by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, November 14.
- Cop29 live: Planet on course for 2.7C temperature rise, report warns, with ‘minimal progress’ in 2024 (Absolutely disastrous – catastrophic if that happens.)
- ‘COP Fatigue’: Experts Warn That Size and Spectacle of Global Climate Summit Is Hindering Progress (“Streamlining the process by breaking up the annual climate conference into smaller events could speed progress toward limiting dangerous global warming.”)
- US Diplomats Notch a Win on Climate Super Pollutants With Help From the Private Sector (“Industrial nitrous oxide emissions from chemical plants in China, a “huge prize” for climate negotiators, will be reduced but not eliminated.”)
- To Protect the Ozone Layer and Slow Global Warming, Fertilizers Must Be Deployed More Efficiently, UN Says
- Poorer nations need $1tn a year by 2030 in climate finance, top economists find (“Study says funding to cope with climate breakdown needed five years earlier than expected”)
- Europe’s right wing shows Trump how to do climate, MAGA-style (“Leaders like Italy’s Georgia Meloni have found nationalist arguments in favor of climate diplomacy.”)
- Global Oil Market Faces a Million-Barrel Glut Next Year, the IEA Says
- Trump’s Input in Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks May Put Kyiv on New Timetable
- Putin and Trump’s Avowed Personal Rapport Masks Deeper Tensions
- Israel to Trump: It would be ‘better’ to stay in the Paris Agreement
- Israel prepares Lebanon cease-fire plan as ‘gift’ to Trump, officials say
- Biden asked Trump to work together on Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal
Israel accused of crimes against humanity over forced displacement in Gaza- West Bank Annexation in 2025? Trump’s Mideast Team Has Israeli Right Exulting. (“Arab Americans and liberal Jewish voters, however, have ample reason to fear the naming of pro-settlement, pro-Netanyahu officials to top foreign policy posts.”)
- Trump promise to repeal Biden climate policies could cost US billions, report finds (“Trump could stop in its tracks US’s emergence as clean energy superpower and forfeit billions in investment” Insanity.)
- Inflation Needs Subtlety Right Now. It’s Getting Trump
- High grocery prices got droves of Americans to vote for Trump but they shouldn’t expect to pay less over the next four years (Of course not. But Trump voters will still say the economy is great, even though they’ve been consistently – and falsely -saying it’s terrible for the past four years?)
- How Trump Plans to Purge Thousands of Government Workers (“And politicize the federal bureaucracy.”)
- Trump’s great government purge begins (“The president-elect’s plan to make the government more ‘efficient’ is going just swell.”)
- GOP holds onto House majority — clinching the trifecta (“The majority will be slim, but it caps off two other major wins for Republicans, delivering a huge amount of power to the party in 2025.”)
- How a Republican trifecta makes way for Trump’s rightwing agenda (“GOP majority in House and Senate could give the president-elect ability to extend tax cuts and roll back Biden-era laws”)
- Merrick Garland Must Release Jack Smith’s Final Report
- Trump’s win was “an epic failure of every major institution” — especially the media
- Transcript: Paul Krugman on How Badly Trump Voters Have Been Scammed
- “Insanity”: Democrats tear into Trump for Gaetz and Gabbard nods
- Trump’s early second-term choices fuel fears of extremist agenda (“Trump has chosen loyalists and hardliners to lead departments that will shape US policy on immigration, defense and more”)
- Why Trump is trying to outrage Washington with his Cabinet picks (“Trump’s allies are already rallying around Matt Gaetz and warning of consequences should he be blocked”)
- Trump’s Unconventional Picks All Share Key Quality: Loyalty
- For Trump, dubious nominees come in threes (“Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth will test Senate Republicans’ commitment to the country.”)
- Hitting government with a ‘blowtorch’: Trump’s Cabinet picks are the first step in carrying out his agenda
- The Thing That Binds Gabbard, Gaetz, and Hegseth to Trump (“The president-elect’s most controversial Cabinet picks share one crucial tie.”)
- Behind the Curtain: Why Trump picked Gaetz (“Gaetz, 42, is wrecking ball, head to toe. Oh, and arguably the most despised one among elected Republicans. But Trump doesn’t care, advisers say.”)
- With Gabbard, Gaetz and Hegseth, Trump dares Senate GOP to defy him
- Matt Gaetz, Trump’s uniquely unqualified pick for attorney general, explained (“Gaetz is a reckless pick even by Trump’s standards.”)
- Mr. Trump’s Reckless Choices for National Leadership
- Trump’s Nomination of Matt Gaetz Is a Sign of Dark Intentions (“This is a crazy pick, a dangerous pick.”)
- It’s Pretty Clear Why Trump Wants Total Crackpots to Run the Military and Intelligence Agencies (“In his first few picks for Cabinet secretaries, President-elect Donald Trump has made it clear—even clearer than many had predicted—that his main criterion for selection is blind loyalty. Qualities such as competence or experience have no bearing whatsoever.”)
- Justice Dept. employees stunned at Trump’s ‘insane,’ ‘unbelievable’ choice of Matt Gaetz for attorney general
- No Matter How Bad You Think an Attorney General Matt Gaetz Would Be, He’ll Be Worse
- Republicans “stunned and disgusted” as Trump taps Matt Gaetz for AG
- Senate Republicans Alarmed by Gaetz Pick as Attorney General Nominee
- Matt Gaetz just resigned from Congress, ending a probe into sexual misconduct and drug use
- Gaetz resigns from Congress — possibly skirting long-awaited Ethics report
- Trump’s pick for top intel job has been accused of ‘traitorous’ parroting of Russian propaganda
- Tulsi Gabbard’s Nomination Is a National-Security Risk
- Tulsi Gabbard Is a Uniquely Bad Choice for Director of National Intelligence
- The Hegseth nomination is a multilayered Trump loyalty test (“Donald Trump’s plan to bring the military to heel begins to take shape.”)
- Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary: Perfect symbol of phony MAGA masculinity
- Exclusive: Trump’s team drawing up list of Pentagon officers to fire, sources say
- Smith asks for pause in Trump Florida document case
- I’ve been to more than 100 Trump rallies since 2016. This is why I think he won (“Travelling many miles across multiple states, I saw Republicans united in their disdain for facts – and a Democratic party far too relaxed about challenging them” Agreed – and the media also has completely failed.)
- Trump considering his lawyer Todd Blanche for deputy attorney general, sources say
- Thune and Senate traditions beat Musk, Carlson and the MAGA-verse (We’ll see…)
- Charlie Kirk threatens to remove Sen. John Thune (R-SD) as majority leader (“John Thune is now Senate majority leader. If he does not support President Trump in these next 30 to 45 days to fill President Trump’s cabinet, we will remove him.”)
- House GOP nominates Johnson for Speaker
- House Republicans strike deal to make it harder to oust Speaker
- Republicans Ran a Dysfunctional House. Voters Shrugged and Re-elected Them. (“The success of the G.O.P. push to keep the majority suggests that it paid no political price for the chaos and paralysis of its past two years in control of the House.” Tens of millions of voters are completely clueless and/or uncaring, it appears.)
- What Trump Can (And Probably Can’t) Do With His Trifecta (“Narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate could help—and frustrate—the president.”)
- Republicans win 218 US House seats, giving Trump and the party control of government (“With hard-fought yet thin majorities, they are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal government and implement Trump’s vision.”)
- A Foul Fireside Chat
- Pennsylvania Senate contest headed toward a recount, and possibly litigation
- ‘I made a mistake’: House Foreign Affairs chief detained by airport police for appearing intoxicated (“House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul [R] was detained by police at Dulles International Airport earlier this month.”)
- Warner warns that DC region has ‘target on it’ as Trump returns
- Sen. Mark Warner says the US needs ‘serious people’ to take on the country’s ‘serious problems’ (Marco Rubio is definitely NOT a serious person. And obviously, Matt Gaetz is the polar opposite of “serious,” as is Tulsi Gabbard.)
- House resurrects, passes Social Security reforms championed by Spanberger
- BREAKING: Virginia House of Delegates Privileges & Elections Committee Passes Reproductive Freedom Amendment, HJ1, on Party-Line Vote (Hopefully, this amendment will come before Virginia voters in November 2026)
- House committee advances restoration of voting rights amendment
- Virginians one step closer to voting on abortion, voting rights, and gay marriage constitutional amendments
- Virginia Democrats advance amendments to protect abortion, voting rights, marriage equality
- Va. constitutional amendments on abortion, marriage and voting advance
- Youngkin, Scott downplay potential Trump effects on Virginia policy
- ICYMI: Glenn Youngkin Doesn’t Care if Virginians Lose Their Jobs, Supports Trump’s Promise to Move Jobs Out of Virginia (“Youngkin is willfully and irresponsibly turning a blind eye to the devastating economic consequences that this will have on our Commonwealth.”)
- Google, Virginia policy makers discuss growing data center demand
- Former Del. Fariss pleads guilty to drug and gun charges, will avoid additional jail time (“Fariss, 56, has been held in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail since Oct. 25, when Hupp revoked Fariss’ $5,000 bond after he had tested positive earlier that week for methamphetamine — a violation of his bond agreement. He was handcuffed and dressed in his orange prison clothes during Wednesday’s appearance. He was expected to be released from jail after being processed later in the day. He served a total of 22 days in jail prior to his release.”)
- Virginia levies another fine on Mountain Valley Pipeline
- Cobb emerges as narrow winner in Roanoke mayoral race (“Cobb beat former Mayor David Bowers 15,221-15,162, according to the final count by the city registrar’s office. Bowers held a narrow lead after election night. Fellow challenger Stephanie Moon ended the count with 10,271 votes.”)
- After all votes counted, Cobb wins Roanoke mayoral election (“It took over a week to count over 1,200 provisional ballots in Roanoke, which turned the lead from Bowers over to Cobb late last week.”)
- Schapiro: From Iraqi refugee to elected representative
- Portsmouth council member arrested, but not charged, after ‘domestic dispute,’ police say
- UVA marks second anniversary of deadly shooting
- D.C.-area forecast: Chilly showers this afternoon and tonight
