by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, April 17.
- World faces ‘deathly silence’ of nature as wildlife disappears, warn experts (Horrifying.)
- Climate change: El Niño ends with uncertainty over cooler future
- Billions more in overseas aid needed to avert climate disaster, say economists
- What Migration Is Really Doing to Politics and Economies Worldwide
- Ukraine’s Chances of Pushing Russia Out Look Increasingly Grim
- GOP’s discharge petition talk grows as Ukraine aid languishes
- Meet the shadowy general who has become a symbol of Ukraine’s defiance
- Mike Johnson’s race against the clock on foreign aid
- Democrats warn Mike Johnson: Don’t play us on foreign aid
- Mike Johnson Needs Democrats on Ukraine, Handing Them Power to Shape Aid Plan
- MAGA is using Israel to undermine Ukraine, harming them both
- Mike Johnson says he won’t resign amid right-wing backlash over foreign aid to Ukraine
- Mike Johnson Gambles Speakership on Ukraine. He May Lose.
- 50,000 Russian soldiers confirmed dead by BBC
- What was Iran thinking? Maybe not what you think.
- Emboldened Iran Makes Dangerous Gamble on Open Confrontation
- Iran president warns of ‘massive’ response if Israel launches ‘tiniest invasion’
- Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Holding Iran Accountable for Unprecedented Attack on Israel
- U.S. to hit Iran with fresh sanctions after Israel attack
- The Fate of Israel’s Hostages After Iran’s Rocket Attack
- UK’s Cameron, in Israel, says Israelis have decided to retaliate against Iran (“We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible.”)
- David Cameron holding talks in Israel to urge against war with Iran
- Saudis, UAE Warn of War Dangers as Israel-Iran Tensions Boil
- Biden Seeks Higher Tariffs on Chinese Steel, Aluminum to Support US Firms
- A storm dumps record rain across the desert nation of UAE and floods the Dubai airport
- Powell Signals Rates Will Be Higher for Longer
- This might be Trump’s most inflationary, economically destructive idea yet
- January 6 insurrectionists had a great day in the Supreme Court today (“Most of the justices seem to want to make it harder to prosecute January 6 rioters.” UGH.)
- Fischer v. U.S. Could Cause Chaos In Trump’s Jan. 6 Case
- The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Just Took Direct Aim at Jack Smith’s Trump Indictment. Will They Go Through With It?
- Supreme Court seems divided over obstruction charge in Jan. 6 case that may impact Trump, rioters (This Court is a f’ing joke, mostly illegitimate and extremist.)
- SCOTUS Justices: Why Isn’t DOJ Treating Dobbs Protesters Like January 6 Attackers?
- Trump Makes It Kind of Impossible to Be an ‘Impartial’ Juror
- Trump ups efforts to discredit criminal trial
- Trump, the defendant, confronts courtroom reality
- ‘It’s a Very Winnable Case’: Three Writers Dissect the Trump Trial
- Trump rebuked as hush-money trial judge warns against juror intimidation
- Sleepy Don’s dilemma: Napping in court could help Trump win the case, but it hurts him with his base (“Trump trial tantrums get MAGA wallets to open, but could turn a jury against him”)
- ABC and NBC nightly news programs ignored report that Trump appeared to fall asleep during his trial
- Time To Get Serious About That Gag Order
- Seven jurors picked in Trump’s N.Y. trial as judge presses ahead
- Trump’s Alternate-Reality Criminal Trial (“There was little drama in the courtroom yesterday. But the former president told a very different story to his supporters.”)
- Revolt against Johnson opens up fresh talk over House GOP leadership’s future
- Is Mike Johnson About to Have a Kevin McCarthy Moment?
- Romney open to voting with Democrats to dismiss Mayorkas impeachment (This impeachment is 100% a sham and should be reported as such – any news outlet taking it seriously is doing a massive disservice to its viewers/readers/listeners.)
- Biden Visits His Pennsylvania Hometown To Call For More Taxes On The Rich And Cast Trump As Elitist
- Democratic Senate candidates rout GOP in fundraising
- Conservative Groups Are Outraising Democrats on the State Level—By a Lot (Totally unacceptable.)
- ‘Danger to our democracy’: fears over Trump allies’ summit with far-right sheriffs (“Mike Flynn, Mike Lindell and others to attend event on election fraud by Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association” Scary, disturbing shit.)
- Mainstream media gushed over “vocal Trump critic” NH Gov. Chris Sununu, who has now endorsed Trump (The “mainstream media” is largely a bad joke.)
- NPR Is a Mess. But “Wokeness” Isn’t the Problem.
- The worst mainstream media habit: Distorting polls for clicks
- NPR suspends veteran editor as it grapples with his public criticism (NPR’s political coverage has been a complete disaster at least since 2016. What’s amazing is how many liberals still swear by this both-sidesism, false equivalence crap.)
- Sen. Bob Menendez may point the finger at his wife, newly unsealed documents show
- Sen. Tom Cotton doubles down on comments urging people to ‘forcibly remove’ protesters blocking traffic
- Republicans Fan Out to Defend Trump in Hopes He’ll Notice and Pick Them to Be His VP (Sick.)
- Pro-Trump network OAN and Smartmatic settle 2020 election defamation case
- Arizona GOP strategy document implores party to show ‘Republicans have a plan’ on abortion
- Americans Are More Vulnerable to Foreign Propaganda, Senator Warns (“Senator Mark Warner, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said the United States was more susceptible to Russian influence operations than it was during the 2020 elections.” Warner’s been talking about this for months; the NY Times just caught on?)
- Sen. Tim Kaine reacts to jury selection in Trump’s trial
- US House, Senate 1Q24 Fundraising Numbers for Virginia Candidates Are Now In
- Campaign finance reports suggest McGuire’s challenge to Rep. Good is serious (No shit.)
- General Assembly reconvenes Wednesday to take up Youngkin’s vetoes and budget amendments (“Youngkin’s amendments to the budget require a simple majority vote to pass the General Assembly, meaning Democrats who hold narrow control in the House and Senate could toss out his recommendations. However, the proposal then returns to the governor who — at that point — can either sign it or reject the entire plan. The more amendments Democrats reject, the more likely Youngkin might be to use his veto pen.”)
- Video: With Veto Session Tomorrow, VA Speaker Don Scott Says, “Don’t let Pretending Glenn shut down the government” (“Youngkin used his power in a punitive way after key Democrats rejected the governor’s coveted arena deal”)
- Virginia lawmakers set to take up Youngkin’s proposed amendments, vetoes in reconvened session
- Virginia Assembly returns to Richmond at odds with Youngkin on budget
- State budget deal uncertain ahead of reconvened session
- Editorial: Lawmakers should act boldly by rejoining emissions program
- Virginia’s may be the most powerful legislature of them all (It really isn’t, because it’s a part-time/citizen legislature, actually it’s the corporations and lobbyists who have a ton of power.)
- Police reform may expand in Virginia — but behind closed doors
- Bill regulating utility shutoffs is necessary because of Virginia’s growing energy affordability gap
- Stores halt lottery sales to protest Youngkin skill game stance
- Inside the skill games battle: 60 days of bipartisan work undone in a weekend (“Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s far-reaching slate of amendments to legislation seeking to regulate and tax electronic betting machines sparked the ire of lawmakers from both parties who believe he has overstepped his authority.”)
- Amazon HQ2 was supposed to add jobs last year. It shed them instead. (“The downturn in hiring marks another setback in the boost Amazon had initially promised with its HQ2 in Northern Virginia amid a squeeze in the tech industry.”)
- Dominion’s offshore wind construction vessel, named after Greek sea monster, moves to the water
- Richmond sets youth curfew amid spate of gun violence
- Charlottesville passes $607M budget with tax hikes and little public pushback
- D.C.-area forecast: Cloudier today with midday showers; sunnier and dry tomorrow
