prescription drug affordability board bill
- Advocates deliver 37,000+ signatures in support of contraception protections
- Youngkin signs Obenshain’s bill to crack down on Fentanyl manufacturers
- Advocates disappointed by veto of climate change classroom materials bill
- Dolly Parton’s free books program to expand statewide in Virginia
- Petersburg casino plan requires reapproval from General Assembly
- Right whale found off Virginia Beach coast died of ‘catastrophic injuries’ from vessel strike, NOAA says (Horrible.)
- Albemarle County’s judge and sheriff have ended their feud. It only cost thousands of dollars.
- D.C.-area forecast: Morning sun gives way to a few afternoon showers
