Saturday News: “How the US and UK Came to Attack the Houthis”; “The media’s worst lapse: Refusing to identify Trump as a cult leader”; “Republican Disarray May Prevent a Government Shutdown”; “Prince William County admits election tally in 2020 shorted Joe Biden”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, January 13.

• The Price of Carbon Emissions Plunged in 2022, and That’s Not Good
• The social costs of greenhouse gas emissions in health care are astounding — and we’ve been ignoring them completely
• In Yemen’s Houthis, U.S. and Britain face a ready, war-tested foe
• How the US and UK Came to Attack the Houthis
• The Israel-Hamas war has escalated into a wider regional conflict. How wide will it get?
• US launches another retaliatory airstrike against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen
• US warns ships to stay out of parts of Red Sea as Houthi rebels vow retaliation for US, UK strikes
• What to know about Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the Red Sea conflict
• Biden followed familiar path to military strike on Houthis
• Two US Navy sailors reported missing while conducting operations off coast of Somalia
• In 100 days, the Israel-Hamas war has transformed the region. The fighting shows no signs of ending
• Tough choices for Israel in US’s Middle East vision
• Scoop: Jewish Democrats grill Israeli ambassador on far-right ministers
• Simmering tensions reach new levels in the Middle East (“Despite fresh strikes, neither the US nor the Houthis’ backers in Iran seem to want a wider regional conflict”)
• Despite Red Sea crisis inflation shock, freight rates are headed down on key China-US trade route
• William Lai, labelled troublemaker by China, leads Taiwan poll
• Taiwan ruling party leading in race for presidency according to local media reports
• Taiwan Awaits Presidential Election Results as World Watches
• France’s new prime minister arrives with the right to ‘l’indifférence’ (“Gabriel Attal is a political boy wonder, with dazzling looks, rat-a-tat debating skills and immense ambition. That he is gay has been met with a Gallic shrug.”)
• Winter storm to bring snow, winds, ice and life-threatening chill to US, forecasters warn
• American Petroleum Institute Plans Election-Year Blitz in the Face of Climate Policy Pressure (Seriously, f*** API.)
• Oil companies will soon pay fees for emitting a climate ‘super-pollutant’ (“The action is one of the Biden administration’s strongest against the fossil fuel industry under provisions of a 2022 climate law”)
• IRS says it collected $360 million more from rich tax cheats as its funding is threatened yet again
• More than $482 million recovered from 1,600 millionaires who have not paid tax debts (Do NOT cut the IRS’ funding!)
• Supreme Court to review restrictions on homeless encampments
• The Supreme Court Will Decide if States Can Force Hospitals to Let Women Die
• The Supreme Court’s Silver-Bullet Solution to the 14th Amendment Problem
• January 6 Is Exactly What the Fourteenth Amendment Was Talking About (“And ignoring its clear dictate is a dangerous choice to make.”)
• 5 things to watch as shutdown deadline looms
• Republican Disarray May Prevent a Government Shutdown (“More Mr. Magoo than Machiavelli, Speaker Johnson may luck into another temporary reprieve on the spending disputes that divide the GOP.”)
• Maybe Picking a Junior Varsity House Speaker Was a Mistake
• New impeachment threat risks intensifying GOP turmoil
• Johnson Says He’ll Stand by Deal to Avert Shutdown, Spurning Hard-Right Demands (Good to see the NY Times call these people “hard right,” which is what they are, as opposed to regular “conservatives”)
• Speaker Johnson Says He’ll Stand By Spending Pact, Daring Right Wing To Oppose Him
• Moderate Democrats say they’d help Mike Johnson keep his job as speaker (The word “moderate” is wildly misused by the political media and should be ditched.)
• Democrats willing to help GOP Speaker save job — for a price
• Marjorie Taylor Greene Threatens to Vacate Johnson If Ukraine Spending Approved
• Trump’s Courtroom Outbursts in New York May Hurt His Appellate Prospects, Experts Say
• E. Jean Carroll Wants Judge to Stop Trump From Turning Trial Into a ‘Circus’
• Trump ordered to pay New York Times, three reporters nearly $400,000 in legal costs over dismissed lawsuit
• The media’s worst lapse: Refusing to identify Trump as a cult leader
• Trump Keeps Calling the Convicted Insurrectionists ‘Hostages’
• ‘It will be the end of democracy’: Bernie Sanders on what happens if Trump wins – and how to stop him
• Iowa Pastors Say Video Depicting Trump as Godly Is ‘Very Concerning’
• Trump Scores Rare Legal Win With Pyramid Scheme Lawsuit
• Swing state Republican parties are engulfed in turmoil ahead of key 2024 races
• Biden campaign grapples with undecided voters who don’t yet believe Trump could be the nominee
• Joe Biden Called David Axelrod a ‘Prick.’ It Won’t Shut Him Up. (Axelrod is a whiny, defeatist, obnoxious jerk for sure.)
• Biden says Austin still has his confidence, but not revealing hospitalization was lapse in judgment
• Republican women aren’t feeling Nikki Haley
• Q&A: In New Hampshire, Nikki Haley Touts Her Role as UN Ambassador in Pulling the US Out of the Paris Climate Accord (Disgraceful and evil, really.)
• Will the Weather Freeze Iowa Caucus Turnout?
• Trump campaign tries to stave off Iowa turnout drop from brutal winter weather
• Trump ally Laura Loomer: Nikki Haley and the deep state might be using “weather manipulation” to “rig the Iowa Caucus”
• Ron DeSantis Admits Fox News Isn’t Real News
• DeSantis plans to go from Iowa to South Carolina, instead of New Hampshire, as he targets Haley
• Iowa blizzard cancels GOP events, threatens caucus turnout
• Many Republicans support abortion. Are they switching parties because of it? (“GOP leadership has floundered on the issue, and members have conflicting answers on party loyalty”)
• Greg Abbott Says the Only Thing Stopping Texas From Shooting Migrants Is the Headache of Potential Murder Charges (Youngkin loves this guy.)
• Leading tech journalist quits Substack over platform’s Nazi newsletters (“Reporter Casey Newton takes more than 170,000 subscribers elsewhere over company’s failure to police extremist content”)
• Substack Was a Ticking Time Bomb (“The platform seeded its own content-moderation crisis.”)
• EXCLUSIVE: Here’s The Tape of Roger Stone Discussing Assassination of Democrats — Which He Denied Ever Doing (How the hell is Roger Stone not in prison?!?)
• Hunter Biden agrees to deposition, GOP chairs say contempt resolution on track until a date is set (Disgraceful by Republicans. Also, NOT in good faith, and shouldn’t be reported as if it is!!!)
• Howard County man sentenced to prison for threats against lawmakers, LGBTQ advocacy group (“Virginia, Maryland state lawmakers targeted”)
• Fox News Kicks Mike Lindell and His MyPillow Ads to the Curb
• Donald Trump Brags About Overturning of Roe v. Wade, Calls it a ‘Miracle’: Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) Agrees (Kiggans “called abortion a ‘shiny object’ and compared having an abortion to getting a ‘nose job’”)
• Video: Check Out the 2024 Virginia Grassroots Coalition’s Priority Legislation Press Conference (Lots of great bills on climate/clean energy, public education, good governance, campaign finance reform, gun violence prevention, families and workers…)
• Video: Chairs of Virginia’s Health Committees and Advocates Celebrate Success of New State Marketplace and Legislative Priorities for 2024 (Lawmakers remind “everyone in Virginia to sign up for a plan before open enrollment closes on January 16 at 11:59 p.m.”)
• Time is running out to secure coverage through Virginia’s new health insurance marketplace
• Youngkin’s tax proposals find support and criticism from some unlikely angles
• Schapiro: Legislature’s new regime resorts to old tricks (“Regime?” “Tricks?”)
• Virginia review panel recommends action following VPM podcast on former forensic analyst
• Prince William County admits election tally in 2020 shorted Joe Biden
• Amazon buys Roanoke property from Deschutes (“Amazon plans to build a 125,000-square-foot facility and establish a ‘last mile’ distribution center for handling customer orders.”)
• Judge orders Richmond School Board to let him review ‘confidential’ report on graduation shooting
• GRTC extension into Chesterfield furthers regional transit connection
• Perry files bill to restrict local officials’ travel in wake of Loudoun controversy
• Group files suit over Prince William Digital Gateway data center project (“The project to build as many as 34 data centers on mostly rural land in the Gainesville area has been riddled with controversy since it was proposed in 2020.”)
• Arlington Remains Fractured Over Approval Of Missing Middle Zoning
• D.C.-area forecast: Windy weekend as temperatures turn sharply colder Sunday