Wednesday News: EU Says “Putin Must Pay a Price”; “Alito’s Plan to Repeal the 20th Century”; “SCOTUS Is Ready to Burn It All Down”; “It’s a hell of a scary time”; “Youngkin wants Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, May 4.

• Scorching heatwave in India and Pakistan comes as climate action stalls
• How Oslo Learned to Fight Climate Change
• As US poised to restrict abortion, other nations ease access
• Erosion of abortion rights gathers pace around the world as US signals new era
• Putin must pay high price for aggression – EU
• Pope’s Ukraine diplomacy a political and spiritual tightrope
• Pope Francis slams pro-war Russian patriarch: Don’t be ‘Putin’s altar boy’
• EU leader calls for Russian oil ban in new set of sanctions
• Russia hits eastern towns amid hopes for more evacuations
• Ukraine war: Putin tells Macron West should stop sending arms (F*** off.)
• EU plans Russian oil ban and war crimes sanctions
• EU turns up the pressure on Moscow over Ukraine (“‘Putin must pay a price,’ Commission chief says, as she announces plan to ban Russian oil and place restrictions on banks and broadcasters”)
• Russia Storms Steel Plant Containing The Last Pocket Of Resistance In Mariupol (“It was unclear how many Ukrainian fighters were still inside, but a few hundred civilians also remained there.”)
• Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure
• Russia is losing on the electronic battlefield
• Beijing restricts public transport as COVID spreads in China
• North Korea fires ballistic missile amid rising animosities
• Fed poised to hike rates by half a percentage point to fight inflation
• The Fed Is Set to Pull Back Economic Help to Tame Inflation. Is It Too Late? (“Federal Reserve officials took a while to recognize that inflation was lasting. The question is whether they can curb it gently now.”)
• Stock futures nudge higher ahead of Fed’s big rate decision
• The fight for a national clean energy transmission system emerges on three fronts
• Minority rule is the real reason Roe v. Wade is dead
• The Supreme Court’s religion-driven mission sets off a firestorm
• Supreme Court leak signals the triumph of politics over the law
• The Supreme Court might never recover from overturning Roe v. Wade (Nor should it!)
• SCOTUS Is Ready to Burn It All Down (“The Republican-captured Court is poised to turn back the clock 50 years. But the writing in the leaked draft opinion was already on the wall.”)
• Gay marriage, other rights at risk after U.S. Supreme Court abortion move
• This Supreme Court Is Out of Step With Most Americans
• Analysis: The leak suggests internal disarray at the Supreme Court, a blow to its legitimacy. (The Gorsuch seat was outright stolen. The Kavanaugh and Barrett seats are…sketchy.)
• Analysis: The Supreme Court’s legitimacy has been pierced (This court is a complete farce, a bunch of far-right activist “judges,” really hacks, trashing the constitution. Do we really have to follow what these douchebags have to say?)
• The Conservatives Aren’t Just Ending Roe—They’re Delighting in It
• Alito’s Plan to Repeal the 20th Century (“If the conservative justice’s draft opinion is adopted by the Court, key advances of the past hundred years could be rolled back.”)
• The case against SCOTUS (“The Court was the midwife of Jim Crow, the right hand of union busters, and the dead hand of the Confederacy, and is now one of the chief architects of America’s democratic decline.”)
• A Supreme Court in Disarray After an Extraordinary Breach
• Women in Blue States Shouldn’t Assume They Are Safe
• Unpacking the Draft Supreme Court Opinion Set to Overrule Roe
• Biden says draft Supreme Court abortion ruling is a ‘radical decision’
• The Most Ominous Aspect of Alito’s Draft Opinion Overruling Roe
• Overturning Roe Is a Radical, Not Conservative, Choice
• Inside Politico’s Historic Scoop
• The new Supreme Court’s iron fist (“If the right of a woman to decide whether to have a baby won’t qualify as a guaranteed right, then neither will most of the rights you have long assumed are yours.”)
• ‘It’s a hell of a scary time’: leading US feminists on the threat to Roe v Wade
• The Memo: Five consequences if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade
• Tears and tension as protesters swarm outside US supreme court
• The GOP roars about abortion. Then they abandon the children.
• Contraception could come under fire next after Roe v Wade is overturned (“A reckoning with what the 14th amendment enshrines could affect consensual sex and even marriage rights”)
• Mainstream media have enabled the approaching fall of Roe just like their right-wing counterparts
• Majority of Americans say Supreme Court should uphold Roe, Post-ABC poll finds
• The end of Roe v. Wade is a much bigger story than the leak (Infinitely bigger.)
• It’s About Time Someone Punctured the Supreme Court’s Veil of Secrecy
• How Samuel Alito Is Like Donald Trump
• Republicans rage about breach of draft Roe opinion (They care about the leak itself – which could have been from a conservative justice or clerk – not the substance of the opinion.)
• Harris on GOP’s anti-abortion push: ‘How dare they’
• Harris Says Women’s Rights Are Under Attack by Republicans
• The Supreme Court bombshell may soon get even worse for Democrats
• Scoop: Senate Republicans share abortion talking points
• After Abortion-Opinion Leak, Parties Weigh Next Steps
• Democrats energized after leaked abortion decision jolts midterms
• What the Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices previously said about Roe’s precedent (Spoiler: THEY LIED.)
• McConnell closes in on Roe after years of pushing the courts rightward
• Democrats push to ensure women get free birth control promised by ACA
• An End to the Liberal Romance With Courts (That should have ended a looooong time ago!)
• Susan Collins had to know she was voting to kill Roe v. Wade
• Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski Want People to Know They’re the Real Victims of Roe v. Wade Being Overturned
• Supreme Court Draft on Roe v. Wade Stuns, Then Energizes Americans
• Susan Collins Is Surprised That Conservative Justices Are Doing What Everyone Knew They Would
• “An Actual Insurrection”: Conservatives Equate Supreme Court Roe v. Wade Leak to Literal Violence (Utterly unhinged.)
• With abortion in jeopardy, minority women have most to lose
• Abortion Rights Look Doomed. But It’s Not Over Yet.
• Graphic: Supreme Court Ruling Could Remove Abortion Access For 36 Million People
• Women Scramble to Get IUDs, Load Up on Plan B as Roe Worries Hit
• One Voting Group Holds Key to Midterms After Abortion Leak: Suburban Women
• Prospect of losing abortion rights jolts Democrats ahead of midterms
• The movement against abortion rights is nearing its apex. But it began way before Roe
• Conservative Meltdown Over ‘The Leak’ Is Telling
• Republicans’ Outrage Over the Roe v. Wade SCOTUS Leak Is a Cynical Ploy to Excuse Jan. 6
• John Roberts Has No Control of His Right Wing
• What Would Striking Down Roe v. Wade Mean For The Midterms?
• Abortion to become key fight in US midterms after stunning court leak
• The Deep State Was No Match for Trump’s Homeland Security Chief
• The problem with the GOP isn’t just the demagogues. It’s the voters. (“There are sane GOP contenders for 2024. The problem is there’s little demand for them.”)
• Ignore the hysteria over the Disinformation Governance Board
• J.D. Vance Is More Proof That Trump Is King of the Republican Party
• Who Won and Who Lost in the Ohio and Indiana Primary Elections
• Vance’s Ohio win showcases Trump’s endorsement power
• JD Vance Notches Victory for Trump With Ohio GOP Primary Win (Vance is absolutely heinous, definitely a fascist.)
• Rep. Shontel Brown Wins Ohio Democratic Primary (Good!)
• Democrats in states across US seek to offer legal refuge to trans youth
• Social-Media Startups Take Aim at Facebook. And Elon Musk.
• Brands should force Twitter to uphold content policies under Musk, advocacy groups say
• Elon Musk says businesses and governments may have to pay to use Twitter
• Jonathan Karl tests positive for Covid after sitting next to Kim Kardashian
• Dave Chappelle: US comedian attacked on stage in Los Angeles
• In the Courts: Senator Tim Kaine discusses legislation to protect abortion rights (“Virginia Senator Tim Kaine tweeted that he supports a woman’s right to choose and that lawmakers must codify Roe v. Wade by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act.”)
• Scott, Luria to Tour USS George Washington to Discuss Working Conditions After Recent Suicides
• ICYMI: Gov. Youngkin Doubles Down on His Support for States’ Ability to Criminalize Abortion (“Make no mistake, Governor Youngkin and Virginia Republicans stand ready to ‘go on offense’ and criminalize abortion here in Virginia”)
• By a Wide Margin, Virginians Support Roe v Wade; Republicans, on the Other Hand, Are Jubilant at Its Imminent Demise (A leading VA07 GOP candidate, for instance, touts this as an “amazing victory in the fight for the life and Liberty of our most vulnerable, the unborn.”)
• As Virginia reacts to potential SCOTUS abortion ruling, some look to state Senate
• Youngkin denounces Supreme Court leak as Roe casts uncertainty over abortion in Virginia
• Youngkin condemns high court leak but wants states to decide on abortion
• What happens in Virginia if Roe v. Wade is overturned?
• Youngkin wants Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade
• Where Virginia’s rules on abortion stand if Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade
• Upcoming Virginia Senate elections could determine future of abortion in the Commonwealth
• Kellen Squire: Being an ER Nurse in a Post-Roe World (“Women dying aren’t a theoretical here. It’s not hysteria to mention it. Quite the opposite; I don’t see how it won’t happen.”)
• Report that court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade shocks Va. politics
• Virginia 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 92% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Down to 188 From ~4,000 in January
• Virginia’s newest state office aims to close gaps in oversight over child welfare system (“The Office of the Children’s Ombudsman launched Wednesday, providing families with a forum for complaints and concerns”)
• Editorial: Was losing out on the gas tax holiday really a loss? (Nope.)
• Editorial: Suetterlein shows integrity by voting conscience instead of party line (Agreed in this case.)
• Another delay and cost increase announced for Mountain Valley Pipeline
• The asphalt plant next door (“Virginia officials to weigh new air permit for asphalt plant that neighbors Louisa residence”)
• Amid scrutiny, Norfolk housing authority subsidiary says it will attempt to add a local project
• ‘We suspect we know where he is’: Fairfax Co. police track suspect in Hannah Choi’s killing
• City of Fairfax School Board names Jeff Platenberg next superintendent
• Rep. McEachin hands $1 million check for Chesterfield County to improve Ettrick Train Station
• Newport News can serve as national example for boosting apprenticeships, says Del. Scott and Labor Secretary Walsh
• Editorial: Changing of the guard at Hampton University and beyond
• Colonial Jamestown, assailed by climate change, is facing disaster
• Williams: Monument Avenue is not enough. Let’s reimagine Richmond.
• Shootings won’t stop unless youth fear consequences, Roanoke mayor says
• Amazon’s $55 million speeds up affordable housing project in Tysons
• D.C.-area forecast: Warming up to near 80 today with a brief shower or storm possible (“Cooler with periods of rain are likely Friday into Saturday.”)