Thursday News: “Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer”; “Trump Goes Crazy on Trade”; “Worse Than Worst-Case Scenario”; “Launching the Economic Version of the Iraq War”; “Endangers the World’s Broken Economy – and Him”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, April 3.

• Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer (“Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets – and civilisation itself – can operate, says senior Allianz figure”)
• US banks predict climate goals will fail – but air conditioning firms will thrive (“Reports predict global heating will bring catastrophes and that air conditioning market could grow by 41%” Dystopic.)
• Solar output marches higher across Europe so far in 2025: Maguire
• The War on Nature in Ukraine (“Fires and smoke foul the air. Toxins seep into the earth and water. Habitats for wildlife disappear. Experts call it ecocide.” Pure EVIL. And Trump likes this guy???)
• Trump launches historic global trade war (“Stock markets fell around the world as the US’ key trade rivals and allies vowed to retaliate”)
• Trump’s Tariff Broadside Sends Shockwaves Across Global Economy
• ‘It’s a Disaster’: Global Markets Slide After Trump Unveils Tariffs
• Global stocks slide as Trump tariffs hit markets
• Trump’s tariffs list is missing one big country: Russia (That is SO revealing! Belarus, Cuba and North Korea also are not on the list. Why not?)
• Ukraine war briefing: No Trump tariff on Russia as his officials host Putin investment tsar
• Punitive or a gift? How five big economies see new Trump tariffs
• Live Updates: China and Europe Vow to Respond to Trump’s Tariffs
• Trump’s tariffs incite fury in China and dismay in Europe
• Starmer says Trump tariffs will ‘clearly’ hit UK economy as EU and China vow to respond
• Asian countries riven by war and disaster face some of steepest Trump tariffs (“Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos hit with rates over 40% as experts say the real target is China”)
• Liberation from what? Trump promised lower prices – his tariffs risk the opposite (Trump is going to liberate Americans from their money!)
• Perilous and chaotic, Trump’s ‘liberation day’ endangers the world’s broken economy – and him
• Live updates: Trump’s tariffs send shivers across world markets as economists warn of recession risk
• Trump takes the ultimate risk with the global economy
• Uninhabited sub-Antarctic islands named in Trump’s tariffs list
• Trump Tariffs Hit Antarctic Islands Inhabited by Zero Humans and Many Penguins (One of the many ways in which these tariffs were EXTREMELY poorly thought out.)
• EU ‘prepared’ to retaliate against Trump’s 20 percent tariffs
• President Trump’s mindless tariffs will cause economic havoc
• Trump Goes Crazy on Trade (“I guess it’s just possible that when we get details about the Trump tariffs they will be lower than what he just announced, but based on what he said, he’s gone full-on crazy.”)
• Launching the Economic Version of the Iraq War.
• House Democrats plan to force vote on killing Trump tariffs
• Senate Votes to Rescind Some Trump Tariffs, With G.O.P. Support (“A measure to cancel some Canadian tariffs is all but certain to stall in the House. But with a handful of Republicans in favor, the vote sent a signal of opposition to the levies.” Any Republican who voted against this bill de facto vote din FAVOR of the largest tax increase – a regressive and destructive one at that! – in US history.)
• Trump announces 10 percent tariffs on all imports, additional taxes for some 60 countries
• Potential Trump tariff plan could cost households more than $3K
• Dow futures tumble 900 points, S&P 500 futures lose 3% on Trump’s tariff rollout: Live updates
• The Truth About Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” (“The President’s one-man trade war was already hurting the economy. His expansive new tariffs will make things worse.”)
• Dollar Drops as Trump Tariffs Look Set to Also Hurt US
• Donald Trump’s Tariffs Could Push US Into Recession: JP Morgan
• CNBC Anchor: Trump’s Tariff Announcement Is ‘Worse Than Worst-Case Scenario’
• The false things Trump said during his announcement (Pretty much EVERYTHING!)
• Investors flee U.S. stocks as markets react sharply to Trump’s tariff plan
• The Stock Market Pain Is Just Getting Started. ‘This is How You Sabotage the World’s Economic Engine.’
• The Good News About Trump’s Tariffs (“Authoritarian leaders are most dangerous when they’re popular. Wrecking the economy is unlikely to broaden Trump’s support.”)
• Hungary to pull out of ICC as Netanyahu visits Budapest (“Israeli PM meets Viktor Orbán despite international arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza” Two horrible people.)
• South Korea ‘at breaking point’ ahead of ruling on President Yoon’s impeachment (“Months after Yoon Suk Yeol imposed martial law and triggered South Korea’s worst political crisis in decades, the court will on Friday decide whether to uphold the suspended president’s impeachment or return him to office.”)
• Outrage grows over Maryland man’s mistaken deportation to El Salvador prison (Get him back here, immediately!)
• The Expert Who Kept Eye Drops From Blinding You Was Fired Yesterday (“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency terminated thousands of experienced public health professionals in an April Fools’ Day massacre. We’re all about to pay the price.” Sick, warped, dangerous…running out of adjectives.)
• FDA planning for fewer food and drug inspections due to layoffs, officials say (People are going to get sick and die because of this.)
• Slashing the public health workforce hurts the U.S. economy
• Waltz’s team set up at least 20 Signal group chats for crises across the world (Waltz should be fired IMMEDIATELY. But he won’t be, right?)
• GOP Poised To Confirm Anti-Voting Rights Extremist To Lead DOJ’s Civil Rights Division (Disaster.)
• Legal Organizations Across Ideologies File Amicus Brief Urging Court to Enjoin Executive Order Targeting Perkins Coie
• Senate Pencils in $5 Trillion for Tax Relief, Leaves Blank Spaces for Spending Cuts (Calling this “tax relief” is absolutely NOT journalism, it’s mindless amplification of right-wing propaganda. In fact, these tax cuts would OVERWHELMINGLY benefit the wealthiest and also big corporations, while exploding the deficit and debt. There’s no “relief” in any of that!)
• Republicans are increasingly anxious about a midterms wipeout
• Never Mind Wisconsin. The GOP Should be Worried About the Florida Results.
• Democracy — and Democrats — aren’t dead yet (No, but democracy is in BAD shape.)
• Elon Musk Can’t Take the Heat (“The numbers say anti-Tesla protests are working. So do Musk’s increasingly unhinged actions.”)
• Everything is blowing up in Elon Musk’s face
• Trump Suddenly Set to Cut Musk Loose as Knives Come Out Over WI Fiasco
• Musk’s defeat in Wisconsin is a flashing warning for Republicans in 2026
• The night the tide turned against Trump and Musk
• Trump Tells Inner Circle That Musk Will Leave Soon (“The president is pleased with Elon Musk, but the decision comes as the tech mogul increasingly looks like a political liability.”)
• Musk to keep spending on politics despite Wisconsin loss, GOP doubts
• Zuckerberg Lobbies Trump to Avoid Meta Antitrust Trial
• Trump approval falls to 43%, lowest since returning to office, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds (That’s still 43 points too high!)
• Speaker Johnson scrambles for solutions to parental proxy voting impasse
• Head of DC’s African American museum on leave as Trump targets Smithsonian (“Kevin Young has been absent since 14 March, weeks before president’s order taking aim at ‘anti-American’ content”)
• Eric Adams ditches Democratic primary, will run for reelection as independent (Good f’ing riddance!)
• Naval Academy Staff Removed Display on Female Jewish Graduates for Hegseth Visit (WTF???)
• Editorial: Prospect of deep EPA cuts dims hope for Chesapeake Bay revival (“Without a strong, active EPA, efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay are likely to stall, reversing years of slow but steady progress.” There’s a difference, btw, between “stall” and “reverse” – which is it?)
• Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Says Trump Tariffs “will be the largest tax hike in the United States history”; Also, “This is no way to treat an ally…Canada is not an enemy.” (Meanwhile, as Paul Krugman writes, Trump this afternoon “[Went] Crazy on Trade”)
• ‘Massive tax hike’: Virginia lawmakers react to new Trump tariffs
• Last Night’s Major Democratic Overperformances in FL, WI Could Mean Virginia Republicans Are in Potentially “Really Really Big Trouble” in November (And watch out Rob Wittman (R-VA01) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) in 2026?)
• 7 questions about what the Florida and Wisconsin election results mean for Virginia (Hahahaha, of COURSE he “both sides’ed” it! LOL)
• Virginia’s Democratic Delegates blame ‘fear of Trump’ for Youngkin’s vetoes
• Democrats defy Youngkin as General Assembly takes up proposed changes (“House legislators took the rare action of preemptively blocking vetoes on four bills related to infertility and maternal health.”)
• General Assembly sustains Youngkin vetoes, accepts many bill amendments (Very misleading headline: in fact, it was 100% due to General Assembly REBPUBLICANS that none of these vetoes were overridden. That should be made crystal clear in the HEADLINE, and also in the body of the article.)
• Lawmakers push back on Youngkin budget, pass bipartisan bills on probation, dangerous driving
• Democrats fail to override Youngkin vetoes in largely symbolic showdown (“Democrats fail” is the framing here? Apparently, Republicans have no agency. Yep, it’s the “mainstream media”…)
• General Assembly sends fentanyl legislation back to the governor’s desk (“Democrats who run the General Assembly and Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin agree that something needs to be done about the death toll from drug dealers who sell fatal doses of fentanyl. But they have different approaches to handling the problem.”)
• Virginia’s likely GOP gubernatorial nominee addresses March For Life
• Sears, Chase and LaRock campaign at March for Life
• VIDEO: After Speaking at Anti-Choice “March for Life,” Sears Refuses to Answer Questions About Her Tie-Breaking Vote Against the Right to Contraception (She’s so extreme.)
• Winsome Earle-Sears’ Extreme Record Trying to Ban Abortion and Contraception Earns Her the Keynote at Today’s “March for Life” in Richmond
• Thousands gather in Richmond for March for Life in anti-abortion demonstration (These people want to ban abortion.)
• Virginia General Assembly grounded to halt in apparent conflict over judicial nominee’s religion
• General Assembly approves budget amendment to expand flood relief, fund school construction
• Williams: Confederate monuments cannot be allowed to rise again
• Virginia LG candidate raising Jewish community concerns over her record on Israel and antisemitism (“State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, a Democratic state senator, spoke at an anti-Israel protest and opposed legislation combating antisemitism” Not sure there’s much here.)
• Virginia tribe accuses Youngkin, state of undermining health system
• House minority leader makes bid for U.S. attorney of Western Virginia (That’s Todd Gilbert, VA House of Delegates GOP Leader – and one of the most right-wing members of the House of Delegates, per VAPLAN.)
• City launches water crisis FOIA library. Dozens of documents are redacted, shortened
• Commentary: In RVA, a step forward for civic engagement
• CWG Live updates: Mostly warm through the weekend, with numerous shower chances (“Highs surge to near 80 today, slip back to the 60s on Friday and warm up again over the weekend.”)