by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, May 22.
- Coal and gas use must peak and decline, “starting today:” BNEF outlook warns world headed to 2.6°C
- New report chronicles toll of climate crisis on Latin America and the Caribbean
- ‘Never-ending’ UK rain made 10 times more likely by climate crisis, study says (“Winter downpours also made 20% wetter and will occur every three years without urgent carbon cuts, experts warn”)
- Ukraine makes gains in its other war – fighting corruption
- Under Relentless Russian Assault, Ukraine Adopts a Defensive Crouch
- Tucker Carlson Comes Full Circle With Show on Russia State TV (Carlson is 100% a traitor.)
- UN halts all food distribution in Rafah after running out of supplies in the southern Gaza city
- Gaza aid piles up in Egypt, US pier delivery falters
- Live updates: Palestinian state recognized by several European countries
- ‘A pack of lies.’ Israeli Prime Minister denies he is starving civilians in Gaza as a method of war
- Norway, Ireland and Spain recognize Palestinian state; Israel condemns move
- U.S. Says Israel-Saudi Deal Within Reach but Israel Might Balk
- 3 U.S. allies recognize Palestinian state, dealing latest diplomatic blow to increasingly isolated Israel
- Bibi Is Choosing Stefanik and Trump. President Biden, Don’t Be Fooled.
- China warns of reprisals against Taiwan after president’s inauguration speech
- What Raisi’s Death Means for the Future of Iran (“Raisi died at a precarious time for a revolutionary regime that is ever more xenophobic, paranoid, and rigid. His legacy is ‘a sharp deterioration of Iran’s relations with the West, owing to the failed efforts to negotiate a return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, increasingly close military ties with Russia, and the perilous tit for tat with Israel,’ Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, told me. His successor will have to deal with ‘deep social and economic discontent, regional instability and tension, and, over the longer horizon, the fate of the Islamic Republic.'”)
- Analysis shows large-scale PV still cheapest electricity tech in Australia
- Armies of young insurgents are changing the course of a forgotten war (“The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville spent a month with revolutionary forces at jungle bases and on front lines in Myanmar.”)
- Biden administration canceling student loans for another 160,000 borrowers
- Majority of Americans wrongly believe US is in recession – and most blame Biden (We live in a country where vast swaths of citizens are WILDLY misinformed and/or uninformed about the most basic information. For instance, “49% believe that unemployment is at a 50-year high, though the unemployment rate has been under 4%, a near 50-year low.” WTF???)
- EPA announces $300m funding to clean up US former industrial sites
- Key GOP senators criticize Alito over upside-down flag inciden
- Exactly How Bad Is Justice Samuel Alito at His Job? Kudos to Vox for Its Answer. (“The inverted flag should give Congress an opportunity to open up all of Alito’s partisan hackery to oversight.” Pretty much everything Alito – and Thomas – have been involved with should be considered illegitimate.)
- Half of Swing-State Voters Fear Violence Around US Election
- The Right Has A Terrifying Second Trump Term Plan Called Project 2025
- Your total tax burden would probably go up under Trump. Yes, up.
- Trump’s history could hurt him with the jury
- 5 big moments the Trump jury will have to weigh
- The jury in the Trump trial faces a task unique in American history
- Opinion: Trump’s defense ends on one disastrous witness
- If Trump’s Acquitted, He’ll Be an Unstoppable Terror
- On social media, news outlets give more attention to Kamala Harris using an expletive than Trump’s corrupt promise to oil executives
- Lawyers found classified docs in Trump’s bedroom 4 months after Mar-a-Lago search
- Trump email falsely says Biden was ‘locked & loaded’ to ‘take me out’ in Mar-a-Lago search (That’s really, really sick and irresponsible and…ugh.)
- ‘Unified Reich’: Trump campaign goes full Nazi
- Biden blasts Trump’s “unified Reich” video: “That’s Hitler’s language”
- How Trump’s hidden Nazi messages help conceal his open antisemitism
- The unhinged MAGA “meme team” apparently behind Trump’s “unified Reich” video (“Apparent “meme team” leader Brenden Dilley told women not to “worry your pretty head about those politics” and that “what you need to concern yourself with is how come the floors in the kitchen aren’t as shiny as they were two weeks ago””)
- The right’s fascism problem
- Trump backtracks on “looking at” restrictions on contraceptives
- Trump Claims He’ll “Never” Call for Restricting Birth Control, After Saying He’s “Looking at” Restricting Birth Control (“He might not call for it, but that doesn’t mean he won’t let states do it.”)
- Scoop: Senate Democrats plot reproductive-rights blitz
- House G.O.P. Moves to Crack Down on Noncitizen Voting, Sowing False Narrative
- Republicans close ranks against Senate border security deal (Of course they do.)
- Scoop: Mike Johnson’s communications director to leave Capitol Hill
- 5 takeaways from primaries in Georgia, Oregon and Kentucky
- Giuliani says he will stop accusing Georgia workers of election tampering (A wee bit late for that!)
- Fani Willis blasts ‘clown’ Jim Jordan and MAGA followers for trying to interfere in Trump case
- Louisiana House passes bill to make abortion pills a controlled dangerous substance (Sick.)
- Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) Voted “Against Reforms For Predatory Payday Lenders Who Target Military Members” (“Coastal Virginians deserve an honest, transparent representative who will put their priorities first – not the far-right extremism and lies Jen Kiggans promotes.”)
- Va. teacher pay gets a boost in budget, but it’s still projected to fall short of national average
- Editorial: Bill to protect family-planning measures in Virginia falls to Youngkin veto (“Gov. Youngkin squandered an opportunity to end the uncertainty about access to contraception in Virginia.
- Ivy Main: Will Virginia’s residential solar market survive the coming year? (“The Virginia Clean Economy Act came with a ticking time bomb”)
- Dems say Youngkin’s rejection of RGGI costing millions despite budget boost
- Virginia Democrats celebrate environmental wins, say they’ll still fight to stay in RGGI
- 5 Va. colleges awarded lab school funding must resubmit applications
- Too hard to stomach? Fairfax County chews on a ‘meals tax’ for dining out (“Lawmakers directed the county executive to study the pros and cons of a tax of up to 6 percent on food and beverages prepared in restaurants, grocery and convenience stores.”)
- Business owners remove, scale back street dining as Norfolk enacts new rules
- Who’s running for the Richmond City School Board?
- D.C.-area forecast: Summery pattern settles in with a daily risk of showers and storms
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
