by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, May 4.
- Scientific societies to do climate assessment after Trump administration dismissed authors
- Trump has cut global climate finance. China is more than happy to step in.
- Scientific societies say they’ll step up after Trump puts key climate report in doubt
- Chart: Clean energy dominated global power construction in 2024 (“But emissions from the power sector still ticked up last year amid rising demand and more fossil-fuel use.” It feels like there’s always a “BUT,” unfortunately, with every good climate or cleane energy story – like “but not rapidly enough” or “but energy demand rose even faster” or whatever.)
- The Malayan Tiger Is at a Tipping Point, With Increasing Deaths of Both Native Populations and Big Cats
- Ukraine claims it destroyed Russian fighter jet using seaborne drone for the first time
- ‘These people are disposable’: how Russia is using online recruits for a campaign of sabotage in Europe
- ‘They threatened to bulldoze my house’: fear and violence stalk journalists in Modi’s India (Trump loves Modi.)
- Germany hits back at Marco Rubio after he panned labeling of AfD as ‘extremist’ (“Far-right German party was labeled a ‘confirmed rightwing extremist group’ by country’s domestic intelligence service”)
- Voice of America’s fate still in flux after appeals court pauses back-to-work orders (Why pause it? What Trump did is BLATANTLY illegal and unconstitutional!)
- Court foils plan to reinstate more than 1,000 Voice of America employees
- Trump boomerang sinks Australia’s right wing
- Australian PM shrugs off questions about Donald Trump as other world leaders congratulate him
- How Trump lost conservatives the Australian election
- Australia’s center-left Labor Party retains power in vote seen as test of anti-Trump sentiment
- Australia re-elects Anthony Albanese as Labor rides anti-Trump wave to seal crushing win
- Australia’s opposition left reeling after crushing election defeat
- America’s New Pacific Army Commander Lays Out His China Strategy
- Visual Analysis Shows U.S. Likely Bombed Yemen Migrant Detention Center (“Videos and photos reveal remnants of at least three U.S.-made GBU-39 bombs at the site of an April 28 attack. The strike killed 68 African migrants, according to the Houthis, a militant group that controls northern Yemen.”)
- Houthi missile hits near Israel’s main airport
- Israel fails to intercept Houthi missile targeting its main airport, showing limits of US efforts to weaken group
- No safe place left in Gaza as Israel’s ‘humanitarian zones’ shrink
- AP PHOTOS: Many in Gaza face malnutrition and hunger as blockade enters its third month (Totally unacceptable.)
- Scoop: Hegseth plans Israel visit ahead of Trump’s Middle East trip (This will be just greeeaaaat…not.)
- Trump draws criticism with AI image of himself as the pope ahead of the papal conclave
- Vance defends Trump’s post depicting AI-generated image of himself as pope (Completely indefensible. Just imagine the OUTRAGE if Obama, Clinton, Biden or Harris had done something like this???)
- An unwelcome surge of rightwing populism in Britain
- Missing Lynx: How the Rise of Border Walls Has Divided Wildlife Populations (“In our political assaults on human migration, animals are the unintended victims.” UGH.)
- Trump, Mexico’s Sheinbaum Spar Over Drug Cartels
- Trump’s 48-hour scramble to fly migrants to a Salvadoran prison (“The administration rounded up some of the Venezuelans two days before the flights took off, pressing forward even as Venezuela agreed to accept deportees.”)
- Trump Rages at Own Judge After Ruling Halting Deportations Under Wartime Act
- Donald Trump’s Cruel and Unusual Innovations (“Deporting illegal immigrants is lawful. Imprisoning them in El Salvador makes a mockery of the Eighth Amendment.”)
- A pregnant woman wandered the desert for days before Border Patrol detained her. Now with a newborn, she faces deportation
- Don’t Look at Stock Markets. Look at the Ports. (“A drop in maritime traffic suggests that the worst is yet to come.”)
- Fearful of Trump, some Americans look to make a life in Europe
- Fmr. VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) re: Trump’s (Unconstitutional) Assault on PBS, NPR Funding: “We really need the Supreme Court to clarify what a President can and cannot do via Executive Order” (It shouldn’t, of course, even be a serious question that the president can NOT “unilaterally cancel funding that has been authorized by Congress.”)
- Trump feels tug of political gravity as economy falters and polls plunge
- Donald Trump’s cartoon-like chaos leaves US economy on unstable course
- Stocks Roar Ahead, Brushing Off Warnings of a Recession (“The S&P 500 is now down just 3.3% for the year, reflecting hopes for tariff rollbacks.”)
- Trump is trying to chill the investigative journalism that holds him to account
- White House ‘influencer briefings’ bring conspiracy theorists, former Trump officials (Totally insane.)
- Here’s the source code for the unofficial Signal app used by Trump officials
- Trump’s Federal Government Cuts Are Just Getting Started
- After paying people to leave, one federal agency is scrambling to fill positions (“…at least one agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is already scrambling to fill some of those newly vacant roles, according to internal communications seen by NPR.”)
- More than 15,000 USDA employees take Trump’s offer to resign
- Mass resignations at labor department threaten workers in US and overseas, warn staff – as more cuts loom (“Exclusive: Insiders sound alarm over ‘catastrophic’ impact of widespread departures and cuts under Trump”)
- Company Boasts Spending Up To $20 Million On Trump Crypto Coin To Buy Influence (Sounds *totally* on the up-and-up, huh??? LOL)
- Editorial: Higher education finding its footing to oppose Trump’s overreach (Yes, but what Trump’s doing is FAR worse than just “overreach” – another example of the “mainstream media” opting for weak language that doesn’t really get at Trump’s authoritarianism, assault on free speech and the rule of law, etc. Bottom line: the media is TERRIFIED of Trump and the right wing, which is why they routinely pull their punches, “sanewash,” whitewash, etc.)
- Democrats cautiously open door to another Harris run in 2028
- Buffett to Step Down Following Six-Decade Run Atop Berkshire
- Elon Musk’s Starbase on its way to becoming a Texas city after lopsided early voting results
- How Misinformation and Partisan ‘New Media’ Changed a California Town
- Justice Department hasn’t filed Eric Adams docs, despite court order
- Schapiro: A little word from yesterday has big meaning today (“This is my final column for the newspaper. I’ll be keeping an eye on Virginia politics as a part-time analyst for Radio IQ, the Roanoke-based, statewide public broadcasting outfit.” And with that, there’s now one less reason to subscribe to or read the RTD.)
- Virginia GOP roiled by controversy over sexually explicit photos (“The controversy has consumed the state Republican party as it looks toward a tough November.”)
- Virginia Republicans are at war with each other. Here’s how we got here. (This is a MUCH better headline than the weak WaPo’s.)
- Spat over gay nominee aims Virginia GOP ire at unusual target: Youngkin (One of the media’s favorite words, because it’s lame and non-descriptive, is “spat,” which is defined as “a brief petty quarrel or angry outburst.” This was way more than that, actually.)
- TONIGHT: Winsome Earle-Sears to Campaign with Kevin Roberts, Far-Right Architect of Project 2025 (“Event signals Sears’ extreme agenda to roll back rights, kill Virginia jobs, and enact dangerous policies”)
- Are Virginia Democratic Straw Polls Predictive? Sometimes, But…Here Are 10 of the Worst Misses Since 2008 (In 2021, for instance, Hala Ayala lost pretty much every straw poll yet easily won the LG nomination.)
- Most Virginia teachers are women, but most superintendents are men (“In Virginia, about 86% of classroom teachers are women, yet women make up only about 40% of school division superintendents — the top executives responsible for overseeing entire school districts.”)
- Opinion: Too much fluoride? It just might be what RVA needs
- Norfolk radio visionary Bob Sinclair Sr., owner of Sinclair Communications, dies at 79
- CWG Live updates: Morning rain, then spotty afternoon showers; rain chances again Monday (“Daily rain chances and plenty of clouds linger through Tuesday.”)
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