by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, Juneteenth (June 19th).
- Three years left to limit warming to 1.5C, leading scientists warn (“The Earth could be doomed to breach a key climate target in as little as three years, scientists warn.” Disastrous.)
- How climate change will worsen hunger
- Climate misinformation turning crisis into catastrophe, report says (“False claims obstructing climate action, say researchers, amid calls for climate lies to be criminalised”)
- Carney’s Risk Warning Reverberates as Global Regulators Disagree Over Climate (“Once climate change becomes a defining issue for financial stability, it may already be too late.”)
- Earth is absorbing too much sunlight: It’s a waking climate giant
- Children born now may live in a world where the US can only produce half as much of its key food crops
- Climate crisis could hit yields of key crops even if farmers adapt, study finds (“Production of staple crops projected to fall by as much as 120 calories per person per day for every 1C of heating”)
- Trying to Satisfy Trump, NATO Is Running Into Difficulties
- Putin cautions Germany over any Taurus missile supplies to Ukraine
- Russia needs monetary policy changes to avert a recession, says economy minister
- Iranian regime collapse would be serious blow for Russia (“While some in Moscow have tried to put positive spin on Israel’s assault, Kremlin risks losing key strategic partner”)
- Shipping insurance costs spike in the Middle East as Israel-Iran conflict rages
- US Officials Plan for Possible Strike on Iran in Coming Days
- Israel threatens Iran’s top leader after missiles damage hospital and wound dozens
- Trump presses aides on whether bunker-buster plan to bomb Iran will work
- Fox News Is Demanding War With Iran. Donald Trump Is Listening
- Trump Privately Approved of Attack Plans for Iran but Has Withheld Final Order (“President Trump told senior aides late Tuesday that he approved of attack plans for Iran, but was holding off to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, people familiar with the deliberations said.”)
- We asked 1,000 Americans if they support U.S. strikes on Iran. This is how they responded.
- Trump presses aides on whether bunker-buster plan to bomb Iran will work
- Exclusive: inside the spy dossier that led Israel to war (“We review its secret intelligence on Iranian nukes”)
- Gulf States Caught Off Guard by Speed of Israel’s Iran Attack
- America Must Not Rush Into a War Against Iran
- Troops in Mideast Would Be Vulnerable to Iran Strikes on U.S. Targets
- Why Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ Is Missing in Action (“Militia groups allied with Tehran have mostly stayed out of its war with Israel”)
- The MAGA Coalition Has Turned on Itself (“And Donald Trump is caught in the middle.”)
- Israel-Iran conflict live: Israeli minister says Khamenei ‘can no longer be allowed to exist’ after hospital strike
- An implosion, a collapse or a transition: what would regime change in Iran look like? (“Some western leaders have welcomed the idea of the toppling of Iran’s supreme leader, but no planning has been made for the aftermath if it happens”)
- Israel’s assumption US would get drawn into Iran war is being put to the test
- Iranian opposition supporters grapple with US and Israeli regime change plans
- Donald Trump’s No-Strategy Strategy on Iran
- An Islamic Republic With Its Back Against the Wall (“The Iranian regime finds itself in its most difficult position 46 years after the revolution that brought it to power. But does it mean the end?”)
- Israel attacks Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant (“Israel said it had struck Iran’s only functioning nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast, potentially a major escalation in its air war against Iran.”)
- 7 Experts on What Happens If the United States Bombs Iran
- Trump’s Trouble With Tulsi (“The president appointed an intelligence chief who resents the intelligence community as much as he does. But reality is setting in.”)
- State Dept. restarts student visa interviews with tougher social media rules
- New US visa rules will force foreign students to unlock social media profiles (“Diplomats to look for ‘indications of hostility towards citizens, culture or founding principles of United States’” If you want to find those indications, look at Trump’s and his MAGA cultists’ social media accounts!)
- ICE Bars Reps. Goldman and Nadler From Immigrant Detention Area ‘Approaching Capacity’
- Some Democratic senators regret voting to confirm Kristi Noem as DHS secretary (“Some of the seven Democrats who voted for Noem say they’d now oppose her in the wake of Trump’s aggressive deportation plans and last week’s incident involving Sen. Alex Padilla.” It’s really incredible, forehead-slapping, etc. that these Senators didn’t understand AT THE TIME how horrible Noem was. I mean, most of us who are NOT U.S. Senators understood that, so…what were they missing???)
- Trump Travel Restrictions Bar Residents Needed at U.S. Hospitals
- Fed holds key rate steady, still sees two more cuts this yea
- Kennedy’s picks for vaccine advisory panel raise concerns about anti-vaccine bias (Horrendous.)
- FDA approves powerful HIV drug that nearly eliminated spread in clinical trial (“The twice-yearly injectable drug’s potential could be compromised by the Trump administration’s dramatic cuts to HIV-prevention infrastructure in the U.S.”)
- Vaccine advisers to review ingredient RFK Jr. has long wanted banned (“The health secretary wrote a 2014 book arguing that thimerosal caused brain damage, a claim his own agencies say is unfounded.” This is really, REALLY bad news.)
- The Supreme Court’s Anti-Trans Decision Will Live in Infamy (“In its bigotry and deceitfulness, US v. Skrmetti is destined to be seen alongside Plessy, Dobbs, Dred Scott, and all of the court’s other most notorious decisions.”)
- The Supreme Court’s incoherent new attack on trans rights, explained (“What the hell did the Court just do to equal protection law?”)
- With transgender care ruling, Chief Justice Roberts tries to avoid extremes (“He penned a decision that affirmed state restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone therapy, but he declined to adopt the reasoning of some conservatives that could have made transgender people even more vulnerable to discrimination.”)
- The Supreme Court That Ended the Fundamental Right to an Abortion Won’t Protect Trans Youth From Discrimination (“Much like in Dobbs, the conservative supermajority has created a nation where kids with gender dysphoria, and their families, will be treated unequally depending on where they live.”)
- Justice Dept. to Cut Two-Thirds of Inspectors Monitoring Gun Sales (Insanity. Also very dangerous.)
- Trump administration to shut down LGBTQ youth suicide hotline (That’s just cruel/nasty and bigoted crap)
- As his support drops, Trump will “lash out in dangerous, unimaginable ways” (“After two weeks of chaos and violence, four experts consider what’s next”)
- Business Leaders Call Trump Attacks on Universities a Competitive Threat
- How the Billionaires Took Over (“Yes, Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. But the far bigger menace is the monstrous growth in wealth concentration over five decades that made a Trump presidency possible—and maybe inevitable. Here’s how we let it happen.”)
- GOP leader aggressively woos GOP Medicaid holdouts on Trump bill
- Senate leadership ponders rural hospital fund to sway megabill holdouts (So first Republicans decimate the hospitals, then scramble to help the ones in red areas???)
- Hegseth defends Kingsley Wilson amid questioning about antisemitic record
- The D.N.C. Is in Chaos and Desperate for Cash (“Under its new leader, Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee has been plagued by infighting and a drop in big donations, raising alarms from Democrats as they try to win back power.” I will never fully understand why the DNC elected Ken Martin over Ben Wikler for Chair.)
- ‘Weak,’ ‘whiny’ and ‘invisible’: Critics of DNC Chair Ken Martin savage his tenure
- Democrats walk out of Senate Judiciary hearing probing Biden’s mental fitness (Republicans are a disgrace.)
- Accounts peddling child abuse content flood some X hashtags as safety partner cuts ties (Appalling.)
- A Wild Number of People Have Already Blocked JD Vance on Bluesky (“JD Vance’s Bluesky launch is not going smoothly. The vice president had already been blocked by more than 55,000 users on the social media site, according to ClearSky, a third-party tool that tracks Bluesky user activity. At time of writing, he had just under 5,000 followers”)
- NYC mayoral candidate draws criticism for ‘globalize the intifada’ comparison to Warsaw uprising
- Andrew Cuomo Is on the Verge of Clawing His Way Back to Power
- ‘Horrible, horrible mistake’: Sen. Tim Kaine on potential U.S. involvement in Iran-Israel conflict
- Tim Kaine pushes Senate to at least debate U.S. involvement in Israel-Iran war (“I want to applaud Kaine for trying here, but you know that the spineless Senate Republican Caucus isn’t going to stand up to Trump.”)
- Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Speaks on US Senate Floor Regarding His War Powers Resolution to Prevent War with Iran (Sen. Kaine believes war with Iran “would be a catastrophic blunder for this country”; argues “the United States should not be at war without a vote of Congress”)
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Rips Trump’s Big CRUEL Bill, Says It Must Be Stopped; Worries That Trump Could Get Us Into Another “never-ending war in the Middle East” Potentially with US Troops On the Ground in Iran
- State Sen. Tara Durant announces her intention to run for Congress (For more on Tara Durant, see HuffPo Scoop: Police Reports, Audio Show SD27 Republican Nominee Tara Durant “instigated a confrontation with [peaceful] protesters” and “tried to hit them with her car as they stood in a crosswalk”)
- NEW TV AD: Abigail Spanberger Focuses on Lowering Costs and Strengthening Virginia’s Public Schools (“I’m Abigail Spanberger. I grew up walking the halls of Tucker High School.”)
- Democrats to launch ‘Worst of Winsome’ tour in Charlottesville
- John Reid would vote ‘no, no, no’ on in-progress constitutional amendments (“Republican Reid vows to block Democrat-led amendments that would enshrine voting, marriage and reproductive rights into Virginia’s constitution and calls his opponent, Democratic lt. gov. nominee Ghazala Hashmi, ‘radical.’”)
- Virginia Democrats coalesce as primary election sets statewide ticket. Will Republicans? (Sure doesn’t seem like it!)
- Political Winners and Losers: Virginia Primary Elections 2025
- 9 more things to know about the statewide primary results (“On Tuesday, both Rouse and Stoney were competing for the support of Black voters. Stoney, as we saw, won big in the predominantly Black counties of eastern Southside, but Rouse won across Hampton Roads. The result: Hashmi was able to win with just 27.39% statewide.”)
- Virginia lieutenant governor’s race opens with sharp contrasts between Reid, Hashmi
- Richmond voters reject former Mayor Levar Stoney in primary
- Va. board of ed approves $83.4 million allocation for infrastructure grants
- Virginia advocates, officials push for worker protections from heat
- Early findings from state studies reveal growing pharmacy and transportation challenges in Virginia
- Youngkin admin touts Virginia economy as Senate Dems, GOP spar over ‘Big Beautiful’ budget cuts
- Norfolk mayor will not seek another term, appointed to community college position
- Loudoun Co. schools plan to use AI to boost campus security (“The division will use software from VOLT AI, which will scan camera footage for possible issues, according to Dan Adams, the district’s public information officer. It piloted the software in high schools and is now planning to use it in elementary and middle schools, too.”)
- Augusta County BOS member explains, defends decision to cancel Pride event
- 3 Roanoke County School Board incumbents face challengers
- CWG Live updates: Storms later today could be severe; big heat wave starts Sunday
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