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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, July 18.
- The big emitters: which countries are holding back climate action and why? (“Ahead of Cop30, the Guardian will profile each of the top 10 emitters and their plans – good or bad – to tackle emissions”)
- ‘Keeping us hooked on fossil fuels’: how can we negotiate with autocracies on the climate crisis?
- Gas flaring created 389m tonnes of carbon pollution last year, report finds
- I’m a Climate Activist. I’m Not Giving Up Just Yet.
- World’s oldest climate fund targets wildlife bonds for every country in Africa
- How hot can Earth get? Our planet’s climate history holds clues
- EU Imposes New Raft of Sanctions on Russia and Its Oil Trade
- How the EU is preparing to reach a tariff deal in Trump’s game of chicken
- U.S. allies find that ‘nice kitty’ doesn’t keep Trump from biting (“Watching China, the European Union ponders harder pushback on the president’s tariff threats”)
- Israel levelling thousands of Gaza civilian buildings in controlled demolitions
- Air India cockpit recording suggests captain cut fuel to engines before crash, source says
- Spurred by Bolsonaro’s son, Trump mulls sanctions on Brazilian judge
- Alligator Alcatraz isn’t meant for minors. A 15 year old ended up there anyway (Calling it by its cutesy nickname is really wrong.)
- Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients’ personal data, including addresses, to ICE (Totally unacceptable.)
- The Trump regime is arresting protesters now. This was the plan all along.
- Right-wing Spanish-language media waver on Trump’s mass deportations
- The Court’s Liberals Are Trying to Tell Americans Something (“Justices Kagan, Jackson, and Sotomayor aren’t merely disagreeing with the majority’s technical readings of the law.”)
- Democratic Senators Walk Out Of Trump Judicial Nominee Emil Bove’s Hearing
- Trump taps Project 2025 contributor to fill vacant FERC seat (UGH)
- ‘Devastating’: US public broadcasters condemn Trump cuts to key programs (“PBS chief says cuts package ‘goes against the will of the American people’ as smaller outlets could face total closure”)
- Trump’s cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid clear Congress
- Trump’s victory over PBS and NPR ‘bias’ will be ‘devastating’ for rural areas, station leaders say
- Conservatives Get the PBS and NPR Cuts They’ve Wanted for Decades (The thing that’s so crazy about it is NPR and PBS are classic “both sides,” false equivalence news…most definitely NOT biased towards liberals.)
- Trump’s Budget Chief Gives The Middle Finger To Congress And The Constitution (As Mark Warner correctly stated yesterday, Vought “is a tyrant”)
- Trump offers regulatory relief for coal, iron ore and chemical industries (Right wingers love dirty, polluting, extractive industries. They hate anything clean or environmentally friendly.)
- America’s Worst Polluters See a Lifeline in Power-Gobbling AI—and Donald Trump (“The president, fossil fuel executives, and tech barons join hands at a Pittsburgh summit and hype-fest.”)
- Trump’s approval rating on immigration and government spending has slipped, new AP-NORC poll finds
- Ex-Casino Boss Claims Trump and ‘Best Friend’ Jeffrey Epstein Were Once Caught Bringing Underage Girls to Casino Floor
- Trump isn’t interested in naming a special counsel for the Jeffrey Epstein case, White House says
- Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump. (“The leather-bound book was compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell. The president says the letter ‘is a fake thing.’” Definitely not a “fake thing”…)
- Team Trump Was on ‘F-cking Warpath’ to Kill Story About Salacious Letter to Epstein (“The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump wrote a birthday note to his ‘pal’ about how they have ‘certain things in common'”)
- Trump will sue the WSJ, directs Bondi to unseal Epstein material (“Trump said he had personally warned the Journal’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, and its editor in chief, Emma Tucker, that the letter was ‘fake,’ calling the story ‘false, malicious, and defamatory.'”)
- Looming Epstein vote has Republicans eager to leave Washington
- Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and Three Conspiracy-Theory Theories (“Trump rode the paranoid style of MAGA politics to power. Has he discovered that he can’t control it?”)
- Trump Claims He ‘Never Wrote a Picture in My Life.’ He Actually Drew Plenty of Them
- Trump Tells Bondi to Seek Release of Epstein Grand Jury Testimony
- Top oversight Democrat sends letter to Fox News demanding answers on edits to Trump’s 2024 Epstein comments
- Trump Was Attempting to Block Publication of Embarrassing WSJ Jeffrey Epstein Story
- Trump faces backlash as 69% believe Epstein details concealed, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
- White House defends handling of Epstein files, chides press for coverage
- Unreleased Epstein files include logbooks for private island, records show
- DOJ seeks a single-day prison sentence for an officer convicted in the Breonna Taylor raid (WTF???)
- Trump administration shuts down LGBTQ youth suicide hotline (“The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ youth service, which has provided queer youths with specialized services since 2022, was officially terminated Thursday.” Inexcusable.)
- The three-way battle for the Democratic Party (“It’s the left vs. the establishment vs. Abundance. Here’s your guide to what’s happening.”)
- Trump underwent vascular testing because of leg swelling: White House
- Trump fires Epstein prosecutor Maurene Comey, which sure looks desperate (“The move shows he has no idea how to bring MAGA to heel”)
- Maurene Comey warns her former colleagues: ‘Fear is the tool of the tyrant’
- Maurene Comey urges DOJ colleagues to stand up to ‘abuses of power’ in memo after her firing
- CBS to Cancel ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Citing ‘Financial Decision’ (Let’s just say it’s VERY difficult to believe that CBS is doing this for financial reasons, as opposed to desperately trying to stave off anger from Trump.)
- Is Colbert’s Ouster Really Just a ‘Financial Decision’? (“CBS no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.”)
- In boon for House GOP, Florida Supreme Court sides with DeSantis, upholds congressional map
- Newsom threatens to redraw California House maps in protest at Texas plan (Virginia Dems could have done the same, except that some of them – along with Republicans – voted for unilaterial disarmament – namely, the fatally flawed redistricting amendment.)
- Southwestern Drought Likely to Continue Through 2100, Research Finds (“Climate change is warming the North Pacific Ocean, leading weather patterns that drive drought in the U.S. Southwest to persist decades longer than they have in the recent past.”)
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says “Russell Vought is a tyrant”; “Congress has the power of the purse”; Cuts to Public Broadcasting Will Badly Harm Rural Virginia, Which Voted Overwhelmingly for the Guy Responsible – Donald Trump
- Senators Mark Warner, Tim Kaine Blast Republican Rescissions Bill Defunding Public Broadcasting, National Security Programs (“It’s outrageous that enough Republicans caved to President Trump and OMB Director Vought’s pressure to go back on appropriations deals that a bipartisan majority of Congress had previously agreed to.”)
- Catholic Sen. Tim Kaine blasts GOP for slashing aid funding
- Commentary: For Virginia, drop in business rankings a wakeup call (By Ghazala Hashmi)
- As New Ad Hits Winsome Earle-Sears for Backing Trump’s Attacks on Jobs, She’s Mocked for Bad Polls, Weak Fundraising, Campaign Chaos (Including Firing Her CM, a “pastor with no political experience”)
- Youngkin touts Virginia record in Iowa, land of presidential hope (“… by last summer, Youngkin finally embraced the MAGA wing of the party, appearing with Trump at rallies in Chesapeake and Salem, sitting beside the once-and-future president at the Republican National Convention and even landing on the vice-presidential whisper list. But Youngkin’s efforts weren’t enough to deliver Virginia for Trump, who lost to Vice President Kamala Harris by six points.”)
- Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks in Iowa on education, 2021 election win
- Sister District to Invest Record $671,000 in 2025 Virginia House of Delegates Races (“The road to 2026 runs through Virginia…We are thrilled to make an unprecedented investment in this fight.”)
- Reid breaks with Earle-Sears, would repeal Virginia gay marriage ban
- Commentary: If the attorney general won’t defend Virginia, who will? (“At Mason, the long-serving university counsel was replaced by a deputy — an alumna of Mason’s Scalia Law School, former Federalist Society chapter president and classmate of former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Her husband, a conservative political operative, has held senior roles at Koch Industries, helped fund both the governor’s and AG’s campaigns, and served on a Youngkin Inaugural Host Committee.”)
- Editorial: Tweak campaign finance law to boost accountability in Virginia
- Paucity of details on immigration arrests highlights Youngkin’s pattern of misstatements (“Too many times since (Youngkin) ran for office in 2021, he’s delved into the culture wars where he knew, or should have known, his comments were lies or gross distortions”)
- Virginia hospitals receive $8.5 million in grants for violence intervention programming
- Virginia public media stations brace for impact of federal funding cuts
- Chesapeake City Council reverses course, approves Virginia Natural Gas project
- Here’s why Newport News’ sheriff says his office doesn’t honor ICE detainers
- Pope & Schapiro: George Mason University draws the ire of the Trump administration
- Virginia takes steps to bring advanced nuclear reactor to Wise County
- 2 western Virginia counties now have flood warning systems to gather data and guide local officials during emergencies
- State agencies leaving Monroe Building will scatter across Richmond
- CWG Live updates: Less hot and cloudier the next couple of days as storm chances rise
