The Full Belmonte, 4/16/2022
Ukrainian forces pulled an abandoned Russian tank from a field west of Kyiv on Friday.David Guttenfelder for The New York Times
“Russia warned the U.S. to stop supplying advanced weapons to Ukraine or face unspecified ‘unpredictable consequences.’” Read more at New York Times
“Kviv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online posting that the eastern part of Ukraine's capital city was struck early Saturday in the Darnytskyi district, saying there were ‘explosions.’ He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene and that victims' details would be released later. The governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine reported air strikes in the region Saturday morning. Maksym Kozytskyy said on the Telegram messaging app that a Russian aircraft took off from Belarus and carried out the missile strikes. Also, late Friday Russian forces hit an airfield in Oleksandriya, a city in central Ukraine, with a missile strike, the mayor of the city, Serhiy Kuzmenko, said on Facebook on Saturday. He didn't indicate whether the strike resulted in any casualties. These developments come a day after Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv's regional police force, said in a briefing that the bodies of more than 900 civilians were discovered in the region following the withdrawal of Russian forces.” Read more at USA Today
“A key strategic city in Ukraine has now endured more than six weeks of a brutal Russian siege, putting up a fierce resistance that has so far helped thwart Moscow's plans to control eastern Ukraine's industrial heartland.
But shortages of weapons and supplies are threatening Mariupol's ability to resist Russian forces.
Once a city of 450,000, now only 120,000 people live there. At least 21,000 people have been killed in Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said. Bodies were ‘carpeted through the streets.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the city's fate is being discussed among the country's leaders: ‘The details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people,’ Zelenskyy said Friday.
The city was thrust into the international spotlight in early March with the bombing of a maternity hospital, an attack Western leaders have described as a war crime. The airstrike killed three civilians, including a child, and left 17 wounded.
Later, 300 people died in a Russian airstrike on the Mariupol Drama Theater that was being used as a shelter. It had the word “CHILDREN” printed in Russian in white letters on the pavement outside — a failed attempt to prevent an attack.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy continues to call for more outside support for his country — including more and faster military aid, as well as an oil embargo on Russia.
That could determine ‘how many more Ukrainians the occupiers have time to kill,’ he said.” Read more at USA Today
“Russian Troops Risk Repeating Blunders If They Try for May 9 Win
Ukraine’s allies see a two-week window to spirit in heavier weapons like tanks before Putin unleashes an offensive designed to declare victory by the May 9 anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II. Marc Champion and John Follain outline the obstacles Russia faces.” Read more at Bloomberg“Moscow appointed a new commander for its operations in Ukraine as it refocuses its war effort in the east.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Ukrainians Return to Wreckage, Booby Traps and Fresh Laundry
Some Ukrainians who fled their homes early in the invasion are venturing back to see what’s left of their lives and whether they can start to rebuild, Volodymyr Verbyany and Aliaksandr Kudrytski report.” Read more at Bloomberg“Russia’s Sunken Warship Dents Its Pride and Capabilities
The loss of the flagship vessel of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet goes beyond wounded pride, robbing the military of important protection and capabilities as the war in Ukraine enters a crucial phase. The outcome is an embarrassment for Russia and a win for Ukraine.” Read more at Bloomberg
“As pressure increases on the Biden administration to lower the price of fuel, the Interior Department announced on Friday plans to hold its first onshore oil and gas lease sales since President Biden took office.
The department said it plans to open roughly 144,000 acres up for lease next week and will charge oil and gas companies higher royalties to drill on federal land, raising the fees for the first time. Under the plans unveiled Friday, royalty rates would increase to 18.75 percent from 12.5 percent for oil and gas lease sales.
The long-awaited announcement follows a report the department issued last fall, which called for royalty fees to be more in line with the higher rates charged by most private landowners and major oil- and gas-producing states.
The Biden administration’s willingness to move forward with oil and gas leasing angered climate activists, who called the department’s plans a betrayal of the president’s pledge to ban new drilling on public lands.” Read more at Washington Post
““Disease trackers are monitoring the spread of new, highly transmissible versions of the omicron variant in New York state and Europe, the latest evidence of the coronavirus’s ability to overhaul its genetic profile and pose a fresh threat.” Read more at Washington Post
“The FDA issued an emergency use authorization yesterday for the first COVID diagnostic test using samples from breath.
Why it matters: The Breathalyzer can provide results in less than three minutes.
InspectIR, the company behind the test, expects to make 100 of the carry-on-sized tests per week, "which can each be used to evaluate approximately 160 samples per day."
This Breathalyzer — which returns either negative results or an unconfirmed positive test that would need to be confirmed with a PCR test — won’t totally replace nose swabs. But it could help rule out cases, Axios' Tina Reed tells me.” Read more at Axios
“President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden earned $610,702 and paid $150,439 in federal income tax — and had an effective income tax rate of 24.6% in 2021.” Read more at Axios
A so-called poison pill makes it difficult for Elon Musk to increase his stake in Twitter beyond 15%. He already owns a more than 9% stake.
PHOTO: RYAN LASH/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
“Twitter moved to block Elon Musk from increasing his stake. The social-media company adopted a ‘poison pill,’ a legal maneuver that makes it hard for shareholders to build their stakes beyond a set point by triggering an option for others to buy more shares at a discount. Musk, who yesterday made an unsolicited $43 billion takeover bid for Twitter, owns more than 9% of the company.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Stephen Miller’s session with the House January 6 select committee was at times heated and adversial, according to a source familiar with the matter. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
“Former White House aide Stephen Miller testified on Thursday to the House select committee investigating January 6 about whether Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The virtual deposition, which lasted for roughly eight hours and was earlier reported by the New York Times, also touched on Miller’s role in the former president’s schemes to overturn the results of the 2020 election and return him to office, the source said.
Miller was Trump’s top domestic policy adviser and chief speechwriter. His appearance made him the latest Trump White House official to speak to the select committee, a day after Trump White House counsels Pat Cipollone and Pat Philbin talked to the panel for the first time.
House investigators asked Miller about the language in Trump’s speech at the rally that took place at the Ellipse on January 6, a speech that Miller helped draft, the source said.
The select committee focused on the use of the word ‘we’ throughout Trump’s speech, which it believes had the effect of encouraging the crowd to march to the Capitol in order to pressure Congress to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win, the source said.
Trump used the term repeatedly over the course of his 75-minute speech, including when he told his supporters ‘we are going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue … and we are going to the Capitol.’
The remarks, House investigators reportedly believe, amounted to an effort by Trump to encourage his supporters to march from the Ellipse to the Capitol on a false pretense, in the hope that they would disrupt Congress from certifying Biden as president.
That determination has come in part after the select committee reviewed Trump’s private schedule for that day, which showed there were no plans for the former president to join such a march, and that he was to be back to the White House, the source said.
Proof of bad intention on the part of Trump could bolster the select committee’s claim in the filing that he engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States by seeking to obstruct a lawful function of the government by deceitful or dishonest means.
Miller contested that characterization, and told the select committee the use of the word ‘we’ in Trump’s remarks was not an effort to incite the crowd to storm the Capitol but a rhetorical tool used in political speeches for decades, the New York Times reported.
The panel is in possession of the speech and several draft versions, the source said. Miller, who testified pursuant to a subpoena issued in November, helped draft the speech with two other Trump aides – Vince Haley and Ross Worthington – who have also been subpoenaed.
The select committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Miller’s testimony.
Over the course of the extended deposition, House investigators asked Miller about his role in a brazen scheme to pressure legislatures to send slates of pro-Trump electors to Congress on January 6 in battleground states actually won by Biden, the source said.
The select committee also asked Miller about the former president’s claims about election fraud. Miller told the select committee that the election had been stolen, and raised several instances of the supposed fraud, the source said.
Miller’s appearance was at times heated and adversarial, the source added. Miller invoked executive privilege to some questions concerning his conversations with Trump, and only testified in response to the subpoena and after protracted negotiations involving his lawyer.” Read more at The Guardian
“Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) worked furiously to overturn the 2020 election and keep President Donald Trump in power before ultimately abandoning the effort when no evidence of widespread fraud surfaced and his outreach to states for alternate electors proved futile, according to texts.
Lee sent the texts to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who turned them over to the House committee investigating a pro-Trump mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. CNN reviewed the texts Lee and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) sent Meadows and reported on them Friday.
In texts to Meadows sent in November, Lee is highly supportive of Trump’s efforts to undo the election through legal challenges, offering on Nov. 7, 2020 — the day news organizations projected Joe Biden as the winner — his ‘unequivocal support for you to exhaust every legal and constitutional remedy at your disposal to restore Americans faith in our elections.’
‘This doesn’t have to come down to a binary choice between (1) an immediate concession, and (2) a destruction of the credibility of the election process,’ Lee wrote to Meadows that day.
Lee makes clear that he was working hard to assist Trump, saying in one text that he was spending ‘14 hours a day’ on the effort and contacting state lawmakers seeking anything to give Congress a reason not to count the electoral votes for Biden on Jan. 6, 2021 and affirm his win.
‘We need something from state legislatures to make this legitimate and to have any hope of winning. Even if they can’t convene, it might be enough if a majority of them are willing to sign a statement indicating how they would vote,’ Lee wrote in one text.
A spokesman for the Jan. 6 committee had no immediate comment.
The senator’s spokesman, Lee Lonsberry, said in a statement Friday that the text messages ‘tell the same story Sen. Lee told from the floor of the Senate the day he voted to certify the election results’ on Jan. 6, 2021.” Read more at Washington Post
“Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Friday that there were no longer any secondary inspections of trucks crossing into his state from Mexico, announcing the end of a policy that had created multi-mile backlogs and that critics alleged had cost them millions of dollars in losses because key trade routes had ground to a halt.
The announcement came after Abbott said he had reached agreements with a number of Mexican officials to improve border security.
The new Texas-led inspections went into place in the last week, but they were decried by White House officials, who said the trucks were already inspected by federal officials and that inspecting the same trucks again by state officials created huge traffic jams. The traffic jams were expected to soon lead to food shortages and price spikes, among other things.” Read more at Washington Post
“The conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted on Friday to adopt new state legislative maps drawn by Republicans who control the Legislature, reversing its earlier decision that favored maps drawn by the state’s Democratic governor.
The court acted after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its previous decision last month, stating in a contentious ruling that the state justices had not considered whether the Democratic-drawn maps complied with the federal Voting Rights Act.
The newly adopted maps — partisan gerrymanders that had been drawn in secret in 2011 after Republicans took control from Democrats in both houses of the Legislature — essentially lock in overwhelming Republican majorities in the Assembly and the Senate for the next decade.
A monthslong legal battle began in November when Wisconsin’s governor, Tony Evers, vetoed legislative districts drawn by Republicans. The State Supreme Court resolved a standoff in March by voting 4 to 3 in favor of the maps drawn by the governor that slightly reduced the Republican majorities.” Read more at New York Times
“Former President DONALD TRUMP announced his endorsement of J.D. VANCE in the Ohio Senate GOP primary on Friday evening, spurning last-minute efforts from Republicans in the state who tried to call Trump off. Vance has been trailing other contenders in polling, including JOSH MANDEL and MIKE GIBBONS — making Trump’s nod especially valuable, but also especially risky.” Read more at POLITICO
“Disney faces backlash over its stance on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. Some Republican lawmakers want to revoke Walt Disney World’s special tax status and end its Mickey Mouse copyright. Fans have protested at the company’s headquarters and called for boycotts of the parks and the Disney+ streaming service. Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek had initially stayed silent on the GOP-led legislation, which limits classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation, but later spoke out against it after pushback from employees and advocates.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“California is considering a four-day workweek. A proposal in the state legislature would define the workweek as 32 hours, not 40, for companies with more than 500 employees. By the end of next week, a state legislative committee is expected to decide if the bill will move forward. If passed, it could affect more than 2,000 businesses, including many big tech companies.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Conservative Virginia Military Institute alumni are using a petition drive and a lawsuit to challenge diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the nation’s oldest state-supported military college, ignoring the priorities of VMI’s first Black superintendent.
Though VMI’s leader, retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, has been increasingly vocal about the need for diversity initiatives, a network of older, White alumni upset with the school’s reforms is ratcheting up their attacks on the college’s new agenda. The group — irate over a state-ordered investigation last year that concluded the college suffered from a ‘racist and sexist culture’ — appears emboldened by the election of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who banned teaching ‘critical race theory’ in K-12 schools and purged the word ‘equity’ from Virginia’s education system.
VMI’s first Black superintendent blasts White critics of diversity and equity reform
The disgruntled alumni are homing in on a specific target: NewPoint Strategies, a Northern Virginia consulting firm whose clients have included the Defense Department, Fortune 500 companies, federal government agencies, universities and nonprofits.
In late February, VMI notified NewPoint Strategies of its intent to award it a contract to provide diversity, equity and inclusion training to the college’s faculty, staff and students. The firm’s proposed price is about $100,000. The contract would last from the date of the actual award to June 2023, with four optional one-year renewals.
In its request for proposals, VMI said the winning applicant must ‘provide opportunities for individuals to embrace DEI concepts, explore allyship, and a framework for lifelong learning.’ The college also said the firm ‘must be able to discuss cultural and identity oppression in the context of current culture as it relates to VMI.’
VMI, which received $21.6 million in state funding for the 2021-2022 academic year, has been under pressure to address racism and sexism on its 182-year-old campus in Lexington. The college, whose cadets fought and died for the Confederacy, did not admit its first Black students until 1968 and its first women until 1997. Just 6 percent of its 1,650 cadets are Black. Women make up 14 percent of the student body.” Read more at Washington Post
“Xi Moves to Stop Shanghai Covid Rage From Sweeping Across China
President Xi Jinping faces the challenge of quelling escalating anger in Shanghai before it spreads across China, creating a wider crisis of confidence in the Communist Party. Colum Murphy and Krystal Chia report on some of the most anti-government criticism in years on the country’s tightly controlled social media.Many of Shanghai’s 25 million residents are resorting to bartering with neighbors for basic necessities.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Sri Lanka Will Default on Foreign Debt to Save Cash for Food
The authorities in Colombo halted foreign debt payments to preserve its dwindling dollar stockpile for essential food and fuel imports. Anusha Ondaatjie, Asantha Sirimanne and Lilian Karunungan report that the announcement followed mounting calls for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, to resign.Sri Lanka needs between $3 billion to $4 billion this year to pull itself out of an unprecedented economic crisis, Finance Minister Ali Sabry said.” Read more at Bloomberg
Police use water cannons to disperse demonstrators protesting against the economic crisis near the Parliament building in Colombo on April 8. Photographer: Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images
“The cyclones and tropical storms that battered southern Africa this year were made more severe by climate change, according to 22 scientists collaborating under the World Weather Attribution initiative. Their study, Antony Sguazzin writes, adds to evidence that Africa, with the smallest greenhouse-gas footprint of any continent, is suffering the most from global warming.” Read more at Bloomberg
People wade through flood waters afte Cyclone Idai on March 24, 2019, in Buzi, Mozambique. Photographer: Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images Europe
“Prince Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan of Sussex on Friday made their first joint public appearance in Europe in over two years, greeting competitors at the Invictus Games in the Netherlands. The couple received an enthusiastic welcome from cheering competitors at a reception for friends and family in a park at the Games site in The Hague. Harry is a founder and patron of the international sports competition for active service personnel and veterans who are ill, injured or wounded. It opens Saturday and runs through April 22. Before arriving in The Hague, the royal couple visited to Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle Thursday, a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan confirmed to USA TODAY. For Meghan, 40, Thursday's visit marked her first time in the U.K. since March 2020 when she and Harry, 37, stepped away from royal duties and moved to California.” Read more at USA Today
“Like Christmas, Easter is rooted in Christianity, a holiday meant to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after he was crucified by Romans in 30 A.D. Over 2,000 years later, Easter remains one of the most celebrated holidays. Nadieszda Kizenko, director of religious studies at the University at Albany, told USA TODAY that Easter is the ‘biggest day of the church calendar’ because of the message it represents. ‘Easter basically means the triumph over death,’ she said. Nowadays, Easter is commonly associated with decorating eggs or participating in egg hunts, as well as the Easter Bunny. But similar to Santa Claus, those symbols have some religious ties mixed in with the more commercialized holiday many of us see today. Easter Sunday is considered a ‘moveable feast,’ meaning its position on the calendar can vary and Christian tradition ties it to the first full moon of the spring. The holiday is uncommonly late this year, falling on April 17 for the first time in 62 years.” Read more at USA Today
“Saturday marks Emancipation Day in Washington, a day that commemorates the abolition of slavery in the nation’s capital. President Abraham Lincoln enacted the historic law one year into the Civil War, preceding the widely known Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. On April 16, 1862, President Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act. The new law freed upwards on 3,100 enslaved people in the district and provided compensation to former slaveholders, paying them up to $300 for each person who was freed. Public workers in Washington will get the day off on Friday, April 15, upending this year's Tax Day.” Read more at USA Today
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young reacts after his three-pointer in the third quarter on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Photograph: David Richard/USA Today Sports
“The NBA playoffs get underway Saturday after the Atlanta Hawks and the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday both grabbed victories on the road in the play-in tournament to secure the final two playoff spots. The action kicks off with two Western Conference series. First, the Dallas Mavericks, who will likely be without star Luka Doncic, will host the Utah Jazz (1 p.m. ET, ESPN). Later, the Memphis Grizzlies take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at home (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). The first evening game features the first Eastern Conference series to tip off when the Philadelphia 76ers host the Toronto Raptors (6 p.m. ET, ESPN). Saturday's action concludes with the Denver Nuggets traveling to San Francisco to take on the Golden State Warriors (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The other four first-round series tip off Sunday. Our expert predictions favor the Milwaukee Bucks (the defending champs) and Phoenix Suns (owners of the best regular-season record) to meet in a Finals rematch, but the field is wide open.” Read more at USA Today
“The Coachella festival is back for the first time in three years, kicking off an uncertain concert season.” Read more at New York Times
“Actor Liz Sheridan, known for her roles on the hit sitcoms ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Alf,’ has died, according to Sheridan's representative Amanda Hendon. She was 93.
Sheridan ‘died peacefully in her sleep from natural causes at 2:30am Friday,’ Hendon said in a press release, ‘just five days after her 93rd birthday.’
On ‘Seinfeld,’ the New York-born actress portrayed Helen Seinfeld, mother of the show's title character Jerry Seinfeld.
Sheridan isn't the only ‘Seinfeld’ star the TV world has lost recently. Estelle Harris, who played George Costanza's mother (also named Estelle) died April 2. Jerry Stiller, who starred as George's father Frank Costanza, died in May 2020.
