by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, July 23.
- Global climate action is at stake in the UN top court’s biggest ever decision (“A panel of 15 judges was tasked with answering two questions. First, what are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? Second, what are the legal consequences for governments when their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?”)
- Global average solar LCOE stood at $0.043/kWh in 2024, says IRENA (“IRENA’s latest report also reveals that solar photovoltaics were, on average, 41% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives last year. On an LCOE basis, 91% of all newly-commissioned, utility-scale renewable capacity delivered power at a lower cost than the cheapest new fossil fuel-based alternative in 2024, with renewables helping avoid $467 billion in fossil fuel costs last year.”)
- ‘Total infiltration’: How plastics industry swamped vital global treaty talks (“Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet” Evil.)
- Startups Make Products from the Carbon in Fossil Fuels (“The nascent sector is far from making a dent in climate change. But as consumption of fossil fuels continues to rise, these technologies could help change the view of carbon as a hard-to-manage waste product, released into the air at the world’s peril.”)
- World on brink of climate breakthrough as fossil fuels ‘run out of road’, UN chief says (“António Guterres says ‘sun is rising on a clean energy age’ as 90% of renewable power projects cheaper than fossil fuels”)
- China Flexes Muscles at U.N. Cultural Agency, Just as President Trump Walks Away (“Washington had been a buffer against China’s efforts to use UNESCO to influence education, historical designations and even artificial intelligence.”)
- U.S. withdraws from U.N. cultural agency over ‘divisive social and cultural causes’ (Self-inflicted damage.)
- Zelenskyy defends bill stripping anti-corruption bodies’ independence amid protests (“Move by Ukrainian president widely opposed and may prove a setback to hopes of country one day joining the EU”)
- Zelenskyy faces backlash as Ukrainians protest new anti-corruption law
- As the Dollar Slides, the Euro Is Picking Up Speed (“The euro has been gaining steam as investors seek new havens during geopolitical turmoil.”)
- How strategists think about keeping the peace in the Taiwan Strait (“In 1914, the world stumbled into a war that hurt all combatants. Is it on the same path now?”)
- In Gaza, a war with no endgame leads to a humanitarian collapse
- U.S. envoy Witkoff to meet Israeli, Qatari officials in Rome in Gaza ceasefire push
- Gaza hospital boss says 21 children died of malnutrition, starvation over last 3 days (This is wildly unacceptable.)
- Inside Syria’s Sectarian Cauldron: A Kidnapping Triggers a Cascade of Violence (“A blood-soaked week illustrates the perils and challenges faced by the young government”)
- Iranian Officials Suspect Sabotage in String of Mysterious Fires
- US-Japan trade deal averts worst for global economy (“Japan’s trade agreement with the U.S. could serve as the benchmark for many other deals currently being negotiated with Washington, and the global economy could just about support the 15% level agreed overnight, economists said.”)
- Trump announces ‘massive’ trade agreement with Japan (Take that with a huge grain of salt?)
- There’s No Safe Place for Legal Immigrants in Trump’s America (“As Trump’s deportation gangs continue snatching people after scheduled court hearings, more are opting to stay home. But that comes with its own dangers.”)
- Videos reveal harsh conditions inside Ice’s New York City confinement center (“Footage shows people sleeping on floor next to toilets in facility that agency says is not a detention site” Everyone involved in this needs to be brought to justice…whether it’s now or in the future.)
- Detainees held at Alligator Alcatraz describe cage-like units swarmed by mosquitoes (Beyond appalling – this should be criminal if it isn’t.)
- Judges vote to oust Trump pick Alina Habba as U.S. attorney in New Jersey
- GOP Confirms Anti-Abortion Judge With Help From An Independent Senator (WTF is Angus King doing???)
- US appeals court will not lift limits on Associated Press access to White House
- E.P.A. Is Said to Draft a Plan to End Its Ability to Fight Climate Change (“According to two people familiar with the draft, it would eliminate the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse-gas emissions threaten human life by dangerously warming the planet.” Evil and insane.)
- RFK Jr.’s Policies Are Making Covid a Revived Threat Again
- White House eyeing education cuts for next funding clawback package (“The No. 2 House Republican says GOP leaders and the administration are in active talks about what rescissions bill to bring up next, and when.”)
- US Olympic and Paralympic Committee says it will comply with Trump’s order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports
- Far beyond Harvard, conservative efforts to reshape higher education are gaining steam
- Columbia University says it has suspended and expelled students who participated in protests
- The Administration Wants Military Women to Know Their Place (“Pete Hegseth seems to be on a mission to erase women from the top ranks of the U.S. armed forces.”)
- Military Says It Will ‘Continuously’ Monitor Bathrooms to Comply With Anti-Trans Order (Is this a bad joke?)
- Amid Fear of Retaliation, N.S.F. Workers Sign Letter of Dissent (“In a public letter, employees of the National Science Foundation accused the administration of politicizing the agency and impeding scientific innovation”)
- Trump Goes Full Fascist: ‘Whether It’s Right or Wrong, It’s Time to Go After People’ (“The president is desperate to turn the nation’s attention away from his ties to Jeffrey Epstein”)
- Trump’s norm-breaking closeness to Justice Dept. helped fuel Epstein furor
- Exclusive: Newly discovered photos and video shed fresh light on Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein
- Trump keeps trying, and failing, to distract from Epstein controversy
- The Epstein files give MAGA a post-Trump future (“Even his loyal followers can see Dear Leader is getting quite old”)
- House and Executive Branch Now Totally Derailed by Epstein
- Despite What Republicans Are Saying, the Epstein Investigation Has Split the GOP (“Speaker Mike Johnson and MAGA leader Steve Bannon are doing everything they can to keep the pieces glued together.”)
- House stymied as Speaker Johnson’s hand-picked committee rebels over Epstein
- Trump’s latest attempt to defuse the Epstein revolt: Point supporters at common enemies
- House Dems Find Their Mojo With the Epstein Saga (“After months of the base complaining Democratic leadership couldn’t land a blow on Donald Trump, House Democrats have seized on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.”)
- Outraged Trump supporters not placated by DOJ’s actions on Epstein
- Trump to Hill Republicans: I Will Make Your Summer Hell (“It’s Demoralized White Boy Summer on Capitol Hill.”)
- House bails early for its August recess amid Epstein files uproar
- Obama pushes back on Trump’s ‘outrageous’ and ‘bizarre’ treason claim
- Obama rebukes Trump’s accusations in rare response
- ‘Those days are over’: Trump books draw lackluster sales
- Schumer, Jeffries hone funding message in shutdown-cliff countdown (“The top Democrats are embracing bipartisan funding negotiations while blaming Republicans for ‘making it extremely difficult’ to keep the government running.”)
- Trump Expects $20 Million More in Ad Dollars From ‘60 Minutes’ Settlement (F*** CBS, Paramount, etc.)
- NPR news chief announces she’s leaving days after Congress kills federal funding (Good riddance; NPR “News” sucks – relentless false equivalency, “both sidesism,” whitewashing and sanewashing of Republicans, etc.)
- SpaceX Warns Investors Elon Musk Could Return to US Politics
- Republicans propose naming the Kennedy Center’s opera house after Melania Trump
- Tim Kaine: Trump order to burn emergency food in Dubai ‘exposes the soul’ of his administration
- Democrat Mike Pruitt – Navy Veteran, Civil Rights Lawyer Who “grew up in a blue-collar family in a rural corner of the Blue Ridge” – Announces Candidacy for VA05 (The current Congressman from VA05 is insurrectionist, MAGA cultist and far-right extremist John McGuire.)
- Albemarle Supervisor Mike Pruitt has his eyes on Congress
- Another Democrat joins the race for fifth district congressman (“Pruitt joins Paul Riley, a retired army veteran from Crozet, in seeking the Democratic nomination.”)
- In Suffolk, Spanberger Announces “Growing Virginia Plan” Aimed at Growing the Economy, Creating Jobs and “Reclaiming our place as ‘America’s Top State for Business’” (Spanberger “Prioritizes Growing Workforce Training Paths, Business Investment, & Trade Opportunities”)
- Fired Federal Worker Blasts Winsome Earle-Sears for Dismissing and Downplaying the Attacks on Virginia Jobs (“Earle-Sears chooses to dismiss these concerns instead of fighting for us.”)
- Republicans make a last gasp in Virginia as Winsome Earle-Sears looks to shake up her campaign
- The Virginia Governor’s Race Has Republicans Reeling (“The party is debating how much it can afford to spend on a losing proposition.”)
- Virginia real-estate market strong: Impact on the housing-burdened
- Virginia hospitals could lose up to $26B due to federal Medicaid cuts (“If the funding cuts happen, Walker said they will make an ‘already very challenging situation’ for rural facilities worse. He noted that rural hospitals serve a higher share of patients covered by Medicaid and Medicare, and struggle with recruiting and retaining staff.”)
- Is Virginia ready to take over more disaster responsibilities from FEMA? (“Youngkin is one of two sitting governors on the Trump administration’s FEMA Review Council, tasked with reevaluating the federal government’s role in disaster recovery.”)
- June campaign donations point to hottest House races in Virginia
- Trump administration widens probes into Virginia’s largest public university (“The Trump administration has launched a fourth investigation into George Mason University over its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.” Bonkers.)
- New defense bill has $380M to privatize Navy barracks throughout Hampton Roads
- Fifth runway at Dulles draws attention as expansion plans take off (“Long-standing proposal moves forward amid local efforts to mitigate noise and protect nearby homeowners.”)
- Northern Virginia wants to become an AI hub. From energy to education, here’s what that means for the rest of the state.
- Small rural stations like Appalachia’s community-focused ‘possum radio’ among the hardest-hit by public media cuts
- Editorial: GOP spending bill is a mess, but region will welcome shipbuilding funds
- One of the giraffes the state seized from Natural Bridge Zoo died during move; criminal investigation underway
- Ex-Virginia Beach Republican Party chair found not guilty of intercepting wire communications
- Amid federal cuts, WHRO looks to the future of public broadcasting in Hampton Roads
- Prince William Co. Supervisor Bob Weir dies from colon cancer
- Fredericksburg school supply shop closing in wake of Trump’s tariffs (“Chalk N More had to raise prices and saw shrinking margins after President Donald Trump placed tariffs on nearly all imported goods.”)
- CWG Live updates: Warming up ahead of a scorching Friday, then storm chances rise
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