by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, July 31.
- Countries failing to act on UN climate pledge to triple renewables, thinktank finds (“Fossil fuel reliance likely to continue and Cop28 target of limiting global heating to below 1.5C will be missed”)
- The renewable energy revolution is a feat of technology (“An energy revolution is underway in this century, though most people have not noticed it”)
- Japan and South Korea reel from record-breaking heat (Climate crisis.)
- Ukraine faces a perfect storm of catastrophe in its war against Russia (“From a manpower crisis and a turbulent relationship with the Trump White House, to a persistent Russian summer offensive, Kyiv is losing ground in its war with Moscow”)
- Russian missile and drone attack hits Ukrainian capital Kyiv, killing 8 people and wounding 82
- Inside Ukraine’s Effort to Fortify Hundreds of Miles of Defensive Lines
- Ukraine parliament passes anti-corruption law after protests prompt changes (“Unanimous vote by lawmakers as demonstrators urge swift adoption of new measures”)
- Why Trump Hasn’t Been Able to End the Wars in Ukraine and Gaza (“He bragged he’d bring peace soon after taking office. Here’s what happened instead.”)
- Arab states call on Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in unprecedented move
- Gaza Hunger Presents Trump With Moral Test Familiar to Past Presidents
- How the Israeli Right Explains the Aid Disaster It Created (“The fiercest defenders of Netanyahu’s war in Gaza continue to insist that Palestinians aren’t starving.”)
- $30 Potatoes and $300 Flour in Gaza: Prices So High They’re ‘Meaningless’
- Israel’s Special Place In American Politics May Never Recover (“With the undeniable horrors coming from Gaza, something has shifted. Could Israel become just another U.S. ally?” Excellent article by Paul Waldman.)
- Gaza starvation widens MAGA’s rupture with Israel
- IDF gunfire kills 30 Palestinians waiting for aid, Gaza defence ministry says, as US special envoy due to visit Israel (“Up to 300 people reported as wounded in incident north of Gaza City as Steve Witkoff set to visit Israel” Wildly unacceptable.)
- Hunger in Gaza reaches ‘tipping point’ as children face lifelong impacts
- US allies break with Trump to force diplomatic shift on Gaza
- How Gaza’s hunger crisis reached its “worst-case scenario”
- Trump: Canada backing Palestinian statehood makes any trade deal “very hard”
- Canada will recognize a Palestinian state in September in latest push against Israel’s Gaza policies
- Senate rejects bid to halt sale of bombs and rifles to Israel, but Democratic opposition grows
- US sanctions Brazilian judge for prosecuting Trump ally Bolsonaro (Brazil should not back down to Trump’s bullying.)
- Why Trump is picking a fight with Brazil (“Trump is attempting to interfere in the criminal trial of a far-right ally in Brazil.”)
- Trump hits Brazil with 50% tariffs and sanctions judge in Bolsonaro case
- Trump accused of ‘attack on Brazilian democracy’ after sanctioning Bolsonaro trial judge
- Trump Sees Emergencies Everywhere. Judges Are Considering Whether to Rein Him In. (“In a latest test, an appeals court is set to weigh the president’s claim that economic emergencies allow him to impose sweeping tariffs unilaterally” The president can’t just declare emergencies and override the law and the constitution – or if he can, we’re not a democracy.)
- What Are Trump’s Options If His Tariffs Are Ruled Unlawful? (“In rolling out the most aggressive tariff regime in the US in nearly a century, President Donald Trump has leaned heavily on emergency powers that had never been used before to impose import taxes.” Wildly illegal and unconstitutional.)
- Trump announces trade agreement with South Korea ahead of August 1 tariff deadline (The words “Trump announces” should always have an asterisk after them, saying something like “assume everything Trump says is likely false, distorted, exaggerated, etc.)
- Trump Unleashes Flurry of Trade Surprises on Eve of Deadline (“Most countries are still without a trade deal, and key details are scant for those who have one.”)
- Judge Excoriates Trump Officials for Violations of Laws on Voice of America (“The judge had ruled that the administration must restore news programming at Voice of America and has brought back only a fraction of the coverage it provided.”)
- Judge Bars Trump Administration From Punishing 2 Law Professors for I.C.C. Work
- Trump Administration Authorizes Deployment of National Guard at ICE Facilities
- How Louisiana Built Trump’s Busiest Deportation Hub
- Ice entices new recruits with patriotism pitch and pledge of $50,000 signing bonuses (“‘Brave and heroic Americans’ campaign seeks investigators, officers and lawyers after agency gets funds from Congress”)
- Woman Who Died of Heart Disease in ICE Custody Reportedly Told Son She Wasn’t Allowed to See Doctor for Chest Pains (Horrible!)
- Powell Bucks Pressure, Dissents in Showing Resolve on Inflation
- The Weirdest GDP Report Ever (“The economy grew 3%, but mainly because imports collapsed. Alas, investment fell too.”)
- Bessent says new Trump child savings accounts are ‘back door for privatizing Social Security’
- Climate Change Is Subjecting More Americans to Unbearable Extreme Heat
- A ‘Dagger in the Heart’ of Climate Change Regulation
- Climate Scientists Look to Fight Back Against DOE’s ‘Antiscientific,’ ‘Deceptive’ Climate Report (“Climate scientist Michael Mann called the report “a deeply misleading antiscientific narrative, built on deceptive arguments, misrepresented datasets, and distortion of actual scientific understanding.””)
- The Biggest US LNG Exporter Is Claiming a Massive Tax Credit for Using Its Cargo as an ‘Alternative’ Fuel (Total bullshit.)
- RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement Is on a Collision Course with Trump’s EPA (“The agency’s moves are dooming Kennedy’s quest to make people healthier—and his fans are very unhappy.”)
- Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned
- Candidate Trump Promised Oil Executives a Windfall. Now, They’re Getting It. (WILDLY corrupt!)
- Trump’s war on Big Law leads firms to retreat from ’pro bono’ work for underdogs
- Senate Confirms Conspiracy Theorist To Lead National Counterterrorism Center (“You can’t make it up, folks. Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to confirm Joe Kent, a conspiracy theorist with alarming ties to white nationalists and far-right groups, to lead the National Counterterrorism Center. Kent was confirmed, 52-44. Every Republican but one, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, voted for him. Every Democrat present opposed him.”)
- Senate confirms Trump’s pick for counterterrorism agency, a former Green Beret with extremist ties
- Ex-CIA agent hits back at Tulsi Gabbard after she accused Obama of ‘treasonous conspiracy’ against Trump (“Susan Miller says US intelligence chief’s allegations were based on misrepresentations of discoveries made by her team about Russian actions”)
- Emil Bove Is a Sign of the Times (“He has demonstrated that total sycophancy to the president can be a fantastic career move.”)
- The DOJ Appears to Be Investigating a Federal Judge for … Annoying the President (“Trump’s war on the judiciary isn’t just petty. It’s downright unconstitutional.” And dangerous.)
- Donald Trump Loses His Grip on the Base (“After years of fanning the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy flames, Team Trump fails to deliver the goods.”)
- Trump’s Epstein Fiasco Worsens as Dems Suddenly Find Big New Weapon
- Family of Epstein abuse survivor urges Trump not to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell: ‘A monster who deserves to rot in prison’
- Scoop: Massie blindsided Mike Johnson on Trump truce (“At Rep. Thomas Massie’s request, House Speaker Mike Johnson successfully appealed directly to President Trump for a truce, multiple sources told Axios. — But Massie broke the truce just days later, accusing top Republicans of covering up the Jeffrey Epstein files.”)
- Virginia Giuffre’s Family Was Shocked That Trump Described Her as ‘Stolen’ (“The siblings of one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers wonder what the president knows.”)
- 47 things Trump would rather talk about than Jeffrey Epstein
- Congressional stock trading ban gets Senate panel’s OK (“Democrats agreed to exempt President Donald Trump to advance GOP Sen. Josh Hawley’s bill.” Of course.)
- Army Secretary forces West Point to rescind appointment given to Easterly (“The U.S. Military Academy announced Tuesday that the former CISA head would join the Department of Social Sciences. Secretary Dan Driscoll pulled the offer Wednesday.”)
- We are witnessing the silencing of American media (“From the Washington Post to CBS, companies are caving to Trump. This is how democracy dies”)
- The Media Can’t Handle the Absence of Truth (“And their diffidence empowers pathological liars”)
- Forget the 2024 autopsies. Democrats need to be bold — and ruthless (“To win against Trump and MAGA, the party must rebrand with an authentic narrative and ideas”)
- Donald Trump Goes On Wild Repost Rampage With Unhinged Memes Of Obama, Clinton And More (And most media will just yawn and/or ignore it.)
- ‘The High Road’s Not Available to Us’: Texas Democrats Have Had Enough
- Trump’s Texas Gerrymander Is Supercharging a New War on Democracy
- Texas House Republicans unveil new congressional map that looks to pick up five GOP seats (Republicans are waging war on democracy; Democrats have got to fight back in kind. BTW, we could have fought back here in Virginia if some Democrats hadn’t foolishly/moronically backed the redistricting amendment in 2020 – and unilaterally disarmed in the process. Terminally naive.)
- Newsom will move to redraw California map if Texas redistricts, teeing up national fight
- DeSantis says a census redo could be in works amid state redistricting wars (Republicans want to rig the Census now???)
- ‘She had reasonable doubt:’ Why Kamala Harris isn’t running for governor
- Kamala Harris decides not to run for governor of California (“A person close to her said her decision “does keep the door open” for a potential 2028 presidential run.”)
- ‘Anybody but Mamdani’: 5 Groups Emerge to Raise Millions in Attack Funds (Anybody? So these people would be cool with Eric Adams for another term, even though he’s a disaster?)
- Musk’s America Party can’t get off the ground and was just to ‘blow off steam’ about Trump’s bill (“But nearly a month after promising to form the party, Musk has not filed any official paperwork.”)
- Brown University signs deal with Trump administration to restore funding
- Can “nutrient management” save the Chesapeake Bay and farms?
- Virginia hasn’t met Chesapeake Bay chemical reduction goals. Experts have an idea to reach balance. (“The idea is to make sure nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which are found in fertilizers, are applied in the right quantities at the right time. It’s good for both efficiently growing crops and for keeping excess nutrients out of the bay.”)
- Warner, Schumer lead efforts to force release of Epstein files
- Warner, Kaine request more detailed information from U.S. Navy on Norfolk Seaman’s death
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says Confirmation of Joe Kent to Lead National Counterterrorism Center “missed an opportunity to hold the Trump administration accountable for openly politicizing intelligence”
- Sen. Mark Warner Joins Legislative Effort to Publicly Release Epstein Files (“President Trump promised transparency and accountability, but what we got instead was more secrecy and flimsy excuses”)
- 11th District congressional candidates offer very different plans for school funding (“Republican nominee Stewart Whitson supports a school voucher system. Democratic nominee James Walkinshaw wants to fully fund existing federal education programs.” Whitson is a right-wing/MAGA guy all the way.)
- On 60th Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid, Abigail Spanberger Warns “Washington Republicans’ misguided law threatens to undo much of the progress we’ve made” (“…my opponent is fully backing this reckless attack on Virginia families — all to earn the praise of President Trump.”)
- Video: On 60th Anniversary of Medicaid Being Signed into Law, Elected Leaders and Virginians Call Out Sears for Cheering on Cuts to Healthcare (“It’s disappointing that someone who has been elected to serve the Commonwealth not only refuses to stand up for Virginians”)
- Editorial: Virginia must stand up for state universities against federal attacks (And by “Virginia,” they mean “Youngkin and Miyares,” but instead they say “Virginia” generically…)
- Is it time for Virginia to stop holding elections every year? Lawmakers are taking a serious look (“A new legislative panel is exploring whether to end the state’s off-year elections and align with federal cycles — a change that could reshape turnout, campaign finance, and Virginia’s national political clout.”)
- Virginia elders lost over $100 million to scams last year. Spanberger says tech platforms must be held accountable
- The Virginia Clean Economy Act is a talking point on the campaign trail… and beyond (Total horsesh** by right-wing Del. Chris Obenshain, of course…)
- Williams: DOJ attacks the D-word – diversity – at George Mason
- VCU Health joins UVA Health in ending gender-affirming care for trans teens
- Danville city councilman set on fire in attack over ‘personal matter,’ unrelated to office
- Attacker sets city council member on fire in southern Virginia, police say (“Police in Danville, Virginia, near North Carolina, say the incident stemmed from a ‘personal matter’ between the victim and an assailant who has been arrested”)
- Vogler was Danville’s ‘comeback kid’ for years before attack
- Danville Councilman set on fire; suspect arrested for attempted murder (“Police say the victim and suspect know each other and the attack stems from a personal matter not related to the victim’s position on Danville City Council or any other political affiliation.”)
- Man in custody after a Virginia council member was set on fire over ‘a personal matter,’ police say
- String of Fairfax Co. burglaries concerns police about this substance’s popularity (“Fairfax County police are issuing a public warning and urging Northern Virginia business owners to be vigilant after a string of burglaries involving kratom products.”)
- This Tuckahoe home won a $1.26 billion contract for an ICE detention center. The owner isn’t talking.
- Cumberland County approves landfill project over community opposition (“The county is set to receive an influx of payments amid residents’ concerns over environmental protections.”)
- Fredericksburg: Mary Washington Monument defaced with graffiti
- UVA Athletics now requiring student-athletes to sign ‘binding’ contracts
- CWG Live updates: Serious flooding possible in storms later today
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