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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, December 13.
- We Should Listen to the Climate Scientists While We Still Have a Chance (“A new report out of the Arctic sparks concern.”)
- Hotter and Hotter (“Scientists don’t yet understand why temperatures have been steadily spiking above the projections. But what they do understand is bad enough.”)
- Malaria Is Rising With a Vengeance, Killing Massive Numbers, Most in Africa (“Last year’s toll: 263 million cases and almost 600,000 dead.” Yikes.)
- Trump criticizes Ukraine’s use of US missiles for attacks deep into Russia (Trump is a f’ing idiot)
- Russia launches huge missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
- Russian forces advance towards strategic city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s east
- Ukraine war briefing: Nato warns that Putin wants to ‘wipe Ukraine off the map’ (“Nato secretary general Mark Rutte says people should gird themselves for the prospect that Russia might try to use ‘swarms of drones’ in Europe. What we know on day 1,024”)
- China’s Xi is likely to decline Trump’s inauguration invitation, seeing it as too risky to attend (“Xi would not allow himself to ‘be reduced to the status of a mere guest celebrating the triumph of a foreign leader — the U.S. president, no less.'”)
- Xi’s RSVP is a snub to Trump, but the inauguration invite is still a big deal
- Trump’s Middle East Adviser Pick Is a Small-Time Truck Salesman (“The lore around Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, is that he is a billionaire dealmaker. Records show otherwise.”)
- ‘The Bibi Files,’ with leaked Netanyahu footage, can’t be seen in Israel. Israelis are finding ways (“Many have managed to watch the film either by using a VPN to bypass streaming restrictions, or by watching leaked versions that made their way to social media.”)
- Israeli attacks kill dozens of Palestinians hours after UN demands ceasefire in Gaza
- Israel orders troops to remain in Syria buffer zone through winter
- ‘Today we are celebrating a new Syria’: Mass rallies mark end of Assad regime
- Trump says Syria ‘not our fight’. Staying out may not be so easy
- Battered corpses show the horrors of life and death under Syria’s Assad (Astoundingly, THIS is the heinous regime that Tulsi Gabbard thought was great. Lunatic.)
- Syria’s Elation—and Fear—as History Pivots (“A chronicler of the bloody Assad regime describes what it feels like when a 53-year nightmare ends.”)
- Assad’s final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight (“Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Instead, aides, officials and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark, more than a dozen people with knowledge of the events told Reuters.”)
- Syrian rebels seize vast haul of banned drug captagon, country’s largest export (“Led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, the rebels say they found a vast haul of drugs and vowed to destroy them.”)
- The Fall of Bashar al-Assad Quickly Infuses Europe’s Asylum Debate (“Nearly a million Syrians in Germany alone have made new lives. But now some politicians in Europe have suggested that refugees could return home.”)
- The Syrian Upheaval Has Iranian Leaders Reeling, Too
- Trump Team Weighs Options, Including Airstrikes, to Stop Iran’s Nuclear Program
- Mystery New Jersey drones not from Iranian ‘mothership’ – Pentagon (Craziness.)
- Macron names François Bayrou as French prime minister after government collapse
- Bloody siege ends Myanmar army control of western border
- Trump says he’ll pull vaccines if he finds they’re unsafe (Nutjob.)
- Kennedy’s Lawyer Has Asked the F.D.A. to Revoke Approval of the Polio Vaccine (What. The. F***???)
- Rand Paul balks at Trump GOP’s big-dollar border agenda
- Biden administration races to cement climate gains
- Trump says reducing food prices will be ‘very hard,’ after campaign promise to cut costs (If anyone actually believed Trump’s outlandish promises to slash prices – basically impossible without simultaneously crashing the entire economy! – they deserve what they get. But the rest of us don’t!)
- Trump Backtracks On Campaign Pledge To Bring Down Grocery Prices (“The president-elect walked back what was always a wildly unrealistic campaign promise.”)
- Trump just said groceries will be more affordable ‘very soon.’ He’s also said that might be very hard to achieve (There’s literally ZERO chance that Trump will magically bring down prices. That’s simply not how economics works, nor does the president have that kind of power.)
- Trump Advisers Seek to Shrink or Eliminate Bank Regulators (That’s going to go REALLY well. NOT!)
- Hegseth walks back controversial comments on women and gays in the military (Uh huh…)
- The Postal Service’s electric mail trucks are way behind schedule (“Defense contractor Oshkosh had only delivered 93 trucks by November — compared to 3,000 originally expected by now. The delays put Biden’s climate goals at risk.”)
- Republicans clash over ‘SALT’ deduction as they seek to extend Trump’s tax law
- Trump’s Tax Cuts May Fail to Drive Much, If Any, Economic Boost
- The FBI’s Turning Point (“George Conway and Jonathan V. Last, in for Sarah Longwell, break down Christopher Wray’s resignation, Trump’s escalating legal troubles, and the dangerous implications of his authoritarian revenge agenda for a second term.”)
- Trump’s FBI pick Kash Patel locks down Senate support as Wray prepares to quit (Horrifying.)
- Gabbard struggles to woo senators ahead of confirmation fight
- Government stopgap funding bill to run through March 14
- Dem Senators Demand: No Anti-LGBTQ or Abortion Measures in Funding Bill
- ‘It’ll Be Brutal’: Inside Trump’s Planned War on Leakers and the Press
- Donald Trump Is Picking Fights. Will Anyone Hit Back?
- Democrats face America’s new self-evident truths (“In a world where Joe Rogan and Donald Trump rule, how should Democrats plan for the next political battle?”)
- FBI didn’t deploy undercover agents on Jan. 6, watchdog report finds, undercutting conspiracy theories
- FBI missed ‘basic step’ when gathering intel in the lead-up to Jan. 6, DOJ watchdog finds
- RFK Jr.’s daughter-in-law meets with Trump’s chosen CIA director about possible job
- Fact-Checking What Donald Trump Said in His 2024 Person of the Year Interview With TIME (Lie after lie after lie…)
- Jeffries super PAC looks deep into GOP territory for 2026 map
- Energized by next Trump term, red states move agendas further right
- SEC charges Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Trump’s Commerce pick, with breaking securities laws
- Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Plans to Donate $1 Million to Trump’s Inauguration (These tech dudes are NOT our friends – or friends of democracy!)
- Tech moguls court Trump with Mar-a-Lago meetings and $1 million donations
- Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Donates $1 Million to Trump’s Inauguration After Trump Threatens Zuckerberg With Life in Prison
- Senate Democrats want communications between Boris Epshteyn and potential Trump appointees disclosed
- Kari Lake, Donald Trump’s Pick for Voice Of America, Has Vowed to Be Reporters’ “Worst Frickin’ Nightmare” (“The Arizona politician couldn’t get herself elected to office, but Trump has a government-funded consolation prize: Being the boss (maybe) of journalists, whom she hates.”)
- ‘Now she’s the world’s problem’: Some Arizona Republicans relieved Lake is heading to Washington
- AOC faces Pelosi-led slugfest for Oversight role (“Senior Democrats say that while Ocasio-Cortez is seen as the favorite over Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the race is still in play.”)
- Los Angeles Times Owner Wades Deeper Into Opinion Section (Appalling.)
- Musk’s Foundation Gave Away Less Money Than Required in 2023
- Elon Musk reveals SEC sent him ‘settlement demand’ after Twitter buyout probe
- The Republican power grab in North Carolina, explained (“Republicans are eroding the powers of incoming Democratic officials — again.”)
- Video: Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Says FBI Director Wray’s Decision to Resign “is tantamount to abandonment of the FBI…exposing them to a political purge” (Wray “is going to be replaced by a partisan hack who has no real experience with the FBI or for that matter law enforcement writ large.”)
- VA-07 Congressman-Elect Eugene Vindman Endorses Spanberger for Governor of Virginia (“Abigail’s determination and drive is what Virginia needs now more than ever. I know Abigail will be an outstanding Governor.”)
- Kaine awarded highest civilian award by Navy Secretary
- “CASA stands with Virginia’s immigrant communities and calls on the Governor to reconsider this dangerous proposal.” (VA Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell: Youngkin plan “disincentivize[s] crime victims and cooperating witnesses from participating in investigations to solve actual violent crime”)
- Youngkin seeks “sanctuary city ban” in 2025 budget
- Virginia Gov. Youngkin aims at stamping out ‘sanctuary cities’ in new plan (“If approved by the General Assembly, the change would remain in effect only for the final year of the state’s two-year budget. The plan could be held up in the legislature.”)
- Youngkin wants to bar funds for police, jails in so-called ‘sanctuary cities’ (Youngkin literally wants to “defund the police?” LOL)
- Youngkin wants to restrict funding for localities that don’t comply with immigration enforcement
- Pope & Schapiro: What will the state legislature focus on next month?
- EMILYs List Endorses State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi for Lieutenant Governor and Shannon Taylor for Attorney General of Virginia
- As Trump doubts deflation, Virginia Democrats say they have a plan
- Lawmakers call for elimination of subsidized child care waitlist
- Mark Rozell: Trump’s cost-cutting plans threaten rural Va. the most
- ‘Meet people where they are’: Special teams aid Va.’s efforts to expand mental health care services
- FOIA Friday: Video of former Illinois deputy police chief’s DUI arrest in Virginia stays hidden
- North Carolina’s mountain counties are seeing a big influx of affluent newcomers. Virginia’s aren’t. Why not?
- D.C.-area forecast and updates: Still chilly into the weekend but warmth returns early next week (“Rain chances largely hold off until Sunday night and could last into portions of Tuesday”)
