by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, January 1, 2025 – happy New Year’s (with the caveat that 2025 is likely going to be…uh…”interesting,” in the “Chinese curse” sense of “may you live in interesting times”)!
- Former EU environment chief warns against backsliding on climate crisis (“Virginijus Sinkevičius, a former environment commissioner, criticises bloc’s decision to delay deforestation law”)
- Trump Wants Greenland and the Panama Canal. It’s About Climate.
- Europe, on the brink, faces a pileup of threats for 2025 (“Europe, its politics fragmented and economies flagging, is increasingly vulnerable to Russia’s predations.” BTW, gotta say, Lee Hockstader is INFINITELY better as a foreign correspondent than as someone writing WaPo endorsements of Virginia candidates.)
- How to respond to Russia’s hybrid war on the West? Hybrid counterattack. (“Russia is suspected in a wide range of indirect attacks in Europe, including cutting undersea cables.”)
- Russia and Ukraine End Five Decades of Gas Transit to Europe
- Ukraine halts transit of Russian gas to Europe after a prewar deal expired
- Ukraine Says It Downed Russian Helicopter With Sea Drone For First Time
- Ukraine Advances Killer Robot Drones With More Automation, Efficiency
- Treasury Sanctions Entities in Iran and Russia That Attempted to Interfere in the U.S. 2024 Election (Way too little, way too late.)
- US imposes sanctions on Russian and Iranian groups over disinformation targeting American voters
- Israeli strikes kill 12 in Gaza as war grinds into the new year with no end in sight (Ugh.)
- Gaza Cease-Fire Deal Likely to Elude Biden
- Alawites live in fear as Syrian rebels hunt members of Assad’s regime (“Syria’s minority Alawite community is gripped by terror as reports spread of killings and disappearances under the country’s new Islamist rulers.”)
- Rebels Easily Toppled Syria’s Army. Their Challenge Now: Rebuilding. (“The rebels’ path to victory is filled with evidence of Syria’s defeated military. It also reflects the sizable task of trying to put the country back together.”)
- Majority of Justin Trudeau’s caucus calls on him to quit
- South Korea plane crash investigators extract data from Jeju Air black box
- Sweden begins wolf hunt as it aims to halve endangered animal’s population (“Five entire families can be killed, totalling 30 wolves, in move campaigners say is illegal under EU law” That’s wildly irresponsible.)
- US Stocks Fall to Close Out Best Two-Year Stretch Since 1998 (Yep, and Biden got PUNISHED for the super-strong economy – booming stock market, lowest “misery index” in decades, etc. WTF???)
- Trump aims to crush legal curbs on his climate rollback – but it may not be easy (“The president-elect said he will ‘stop the wave of frivolous litigation from environmental extremists’ but the ability to block suits will be limited, experts say” The actual “extremists,” by the way, are climate science deniers and fossil fuel fanatics.)
- Roberts warns against ignoring Supreme Court rulings as tension with Trump looms (“In a series of interviews before the election, Vice President-elect JD Vance raised doubts about his fidelity to Supreme Court decisions”)
- Chief Justice John Roberts defends judiciary from ‘illegitimate’ attacks (There’s no doubt that Neil Gorsuch is illegitimate, as his seat was clearly stolen. As for Clarence Thomas, he’s a corrupt slimeball married to an insurrectionist. And Brett Kavanaugh is a disgusting human being who has no business being a judge. Etc.)
- Mike Johnson’s speaker reelection could come down to a single Republican vote
- Republicans Admit MAGA Civil War Is a Total ‘S***show’
- Military appeals court rules defense secretary couldn’t rescind 9/11 plea deals
- The Biden mistake that blew up America (“Exhibit A of Team Biden’s magical thinking was its decision to pick Garland — a milquetoast ex-prosecutor-turned-judge whose brand was fairness and middle-of-the-road moderation — over runner-up Doug Jones, the former Alabama senator with both shrewder political instincts and a reputation for courage in prosecuting the last KKK bombers who killed four Black girls in a Birmingham church in 1963… in the end, Garland was just the leading edge of a cadre of Congress members, elite newsroom editors and publishers, and others who believed that the magic of democracy could fix everything without having to take a stand. He will be remembered as the worst Neville Chamberlain-level of appeaser in a nation that turned out to be chock full of them.”)
- ‘Trump is a little guy, Musk is a big guy’: historian predicts trouble for president-elect (“Timothy Snyder says world’s richest man is likely to exert uncomfortable influence over White House”)
- ‘Trump is Annoyed’: Insiders Say ‘Shadow President’ Elon Musk Starting to Irritate Trump
- Elon Musk changes his name to Kekius Maximus on X (“The world’s richest man sparks speculation after changing his name and using a picture of Pepe the Frog.” (Pepe the Frog, of course, is “a meme that has been used by far-right groups”)
- Elon Musk Assumes New X Identity Linked to White Supremacists
- Steve Bannon Ramps Up MAGA Civil War With Graphic Threat to Elon Musk (“We don’t need white guys from South Africa lecturing us on how the way things should be”)
- Trump ally Laura Loomer on Musk: ‘Nobody wants to cross this guy’
- Democrats’ first order of battle in 2025: Doge (“Why the new year must begin in defense of federal workers”)
- Patrick McHenry Lets Loose on the Republican Insurgents He Left Behind
- Stars Flee Jeff Bezos’ Paper for Steve Jobs’ Widow’s Mag (“The Washington Post is taking more blows after losing 200,000 subscribers when its owner stopped it endorsing Kamala Harris”)
- Puerto Rico plunges into darkness as power outage hits more than 1.3 million customers on New Year’s Eve (Puerto Rico needs massive rooftop solar with battery storage.)
- Woman burned to death on New York subway identified
- Ten dead after vehicle drives into large crowd in New Orleans, authorities say
- 10 killed, 30 injured after vehicle drives into New Orleans crowd
- Video: Sen. Tim Kaine’s 2024 Wrap-Up Video “celebrate[s] some of what we’ve been able to accomplish together.”
- Spanberger: I’ve been honored to serve Virginia’s 7th District
- Glenn Youngkin Continued to Fail as Governor in 2024: Here Are 11 of His Biggest Failures (the Caps/Wizards arena deal, numerous bad vetoes, not becoming Trump’s VP, etc.)
- Video: Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA05) Says He’s Formed an “Exploratory Committee to Run for Statewide Office,” Possibly Lt. Governor (“I’ll be running [not as an R or D but] as Denver F’ing Riggleman.”)
- Ex-Rep. Riggleman mulls independent run for Va. governor, lt. governor
- Commentary: When it comes to school accountability, Youngkin has ulterior motives
- Virginia’s anti-hazing efforts helped shape national legislation signed by Biden
- Helene makes historic impact in year of drought, heat and colorful lights in the night sky
- VA Del. Michael Jones (D-Richmond) on Red Onion State Prison Visit: “there is forthcoming information that will be released within the next few days that I found very disturbing and disheartening” (“…what impacted me the most were the self-immolation incidents.”)
- Del. Jones makes unannounced visit to Red Onion following reports of inmate mistreatment and self-immolation
- Micron announces plan to invest $2.17 billion in Manassas expansion, creating 340 jobs
- A state senator wants to require social services to ask about immigration status (It continues to be really fascinating to watch formerly “moderate” Republican Glen Sturtevant go MAGA all the way.)
- F.B.I. Says It Found Largest Cache of Homemade Explosives in Its History at Va. Farm (“Investigators discovered more than 150 devices, mostly pipe bombs, on a property outside Norfolk, court papers say.”)
- Largest seizure of homemade explosives in FBI history found at Isle of Wight County farm, agents say
- $25K bond for Isle of Wight man in FBI’s ‘largest’ homemade explosives seizure (“Federal prosecutors accused the 36-year-old of being an anti-government extremist.”)
- D.C.-area forecast and updates: Windy today, colder into the weekend. Snow chance Sunday night to Monday. (“A few flurries or snow showers are possible on Friday, then highs only in the 30s this weekend.”)
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