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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, July 12.
- UN warns Great Barrier Reef headed for “in danger” list, orders 2026 review
- One wrong move could be fatal: the divers risking their lives to save whales from ‘ghost nets’ (“Abandoned fishing equipment haunts our oceans, killing coral, turtles, sharks and whales. But in Colombia’s Gulf of Tribugá, ‘guardians’ are on call to free entangled marine animals”)
- Intense Med Sea heatwave raises fears for marine life
- ‘It can’t withstand the heat’: fears ‘stable’ Patagonia glacier in irreversible decline (“Scientists say Perito Moreno, which for decades defied trend of glacial retreat, now rapidly losing mass”)
- The State Department fires remaining employees who worked on climate change (“The firings of nearly a dozen people in the State Department’s Office of Global Change include the last U.S. climate negotiators.”)
- Oil Market’s Focus Shifts to Demand as Trump Reignites Trade War
- Russia attacks west Ukraine with drones and missiles, kills two
- Trump weighs new Ukraine aid package (“The administration’s first military assistance to Ukraine would come after a controversial halt in weapons to Kyiv.”)
- ‘It’s blitz, blitz, blitz’: Kyiv’s shelters fill up as Russia intensifies aerial attacks (“People in Ukrainian capital are exhausted and struggling for normality amid a dramatic rise in bombardment”)
- Russia warns U.S., South Korea and Japan against forming security alliance targeting North Korea
- Gaza truce talks faltering over withdrawal, Palestinian and Israeli sources say
- Trump Signals Support for New Israel Attack if Iran Moves Toward Bomb (So, not “obliterated” after all…)
- Why cockpit audio deepens the mystery of Air India crash
- Engine fuel switches cut off before Air India crash that killed 260, preliminary report finds
- Shunned Myanmar leader thrilled at US contact after Trump tariff letter (“Min Aung Hlaing expresses ‘sincere appreciation’ for letter from US president threatening 40% tariff” Bizarre.)
- The week the costs of Trump’s tariffs became clearer
- Tariffs or Deals? Trump Seems Content With Punishing Levies. (“President Trump’s supporters portray him as a top dealmaker. But, at least for now, far more trading partners have gotten stiff tariffs than trade deals.”)
- Canada’s Carney talked tough on Trump – now some say he’s backing down
- Trump delayed his tariffs again. This could be the last time.
- US customs duties top $100 billion for first time in a fiscal year
- Federal judge blocks ‘roving’ immigration arrests amid Los Angeles crackdown
- Judge orders Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops, arrests in California
- US border czar says he doesn’t know fate of eight men deported to South Sudan (This guy is pure evil.)
- Cannabis farmworker in California dies day after chaotic federal immigration raid
- Farmworker hospitalized with critical injuries suffered during immigration raid, family says
- Disabled veteran who is a US citizen was taken during Camarillo immigration raid, family says
- L.A. will provide cash assistance to immigrants affected by raids
- Miami archbishop slams Everglades immigrant detention site as ‘unbecoming’ and ‘corrosive’ (“Archbishop Thomas Wenski criticized the remote location of the detention site called “Alligator Alcatraz” and the rhetoric surrounding it.” And meanwhile, the media continues to call it by its faux-cutesy nickname…)
- Detained immigrants at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ say there are worms in food and wastewater on the floor (APPALLING AND UNACCEPTABLE!)
- A New Lawsuit Shows Just How Un-American the ICE Raids in Los Angeles Really Are (“Anonymous cops busting folks at random and hustling them off to hidden dungeons? The founders would be so proud.”)
- The Supreme Court Limited Lower Courts’ Power to Stop Trump’s Lawlessness. A Judge Is Trying Another Way. (“And some new information could upend Trump’s El Salvador torture-prison scheme.”)
- US state department issues first of 1,350 termination orders after court lifted ban (“Career diplomats and other staff begin receiving notices amid Trump administration cull of about 15% of workforce” INSANITY.)
- AFSA Strongly Opposes State Department Reductions in Force
- State Department starts firing more than 1,350 workers in Trump’s shake-up of diplomatic corps
- Flash Floods and Climate Policy (“As the death toll climbs in Texas, the Trump Administration is actively undermining the nation’s ability to predict—and to deal with—climate-related disasters.”)
- Energy Department to Gut Funding for Solar and Wind Projects (“Stripping hundreds of millions of dollars from renewable energy and efficiency initiatives is part of a broader move to undo efforts to wean the United States off fossil fuels.” This administration is evil and insane.)
- Residential solar industry weighs impacts of tax credit loss, potential rate changes (“The end of a 30% federal tax credit for new home solar panel systems, plus a potential reduction in how much home solar panel owners are compensated for their extra electricity, could significantly change the financial benefits of investing in solar.”)
- Energy Coalition: Big Ugly Bill ‘an all-out-war on the American dream’
- ‘Egregious.’ Brazen.’ ‘Lawless.’ How 48 Judges Describe Trump’s Actions, in Their Own Words
- What If the Political Pendulum Doesn’t Swing Back? (“The Cycles of American History foresaw American voter dealignment, and an electronic age that would see voters prioritize personality over party—but it didn’t anticipate Trump.”)f
- Trump’s Toxic Toolkit: Lies, Corruption, Idiocy, Loyalty, Propaganda
- ‘Huge deal’: White House probe fuels speculation Trump could oust Powell
- Trump Is Once Again Threatening to Nuke the Economy (“Good luck out there, Jerome Powell!”)
- FEMA Didn’t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show (“Two days after deadly Texas floods, the agency struggled to answer calls from survivors because of call center contracts that weren’t extended” This is 100% Trump’s and Musk’s fault.)
- ICE Barbie’s Delayed Flood Response Caused FEMA to Miss Thousands of Phone Calls
- Trump heads to Texas after catastrophic flooding, avoiding criticism he’s heaped on other governors
- Nobody Trusts Pam Bondi (“The attorney general has alienated nearly everyone.” By far the worst Attorney General in US history.)
- Trump-whisperer Laura Loomer sharpens her knives for Pam Bondi
- FBI Director Kash Patel ALSO Considering Resigning If Pam Bondi Keeps Her Job, Per Report
- Scoop: FBI’s Dan Bongino clashes with AG Bondi over handling of Epstein files
- Deputy FBI Director Bongino has told people he is considering resigning amid Epstein files fallout
- The DOJ’s Epstein Memo Is Tearing the Trump Administration Apart
- Metadata Shows the FBI’s ‘Raw’ Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified (“There is no evidence the footage was deceptively manipulated, but ambiguities around how the video was processed may further fuel conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death.”)
- MAGA Civil War Erupts Over Trump’s Epstein Files Flop (“Trump’s top minds are at one another’s throats as some allege an ongoing cover-up.”)
- Trump’s Cabinet of Incompetents
- ‘Confused’ Trump, 79, Called Out for Imagining He Saw Hegseth Live on Fox (“The president praised his ‘Secretary of War’ for a live interview that didn’t happen.” Imagine the media meltdown if Biden had done this???)
- Emil Bove declines to rule out 3rd Trump term or denounce Jan. 6 rioters in Senate questionnaire (Both should be automatically disqualifying.)
- Dems swarm 2028 (” The Democratic National Committee hasn’t finalized which states it wants to hold early primaries and caucuses in the 2028 election. But there’s a strong push to restore Iowa and New Hampshire to their traditional gatekeeper roles.”)
- The Democrats Finally Have a Plan to Attack Trump. Sort Of. (“They’re organizing a summer-recess attack on the administration’s worst policies—but they’ll be playing catch up against a GOP that’s mastered the media game.”)
- Why Appalachia — and rural America — clings to Trump (“After failures from both parties, MAGA’s rural vote is a ‘desperate lunge toward any alternative'” Completely irrational and self-defeating)
- Elon Musk Updated Grok. Guess What It Said. (“After praising Hitler earlier this week, the chatbot is now listing ‘the good races.'”)
- Grok’s MechaHitler disaster is a preview of AI disasters to come (“Musk trained Grok to be right-wing. We’re lucky he wasn’t more subtle.”)
- “Truly Repulsive and Disgusting”: It Sure Sounds Like the Texas Attorney General Did Something Really Bad
- Skydance Is in Early Talks to Acquire The Free Press (“David Ellison, the founder of Skydance, and Bari Weiss, the co-founder of The Free Press, are attending the annual Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley this week.”)
- Kerr County did not use its most far-reaching alert system in deadly Texas floods
- Maine Supreme Court Shuts Down Right-Wing Rewrite of Anti-Voting Initiative
- David Gergen, political insider who advised four presidents of both parties, dies at 83 (Rest in peace. David Gergen was a good guy, not many like him at this point – certainly not in the Trump/MAGA Republican Party!)
- Virginia lawmakers to learn of strides, challenges in Chesapeake Bay clean up (“A joint meeting of the General Assembly’s Agriculture and Natural Resources committees will convene at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s Eastern Shore Laboratory July 11 and 12”)
- Sen. Warner visits Central Virginia food banks, warns of budget bill impacts
- Senator Tim Kaine visits Charlottesville to address concerns over UVA leadership change
- Morning Digest: Democrats land first recruit for ultra-close Virginia district
- The Politics Hour: Md. Rep. Glenn Ivey and Va. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam on the latest federal moves
- 74 U.S. Representatives (Including Reps. Bobby Scott, Jennifer McClellan, Don Beyer, Suhas Subramanyam from VA) Warn Trump Administration To Halt Potentially Illegal Mass Firings Of Federal Workers
- Video: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10) Says at Townhall Last Night, He Heard “two things…over and over again. One, where’s the leadership in the Democratic Party?” (Rep. Subramanyam: “don’t wait for a white knight to come save us. everyone needs to be a leader right now”)
- Video: Rep. Jennifer McClellan and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi Join Advocates in Highlighting How Recently-Passed Medicaid Cuts Threaten Rural Hospitals and Rural Health Care (“New KFF Analysis Shows Virginia’s Rural Health Care Will Suffer 3rd-Biggest Hit in the Nation”)
- Video: After Backing Trump’s Tax Bill with Medicaid Cuts, Winsome Earle-Sears Tells the 322,000 Virginians Being Stripped of Health Insurance “Don’t Panic” (Also NOT reassuring; Earle-Sears refers to right-wingnut Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA09) as “our guy here,” laughably claims “he understands what needs to happen.”)
- Youngkin turns to AI to cut more red tape across Virginia Government (This headline/framing, including the use of the phrase “red tape,” are 100% stenography.)
- Virginia NAACP: “This latest witch hunt [by the Trump administration] against [GMU] President Washington is a blatant attempt to intimidate those who champion diversity.” (ProPublica: “there are signs it may be part of a coordinated campaign to oust him,” similar to what happened with UVA’s president…)
- As U-Va. president leaves, faculty say board failed to protect university (“University of Virginia faculty senate votes no-confidence in Board of Visitors amid Trump administration scrutiny” They’re majority Youngkin appointees, so there you have it…)
- George Mason’s president appears to be the Trump administration’s next target
- Fairfax Co. superintendent concerned about impact of $13M in frozen grant funding
- Here’s what led to Virginia Beach’s decision to close the summer carnival (“Through interviews and emails obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request between the City Manager’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office, The Virginian-Pilot sought to further understand how the city’s decision in May to cancel the carnival unfolded.”)
- Virginia making progress on Interstate 81 improvements: Lots more work to do
- Candidate facing bestiality porn charges makes the ballot in Patrick County (“Malcolm Roach Sr. collected his petitions before his arrest. He blames a visitor to his home for downloading the forbidden materials.”)
- CWG Live updates: Standard July with heat and storm chances this weekend (“It will be steamy with occasional storms until further notice.”)
