Wednesday News: “Trump threatens China sanctions and puts diversity staff on leave”; “Trump rewrites the violence of January 6 and ‘legitimates future ones’”; “Va. federal employees face Trump demands for return to office, loyalty to policies”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, January 22.

• World’s addiction to fossil fuels is ‘Frankenstein’s monster’, says UN chief (“António Guterres issues warning at Davos, days after Donald Trump pulled US out of Paris climate agreement”)
• ‘Catastrophic’: Great Barrier Reef hit by its most widespread coral bleaching, study finds
• Brazil appoints veteran diplomat as Cop30 president for November summit
• Mapped: Donald Trump’s Transatlantic Anti-Green Network (“Politicians, donors, think tanks, and media outlets in the UK and U.S. are working increasingly closely to scupper climate policies and promote fossil fuel extraction.”)
• A third of the Arctic’s vast carbon sink now a source of emissions, study reveals (“Critical CO2 stores held in permafrost are being released as the landscape changes with global heating, report shows”)
• As Trump Declares ‘Energy Emergency,’ Environmentalists Stress Worsening ‘Climate Emergency’
• Trump launches immediate attack on climate, renewables and EVs. How worried should we be?
• Trump Moves Again to Exit the Paris Agreement. Here’s What That Means
• Trump delivers fresh tariff threats against EU and China
• Trump threatens China sanctions and puts diversity staff on leave (“New US president threatens to ignite trade war, accusing China of ‘sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada’”)
• Trump Widens Tariff Threats to China, Europe on Day 2 in Office
• Trump Says He Intends to Impose 10% Tariffs on Chinese Imports on Feb. 1
• China calls for ‘win-win’ solution to trade tensions
• Davos 2025: Spain’s Sanchez Warns of EU-US Pain in Trump Trade War
• ‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi salute
• Suspected settlers attacked Palestinian villages hours before Trump rescinded Biden sanctions
• You Asked for This Cease-Fire, Mr. President. Make Sure It Holds.
• Rupert Murdoch’s UK tabloids offer a rare apology in a legal settlement with Prince Harry
• Trump’s Immigration Battle Could Cause U.S. Population To Shrink As Migrants Are Targeted (“By 2033, the Congressional Budget Office predicts, immigration will be the sole source of U.S. population growth.”)
• ‘No choice but to go back’ – migrants despair over Trump border restrictions
• Great-grandson of the man who established birthright citizenship slams Trump’s new executive order
• Trump says ICE can arrest people at churches and schools, directs agency to use ‘common sense’
• U.S. expands expedited deportations beyond border areas as part of Trump crackdown
• Trump Administration shuts down White House Spanish-language page, social media
• Trump Tests the High Court’s Resolve With Birthright Citizenship Order (“The president’s latest salvo against the Constitution shouldn’t survive the judiciary’s scrutiny. But these days, you never know.”)
• Executive Orders on Energy and Climate Have Advocates Across the Nation on Edge
• Virus season roars back with “quad-demic” of illness
• Egg shortages, higher prices spike as bird flu grows
• Trump declared a “national energy emergency.” Experts say it’s a “farce” (“The U.S. is pumping record levels of oil while Trump ignores the real crisis: climate change” Worse than “ignores,” actually, Trump is actively sabotaging the fight against the existential threat of the climate crisis.)
• Decentralized Social Media Is the Only Alternative to the Tech Oligarchy
• The single most unconstitutional thing Trump did yesterday, explained (“The president cannot unilaterally repeal parts of the 14th Amendment.”)
• Breaking Down Trump’s Terrifying Flurry of Executive Orders (“The president’s “Day One” orders targeted immigrants, transgender Americans, climate progress, and the Constitution”)
• Act Like a President Day at the White House Did Not Bode Well For the Rule of Law (“I compliment the president on waiting a full hour before breaking his oath. Might be an in-house record.”)
• It’s Already Different (“Trump’s first-day executive orders would have prompted mass outrage had he attempted them in 2017. Today, the response is more muted.”)
• Trump fires heads of TSA, Coast Guard and guts key aviation safety advisory committee
• Trump kicks off potentially messy fight over Biden’s infrastructure money
• Democrats plot strategy for fighting Trump on funding freeze
• Trump pushes Hill GOP on recess appointments, debt limit
• Justice Dept. removes senior career officials from key positions
• A Trump Executive Order Sets Out What Could Be a Road Map for Retribution
• Donald Trump Takes a Sharpie to Democracy (“By issuing a blitz of executive orders, including ones ending birthright citizenship and pardoning January 6 rioters, the 47th president is already undermining the rule of law.”)
• Trump’s Day 1 Showed How Criminal Presidents Could Become the Norm
• Layoffs loom as Trump administration orders federal DEI workers on leave
• Trump administration directs all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on leave
• US federal diversity staff put on leave as Trump orders end to schemes (“Staff to be placed on paid leave as president decrees end of programmes and repeals LGBTQ+ equality orders”)
• An Anxious Federal Workforce Bids Goodbye to Job Stability and Remote Work
• ‘I just can’t agree’: Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons face pushback from some Republican senators
• ‘A Betrayal, a Mockery’: Police Express Outrage Over Trump’s Jan. 6 Pardons
• Trump rewrites the violence of January 6 and ‘legitimates future ones’ (“If criminal charges were meant to deter acts of violence, the pardons of over 1,500 people do the opposite, say experts”)
• Fox stars told their audiences that Trump should not pardon violent J6 offenders. He just did it. (“Do Hannity and Watters have the guts to criticize Trump for pardoning supporters who attacked cops?” Nope, of course they don’t!)
• Fallen Jan. 6 Cop’s Story Gets Shameful Coda Thanks to Trump (“Brian Sicknick died just hours after being bear-sprayed and beaten during the Capitol insurrection.”)
• Republicans Won’t Denounce Trump’s Pardons For Jan. 6 Rioters Who Beat Police Officers (“A few lawmakers spoke out, but most GOP senators gave Trump a pass for pardoning violent offenders who assaulted police officers on Jan. 6, 2021.”)
• As Trump defends pardons, experts warn clemency fuels extremism threat
• Trump’s Jan. 6 Pardons Come As a “Betrayal” to Former Capitol Police (“So much for being the ‘law and order candidate.'”)
• Trump pardons give Jan 6 defendants nearly everything they wanted
• Jeffries bashes GOP over Jan. 6 pardons: ‘Don’t ever lecture America again’
• The GOP’s stunning response to Trump pardoning those who assaulted police (“Trump has worn his party down, and few events crystallize it like the GOP’s muted — and, in some cases, positive — response.”)
• Police union that endorsed Trump blasts Jan. 6 pardons (They should never have endorsed Trump!)
• Donald Trump Pardons Violent January 6 Insurrectionists Who Assaulted Police Officers (Also: “Trump Is Putting Billionaires Worth Over $1 Trillion First and (Literally) Leaving the American People in the Cold “)
• ‘All Americans legally female’: Trump invites mockery with sloppy executive order
• Trump announces AI infrastructure investment backed by Oracle, OpenAI and Softbank
• Senators receive affidavit containing new allegations against Pete Hegseth, who denies the claims (“The former sister-in-law of Trump’s defense secretary pick said that Hegseth made his second wife fear for her safety.” In a sane world, Hegseth would receive ZERO votes for Secretary of Defense!)
• Hegseth Ex-Sister-in-Law Tells Senators He Was ‘Abusive’ to Second Wife
• Hegseth Routinely Passed Out from Alcohol Abuse, Witness Says
• Trump Pardons Creator of Silk Road Drug Marketplace (“Ross Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for creating a site in a shady corner of the internet to sell heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances.” WTF???)
• Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road drug marketplace (“Ulbricht, sentenced to life in prison in 2015, given ‘full and unconditional’ pardon by president”)
• Musk’s straight-arm gesture embraced by right-wing extremists regardless of what he meant
• Trump demands apology from bishop who asked him to ‘have mercy’ on transgender kids, immigrants (Pathetic.)
• ‘A twist of the knife’: trans Americans respond to Trump’s executive order
• Donald Trump Has Middle-Of-The-Night Meltdown Over Pastor’s ‘Nasty’ Sermon About Him
• Bishop Asks Trump to ‘Have Mercy’ on Immigrants and Gay Children
• GOP member wants bishop ‘added to deportation list’ after Trump prayer service (That’s complete insanity.)
• Bishop Calls Out Trump and Vance To Their Face
• Influence of super rich on Donald Trump threatens democracy, say Patriotic Millionaires (“Pro-tax group tell world leaders that ‘wealth extremism’ is damaging trust in media and influencing legal systems”)
• ‘DOGE’ revamp empowers Musk as frictions spur Ramaswamy’s exit
• Scoop: Top DOGE Dem is ready for a fight
• Trump terminates John Bolton’s security detail within hours of taking office
• Senators Tim Kaine, Mark Warner Blast Trump’s Pardons of 1/6/21 Rioters as “slap in the face of the law enforcement community,” “sending the dangerous message that violence has no consequences” (Meanwhile, Youngkin/Sears/Miyares/etc. are silent.)
• Va. federal employees face Trump demands for return to office, loyalty to policies
• Video: VA Senate Democratic Caucus Passes Constitutional Amendments to Protect Reproductive Freedom, Voting Rights, and Marriage Equality Across the Commonwealth (While doing so, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell and Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears battle over historical truth and Mitch McConnell’s role in the overturning of Roe v Wade)
• Virginia Senate backs abortion, marriage, voting amendments to constitution
• Virginia Democrats pass constitutional amendments blasted by Republicans
• Amid passionate debate, civil rights resolutions clear Virginia legislature (This is the media’s “safe space,” by the way, calling it “passionate debate” instead of saying clearly, right in the headline, what the qualitative difference – false vs factual, etc. – was between the arguments.)
• Senate panel kills bid to cement “right-to-work” laws in state constitution (How do these laws actually give anyone the “right to work?” WHy does the media keep using right-wing framing on this?)
• Senate Democrats move to block Youngkin appointees
• Virginia legislature advances social media data bill to catch those making threats
• Data centers could double Virginia’s energy use in a decade. Bills to regulate them are getting mixed support.
• Bipartisan legislators hope to reduce list of barrier crimes for school employees
• Virginia’s “home school loophole” is up for debate at the General Assembly
• Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia “Pink Out The Capitol” for Reproductive Freedom Ahead of Constitutional Amendment Vote (“Recent polling suggests 61% of Virginians already support this amendment.”)
• Senate committee kills Peake’s bill to shorten early voting period
• Bird flu outbreaks spread to Va., including deaths at zoo in Richmond
• Editorial: Hampton Roads Ventures spurs City Council direction to invest in Norfolk
• Here’s who from Hampton Roads was pardoned by Trump for Capitol riot
• Legal battle erupts over Shenandoah rail restoration
• 3-6 inches of snow predicted for Hampton Roads and Outer Banks; storm warning issued
• CWG Live updates: Bitter cold continues through tomorrow morning, then gradually warmer