by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, November 30.
- These very hungry microbes devour a powerful pollutant (“Microscopic organisms are being deployed to capture methane from sources such as farms and landfills, with the potential for reuse as fertilizer and fish [and livestock feed]”
- The global decline in murder, explained in one chart (“The world is aging out of killing one another.”)
- Russia Gains the Upper Hand in the Drone Battle, Once Ukraine’s Forte (“The growing ability of Russia’s troops to hit Ukrainian supply lines with drones is seen as a more significant shift than its incremental gains in territory.” UGH.)
- Ukraine hits tankers in Black Sea in escalation against Russia
- None Dare Call It Treason: The Republican Party Is Compromised (“Republican Senators understand the grave threat Russia poses. Yet they refuse to uphold their oath of office due to their fealty to Trump.”)
- Rubio and Witkoff are meeting with Ukraine’s negotiators in Florida as Trump pushes to broker a deal
- Ukraine peace talks shaken up by resignation of Zelenskyy’s top aide in corruption probe (“None of us really know what Zelenskyy is like operating solo, because he never has”)
- China is bearing down on Taiwan – enabled by Trump’s weakness and vacillation
- Mourners flock to Hong Kong blaze site, China warns against protests (“Beijing warned it would use a national security law to crack down on any “anti-China” protest after Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades killed 128 people and left 150 missing.”)
- Tropical storm deaths top 600 in Southeast Asia, over 4 million affected
- Death toll from Indonesia flooding rises to 417
- More than 70,000 killed in Gaza since Israel offensive began, Hamas-run health ministry says
- Israeli PM Netanyahu requests pardon in ongoing corruption trial
- German far-right party sets up its new youth wing as thousands protest
- Trump Declares Venezuelan Airspace Closed as Fear of US Attack Mounts
- Venezuela denounces ‘colonialist threat’ as Trump orders airspace closed
- Trump says Venezuelan airspace should be viewed as closed. Maduro government slams ‘colonial threat’
- Trump Declares That Airspace Around Venezuela Should Be Considered Closed (“The warning comes after the U.S. president told Venezuela’s leader that Washington would consider force if he didn’t leave power willingly”)
- In Announcing Pardon of Drug Trafficker While Threatening Venezuela, Trump Displays Contradictions (“President Trump’s statements on social media less than 24 hours apart showed the dissonance in his campaign against drug trafficking.”)
- “The Order Was to Kill Everybody.” (“Pete Hegseth’s murders. And our War Crimes President.”)
- Pete Hegseth denies he gave orders to ‘kill everybody’ on alleged ‘narco-boat’
- GOP-led committees vow to scrutinize Pentagon in killing of boat strike survivors
- Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill everybody in first Caribbean boat strike, officials say
- Several Arrested as Protesters Block Federal Agents in Manhattan Garage (“The confrontation appeared to foil a possible ICE raid nearby, underscoring the numerous challenges the federal government faces in trying to stage raids in a dense city like New York.”)
- DHS swept Chicago to get ‘the worst’ criminals. Many have no record.
- Gutting of key US watchdog could pave way for grave immigration abuses, experts warn (“Former oversight officials alarmed by dismantling of DHS system that oversees complaints about civil rights harms”)
- Experts say top FDA official’s claim that Covid vaccines caused kids’ deaths requires more evidence
- Experts say strict new FDA protocol for vaccine approval is ‘dangerous and irresponsible’
- RFK Jr. is overhauling the program that helps preserve Americans’ access to vaccines (“A Kennedy adviser said he wants to preserve the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The health secretary’s anti-vaccine allies prefer it collapse.”)
- Ex-Trump Lawyer: ‘The Constitution Is Not Adequate to Contain a President as Evil as Trump’ (“Ty Cobb warns Trump is not merely incompetent but, in his words, ‘evil,’ and driven by a desire to accumulate and abuse power.”)
- All the president’s millions: how the Trumps are turning the presidency into riches
- They tried to overturn the 2020 US election. Now, they hold power in Trump’s Washington
- We Have Descended into Utter Madness (“A new sense of urgency is needed. Our national crisis has grown much more acute.”)
- Trump, 79, Spends Holiday Weekend Boosting Racist Propaganda (“In between rounds of golf, the president found time to amplify racist claims about Afghans.”)
- Black Friday Sales Rise, Signaling US Consumers’ Resilience
- Affordability, Part I (“What it means, and what we can do about it”)
- ‘The New Price of Eggs’: The Political Shocks of Data Centers and Electric Bills
- Does the fate of the US economy now hinge on one company? (“The entire stock market, and therefore the entire economy, depends on it maintaining pretty impossible growth metrics.”)
- ‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival
- Williams: The D.C. lesson is clear: Pull the National Guard from our cities.
- Silicon Valley’s Man in the White House Is Benefiting Himself and His Friends (Massive corruption.)
- Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence (“David Gentile had been found guilty for his role in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.” Just imagine if Biden or Obama had done something like this. Also, see how this is being normalized???)
- Trump ramps up reporter attacks with White House media bias tracker (Insane.)
- White House Forced to Correct Childish Anti-Media Site
- The left was right about Larry Summers all along. Democrats didn’t listen
- How far can Democrats ride the affordability argument? A progressive running in deep-red Tennessee is about to find out
- Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88 (“A new Stoppard play has been an international event ever since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, featuring two obscure Shakespearean courtiers, was spotted on the Edinburgh fringe in 1966 and developed by the National Theatre.”)
- Sen. Tim Kaine on Trump’s Pardon of Fmr. Honduran President Who Brought Over 400 Tons of Cocaine Into US: “This is a disgusting and incomprehensible decision…” (“And Trump claims he’s trying to fight narco-trafficking?” Riiiiight.)
- Video: 2025 VA House Dems’ Campaign Chair Dan Helmer Talks About “the keys to Democratic success this year” (e.g., messaging, money, media, candidate quality) the Upcoming General Assembly Session, the Constitutional Amendments, etc. (Truly a great interview – thorough, substantive, most definitely worth watching!)
- Virginia Democrats are poised to take the reins. Here’s what’s on the General Assembly’s docket. (Weird; the article talks about Democrats taking the reins, then the article lists several bills by Republicans, along with several by Democrats.)(
- Column: Election should lend stability to Virginia universities
- Northern Virginia ‘ground zero’ for living with data centers (“Proponents say data centers bring localities enormous revenues and opportunities. Opponents raise concerns about their big demands for power and compatibility with neighborhoods.”)
- Editorial: Expanding area nursing programs will address growing demand (“We need more regional efforts to tackle common problems, like that being mounted by Sentara and Old Dominion and Virginia Wesleyan universities to address the nursing shortage.”)
- CWG Live: Light rain this morning, touch of wintry mix possible north and west (“A more significant system brings another chance of rain and wintry mix late Monday night into Tuesday.”)














