by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, April 13.
- Strasbourg court’s Swiss climate ruling could have global impact, say experts
- Speaker Johnson’s perilous moment on Ukraine has finally arrived
- Belgium investigating Russian influence network suspected of paying EU lawmakers
- Russia Is Buying Politicians in Europe. Is It Happening Here Too?
- Ukraine could face defeat in 2024. Here’s how that might look (Given the West’s massive economic advantages, it’s complete unacceptable for Ukraine to have less ammo, etc. than Russia. If anything, Ukraine should have a lot MORE.)
- War in Ukraine Enters New Phase That Puts Energy in Crosshairs
- U.S. crude oil gains as Israel reportedly prepares for attack by Iran this weekend
- The Middle East is on the precipice of the wider war no one wants
- Exclusive: Google Contract Shows Deal With Israel Defense Ministry
- U.S. Moves Warships to Defend Israel in Case of Iranian Attack
- The West urges China to intervene with Iran amid fears of a direct attack on Israel
- Scoop: Iran warns U.S. to stay out of fight with Israel or face attack on troops
- ‘Don’t’ – Biden warns Iran against attacking Israel (“Israel says it is ready to defend itself against retaliation for an attack on an Iranian consulate in Syria.”)
- Palestinian man killed after Israeli boy vanishes in West Bank (“Dozens of Jewish settlers stormed a village during an Israeli search for a missing teenager.”)
- Israel Braces for Unprecedented Direct Iran Attack (“An assault is expected to come as soon as the next 48 hours.”)
- Is This Israel’s Forever War? (“Foreign-policy analysts whose careers were shaped by the war on terror see troubling parallels.”)
- Inside Israel’s Bombing Campaign in Gaza (“The Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham on his investigations of the I.D.F.’s use of A.I.-backed targeting systems and the dire cost to Palestinian civilians.”)
- China Had a ‘Special Place’ in Modi’s Heart. Now It’s a Thorn in His Side. (“As Narendra Modi seeks a third term as prime minister, India’s rupture with China looms over a pillar of his campaign: making his country a major power.”)
- A man stabbed to death 6 people in a Sydney shopping center and was fatally shot by police
- US Steel shareholders approve takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel opposed by Biden administration
- Haiti decrees long-awaited transition council, but questions remain
- CDC warns that measles spike poses a ‘renewed threat’ to the disease’s elimination
- Republicans aim to stop noncitizen voting in federal elections. It’s already illegal (Pure demagoguery, fear mongering, xenophobic crap from Republicans – as usual.)
- How a hush money scandal tied to a porn star led to Trump’s first criminal trial
- Judge declines to delay Trump’s NY hush money trial after Trump complains of pretrial publicity
- Trump holds Mar-a-Lago joint appearance with Johnson amid speakership threat
- Fact checking Trump and Johnson’s election integrity announcement (“House Speaker Mike Johnson raises baseless concerns on noncitizen voting” And by “baseless,” CNN means FALSE)
- Trump says he stands with Johnson as Greene threatens ouster
- Why Trump and Mike Johnson Are Promoting a Redundant Ban on Noncitizen Voting (“In an effort to win Trump’s protection, the Speaker is abetting a preemptive attack on the legitimacy of the 2024 election.”)
- ‘We Broke Roe v. Wade’: Trump Brags About Eliminating Abortion Rights (“‘We don’t need it any longer because we broke Roe v. Wade,’ Trump said. ‘The states are working very brilliantly. It’s working the way it’s supposed to.'”)
- Donald Trump and Mike Johnson Join Forces to Ban Abortion Nationwide (“…but as President Biden has said, neither one of them has a clue about the power of women. They’ll find out this November.”)
- Video: VP Kamala Harris Responds to Trump Bragging He “Broke Roe” and Extreme State Bans Are “Working Very Brilliantly” (“And as much harm as he has already caused, a second Trump term would be even worse.”)
- Republicans Are Trying—and Failing—to Clean Up Their Abortion Mess
- Harris on Trump’s abortion stance: “Enough with the gaslighting”
- Trump Risks Losing Suburban Women Over Abortion (“WSJ poll shows the issue is make-or-break for many of the swing-state voters who decided the last two elections and could again in 2024”)
- Trump’s Given His Enemies Plenty to Work With on His Worst Issue
- Trump Wants a Good-Looking, Election-Denying, Shorter-Than-Him Running Mate Whom He Doesn’t Have to “See Too Much”: Report
- This is why Trump supporters will believe absolutely anything (“Fox News is a paragon of journalistic integrity compared with the darker corners of the MAGA media landscape. Listening to Trump’s 10-minute interview with Real America’s Voice, I realized the host, Wayne Root — who was having his fifteenth interview with Trump — sounded even more bonkers than his subject, which is saying something.”)
- House GOP bridges divide to reauthorize controversial surveillance bill
- House Republicans fume over “messaging” votes
- Infuriated Democrats grapple with GOP vote to blast Biden
- Republican denial: They think tyrants won’t come after them (“In sum, ignoring the consequences of a second Trump term amounts to whistling past the graveyard of democracy. It’s time to pay attention to the prospect of a MAGA autocracy.”)
- Trump tries to boost support for Truth Social as DJT stock tanks
- Marjorie Taylor Greene won’t say what happened to her Trump Media stock
- Judge rejects Hunter Biden’s bid to dismiss the federal gun charges against him
- Southeast utilities want to meet surging power demand with gas, not renewables (“In South Carolina, state lawmakers are advancing legislation backed by utilities Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper to fast-track construction of a 2,000-megawatt fossil gas-fired power plant.”)
- Florida blocks heat protections for workers right before summer (Youngkin’s role-model governor strikes yet again.)
- A near-total ban on abortion has supercharged the political dynamics of Arizona, a key swing state
- GOP Star Recruit Brags About ‘Rural’ Upbringing. He Grew Up 15 Minutes From the City. (“Montana Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy has claimed he grew up in ‘rural’ Minnesota. His hometown is actually a quintessential slice of Twin Cities suburbia.”)
- Robert MacNeil, co-anchor of PBS’s NewsHour segment, dies aged 93 (Rest in peace.)
- Media Matters statement on winning injunction against Texas AG Ken Paxton in federal court
- Sen. Kaine calls for FTC probe into videos showing murders of Roanoke journalists
- Video: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) Says Youngkin Refusing to Sign Bill Protecting Right to Contraception “is just outrageous,” “out of step with what it is that the people of Virginia want” (“This was important legislation that Senator Ghazala Hashmi and Delegate Cia Price wrote thoughtfully and purposefully”)
- Beyer wanted to understand AI, so he enrolled at George Mason University (This is like the 50th article on Rep. Don Beyer going back to school to study AI, lol.)
- Coalition for Smarter Growth: “Don’t let Governor Youngkin slash key funding for Metro!” (“in one of his over 200 budget amendments, Governor Youngkin slashed the needed funding by 76% – to nothing in FY25 and just $35 million in FY26.”)
- Battle lines are drawn for General Assembly and Youngkin (“It’s really frustrating. I think we’re in for a heck of a workday next Wednesday.” -Sen. Creigh Deeds)
- Virginia governor names leaders at three state agencies
- Utility benefit assistance program isn’t reaching enough Virginians, state report says
- FOIA Friday: Botched response to gunshot victim, NAACP threatens suit over DEI
- Virginia becomes first state in the South to ban child marriage
- Newport News School Board asks state Supreme Court to overturn ruling allowing teacher shot by 6-year-old to sue
- Williams: Demolition or preservation? VUU needs to build trust
- Virginia crime commission to review cases of former lab employee (“VPM podcast ‘Admissible’ led to the review.”)
- Richmond writer ends Good Morning, RVA newsletter
- D.C.-area forecast: Cool and gusty today ahead of a warm-up into next week
