Sunday News: “What the world would look like without fossil fuels”; “The GOP’s arsonists lost on the shutdown, but they’re not going away”; “Youngkin’s White House Dream May Mean a Radical Right Shift”; “Youngkin’s RGGI repeal is a bad deal for Virginians”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, October 1.

• Climate Fiction Is No Longer Dystopian. Just Reality.
• What the world would look like without fossil fuels
• Climate Looms Large Over Middle East’s Biggest Oil Gathering
• Europe takes climate fight global as carbon border tax goes live
• UK aims to offer military training inside Ukraine, minister says
• Ukraine Aid Falls by Wayside as Congress Passes Spending Bill (This is a big problem that needs to be solved ASAP!)
• Ukraine Downplays Uncertainty Over U.S. Support After Congress Passes Funding Bill With No Aid (“Kyiv expressed confidence in continued U.S. support for its war against Russia after Congress passed a stopgap funding bill that did not include money for Ukraine.”)
• In U.S. Fights Over Ukraine Aid, Allies Fear Deeper Global Harm
• Does China’s Property Bust Make a Financial Crisis Inevitable? (“Perhaps not—if Beijing plays its cards right. But serious damage to the nation’s prospects is still likely. A look at the problem in five charts.”)
• India’s devastating monsoon season is a sign of things to come, as climate and poor planning combine
• A populist, pro-Russia ex-premier leads a leftist party to win in Slovakia’s parliamentary elections (Very, very bad news.)
• 
  Germany covers 52 pct of electricity consumption with renewables so far this year (If Germany had kept its nuclear power plants running, as it absolutely should have done, it would be in even better shape right now.)
• “It’s called saving lives”: German Government Strikes Back At Elon Musk’s Criticism of Migrant Rescue (Musk is nuts.)
• Major tests await conservative US Supreme Court in new term (Brace yourself.)
• The Supreme Court May Soon Eviscerate The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“Payday lenders’ challenge to the constitutionality of the agency’s funding has no basis in history and would have chaotic real-world ramifications.”)
• Christian Nationalism May Not Be Serious, but It’s Dangerous
• ‘This is good news’: Biden signs stopgap funding bill to avert US shutdown
• Statement from President Joe Biden on Passage of the Bipartisan Bill to Keep the Government Open
• Government shutdown averted with little time to spare as Biden signs funding before midnight
• Jeffries: House stopgap bill ‘total defeat for the extreme MAGA Republicans’
• Kevin McCarthy avoided a government shutdown. But the fiasco shows he’s weaker than ever
• ‘It is a surrender’: Why McCarthy reversed with his survival uncertain
• These Republican senators voted against the government funding bill
• House GOP stunner: Spending patch passes with mostly Dem votes (“‘We’re tired of f—king around with these whack jobs,’ one House Republican said as Kevin McCarthy risked a far-right rebellion aimed at taking his gavel.”)
• Kevin McCarthy Finally Defies the Right (“The speaker made a last-minute reversal to avert a government shutdown. It could cost him his job.”)
• It’s time to end McCarthy’s reign of error (“In an epiphany Saturday morning, the House speaker realized there was no way to placate the holdouts in his caucus — and cut a deal with Democrats.”)
• McCarthy, McConnell suffer setbacks over control of their caucuses (“The House speaker and Senate minority leader faced rejection on different fronts: McCarthy forced into leaning on Democrats to keep the government open and McConnell defied by GOP senators on Ukraine”)
• The GOP’s arsonists lost on the shutdown, but they’re not going away
• Why McCarthy decided to take on his right flank and prevent the shutdown (It’s really inaccurate to call these far-right extremists “conservatives” or even “his right flank.” The media continues to normalize and distort…)
• Inside the Shutdown Turnabout That Left McCarthy’s Speakership at Risk
• The art of the fraudulent deal? Trump Organization trial set to begin (“Case could cost former president a fortune and end his control of the empire that made him the world’s most famous businessman”)
• Video: Biden-Harris 2024 Announces New Ad, “Get Ahead,” Targeting Black Americans (“Ad will run nationally during Colorado v. USC game; Part of largest, earliest investment in African American media for a reelection campaign in history”)
• DeSantis Super PAC Cuts Back Iowa, New Hampshire TV Ads in Shift
• How the right’s elevation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could now backfire
• McCarthy compares Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulling a fire alarm to Jan. 6 rioters (Bowman obviously should NOT have pulled a fire alarm, but McCarthy comparing him to 1/6 insurrectionists is BONKERS.)
• Gold bars, stacks of cash and bribery charges: is time up for Bob Menendez?
• Elon Musk crosses the border to Nazi
• Police chief who led raid of small Kansas newspaper has been suspended
• Connolly, Kaine, Warner Introduce Resolution to Commemorate 5th Anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s Murder
• Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08): “I am relieved that Speaker McCarthy folded and finally allowed a bipartisan vote…to stop Republicans’ rush to a disastrous shutdown.”
• Most of Va. congressional delegation relieved at deal to avert shutdown (Not Bob Good or Ben Cline.)
• Editorial: Transgender model policies appear headed for the courts. Good.
• Virginia Guv Glenn Youngkin’s White House Dream May Mean a Radical Right Shift, Aaron Kleinman Says (“If Republicans are able to win both houses in November’s state election, prepare to see a radical raft of policies by Gov. Glenn Youngkin as he sets his sights on the White House.”)
• Va. Gov. Glenn Youngkin to woo national GOP megadonors at retreat (The WaPo really loves Youngkin.)
• Seiler: Glenn Youngkin is the GOP’s latest Great White Hope (“Establishment Republicans are dreaming if they think Virginia’s governor will change the dynamics of the 2024 primary.”)
• Video: DLCC Briefing on VA Legislative Races – “cautiously optimistic”; “make no mistake, an unchecked Republican trifecta would be devastating” (Call also features VA House of Delegates Democratic candidates Kimberly Pope Adams, Michael Feggans and Del. Rodney Willett)
• Opinion: Youngkin’s RGGI repeal is a bad deal for Virginians
• Virginia’s closest legislative race might be in Petersburg area
• The $8 million bet: Casino developers going all-in to win November’s referendum (Gross)
• Roanoke judge absent from courthouse weeks after sexual allegations surfaced
• D.C.-area forecast: Warming trend with sunshine through at least midweek