| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, June 26.
- ‘It’s death by a thousand cuts’: marine ecologist on the collapse of coral reefs
- Antarctic ice has grown again – but this does not buck overall melt trend (“Study shows ice sheet gained mass from 2021 to 2023, due to extreme snowfall that was also an effect of climate crisis”)
- China breaks more records with surge in solar and wind power (“Between January and May, China added 198 GW of solar and 46 GW of wind, enough to generate as much electricity as Indonesia or Turkey” Truly amazing – blowing the U.S. away!)
- China Is Still Choking Exports of Rare Earths Despite Pact With U.S.
- EU rollback on environmental policy is gaining momentum, warn campaigners (“Observers shocked at scale and speed of deregulation drive they say is watering down European Green Deal and laws”)
- Europe managed to keep Trump in NATO. Now what? (“National leaders now need to find the money and buy weapons to deter Russia while facing a potential reduction of U.S. troops on the continent.”)
- At the NATO summit, fear of Trump dominates
- Trump says Nato’s new 5% defence spending pledge a ‘big win’
- Inside the NATO charm offensive that shocked as much as it delivered
- How Trump’s Strike on Iran Might Affect China’s Calculus on Taiwan
- Trump navigates the most complex foreign policy crisis of his presidency, one ‘Truth’ at a time
- Trump wages all-out fight for control of Iran strike narrative
- Scoop: Trump to limit sharing classified info with Congress after leak on Iran bombing damage
- Trump’s bombing achieved less than Obama’s nuclear accord
- Iran Nuclear Program Suffered ‘Enormous Damage,’ Says U.N. Atomic Agency Chief
- U.S. Strikes on Iran Are Another Wedge for Divided Democrats (The NY Times’ favorite narrative ever…”DEMS IN DISARRAY!”)
Trump officials cite ‘new intelligence’ to back president’s claims of success in strikes on Iran (Sure…ok.)- Rubio Fleshes Out Trump’s Case That Iran Nuclear Capacity Was Eliminated
- White House to limit intelligence sharing, skip Gabbard at Senate Iran briefing
- Where Is Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
- Voters 51 – 42 Percent Oppose U.S. Joining Israel In Military Strikes On Iran’s Nuclear Sites, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Vast Majority Concerned U.S. Will Get Drawn Into A War With Iran
- When Iran’s supreme leader emerges from hiding he will find a very different nation
- Trump Says US and Iran Will Talk Next Week, Mideast War Over for Now
- This Cabinet Member Is in Trump’s Crosshairs for Iran Leak (Tulsi Gabbard is such a freakazoid.)
- Iran intensifies internal security crackdown with executions and mass arrests (Evil regime.)
Trump calls for Netanyahu corruption trial to be cancelled (“US president calls Israeli prime minister a ‘great hero’ and that the charges against him constitute a ‘witch hunt’”)- Gaza mediators intensifying ceasefire efforts, Hamas official says
- “You have no credibility”: Lake grilled by House Committee over Voice of America cuts (Glenn Youngkin called this raving lunatic “AWESOME!” when he campaigned for her in 2022. That should have been THE END of any journalist referring to Youngkin as anything but a far-right extremist, but…nope!)
DOJ sues to stop Minnesota law allowing undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition- Trump’s Border Czar Claims Death Threats Have Driven Him From Wife
- Trump’s Use of Federal Troops in Drug Raid Outside of Los Angeles: An Alarming Escalation
- Trump DOJ sues all federal judges in Maryland over deportation order (“Legal experts said the unusual lawsuit marks an escalation in the Trump administration’s attacks on the U.S. judiciary.”)
- ‘They’re Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls (“Records of hundreds of emergency calls from ICE detention centers obtained by WIRED—including audio recordings—show a system inundated by life-threatening incidents, delayed treatment, and overcrowding.”)
- ‘Criminal immigrant’ means whatever the administration says it means
- Immigrants drive population growth in a graying America, census shows (Cutting off immigration and deporting immigrants will be an unmmitigated DISASTER for our country.)
- Trump is creating new universes of people to deport
- US military to create two new border zones, officials say
- Kilmar Abrego Garcia to remain in jail while attorneys spar whether he’ll be swiftly deported
- Iranian immigrant who has lived in New Orleans nearly 50 years arrested outside Lakeview home
- Pam Bondi denies knowing Ice agents wore masks during raids despite video evidence (L-I-A-R)
- The Supreme Court Picks Trump Over the Rule of Law
- How Much Will the Supreme Court Let Trump Get Away With? (“We got an ominous sign this week.”)
- Trump Considers Naming Next Fed Chair Early in Bid to Undermine Powell (F’ing stupid.)
- CDC to hire former head of anti-vaccine group founded by RFK Jr.
- The Trump Administration Is Kicking the National Science Foundation out of Its Offices
- GOP senators push back hard on Medicaid cuts, endangering Trump bill
- Thune faces brewing megabill mutiny (“Sen. Thom Tillis warned his colleagues during a closed-door meeting Wednesday that he would not vote to take up the party’s sweeping domestic policy bill without further clarity on Medicaid changes, a person granted anonymity to disclose private discussions said.”)
- Trump cannot end union bargaining for federal workers, judge rules
- The U.S. Department of Education is far behind on producing key statistics
- House GOP issues new subpoenas, ramping up ActBlue investigation (This is very dangerous, part of the MAGA GOP’s crackdown on democracy itself.)
- Emil Bove Avoids Telling the Senate Much of Anything About DOJ (“Trump’s former personal lawyer, up for a powerful judicial seat, was hammered by Senate Democrats over his role as the president’s legal enforcer.”)
- Jill Biden’s top aide bails on House investigation in Biden fitness
- Mediator Proposes $20 Million Settlement in Trump’s CBS Suit (There’s no excuse for CBS News to pay a PENNY for this. If they do, they’re no longer a news network.)
- Williams: Trump’s phony Confederate name game is child’s play
- What Democrats can (and can’t) learn from Zohran Mamdani’s triumph
- Can Mamdani’s Energetic Campaign Be a Blueprint for Democrats? (“The progressive state lawmaker’s sleek social media presence and eager volunteers could offer his party a road map for how to win back voters.”)
- 5 Takeaways From the New York City Mayoral Primary (“Mamdani’s exuberant optimism attracted disaffected New Yorkers”; “The Cuomo brand seems to have lost its shine”; “Mamdani built a novel coalition”; “Mayor Adams gets the opponents he hoped for”; “Progressives generally had a good night”; )
- What Zohran Mamdani’s Defeat of Andrew Cuomo Means for the Democrats (“On Tuesday, the thirty-three-year-old left-wing mayoral candidate sent an unmissable message to his party: be new.”)
- Is Mamdani Really a Gift to Trump and the G.O.P.? (“Republicans have gleefully seized on Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a fresh boogeyman. The reality could be more complicated.”)
- Trump Slams NYC Mayoral Candidate Mamdani as ‘Communist Lunatic’
- Democrats fret about national fallout after Mamdani stuns in New York City
- Mamdani’s Shock Win Has Wall Street Fretting Over ‘Hot Commie Summer’
- Andrew Cuomo weighing his options in NYC mayoral election and potential independent bid
- What Democrats Can Learn from Zohran Mamdani—and Andrew Cuomo (“The young progressive triumphed over a deeply flawed establishment rival not only by running a more dynamic campaign, but by offering Democratic voters an ambitious vision to improve their lives.”)
- Wisconsin Supreme Court refuses to hear challenges to the state’s congressional district boundaries
- Norton’s office walks back her desire to seek re-election — again (She’s 88 years old, definitely need to retire.)
- Virginia Democrats vote to block articles of impeachment against Trump over Iran strikes (“All five Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation voted to table the resolution – that would be, in alphabetical order: Don Beyer, Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott, Suhas Subramanyam and Eugene Vindman.”)
- Democratic Congressional candidates make their pitch to succeed the late Gerry Connolly
- Blue Virginia Interview: VA11 Dem Candidate Irene Shin Says “I decided to jump into this race for Congress because I think Democratic voters are probably feeling like I’m feeling, which is frustrated” (“I feel like what we need right now are Democrats who are willing to stop hemming and hawing”)
- Video: Candidates in VA11 GOP Candidates Forum Basically All Agree That They “trust everything [Trump]’s done”; “support and love Donald Trump and I know you do too”; etc. (Also, they all support Trump’s big UGLY bill and the DOGE (if not the exact way it was done), etc.)
- Don Beyer to run again in 2026: Old Democrat doesn’t always act, vote his age
- Video: Virginians Call Out Winsome Earle-Sears’ Extreme Record – on Cutting Medicaid, Defunding Public Education, Opposing Marriage Equality, etc.
- Photos: “Span Virginia Bus Tour” Keeps Rolling as Spanberger Meets Virginians in Lynchburg, Appomattox, Prince Edward, and Charlottesville (“Spanberger listened to Virginians discuss the issues that matter most to them and emphasized her commitment to always putting Virginia first”)
- Earle-Sears and Spanberger ditch a Virginia tradition. Will they even debate at all? (“Statewide candidates have typically debated before the Virginia Bar Association. This year, neither campaign agreed. It’s unclear whether we’ll see any debates this year.”)
- Virginia’s statewide Republican ticket to hold 1st joint campaign event (Miracle.)
- Candidates for Virginia governor respond to the words of an immigrant mother with U.S. born children
- Democrats pour $400K into Virginia House races as key battlegrounds emerge
- Virginia’s unemployment rate is continuing to slowly climb
- Virginia hospitals bracing for Medicaid changes (“Virginia’s hospital leaders say President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill would be devastating for Virginia hospitals.”)
- ICE is conducting daily detentions at Chesterfield County Courthouse (“Lawyers worry witnesses and victims may skip court out of fear of detainment.”)
- Fairfax Co. schools planning to make weapon detectors permanent
- Virginia appeals court says Arlington can end single-family-only zoning (That’s not really what’s happening, though. In fact, Arlington did NOT end single-family exclusionary zoning countywide by any means.)
- Wet spring keeps Virginia crops growing despite early summer’s blazing heat
- Local residents protest ICE at Chesterfield County courthouse
- CWG Live updates: Heat stays strong today; much cooler Friday (“Heat advisory today from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. After a much cooler Friday, the weekend trends warmer as daily storm chances continue.”)
