by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, May 21.
- Fires drove record loss of world’s forests last year, ‘frightening’ data shows (“Burning, worsened by global heating, overtook farming and logging as biggest cause of destruction of tropical forests” UGH)
- A Restricted Climate Super Pollutant Is Pumped Out at Far Higher Levels Than Countries Admit. What Happens Next? (“HFC-23 emissions from chemical plants in eastern China and elsewhere likely violate an international climate agreement despite readily available pollution controls. Advocates are pressing for action.”)
- ‘Plenty of time’ to solve climate crisis, interior secretary tells representatives (At best, Burgum is completely ignorant and/or idiotic.)
- The world’s ice sheets just got a dire prognosis, and coastlines are going to pay the price
- Paris Agreement Target for Warming Won’t Protect Polar Ice Sheets, Scientists Warn (“New research suggests the Earth will pass multiple dangerous tipping points at 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, the U.N. limit exceeded for much of the last two years.”)
- Only strong action on emissions can restore economic stability, UN climate chief says (“Simon Stiell says investors ‘ready to hit the go button’ if they have the right signals from governments”)
- Energy storage boom drives battery shift, leaving nickel, cobalt behind
- Deep sea mining threatens the unknown (“The Trump administration wants to move ahead with deep sea mining. A mosaic of exotic creatures are at stake”)
- Exclusive: Ukraine pitches tougher Russia sanctions plan to EU as US wavers (“A previously unreported Ukrainian white paper to be presented to the EU calls for the 27-member bloc to take a more aggressive and independent position on sanctions as uncertainty hangs over Washington’s future role.”)
- Trump’s New Position on the War in Ukraine: Not My Problem (“In a reversal, President Trump appears to have backed off joining a European push for new sanctions on Russia, seemingly eager to move on to doing business deals with it.” Yep, Putin puppet.)
- Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine: EU agrees 17th package of sanctions
- The Spy Factory (“Russia’s intelligence services turned Brazil into an assembly line for deep-cover operatives. A team of federal agents from the South American country has been quietly dismantling it.”)
- Ukrainian ex-politician shot dead outside Madrid’s American school, police source says
- New intelligence suggests Israel is preparing possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, US officials say
- Two of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza are encircled by Israeli forces, staff say
- ‘Things are getting harder every day’: Gazans face starvation as UN says aid yet to reach civilians
- This Is Not the Trump Netanyahu Bargained For
- EU to launch Israel trade review as Gaza crisis worsens
- Germany Makes Arrests of Suspected Right-Wing Terrorist Cell
- EU pledges emergency funding for Radio Free Europe after US cuts
- Official Pushed to Rewrite Intelligence So It Could Not Be ‘Used Against’ Trump
- South Africa’s Ramaphosa expected to take golf stars to Trump meeting (“Ernie Els and Retief Goosen reportedly part of delegation as president seeks to reset ties after white ‘genocide’ claims”)
- Can Mandela’s former negotiator charm Donald Trump?
- Kaine, Van Hollen clash with Rubio over white South Africans resettlement
- Marco Rubio Says No Judge Has Authority Over Him in Alarming Testimony (Reminder: Rubio was confirmed 99-0!)
- U.S. put Asian migrants on deportation flight to South Sudan, lawyers allege (WILDLY unacceptable.)
- Trump admin deports Asian immigrants to South Sudan in violation of court order, lawyers say
- US must keep control of migrants sent to South Sudan in case removals were unlawful, judge rules
- Kristi Noem Should Probably Know What Habeas Corpus Is (It will never not be astounding to me that there were actually *DEMOCRATIC* US Senators who voted for this puppy-killing psychopathic moron.)
- Noem Incorrectly Defines Habeas Corpus as the President’s Right to Deport People
- Inside Kristi Noem’s Polygraph Operation
- Most Migrants Deported to Imprisonment in El Salvador Under the Alien Enemies Act Had no Criminal Record and Many had Entered the US Legally
- Don’t lose sight of the pain Trump is passing on to American consumers
- US states mount court challenge to Trump’s tariffs
- U.S. economy is experiencing ‘death by a thousand cuts’, says Deutsche Bank, as confidence in national debt management erodes
- U.S. Debt Is on Pace to Set a Record High, Going All the Way Back to 1790
- Trump’s $4 trillion deficit bomb
- Fractious House GOP tries to push Trump’s tax bill closer to the finish line (“The House Rules Committee worked through the night on the legislation, trying to get the bill past a procedural test that would allow for a full vote in the chamber as soon as this afternoon.”)
- Wealthy gain, low-income people lose from GOP megabill, analysis finds
- The GOP’s Big Medicaid Idea Was Tried Before—And Failed Badly
- STAT+: FDA will limit Covid vaccines to people over 65 or at high risk of serious illness, leaders say (So f’ing stupid.)
- Trump officials set new requirements for COVID vaccines in healthy adults and children
- Trump selects $175 billion Golden Dome defense shield design, appoints leader
- Fury Over Musk Bid to Build Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Defense Project
- Trump’s Newest Crackdown on Dissent (“Assault charges against a Democratic member of Congress look more like intimidation than law enforcement.”)
- Why Are Some Democrats Making Cryptocurrency Too Big to Fail?
- Trump stablecoin battle intensifies among Senate Democrats
- The ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Has a Tiny Provision That Could Tax the Trump Legal Resistance
- Congress Pulls Tax Cut All-Nighter With SALT Fight Unresolved
- Senate unexpectedly passes the ‘No Tax on Tips Act’ in a unanimous vote (Weird.)
- Schumer blasts Thune for choosing “nuclear option”
- Democratic senator says he has recordings of favors ‘promised’ by Trump’s IRS pick
- Elon Musk Plans ‘a Lot Less’ Spending as He Edges Away From Politics (See what the NY Times did here? That’s right, it uncritically amplified the pledge by a pathological liar, who has broken many pledges previously. Why?)
- Musk Insults Interviewer for Asking About Big DOGE Promise
- Biden’s last prostate cancer screening was in 2014, his office says
- Why Trump Is Threatening to Investigate Bruce Springsteen (“It’s not just Oprah and Springsteen. The president has long wanted to weaponize campaign finance laws against an array of celebs and Democrats”)
- What a shame — literally — about ’60 Minutes’ (“Another shoe drops as CBS’s parent company, Paramount, tries to appease Trump”)
- National Science Foundation Ends 196 Grants To Harvard Amid Feud With Trump (“Pure retribution”)
- Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Cuomo, Singling Out Another Political Target
- Democrats Throw Money at a Problem: Countering G.O.P. Clout Online (Good luck, but seems like this will just end up wasting money on a bunch of grifters?)
- Mace, alleging assault, shares nude photo of herself during House hearing she says was taken without her consent
- A timeline of Trump’s failed attempt to kill Empire Wind (“Trump officials will allow the New York offshore wind farm to resume construction, backing down from a controversial stop-work order and months of attacks.”)
- Senators including Virginia’s Warner push Trump to release broadband deployment funding
- NEW AD: Hampton Roads Veterans Call on Rep. Kiggans to Say No to Medicaid Cuts (“In Virginia, 147,000 working people would see new out-of-pocket costs in the form of up to $35 co-pays, while 206,000 people would be kicked off Medicaid entirely…”)
- REMINDER: Virginia Republicans Support Bill That Will Rip Medicaid Coverage Away From Hundreds of Thousands of Virginians (“Virginia Medicaid, called Cardinal Care, and…CHIP, together cover nearly 1 in 4 Virginians.”)
- One-on-One with Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor
- Virginia Republican candidate for governor addresses grads at extremely anti-LGBTQ+ schools
- FACT CHECK: Winsome Earle-Sears Outright Lies (“I never said limiting”) About Her Support for Dangerous Abortion Ban (In fact, “Sears has said that she would support an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.”)
- After Del. Candi King Calls Out Youngkin’s “HYPOCRISY”, Abigail Spanberger, Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Earle-Sears All Condemn “Vile, Racist Slur” Hurled at Her (Meanwhile, the head of the Republican Party – Donald Trump – has engaged in racist rhetoric and policies for years…)
- After a Black lawmaker was targeted by a racial slur, Democratic leaders want more than condemnation
- Williams: Don’t be fooled: Youngkin, et al., are mocking Black history (“This is an obscene platitude, given America’s unfolding descent into fascism and authoritarianism. The union has not been this imperfect since the Civil War. Youngkin and the former Republican governors on the panel, like the party in general, have acquiesced to the dismantling of the American experiment, placing partisanship over patriotism. A defining feature of the MAGA movement has been its aggressive attack on Black history…Youngkin’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion — even before the Trump administration’s weaponization of anti-DEI animus — led former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder to sit out the event in protest.”)
- Youngkin recognizes Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month (Youngkin’s actions speak a lot louder than his empty words.)
- Editorial: Preservation of clean-energy laws is essential to Hampton Roads’ growth
- Solar apprenticeships give Virginia students a head start on clean energy
- Former Henrico teacher charged with sexually abusing an animal
- CWG Live updates: Morning rain turns to a spotty afternoon shower; drier by weekend
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
