by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, February 23.
- Oil and gas facilities could profit from plugging methane leaks, IEA says (“International Energy Agency reports nearly all the industry’s methane emissions could be avoided at no net cost”)
- Wildfires likely to increase by a third by 2050, warns UN
- Russia’s Moves in Ukraine Unsettle Energy Companies and Prices
- Iran appears ready to swap prisoners with U.S.; nuclear deal near
- EXPLAINER: Impending Iran nuclear deal alarms Israel (Netanyahu shouldn’t have pushed to ditch the previous deal!)
- Analysis: The Limits of a Europe Whole and Free (“President Vladimir Putin set down a marker in Ukraine that will test the West’s means to stop him.”)
- Ukrainians ready for resistance: ‘The whole country will be fighting back’ (“Army less well equipped than Russia’s but can call upon half a million combat-experienced veterans”)
- Europe braces for further strife as Ukraine crisis escalates
- Putin Is Making a Historic Mistake
- A Crushing Loss of Hope in Ukraine (“Putin has declared that history is destiny, and that Ukraine will never get away from Russia.”)
- Putin Has Made an Elaborate Set of Calculations. But He Hasn’t Planned for This.
- Biden lowers the hammer on Russia, just as he vowed
- U.S.’ Blinken cancels meeting with Lavrov, says Russian moves are ‘rejection of diplomacy’
- Putin’s ‘surreal’ version of Ukrainian history alarms experts
- EU Matches U.S. Ban on Russian Bonds in Sanctions Package
- Ukraine Seeks to Declare Nationwide State of Emergency
- Germany halts Nord Stream 2 and Russia responds with a stark warning
- In Ukraine Crisis, Putin Confounded Diplomatic Efforts by Western Leaders
- Only one former secretary of state is praising Putin and criticizing Biden in Ukraine crisis
- Trump praises Putin’s ‘genius’ as GOP fissures grow on Ukraine crisis
- Trump Calls Putin’s Ukraine Moves “Genius” Because He’s a Sick Man Who Hates Democracy
- Ukraine Shifts to War Footing, Tells Citizens to Leave Russia
- Trump didn’t take long to make sure Putin knew he approved
- Ukraine moves to impose state of emergency as U.S., allies pressure Russia with sanctions
- Allies join U.S. in imposing sanctions pressure on Russia over Ukraine
- Putin Looks Ready to Start a War. Will He? (“He’s checked off every box he needs to for an invasion, except sending in the tanks.”)
- Yes, Putin’s invasion has begun. And the threat extends beyond Ukraine.
- Harsh conditions mean Russian troops near Ukraine will need to be moved soon (“Analysis: advance forces’ battle readiness will quickly degrade, giving Putin only days to choose invasion or retreat”)
- Biden delivers a calibrated response to a threatened cataclysm in Ukraine
- Missouri Senator Josh Hawley appeases Russia on Ukraine
- J.D. Vance’s repulsive spin about Putin and Ukraine faces a new test (“Time to face up to the deeper aims of right-wing nationalists.”)
- Steve Bannon praises Putin’s speech about Ukraine: “You wouldn’t hear an American politician except for Donald Trump do that” (Bonkers.)
- Fox & Friends host blames Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Biden and Benghazi (Completely insane.)
- Analysis: Putin moves on Donbass but signals deeper designs on Ukraine
- On Ukraine, Republicans are united on criticizing Biden, but not on how to counter Russian threat
- Fact Sheet: United States Imposes First Tranche of Swift and Severe Costs on Russia
- Yes, Russia is acting as a colonial power towards Ukraine
- China keeps walking its tightrope between Russia and the West as tensions flare in Ukraine
- Will Ukraine Ruin the New Xi-Putin Bromance? (“Don’t expect a breakup anytime soon”)
- The Ottawa truck convoy has revealed the ugly side of freedom
- China says Taiwan is ‘not Ukraine’ as island raises alert level
- Mexico’s gas flaring soars, igniting fears for its climate goals
- Covid infections plummet 90% from U.S. pandemic high, states lift mask mandates
- Mask mandates are over in all but one state as cruises, retailers follow suit
- Facing red wave, Democrats work on a midterm message
- The Republican party is abandoning democracy. There can be no ‘politics as usual’
- Why Democrats should love Rick Scott’s Rescue America Plan
- Rick Scott reveals the GOP’s election strategy: All culture war, all the time
- Rick Scott just laid out a Republican agenda. He has done his party no favors.
- Rick Scott’s Bonkers GOP Agenda Shows Why McConnell Doesn’t Want One (“Many of his proposals straddle the line between stupid and evil.”)
- Rick Scott thrusts the GOP back into Romney-’47 percent’ territory
- Rick Scott’s Plan to Save America Is an Unhinged, Right-Wing Fever Dream
- This Is Exactly What Mitch McConnell Didn’t Want (“Dissecting Rick Scott’s 31-page governing manifesto.”)
- The GOP’s midterm plan: Tax low-income families and eliminate jobs
- U.S. Soccer and Women’s Players Agree to Settle Equal Pay Lawsuit (“Under the terms of the agreement, the athletes will receive $24 million and a pledge from the soccer federation to equalize pay for the men’s and women’s national teams”)
- Biden interviews at least two Supreme Court contenders as announcement nears
- The Supreme Court will hear a big case about whether religion is a license to discriminate
- The Supreme Court Just Teed Up a Direct Assault on Civil Rights Law
- Less than social media: How hashtags have hindered progressive movements — and fueled the right (“Gal Beckerman explains how social movements like the Arab Spring were undermined by the very tool that enabled them”)
- Fighting Jan. 6 committee, John Eastman details how he came into Trump’s post-election fold
- United States v. Donald Trump (“A ‘Model Prosecution Memo’ on the Conspiracy to Pressure Vice President Pence”)
- Supreme Court ends Trump bid to shield records from Jan. 6 panel
- Trump Organization and Finance Chief Seek Dismissal of Fraud Charges
- Trump’s Truth Social’s disastrous launch raises doubts about its long-term viability
- Ahmaud Arbery’s Killers Found Guilty of Hate Crimes
- National guard troops to be deployed in DC as trucker convoy protests loom
- As ‘Freedom Convoy’ spinoffs pop up on social media, D.C. region braces
- Sen. Mark Warner: The West Is “Resolute” and “Unified…in standing up to Putin’s brazen, reckless and illegal course of action” (“I support President Biden’s measures to impose significant costs on Russia and its autocratic government”)
- In Virginia, GOP has openings in new Biden-Youngkin districts (“Luria, Spanberger face tough climate but have fundraising edge”)
- To expunge his daughter’s murder from the Internet, a father created an NFT of the video (“Andy Parker has launched a complex and potentially futile bid to gain ownership over the videos to remove them from the Internet.”)
- New poll shows Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s bet on voters was way off (“Virginia voters appear to hold more progressive views on key issues than the Republican governor and his conservative backers previously alleged.”)
- Senate Democrats draw battle lines with Youngkin over economy and budget
- VA Senate Democrats Reject Environmental Protection Rollbacks (“The attempted rollbacks would have…endangered Virginia’s future ability to defend our natural environment from the threats of global warming and sea level rise.”)
- Hold the line. Our future depends on it.
- Governor’s schools bill is bad policy and in bad faith
- VA Senate Democrats Shut Out Bills to Roll Back Voting Access (“Bolstered by the Big Lie, the attacks on voting rights come from a place of exclusion instead of inclusion.”)
- Republican efforts to roll back voting access officially dead for this year’s session
- VA Senate Democrats Release Plans To Address Long-Standing Health Care Issues In Virginia, Propose Generational Investments In Behavioral Health Infrastructure (“Meanwhile, House Republicans Propose Massive Cuts To Essential Programs”)
- Generation Ratify Virginia Opposes “Abuse of Power by AG Miyares” For Pulling Out of Major ERA Lawsuit
- House GOP strips elections department of voter education funding; Senate Democrats block GOP election bills
- Some Democrats look to scale back overtime law they passed last year (“A year later, business interests, Republicans and a handful of Democrats are pushing legislation that scales back who is eligible under the act, how much money wronged employees can claim and the statute of limitations on overtime claims. Some workers protected under current law – including live-in domestic workers, agricultural laborers who work at larger, non-family farms and mechanics – would lose the existing overtime protection.”)
- Editorial: Youngkin’s vaccine push
- From Scarcity to Abundance: Reframing the Narrative for Democrats in Rural Communities
- 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 86% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Continue Declining; Deaths Remain Relatively High
- With half a billion in new federal funding, will Virginia finally fix its bridge repair backlog?
- Bill could prohibit long-term solitary confinement in Virginia prisons
- Equitrans says it’s still committed to Mountain Valley Pipeline but completion date uncertain
- Equitrans CEO: No new timeline yet on Mountain Valley Pipeline
- Mountain Valley facing ‘greater uncertainty,’ lead partner in pipeline project says
- Fairfax County executive proposes budget with tax-rate freeze, less pandemic austerity
- Richmond School Board votes down superintendent’s budget, approves $500,000 to temporarily relocate Fox students to new facility
- Richmond Superintendent Kamras says insurance will cover replacement cost for Fox Elementary
- Williams: At Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground and elsewhere, the erasure of Black history must be reversed
- D.C.-area forecast: Warming up to near 70 today, much colder tomorrow with rain or wintry mix
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