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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, September 26.
- The So-Called Energy Transition Never Happened (“Countries around the world are fully on track to make it impossible to hit global warming targets. If Trump isn’t gloating, he should be.”)
- China Is Leaving America in the Dust on Clean Energy (“Donald Trump is punting on the future of energy. Xi Jinping is happy to take the lead”)
- Human Impacts on Ocean Could Double or Triple by 2050, a New UC Santa Barbara Study Warns (“As climate change, fishing and other human activities threaten marine ecosystems, scientists predict which areas are most at-risk to better inform decision makers.”)
- Kennedy Says the U.S. Rejects Global Health Goals (“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the U.S. could not support W.H.O. policies that he claimed promoted abortion and ‘radical gender ideology.'” RFK Jr. is completely deranged and also evil.)
- You Might Think Trump Has Had a Change of Heart on Ukraine. Not So Fast.
- Europe is readying for direct conflict with Russia (“The unthinkable becomes the expected.”)
- Trump gave Russia a dotted red line. Is he serious? (“Will a tougher message to Putin on Ukraine and flights over NATO territory be backed up with action?”)
- Russia dares NATO to shoot
- Hungary’s Orbán tells Trump that dropping Russian energy would bring economy ‘to its knees’ (Screw Orbán)
- Is Trump’s Attack on the Media Following Putin’s Playbook? (“What it was like to live through the takeover of one of Russia’s most influential television stations—and what the experience suggests about the state of free expression in the U.S. today.”)
- Holy war: How Russia recruited Orthodox priests to sway Moldova’s voters
- Farage Would Win UK Election If Held Tomorrow, YouGov Poll Finds (Fascism coming to the UK as well as the US?)
- World Leader Compares Trump to Hitler in Front of Entire U.N. (“American media has barely covered the scathing comments from Colombian President Gustavo Petro.”)
- Donald Trump Keeps Finding New Ways to Shock the World (“Two speeches—one endorsing hate and another warning foreign nations ‘you will fail’ — encapsulate a Presidential agenda that is like no other.”)
- Super Typhoon Ragasa rampages through Taiwan, Hong Kong and southern China
- Sarkozy’s past catches up with him as French prison cell awaits
- France, Brazil, Philippines show us how to handle criminal former presidents
- Tony Blair in discussions to run transitional Gaza authority (Seriously?)
- Visual evidence upends Israel’s official story for deadly attack on Gaza hospital
- Trump says he ‘will not allow’ Israel to annex West Bank after lobbying from allies (“British officials said they feared Trump would recognise Israeli control over the West Bank in retaliation for the UK, Australia, France and others recognising Palestine”)
- Israel Is Flattening Parts of Gaza City (“The city had been spared from widespread demolitions during previous military operations there. This time is different.”)
- God’s “Blank Check”: Christian Zionists Are Pouring Billions of Dollars Into Israeli Extremism (“Evangelicals have become Israel’s most important American allies.” These people are a menace to democracy and to the world.)
- Microsoft Disables Some Services to Israel’s Defense Ministry
- Is Trump’s new Palestine plan a breakthrough or diplomatic mirage? (“Washington’s roadmap aligns surprisingly closely with a UN-backed plan – but key differences could prove unworkable”)
- Benjamin Netanyahu set for defiant UN speech as Trump warns on annexation of West Bank
- U.S. to impose 100% tariff on branded, patented drugs unless firms build plants locally, Trump says
- A 100% tariff on some imported drugs is coming October 1, Trump says (Gotta love how the media’s normalized this. In fact, the president does NOT have the authority to do this at all!)
- Trump announces a 25% tariff on trucks and a 30% tariff on furniture
- Trump slaps new US tariffs on drugs, trucks and furniture
- The $100,000 H-1B Visa Mistake (This is an editorial by the VERY conservative WSJ editorial board.)
- Tulsi Gabbard Ends Intelligence Report on Future Threats to U.S. (“Some of the warnings in the report, most notably on climate change, had become politically inconvenient, according to former officials.”)
- Lisa Cook urges supreme court to reject Trump’s bid to fire her from Fed board (“Cook’s lawyers say president’s unprecedented move would destroy Fed’s independence and disrupt financial markets”)
- Amy Coney Barrett explains why she won’t explain her recusals
- Get Ready for Another Rightward Lurch in the New Supreme Court Term
- The TikTok deal puts even more media in the hands of the super-rich (It’s also wildly ILLEGAL.)
- Trump’s TikTok deal payment criticized as ‘shake-down scheme’ by experts (Totally. Also it’s ILLEGAL!)
- While Democracy is Sinking, the Band Plays on (“One of the great benefits of a modern civil democracy is the privilege of ignoring the government and its leaders. But this could be our downfall.”)
- Lower Than Cowards (“The surrender of America’s elites”)
- Where the Battle Over Free Speech Is Leading Us (“Doxing, deplatforming, defunding, persecuting, firing, and sometimes killing—all are part of an escalating war over words. What happens next?”)
- The gaping hole in the James Comey indictment (“The DOJ’s case is authoritarian — and shockingly sloppy.”)
- The Comey Indictment Is Not Just Payback (“It’s an advance glimpse of Trump’s next attempt to seize power.”)
- ‘Let’s have a trial’: Comey proclaims innocence as Trump revels in grand jury indictment he demanded
- Former FBI Director James Comey indicted days after Trump demanded his DOJ move ‘now’ to prosecute enemies
- Comey’s son-in-law, a federal prosecutor, resigns after indictment
- Ex-FBI director James Comey indicted on two charges as Trump pushes to prosecute political enemies (“Comey, one of Trump’s frequent targets, indicted on counts of making false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding”)
- Bondi’s Own Staff Explode at Indicting Comey: ‘Worst Abuse’
- Comey indictment escalates Trump’s promise of political retribution
- Virginia grand jury returns questionable indictment against former FBI Director Comey
- Trump’s Rush to Indict James Comey Is a Vengeful Farce (“Even Pam Bondi has reservations about bringing charges against the former FBI director—and that’s saying something.”)
- How James Comey moved to the top of Trump’s list of enemies (“The former FBI director was fired by Trump in 2017, and has been a longtime target for the president”)
- Trump Gets the Retribution He Sought, and Shatters Justice Dept. Norms (So Merrick Garland’s entire “theory of the case” was wrong – he thought if he restored norms to the Justice Department, then even if Trump – or someone like Trump – were elected president, DoJ would stick to those norms? Terminally naive.)
- Trump Orders Broad Effort to Root Out Groups He Says Organize Political Violence (Moving closer and closer to fascism.)
- Justice Dept. Official Pushes Prosecutors to Investigate George Soros’s Foundation
- Trump: “Bad things happen” when Democrats provoke the right
- Trump slams “radical left” after signing “organized political violence” memo (According to Trump, literally ANYONE who opposes him is defined as “radical left.” That means close to 60% of the country is “radical left.”)
- Donald Trump Boasts Right Is ‘Tougher’ As He Warns Left Of Retaliation
- Transgender Americans are seeing a wave of hate unleashed by Charlie Kirk’s killing (“In the aftermath of Kirk’s death, the far-right and Trump administration have turned up attacks on transgender people”)
- How Russ Vought’s ‘trademark chaos’ is shaking up the shutdown fight (This guy has done, and continues to do, ENORMOUS damage to our country.)
- Lawmakers are scared and ready to spend $1 billion to stay safe
- Hegseth orders rare, urgent meeting of hundreds of generals, admirals (WTF is this? Any possible innocent explanation?)
- Hegseth says Wounded Knee soldiers will keep their Medals of Honor (“While the events of that day are sometimes described as a battle, historical records show that the U.S. Army, which was in the midst of amid a campaign to repress the tribes in the area, killed an estimated 250 Native Americans, including women and children, of the Lakota Sioux tribe, while attempting to disarm Native American fighters who had already surrendered at their camp.”)
- Epstein estate turns over new documents
- Kamala Harris is right: Biden set her up to fail (“Glass cliff theory shows how women only get power after men screwed everything up”)
- Archives released too much of Mikie Sherrill’s military record to ally of her opponent in N.J. governor’s race
- Jeffries backs criminal investigation into ‘illegal’ release of Mikie Sherrill’s records
- Trump Nominee Quietly Deletes Post Calling for Liberal’s Execution
- Ryan Walters resigns as Oklahoma’s top public schools official to lead conservative educators’ group (This guy did tremendous damage.)
- Kaine says Trump’s appointment of interim U.S. attorney in Eastern District of Virginia may not be legal
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says Trump Worse than Nixon; What’s “Particularly Frightening” Is the Firing of Two US Attorneys from Virginia, Both Selected by Trump’s White House, Because They Refused to Break the Law (“We all know the world keeps getting crazier every day.”)
- Sen. Mark Warner, Sen. Tim Kaine, Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08) Blast James Comey Indictment as “dangerous abuse of power,” “trumped-up charges,” “act of staggering corruption” by “most corrupt president in American history”
- Video: At UVA Forum, Sen. Tim Kaine Argues, “the definition of emergency is now being stretched far beyond what we would think of as an emergency” (“We’re now in a period where Brazil’s prosecution of its OWN PRESIDENT has been used by *our* president to be a national emergency!”)
- Rep. James Walkinshaw on Trump-Vought Shutdown Tactics: “This is absolute bluster and bs…childish tantrums and foot stomping”
- Commentary: For 350,000 Virginians, health care may soon disappear
- Editorial: Virginia National Guard should play no role in immigration sweeps (“Virginia National Guard members shouldn’t be asked to serve as cogs in a campaign that screams for more oversight, more transparency and more restraint.” Bingo.)
- Pope & Schapiro: Turning Point, a 2026 Senate race and cross-party endorsements
- Gun safety is top of mind for voters in Virginia gubernatorial race (“Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears provide voters with differing responses to gun violence.”)
- WHERE IS WINSOME?: Earle-Sears Skips More Bus Tour Stops, Hiding from Virginians as She Backs Trump Law That Will Take Away Their Healthcare (“Sears has reportedly skipped stops in Harrisonburg, Lexington, Wytheville, Abingdon, and Marion” – “with no explanation”)
- Wilder Symposium: Analysts say Virginia’s election will send message to nation
- Jay Jones introduces ‘Keeping Virginia Safe’ plan (“Jones, a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, is the Democratic nominee challenging Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Nov. 4.”)
- Virginia raises bar to pass state tests, aiming to close ‘honesty gap’
- Panel considers elements of early childhood education funding proposal (“It’s part of a study lawmakers ordered last year. Del. David Bulova (D–Fairfax City) told VPM News that he plans to put forward legislation to begin developing the formula in the upcoming General Assembly session”)
- Who will represent Loudoun in Richmond? Here are your state delegate candidates
- Both candidates for 49th House District seat are longtime members of Danville’s city council (“Gary Miller and Madison Whittle have worked together on the Danville City Council for years. Now they are facing off for a seat in the General Assembly.”)
- Henrico to build $300M water main to lessen dependency on Richmond
- Forest Service sets aggressive 1-year schedule for restoration of Virginia Creeper Trail
- Drier today before rain returns Saturday; tropical rain next week?
