by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, December 22.
- Removing Carbon From the Sky Could Be the Next Climate Gold Rush
- Are we seeing fewer white Christmases due to climate change?
- Ukraine Bets a Free Market for Weapons Production Can Out-Innovate Russia (“Ukraine has spawned hundreds of entrepreneur-led defense startups by slashing regulation and cutting taxes.”)
- Russia is executing more and more Ukrainian prisoners of war (“Ukrainian prosecutors say Russians have executed at least 147 PoWs, 127 of them this year alone.” War crimes.)
- With Assad’s fall, Putin’s dream of world domination is turning into a nightmare (“Complaints about the president are growing among Russian military and business leaders. Now is the time for the west to turn up the heat”)
- Syria’s minorities seek security as country charts new future (“After the fall of Assad, many are apprehensive about how Syria will next be ruled.”)
- Deception and Betrayal: Inside the Final Days of the Assad Regime
- What now for Syria’s £4.5bn illegal drug empire
- Israel and Turkey Are Shaping a New Syria From Their Borderlands
- Israeli strikes kill 17 Palestinians in Gaza, orders hospital to evacuate (Is this EVER going to end???)
- Report: Hamas Agrees to Release 11 Young Men in First Phase of Hostage Deal With Israel (“Israel is demanding the release of the men as part of a list of 34 hostages, in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners, some serving life sentences, according to Egypt’s Al-Rad news channel”)
- Menaced by foreign foes, facing mutiny at home: how long before Iran goes nuclear?
- Raimondo Says Holding Back China in Chips Race Is a ‘Fool’s Errand’
- Donald Trump and Elon Musk Have Energized the German Far-Right (“Germany’s AfD, with its own plan for mass deportations, is hoping to replicate the MAGA movement’s success in upcoming elections.”)
- Faced with Trump and Farage, Britain’s natural ally is Europe
- Ministers resist calls to block Musk donations to Farage’s Reform UK (“Government fears moves to curb any potential cash from the tech titan could backfire and play into Reform UK’s hands”)
- German police probe market attack security and warnings (“Officers say they evaluated if the suspected perpetrator could be a potential threat a year ago.”)
- U.S. Super Hornet Shot Down Over Red Sea in Friendly Fire Incident; Aviators Safe
- Trump Appoints ‘The Apprentice’ Producer as Special Envoy to Britain (This is going to be the worst administration – most incompetent, corrupt and extreme – by FAR in modern US history.)
- Mexico’s bloody cartel war rages as myth of the ‘good narco’ wears thin (“El Chapo and El Mayo believed themselves to be generous bandits with a strict code – the new generation is different”)
- Trump: Panama will lose control of Canal if it continues to ‘rip-off’ US
- Trump Demands Panama Lower Transit Fees or Return Canal (Totally unacceptable language.)
- Trump’s ‘stunningly unqualified’ diplomatic team shapes up at breakneck speed
- New ethics inquiry details more trips by Clarence Thomas paid for by wealthy benefactors (Thomas has ZERO business being on the Supreme Court. Totally corrupt.)
- Senate Review Of Supreme Court Ethics Finds More Luxury Trips, Urges Code Of Conduct
- A Win for the Vibecession Story (“Guess what? Popular economic narratives aren’t reliable” And yet the “mainstream media” pushes those unreliable/false narratives relentlessly to harm Democratic presidents.)
- Statement from President Joe Biden on the Bipartisan Government Funding Bill
- Biden signs government funding bill, averting shutdown crisis
- The Republican Party Is Out of Control (“An ungovernable party is about to run the government.”)
- Trump and Musk can’t take away my hope in government (“But their last-minute attempts to thwart a bipartisan spending bill dampened my seasonal optimism.”)
- The Potential Backlash to Trump Unbound (“A returning president who expects to govern without constraints leaves his opponents hoping to benefit from the backlash.”)
- Trump and Musk show how not to conduct the nation’s business
- What Trump’s decision to wade into spending fight tells us about the next 4 years (“After days of threats and demands, Donald Trump had little to show for it once lawmakers passed a budget deal.”)
- The G.O.P.’s Elon Musk Problem (“The tech billionaire derailed a government-funding deal and made a shutdown more likely. His intervention signals the growing sway of wealth in politics, and its risks.”)
- Editorial: Musk and Trump offer a preview of the chaos to come in D.C.
- Republicans averted a shutdown, yet showed boundaries of Trump’s power
- How Trump and Musk set off the shutdown crisis — but got little in return (“The past week provides a preview of what spending battles could be like in a closely divided Congress and with warring GOP factions.”)
- The Woody Johnson Republicans (“This week’s budget fiasco carries bad omens for governing in 2025.”)
- House Republicans have an ‘audience of one’ dilemma with President-elect Trump
- House Republicans just exposed the limits of Trump’s power (“That bodes poorly for his agenda next year.”)
- Scoop: Jeffries’ plan to kill the debt ceiling forever
- Mike Johnson’s GOP rebels want their own Nancy Pelosi (They definitely don’t have one, because fundamentally, Republicans can’t govern.)
- One Way Democrats Want to Gain Votes: Talk Up Their Faith
- Transforming the party: Democrats have failed us — it’s time to rebuild from the ground up (“The Harris campaign kept the battlegrounds close — but lost ground everywhere. Their failure is our opportunity”)
- Ocasio-Cortez faces uncertain political future
- Lara Trump removes herself from Florida Senate sweepstakes
- ‘Missing’ GOP Congresswoman Not Seen For Six Months Finally Found Living at Dementia Care Home
- Eric Adams calls explosive allegations against NYPD ally ‘extremely concerning’
- Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, baseball’s stolen base king, has died at 65 (RIP to one of the greatest baseball players ever.)
- Senators Warner, Kaine “Relieved” at Congressional Passage of Legislation to Keep Government Funded Until March 14 (Shutdown “would have had disastrous consequences for federal employees, government contractors, and millions of Americans who rely on government services.”)
- U.S. Senate Passes Spanberger-Graves Social Security Fairness Act to…Provide Long-Overdue Fairness to Police Officers, Firefighters, Educators, Federal Workers & Local Government Employees
- Rep. Wexton, Senators Kaine and Warner Applaud Senate Passage of Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0 (“The legislation is named in honor of Gabriella Miller, who lived in Virginia’s 10th District and was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and passed away in 2013 at the age of 10.”)
- Williams: Transgender policy change highlights Chesterfield’s identity crisis
- D.C. area forecast and updates: Harsh chill today into tomorrow. Not as cold for Christmas.
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