Friday News: One Year Later, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy “pledges push for victory”; “The Fever of Trumpism Shows No Sign of Breaking in 2024”; “Pence has no right to dodge a subpoena”; “New texts show Youngkin appointee disparaged [UVA] staff”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 24.

• Wealthy nations’ failure to honour climate finance pledge a ‘travesty’ – UNDP
• Director Marcos Colón Takes an Intimate Look at Three Indigenous Leaders’ Fight to Preserve Their Ancestral Connection to Nature in the Amazon
• Europe’s Gas Lobby Exploits Energy Security Fears in Year Since Ukraine War
• EU Ire Over Biden’s Green Subsidies Eases as Bloc Weighs Countermeasures (“The European Union’s Margrethe Vestager said that closer analysis of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act suggests the main threats to Europe’s competitiveness will be limited to a handful of sectors.”)
• Eight Ways the Russia-Ukraine War Changed the World (“The conflict drove up food and energy prices, invigorated NATO, altered military doctrine and revived American influence abroad”)
• Europe has weathered an energy crisis for now, but the war in Ukraine has clouded longer-term forecasts.
• Dry canals, low rivers and shrunken lakes: Europe braces for severe drought amid winter heatwave
• Putin’s war in Ukraine has exposed Russia’s weaknesses – and brought the West together
• Zelensky: ‘2023 will be the year of our victory’ (“Ukraine says it’s ready to respond to any Russian attacks on first anniversary of invasion”)
• Ukraine marks one year of war and ‘invincibility’; Turkey to restart NATO talks with Sweden, Finland
• On War’s Anniversary, Messages of Resolve for Ukraine
• How Biden and Zelensky Forged a Wartime Partnership
• One year of Russia’s war in Ukraine
• Ukraine Marks Successes, Mourns Losses as War Enters Second Year
• Ukraine leader pledges push for victory on war anniversary
• The Secret Weapons of Ukraine (“A journey through the strange, semiprofessional world of volunteers and foreign fighters who, one year into Russia’s invasion, are risking everything to defeat the invaders.”)
• How the U.S. Adopted a New Intelligence Playbook to Expose Russia’s War Plans —
• Oral history: Leaders recall dismay, fury on first day of war in Ukraine
• Poland to Start Tank Deliveries to Ukraine at One-Year Mark
• How the Ukraine War Is Likely to End (“There are several ways it could play out, and the stakes are high for the U.S. as well as Ukraine.”)
• How Putin’s fate is tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine
• At G20 meeting, U.S. accuses Russian finance officials of complicity in war
• Yellen Says Ending War Most Important Thing for Global Economy
• We must keep fighting Russia with banks as well as tanks
• How and When the War in Ukraine Will End (“Forecasting a conclusion to an unpredictable conflict”)
• Preparing for Putin’s long war
• Why Zelenskyy Is a More Complex Leader Than Most People Know
• How Russia’s War In Ukraine Changed Europe (“Europe Cut Its Reliance On Russian Energy; Europe Cut Its Reliance On Russian Energy; Poland’s Military Profile Grew; Calls Intensified To Expand The EU And NATO”)
• Putin’s wartime bluster obscures Russia’s precarious future
• Ukrainians mourn and vow to fight on, a year after Russia invaded
• Winning the peace in Ukraine requires E.U. membership
• Putin and the Right’s Tough-Guy Problem
• China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks (Russia should withdraw all its troops from Ukraine, then talk peace, including war crimes tribunals and massive reparations to Ukraine.)
• China Cease-Fire Proposal for Ukraine Falls Flat With US, Allies
• China Reportedly Negotiating with Russia To Supply Kamikaze Drones (If China does that, time for serious sanctions on them.)
• Year of war in Ukraine tests China’s ‘no limits’ relationship with Russia
• Ex-president Lech Walesa Witnessed Poland’s Democratic Backslide. He Offers His Warning to Israel (Bibi et al really should listen, but they don’t look like they will, unfortunately.)
• Netanyahu Faces His Own ‘Israeli Spring’
• A disaster for democracy looms in Israel
• Nigeria’s election offers the country a chance at a reset
• Nearly a million across US without power as wild winter storm hits
• Parts of US see earliest spring conditions on record: ‘Climate change playing out in real time’
• Which U.S. cities do better with climate change, and which do worse?
• Wind and Solar Energy Projects Risk Overwhelming America’s Antiquated Electrical Grids
• Community Solar Is About to Get a Surge in Federal Funding. So What Is Community Solar?
• We Finally Know Why It Costs So Damn Much to Build New Subways in America (Inexcusable.)
• ‘Biden’s the most impressive president of my lifetime’: Mehdi Hasan on Fox News, tough questions and post-Trump politics
• House GOP looks for plan B after struggling to pass border security bill
• U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘major questions’ test may doom Biden student debt plan (F*** this Court.)
• The Fever of Trumpism Shows No Sign of Breaking in 2024 (Far-right “populism” has been a dangerous, destructive force throughout history, including here in America in the year 2023.)
• Trump’s GOP shield (“Former President Trump is a wounded front-runner who Republicans privately fear will lose to President Biden if he’s the nominee. But he won’t go away until a Republican challenger steps into the middle of the ring to dislodge him, and so far, every viable contender is pulling their punches.”)
• Classified Trump schedules were moved to Mar-a-Lago after FBI search – sources
• Judge orders depositions of Trump, Wray in long-running dispute with ex-FBI officials
• Trump may be questioned in lawsuits by ex-FBI employees Strzok and Page
• Judge won’t unseal details of Trump’s privilege fight over Jan. 6 grand jury
• Trump’s Relationship With Jared and Ivanka Is About to Get a Lot More Awkward: Grand Jury Subpoena Edition
• Marjorie Taylor Greene Has a Dream
• The New York Times newsroom is splintering over a trans coverage debate
• Pence has no right to dodge a subpoena
• Mike Pence’s Dangerous Gambit
• The 10 most important things we learned about Fox News from the Dominion case
• After East Palestine train derailment, Fox News discovers the purpose of industry regulations after years of vilifying them
• How Did Trump Beat Buttigieg to East Palestine, Ohio? (“Democratic flailing gives Republicans — no friends of the environment — an easy victory.” Maddening.)
• DeSantis, potential GOP standard-bearer, sounds out of his depth
• Ron DeSantis, Notoriously Petty Man-Child, Swears His Anti-Media Crusade Has Nothing to Do With His Own Bad Press
• Fully Unhinged ‘Dilbert’ Guy Tells White People to ‘Get the Fuck Away’ From Black People (If you’re a newspaper still running this white supremacist’s material, then you are effectively condoning his vicious racism.)
• Election deniers who lost secretary of state races now run several state GOP operations
• The Memo: Media has it wrong in labeling Haley a moderate (The media should ban the use of the words “moderate” or “centrist,” because they constantly misuse them to whitewash Republican extremism.)
• Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 years in L.A. rape conviction
• GOP Politician Uses Polish Slur In Speech Claiming Party Isn’t Bigoted
• Jeff Bezos hires investment firm to consider bid on Commanders
• A U.S. Marine lost his dog tag in the Vietnam war. A tour group just found it. (“The college tour group, led by former U.S. senator Jim Webb, came upon a Vietnamese rice paddy farmer, who had the dog tag on his keychain.”)
• Opinion: McClellan’s historic win is good for Va. (“Black women rising”)
• BREAKING: Virginia House Republicans Vote Against Constitutional Amendment Protecting Abortion (“Republicans bend over backwards to appease MAGA supporters, endangering women”)
• New Poll: 80% of Virginia Voters Believe Profitable Corporations and the Wealthy Do Not Pay Enough in Taxes (Of course, right winger that he is, Youngkin wants to cut taxes on…yep, profitable corporations and the wealthy!)
• Video: Congresswoman-Elect Jennifer McClellan’s Emotional Farewell Speech to the VA State Senate (“I thank you all for making me part of your family, and for making me – especially you Madam Clerk – for making me the public servant and the legislator I am today.”)
• Pope & Schapiro: Unfinished business and big changes at the General Assembly
• VA Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw Announces Retirement After 48 Years in the General Assembly. How Did His Decades in Office Stack Up?
• Richard Saslaw, Virginia’s longest-serving state senator, will retire (“Saslaw’s retirement is one of many this year, some hastened by new legislative maps that have pitted many House and Senate incumbents against each other.”)
• Editorial: Protecting menstrual data (“Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s opposition prompted Republican lawmakers to reject reasonable protections for sensitive and personal reproductive health data.”)
• How do state officials attract big companies like Ford? Here’s how it usually happens in Virginia.
• Column: Va. lawmakers should put kids before corporations
• Virginia Explained: Why can just nine localities impose a sales tax for school capital projects?
• Three interesting bills: selling children, ‘swatting’ penalties and regulating vape products
• SD-09 Nominating Committee Releases Call to Caucus, Voting Details for February 26, 2023 Firehouse Primary
• This will be the last General Assembly session for many lawmakers
• New texts show Youngkin appointee disparaged University of Virginia staff (This guy is absolutely heinous.)
• Bert Ellis threatens to “raise hell with the BOV” in text messages to Board members, U.Va. officials
• State rail plan advancing; includes Fredericksburg-area improvements
• Mayor Levar Stoney on preserving history while tearing down Confederate statues
• Fairfax County budget proposal includes tax bill increases, increased schools funding
• After Fairfax Police Shot And Killed Man In Tysons, Investigators Looking For Eyewitnesses
• ‘He’s dead from shoplifting’: Mother questions why police shot her son (“Fairfax County police said officers chased the man, who was thought to have stolen sunglasses at Tysons Corner Center, and shot him in a wooded area nearby.”)
• Arlington Reflects on Ukraine Sister City Support Efforts
• Arlington Civil Rights Icon Honored By VA General Assembly (“Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, who helped integrate lunch counters in Arlington, was honored by the Virginia General Assembly for her activism.”)
• Charlottesville SPCA volunteer dismissed after raising safety concerns amid ongoing investigation
• D.C.-area forecast: Another windy Friday featuring chillier air blowing in (“This brief cold push lasts through tomorrow, when a few wet snowflakes may fly.”)