by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, February 28.
We must work with democracies around the world to call out Vladimir Putin as a war criminal. pic.twitter.com/JWfz2C8Urf
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) February 28, 2022
- UN climate report: ‘Atlas of human suffering’ worse, bigger
- UN report: Climate change imperils nearly half the global population
- Global Warming Is Outrunning Efforts to Protect Human Life, Scientists Warn (“A new UN report says countries must do more to safeguard billions from floods, droughts and other ‘compounding’ hazards.”)
- ‘Fossil fuels are choking humanity’: Major UN report sounds the alarm on climate impacts
- Humanity has a ‘brief and rapidly closing window’ to avoid a hotter, deadly future, U.N. climate report says
- 5 takeaways from the latest United Nations climate change report
- Australia faces “cascading and compounding” climate disasters, IPCC report warns
- Biden Could Score a Climate Victory in a Single Word: Plastics (“The administration is supporting the crafting of a global treaty that would address pollution across the plastics life-cycle, from manufacture to disposal.”)
- Sanctions rattle Russia as delegations arrive for cease-fire negotiations (“Russia’s central bank sharply raises a benchmark interest rate to combat steep losses in the ruble’s value as sanctions crimp Russian economic activity.”)
- Russia’s economy sent reeling by Western sanctions, while Putin puts nuclear forces on alert amid global pressure
- Putin’s nuclear posturing requires west to tread extremely carefully (“Challenge for Nato is to maintain support for Ukraine while making clear Russian leader has way out of crisis”)
- White House responds to Russia’s decision to put deterrence forces on high alert (“This is really a pattern that we’ve seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression — and the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism”)
- Zelensky says next 24 hours “crucial” as Ukraine-Russia peace talks begin
- Russia’s Ruble, Financial Markets Are Hammered by Sanctions
- Car Parts, Chips, Sunflower Oil: War in Ukraine Threatens New Shortages
- Historic sanctions on Russia had roots in emotional appeal from Zelensky
- Russia’s Economy Staggers Under Pressure
- Putin nuclear alert a distraction attempt, UK says
- Ukraine asks for ceasefire in talks with Russia
- Russia doubles interest rate after rouble slumps
- Ukraine slows Russian advance under shadow of nuclear threat
- Putin Declares a Nuclear Alert, and Biden Seeks De-escalation
- The war in Ukraine isn’t working out the way Russia intended
- Belarus preparing to join Russian invasion of Ukraine, U.S. official says (Massive sanctions on Belarus if they do that.)
- Russian forces appear to shift to siege warfare in Ukraine- U.S. official
- Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat shows how much is going wrong for him in Ukraine
- West takes Putin’s nuclear weapons threat seriously
- How Should the U.S. Respond to Putin’s Nuclear Provocation? (“Putin’s order to raise Russia’s nuclear alert status is aimed as much at a domestic audience as it is at the West.”)
- Kyiv’s mayor: ‘We are encircled’ but full of fight
- Two of Russia’s billionaires call for peace in Ukraine
- Volodymyr Zelensky: Russian mercenaries ordered to kill Ukraine’s president
- Russia shutters its stock market as the ruble crashes
- BP to offload stake in Rosneft amid Ukraine conflict
- Putin Seems to Sideline Advisers on Ukraine, Taking a Political Risk
- Neutral Swiss poised to freeze Russian assets – president
- In Foreign Policy U-turn, Germany Ups Military Spending, Arms Ukraine
- How Zelensky Gave the World a Jewish Hero
- Populist Embrace of Putin Cools After Ukraine Invasion
- The war is not going Putin’s way. Congress must pass Ukraine aid swiftly.
- Putin’s war of aggression has mobilized the strongest international outrage since 9/11
- For Ukraine, Far Too Little, Too Late (“The West’s strategy was flawed in fearing that preëmptively confronting Putin would give him a justification to attack.”)
- Russian climate delegate apologizes on Ukraine, saying many ’fail to find any justification for the attack’
- Forget partisan scorekeeping. Our Ukraine policy isn’t about instant results.
- War in Ukraine Forces Israel Into a Delicate Balancing Act
- Bolsonaro won’t condemn Putin, says Brazil will remain neutral over invasion (F*** Bolsonaro in every way/shape/form.)
- Kosovo asks U.S. for permanent military base, speedier NATO membership
- Facebook, Twitter remove disinformation accounts targeting Ukrainians
- Boycotts of Russian products and groups spread, but the effects may be limited (Unlike sanctions, boycotts of Russian vodka and caviar are almost purely symbolic.)
- Lt. Col. Alex Vindman: How Trump’s coup attempt encouraged Putin’s Ukraine invasion (“Army officer who stood up to Trump: Disinformation from Fox News, GOP is ‘the reason Russia launched’ invasion”)
- Saudi Arabia is trying to distract from repression — 18 holes at a time
- The Supreme Court’s Conservatives May Be Set To Kneecap Federal Regulations (This court is COMPLETELY f’ed. Also illegitimate in many ways, given that at least one seat was outright stolen, and two others are highly dubious.)
- The Elephant in the Courtroom (“A legal crusade to redefine personhood is raising profound questions about the interdependence of animals and humans.”)
- Democrats try to regain footing for midterm elections
- Putin’s war drives Trump’s personality cult to new lows
- The Difference Between Acting Tough (Trump, Cruz) and BEING Tough (Zelenskyy): The Emasculation of the American Right (Cruz is the poster child of the kind of emasculation that’s become endemic on the American Right)
- How the American Right Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Russia
- Trump calls the US a ‘stupid country’ and praises Putin as ‘smart’ in latest Ukraine comments
- Sen. Ron Johnson Says Nancy Pelosi Bears Blame For Putin Invading Ukraine (How can someone this stupid and this insane be in the US Senate???)
- Shame On Those Who Defended Trump’s “Perfect Call”
- GOP Sen. Tom Cotton won’t condemn Trump’s praise of Putin (Cotton is one of the worst.)
- Barr calls prospect of Trump running for president again ‘dismaying,’ says GOP should ‘look forward’ to others
- William P. Barr’s Memoir Is Part Lawyerly Defense, Part Culture-War Diatribe
- Local newsrooms strained by budget-slashing financial firms
- Romney: Marjorie Taylor Greene a ‘moron’ for speaking at white nationalist event
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says “Authoritarian” Putin’s Increasing Isolation in Recent Years Led to Miscalculation on Ukraine; “These are very dangerous days” (Also: “NATO a year ago was broken in the aftermath of President Trump…They are fully bought in at this point”)
- Youngkin may have White House dreams. But it’s been a while since a Va. governor made the leap.
- Cold Warrior Youngkin Sanctions Soviet Union 30 Years Too Late, While Turning Southern Leader Virginia Backwards in Time
- Virginia, Don’t Fall For This: Youngkin Is NOT Acting in Good Faith or in a Bipartisan Manner on Russia and Ukraine (“Why is our Governor attacking our President whose administration has by all accounts acted swiftly, appropriately, and forcefully in conjunction with our allies?”)
- Senate Democrats top House GOP in rush to boost police funding
- The NWEF School Board Policy Summit: Leaders From Right-Wing Think Tanks and Conservative Christian Organizations Converged Yesterday In a Small City in Southwestern Virginia (Among the panelists was the Youngkin administration’s Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elizabeth Schultz…)
- Biogas bill gains bipartisan support but opposition from environmental groups
- Bills prohibiting insurer discrimination against organ donors wins bipartisan support
- Virginia, Montgomery Co. will remove Russian-made vodka brands from shelves (This will have close to zero impact, as we import a miniscule dollar value of Russian vodka.)
- Differences of opinion on what to do with Virginia’s grocery tax remain
- Hampton Roads hospitals spending millions to retain and attract workers during ‘Great Resignation’
- Norfolk mayor echoes governor’s call to end sister-city relationship with Russian city in response to invasion of Ukraine (What dictator Putin’s doing is not the city’s fault…)
- Solar: Managing tension between land use and tax revenue
- D.C.-area forecast: A chilly end to February, while March comes in like a lamb
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