Friday News: “Trump stands by as Putin and Netanyahu cross new lines”; “Brazil Just Succeeded Where the U.S. Failed”; “America Circles the Abyss”; “Did Trump Just Declare War on the American Left?”; “Hampton University, other Southern HBCUs placed on lockdown”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, September 12.

• How a Group of Students in the Pacific Islands Reshaped Global Climate Law (Heroes.)
• Deforestation Threatens Public Health. Securing Indigenous Land Rights Can Help, Researchers Find
• $10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials (That’s $10 million in OUR taxpayer money!)
• China’s Wind, Solar Ambitions Bring Energy Holy Grail Closer
• Russia just inched closer to open war with NATO (“Whether this week’s drone incursion into Poland was an accident or a provocation, the risks are still growing.” Almost certainly it wasn’t an accident.)
• Russian Wargames Feed NATO Anxiety After Poland Drone Incursion
• Poland says Russia’s drone incursion ‘wasn’t a mistake’ after Trump’s speculation (“Donald Trump appeared to be dismissive Thursday night as he said it ‘could have been an mistake’” Trump making excuses for Putin’s barbarism and insanity, as always. WTF is the deal with this???)
• Trump stands by as Putin and Netanyahu cross new lines
• Europe’s 3 Top Leaders Are Striding on World Stage but Stumbling at Home (“The foreign policy successes of Emmanuel Macron of France, Friedrich Merz of Germany and Keir Starmer of Britain are in contrast with their domestic setbacks.”)
• China Gives Mexico Stiff Warning Over Tariffs Seen Appeasing US
• Senators say US is complicit in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza (“Democrats Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley reach ‘inescapable conclusion’ after fact-finding trip to region”)
• Gulf countries question value of U.S. protection after Israeli attack
• Hyundai is now delaying its EV battery plant that was raided by ICE
• Brazil Just Succeeded Where the U.S. Failed
• Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Plotting Coup in Brazil
• Brazil’s supreme court finds Bolsonaro guilty of plotting military coup (In stark contrast, the far-right and lawless US Supreme Court went out of its way to protect Trump after he tried to overthrow a presidential election and our entire democracy.)
• Rubio vows US response following conviction of Brazil’s Bolsonaro
• People killed in US boat strike were not Tren de Aragua, Venezuela minister says
• British Ambassador to Washington Removed Over Epstein Emails
• ICE holding facilities overcrowded amid surge in immigration arrests
• Grocery inflation highest since 2022 as Trump tariffs pile up
• How the Supreme Court Stacked the Shadow Docket Deck for Trump (“If you’re wondering how the high court’s lawless sausage got made, we must turn to an obscure line from a long-forgotten 1977 case.”)
• Appeals court judges publicly admonish Supreme Court justices: ‘We’re out here flailing’
• Republicans Go ‘Nuclear’ On Senate Rules — And Their Own Power
• Senate Republicans trigger ‘nuclear option,’ changing rules to speed up Trump nominees
• House Republicans’ Use of Little-Known Law to Strike Down Public Land Plans Could Be Pandora’s Box Moment (“Invoking the Congressional Review Act against land-use plans for 166 million acres could destabilize clean energy, conservation and tribal protections, leaving public lands more vulnerable to political swings.”)
• Trump, 79, Called Out for ‘Droopy’ Face at 9/11 Memorial
• 10 Political Violence Experts on What Comes Next for America (“Can America escape the spiral of political violence after Charlie Kirk’s killing?”)
• ‘People are scared to death’: Members of Congress fear for their safety after Charlie Kirk assassination (“Republicans and Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nancy Mace, are canceling events and taking other security precautions.”)
• Trump and politicians tighten security as police hunt Charlie Kirk’s killer
• People Are Losing Their Jobs for Criticizing Slain ‘Free Speech’ Advocate Charlie Kirk (“Journalists, publicists, and college faculty have been fired after calling the right-wing influencer a divisive figure and making light of his assassination”)
• America Circles the Abyss (“The assassination of Charlie Kirk is the latest terrifying entry in an era of growing political violence”)
• How Charlie Kirk Used Controversy—Often Delivered in Person—to Construct Our New Media Ecosystem (“With his relentless approach and online inescapability, the young conservative movement leader built a culture-war behemoth.”)
• State Department warns immigrants not to mock Kirk’s death
• Democrat: Trump could show he’s ‘serious about stopping political violence’ by ‘rescinding’ Jan. 6 pardons (Pretty sure there’s no way to “rescind” pardons, but obviously, those 1/6 insurrectionists never should have been pardoned in the first place.)
• FBI Releases Video Clip of Suspect in Charlie Kirk Killing
• Donald Trump is lying about political violence
• After Kirk Killing, Americans Agree on One Thing: Something Is Seriously Wrong (“In interviews from across the U.S., people expressed fear and wariness, and said that the country seemed to be spinning out of control”)
• Virulent debater and clickbait savant: how Charlie Kirk pushed a new generation to the right
• The right’s vicious, ironic response to Charlie Kirk’s death (“They’re calling him a martyr for free speech as they demand a violent crackdown on progressive dissent.”)
• Video of Kirk shooting suspect released as officials plead for public’s help
• Scrutiny Mounts Over F.B.I. Under Patel as Kirk’s Killer Remains at Large (“Already, a series of missteps by Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, in recent months have invited worries that he has eroded public confidence in the agency.” Patel should never have been confirmed as FBI director, obviously.)
• False Tips and Chicken Coops: The Chaotic Hunt for Charlie Kirk’s Killer (“After a day of hunting for a suspect in the assassination, investigators pleaded for help from the public.”)
• Charlie Kirk in his own words: ‘prowling Blacks’ and ‘the great replacement strategy’ (“The far-right commentator didn’t pull his punches when discussing his bigoted views on current events”)
• Did Trump Just Declare War on the American Left? (“After Charlie Kirk’s tragic killing, the President speaks not of ending political violence but of seeking political vengeance.”)
• Trump says ‘we have to beat the hell’ out of ‘radical left lunatics’ after Kirk killing (“The conservative activist’s killer remains at large and authorities have not said what the motive was behind his shooting.”)
• Far-right commentators echo Trump in calling for ‘vengeance and retribution’ for Charlie Kirk’s death (“Nick Freitas, the Republican Virginia state delegate and commentator, suggested that Kirk’s death marked a major turning point for the future of the US.”)
• Charlie Kirk’s Murder and the Crisis of Political Violence (“After a shooting with obvious political resonance, news about the perpetrator’s motives rarely brings clarity.”)
• MAGA Reacts to the Assassination of Charlie Kirk (“In Washington, D.C., and online, people mourned the right-wing activist—and some called for vengeance.”)
• Trump’s Dangerous Response to the Kirk Assassination (“Rather than condemning violence and calling for unity, the president of the United States accused his political opposition of being accessories to murder.”)
• Charlie Kirk’s Murder Is a Tragedy and a Disaster (“The assassination of Charlie Kirk threatens to embolden the far right and provide Donald Trump with a pretext for crushing dissent. Escalating political violence corrodes democratic norms and poses a unique threat to the Left.”)
• Trump Says He Will Attend Funeral for Slain Ally Charlie Kirk
• MSNBC fires analyst Matthew Dowd over Charlie Kirk shooting remarks
• Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way (For the life of me, I can’t understand why so many liberals are so enamored with Ezra Klein.)
• ‘Crush the Communist Left’: How Charlie Kirk’s Murder Ignited a Firestorm on the Right (“The killer’s motives are still unclear, but Trump is blaming the “radical left” and far-right influencers are seeking to avenge Kirk’s death”)
• No, Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way (“His assassination deserves full condemnation; his full impact should not be sidestepped.”)
• Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Death (“Extremists and an anonymously run website are posting identifying details about people accused of celebrating Charlie Kirk’s murder online. Some of those targeted are now getting death threats.”)
• The real bias monitor at CBS is Donald Trump (“The hiring of Kenneth Weinstein as an ombudsman hands the US president a seat at the editors’ desk” So much for CBS News…now “News” in air quotes.)
• Democrats Are Still Debating Joe Biden’s Decision to Run (“In her new memoir, Kamala Harris takes on the issue that has haunted Democrats for more than a year.”)
• California lawmakers pass bill to ban ICE agents from wearing masks
• Mamdani Meets Bloomberg, Once a Sworn Foe, for a ‘Cordial’ Discussion
• El Paso family claims Border Patrol killed their dog during search, CBP reviewing incident
• New Mexico is the first state to promise free child care for all families
• Florida officials watching for ‘vile, sanctionable’ behavior from teachers after Kirk killing
• UC Berkeley gives Trump administration 160 names in antisemitism probe
• ‘Radicalized’ Evergreen High School shooter appeared to hold antisemitic, violent views in online accounts
• Trump administration takes first steps to restore Harvard’s funding, but money isn’t flowing yet
• How Trump’s Crime Crackdown Muted Other Parts of D.C. Life (“If the aggressive show of force had a deterrent effect on crime, it appears to have deterred some entirely normal aspects of city life, too.”)
• Kennedy Center fires head of jazz programming, adding to string of exits (“The center terminated Kevin Struthers, who worked at the arts institution for 30 years, and Malka Lasky, the last member of its social impact team.”)
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Decries “the horrific killing of Charlie Kirk yesterday,” Blames in Part “people with very little or no knowledge” on the Internet Who “actually kind of whip up the anger, the hate and at least directly or indirectly the violence”
• The Politics Hour: Virginia’s newly elected U.S. Rep. James Walkinshaw and D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen
• Virginia’s health department issues order on COVID vaccine access in response to confusion, complaints
• New state guidance aims to clarify COVID-19 vaccine access after weeks of confusion (“Under the new Virginia guidance, a prescription isn’t needed for a COVID vaccination as long as the patient is 65 or over or has a qualifying health condition. But the rules could change again next week after a federal advisory panel meets.”)
• Trump’s Signature Budget Bill to Cost Virginia Families More Each Year (“…federal cuts to SNAP alone are expected to cost Virginia up to $355 million in the next budget cycle.”)
• Video, Highlights: “TL:DR of House Emergency Committee on Federal Cuts: Virginia’s economy is screwed” – Federal job cuts, SNAP cuts, Medicaid cuts, etc. (For his part, Youngkin bizarrely seems to think this is all a “positive externality’ and “good news”)
• Trump cuts expected to cost Virginia hundreds of millions in next state budget
• ‘This is a serious matter’: Bipartisan legislators warn of federal cuts on Virginia’s budget
• Va. governor says Educational Choice Act ‘hugely’ important; opponents say it hurts public schools (Youngkin, as always, is wrong.)
• The lieutenant governor has few duties. Here’s what else Hashmi and Reid say they’d do if they win. (Another media whitewash of John Reid’s far-right extremism – not a word about that in this article.)
• After VA Del. Nick Freitas (R) Claims “the other side murdered [Charlie Kirk],” VA Speaker Don Scott Urges Republicans to Reject Divisive and Dangerous Language, Calls for Unity (Speaker Scott says “It is sad a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates would use these words: ‘It’s not a civil dispute among fellow countrymen. It’s a war between diametrically opposed worldviews which cannot peacefully coexist with one another.’”)
• Virginia energy groups urge state to fight federal solar grant termination
• Could nuclear-powered data centers be headed to Virginia? (So this article quotes two people who think SMRs are likely coming to Virginia, and ZERO people who think SMRs are probably NOT coming to Virginia – which is the far more likely outcome. Great article, huh?)
• As Earle-Sears Lags Spanberger’s Cash Edge and Momentum, Virginia Gov Shifts from Lean to Likely Democrat (Cook is so dumb; first of all, this always should have been “Likely Democrat[ic]”; second, what’s the particular reason to change the rating right now? Clickbait?)
• Hampton University, other Southern HBCUs placed on lockdown: ‘these threats are not random’
• Potential threats force historically Black Va. universities to lockdown
• After Trump cuts, a scaled-down 2026 Virginia Festival of the Book
• Augusta County | Threat at Fort Defiance High School linked to ‘personnel,’ charges possible
• Nice for days to come, plus a warming trend into early week (Junk words like “nice” should be banned from weather reporting. In the current case, what they say is “nice” is actually a drought, in which we could use several days of soaking rain. But that wouldn’t be “nice?” Bizarre.)