memeorandum: Joe Biden's planned US building boom imperilled by labour shortage (Amanda Chu/Financial Times)

11:00 AM ET, February 20, 2023

Top Items:

Biden Visits Kyiv, Ukraine's Embattled Capital, as Air-Raid Siren Sounds — President Biden took a nearly 10-hour train ride from the border of Poland to show his administration's “unwavering support” a year into Russia's invasion of Ukraine. — KYIV, Ukraine — President Biden …

Washington Post:

On surprise trip to Kyiv, Biden vows enduring support for Ukraine — KYIV, Ukraine — President Biden made a dramatic, unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, in a display of robust American support for Ukraine just four days before the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. — Are you on Telegram?

Associated Press:

Biden declares ‘Kyiv stands’ in surprise visit to Ukraine — 1 of 21 — President Joe Biden paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a defiant display of Western solidarity with a country still fighting what he called “a brutal and unjust war” …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, The Post Millennial, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Daily News, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, The Periscope, USA Today, WGN-TV, Florida Politics and Talking Points Memo

Peter Nicholas / NBC News:

Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine nearly one year after Russia's invasion — AMSTERDAM — President Joe Biden made a surprise and historic visit to war-torn Ukraine on Monday, a show of support and solidarity with a democratic nation battling for its survival after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded nearly a year ago.

Discussion: Fox News, Mediaite, Washington Post, BBC, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, TMZ.com, The Sun, UPI, Al Jazeera, Forbes, USA Today, New York Daily News, The Hill, NPR, Associated Press and Politico

New York Times:

One Year Into War, Putin Is Crafting the Russia He Craves — In Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin's invasion has met setback after setback. But its effect at home has been very different. — Anton Troianovski reported this article from Berlin, and Valerie Hopkins from Moscow.

Discussion: NPR, Washington Post, Insider, Informed Comment, The Sun, Washington Post, CBS News, Daily Mail, Los Angeles Times and The Guardian

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

White House gave Russia heads-up about Biden's Ukraine visit for ‘deconfliction purposes’ — The White House provided Russian officials with advance warning that President Biden would be traveling to Ukraine to mark the approaching anniversary of Russia's invasion to avoid escalating tensions, administration officials said Monday.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Fox News

Financial Times:

Poland calls for Nato security guarantees to postwar Ukraine — President Andrzej Duda speaks to FT ahead of Biden visit to Warsaw to mark anniversary of war — Poland's head of state has called on Nato powers to give postwar security guarantees to Ukraine, on the eve of a visit …

Discussion: Fox News and UnHerd

Financial Times:
Western pleas over Ukraine fail to sway African and South American leaders

Discussion: Bloomberg and Insider

The White House:
Statement from President Joe Biden on Travel to Kyiv, Ukraine

Discussion: Bloomberg, ABC News, Reuters, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, Insider, National Review, CNBC, Fox News, Associated Press, Politico and CBS News

ABC News:

Ohio train derailment: Buttigieg pens sharply worded letter to Norfolk Southern Railway — Buttigieg accused the company of repeatedly prioritizing profit over safety. — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has called out the rail operator at the center of a — hazardous train derailment in Ohio

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Fox News and The Hill

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Trump will return to the scene of his crime when he visits Ohio toxic train wreck

Discussion: Associated Press, The Free Press, Breitbart and RedState

Mike Allen / Axios:

Scoop: McCarthy gives Tucker Carlson access to trove of Jan. 6 riot tape — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given Fox News' Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 riot, McCarthy sources tell me. — Carlson TV producers …

Discussion: Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Natasha Korecki / NBC News:

From the Midwest, progressive J.B. Pritzker launches anti-Ron DeSantis flares — CHICAGO — He's a governor who talks tough about Covid, has pleaded with to the College Board about an AP African American studies course and is outspoken on the issue of abortion.

Discussion: The Hill, The Last Refuge and The Gateway Pundit

Jeffrey S. Solochek / Tampa Bay Times:
4 things to know about Ron DeSantis' idea to slash AP courses in Florida

Discussion: Washington Post and Los Angeles Times

Amanda Chu / Financial Times:

Joe Biden's planned US building boom imperilled by labour shortage — Half a million more construction workers needed as public money floods into infrastructure and clean energy — A shortage of construction workers is putting at risk the Biden administration's ambitious plan to fuel …

Erin Doherty / Axios:

Michigan GOP selects 2020 election denier as party leader — The Michigan Republican Party on Saturday selected Kristina Karamo, who denied the 2020 election results and has not conceded her 14-point loss in the 2022 midterm election for Michigan secretary of state, to be its next state chair.

Discussion: Associated Press, Michigan Advance, Reuters, Raw Story, RedState, Nikki Haley's Road …, New York Magazine, MLive.com, Detroit Free Press and Mercury News

Rolling Stone:

Charges Against Trump Lawyer ‘Very Likely,’ Colleagues Warn Donald — As the feds continue to probe the ex-president's handling of confidential documents, his legal team is urging him to distance himself from one of his top attorneys … Some of the former president's lawyers …

Discussion: Raw Story

Ankit Panda / NK PRO:

North Korea's latest ICBM launch signals new phase of long-range missile drills — Military reportedly launched Hwasong-15 on short notice, as DPRK shifts focus from development to operational exercises — North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch of 2023 wasn't a test; it was an exercise.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Associated Press, El País, Bloomberg, CBS News, UPI, WGN-TV, KCNA Watch, TASS, HotAir, Al Jazeera, Reuters, The Hill, Fox News, New York Times, Breitbart and Sputnik News

Bharatha Mallawarachi / Associated Press:

Sri Lankan police disperse protesters demanding election — 1 of 5 — Sri Lankan police fired tear gas and a water cannon at opposition supporters who marched in the capital on Monday demanding that the government hold next month's local council elections as planned.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Eduardo Medina / New York Times:

Councilman Who Uses a Wheelchair Is Asked to Hoist Himself Onto a Debate Stage — A Denver city councilman who is paralyzed from the chest down said he felt like a “circus monkey” trying to climb onto a stage that was not accessible by wheelchair. — A debate for Denver's District 10 City Council seat …

Discussion: Fox News

Scott Jaschik / Inside Higher Ed:

Professor's Job Endangered for Teaching About Race — Scholar at Palm Beach Atlantic University says he's been accused of indoctrinating students. — (Palm Beach Atlantic U) — An English professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University said his teaching contract has been put on hold …

Dana Defosse / HuffPost:

I Coined The Term ‘Cisgender’ 29 Years Ago. Here's What This Controversial Word Really Means. — “Before now, I have not spoken publicly, or even disclosed my role in the origin of the word cisgender to anyone beyond a few close friends and colleagues.” — I coined the term “cisgender” in 1994.

Soleil Ho / San Francisco Chronicle:
The New York Times can't stop doubling down on its dangerous obsession with trans people

Discussion: Common Dreams and The Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Laurence Norman / Wall Street Journal:

U.N. Inspectors Detect Near-Weapons-Grade Enriched Uranium in Iran — Diplomats say they have been informed that Tehran doesn't appear to be accumulating a stockpile of the 84%-purity material — Iran's Nuclear Program: What We Know About Tehran's Key Sites — Created with sketchtool.

Jonathan Tirone / Bloomberg:
Iran's Uranium Enrichment Hits a New High, Testing Diplomacy

Discussion: Reuters, Sputnik News, Haaretz, The Dispatch, The Hill, Al Jazeera, Fox News, TASS and Japan Times

Gary Leff / View from the Wing:

United's New Family Seating Policy Helps Customers, Hurts Competitors, And Curries Political Favor — United Airlines airlines has announced a new family seating policy that makes it easier for families to have assigned seats together without extra cost. This puts them out ahead of competitors …

Garrett M. Graff / New York Times:

What Ford's Pardon of Nixon Means (and Doesn't Mean) for Trump — The release on Thursday of parts of a report from a grand jury in Georgia that investigated election interference by Donald Trump and his allies offers the most recent evidence of his growing legal exposure.

Discussion: Raw Story