by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, December 26.
- Scenes From an Unfolding Climate Drama (“ICN international climate policy reporter Bob Berwyn reviews the past decade of the United Nations Climate Change Conference.”)
- ‘They’re scared of us now’: how co-investment in a tropical forest saw off loggers (“Low-cost tech and joined-up funding have reduced illegal logging, mining and poaching in the Darién Gap – it’s a success story that could stop deforestation worldwide”)
- Clean energy is still winning. These 10 charts prove it. (“Solar and wind are beating new power demand, steelmaking is slowly getting off coal, and more clean energy victories are clear in these charts.”)
- Trump and Zelensky to meet Sunday to try and close out peace plan (“‘We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level — with President Trump in the near future. A lot can be decided before the New Year,’ Zelensky wrote on X on Friday morning after receiving a briefing from his top negotiator, Rustem Umerov.”)
- Zelensky says he had “very good” Christmas Day call with U.S. envoys
- Zelensky hails ‘new ideas’ on peace after talks with US envoys (“Ukraine’s leader gives an upbeat assessment after discussing the plan with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.”)
- ‘All brakes are off’: Russia’s attempt to rein in illicit market for leaked data backfires (“Russian state has tolerated parallel probiv market for its convenience but now Ukrainian spies are exploiting it”)
- Russian opposition leader sentenced to six years in prison (“Sergei Udaltsov, Putin critic affiliated with the Communist party, convicted of justifying terrorism”)
- Putin indicated Russia could be open to territory swap as part of Ukraine deal, Kommersant says
- Russian drones damage foreign-flagged vessels in southern ports, Ukraine says (“The drone attacks damaged Slovakia-, Palau- and Liberia-flagged vessels in ports in Ukraine’s Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.”)
- Trump’s Inner Circle Sees Russia as an El Dorado for Business, but Pitfalls Abound (“Veteran U.S. investors say Vladimir Putin’s Russia will remain a treacherous business environment.”)
- Japan’s cabinet approves record defence budget amid escalating China tensions (“Japanese strike-back capabilities and coastal defences to be boosted while Beijing accuses Tokyo of fuelling a ‘space arms race’”)
- Why has Trump ordered strikes in Nigeria and what has it got to do with the persecution of Christians? (“Parts of the US right have for years been amplifying claims that Christians face violence in Nigeria, a notion the US president has helped to encourage”)
- Trump says US struck Islamic State targets in Nigeria after group targeted Christians
- Trump says violence in Nigeria targets Christians. The reality is more nuanced (The headline could just say that Trump is full of crap.)
- Turkey says it arrested 115 suspected ISIS militants
- ‘Not for the people’: Myanmar junta prepares for elections designed to legitimise grip on power (“Elections will be first since military seized power in 2021, but analysts say vote is far from a step toward democracy”)
- Claudia Sheinbaum’s Impossible Dilemma (“The threat of U.S. strikes on cartels could upend a century of delicate relations with Mexico.”)
- Marco Rubio Is Not the Adult in the Room. He’s the Warmonger. (“Every single senator eagerly confirmed their former colleague to be secretary of state, but he is not at all the moderating force that they thought he’d be.”)
- Deal to extend ObamaCare subsidies faces uphill battle despite GOP optimism
- 19 states sue to block Kennedy’s plan to curb trans care
- Trump wants a massive new battleship. Experts say it would be a ‘bomb magnet’
- The President Is Getting Weaker, and the Resistance Is Getting Stronger (Mmmmmayyyybe.)
- ‘Sleazebags’: Trump Wishes A Merry Christmas To … Epstein Island Visitors?!? (“Trump claimed he dropped Epstein ‘long before it became fashionable to do so’ in a wild holiday rant on his social media platform.”)
- Trump Administration Emphasizes Religion in Official Christmas Messages (Whitewashed headline; actually watch the video they put out and it’s Christian nationalism/white supremacy all the way.)
- Trump Posts Nearly 150 Times in Unhinged Christmas Day Spree (“The president amplified conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and called for a member of Congress to be deported.”)
- Under Kash Patel, “FBI” Means Foolish, Belligerent, and Incompetent (“All of Trump’s law enforcement people are toadies. But Patel and number two Dan Bongino have brought extra incompetence to the party.”)
- Dear Britain: things are bad, but America will recover from Donald Trump. Just give us three years (Delusional by Jimmy Kimmel)
- Karoline Leavitt Is Fascism’s Lead Mouthpiece (“The nihilistic White House press secretary lies with abandon in defense of the Trump administration’s attempt to create a whiter America.”)
- Dear Jurisprudence: Here’s What the Next Democratic President Must Do on Day 1 (“You cannot bring a shrimp fork to a knife fight.”)
- JD Vance and the future of MAGA
- Larry Ellison, Not Elon Musk, Was The Tech Titan Who Defined 2025
- Humiliated Trump Scores Lowest Kennedy Center Ratings Ever
- Southern California sees third death from atmospheric river storm drenching region (“Some parts of LA saw more than 11in of rain, with flooding, road closures and debris flows reported across the region”)
- Federal funding shifts cloud Virginia’s transportation plans for 2026
- Pope & Schapiro: A busy final week of 2025
- Virginia needs more housing, but what kind and where?
- Then & Now: Bills to fund emergency management jobs failed in 2025, but lawmakers vow to try again in 2026
- Fairfax Co. prepares for firehouse primary Sunday as voters look to elect new House District 17 delegate (This article lists none of the candidates running. WTF?)
- Dozens of Lynchburg’s buildings are falling apart. A newly enhanced program could help the city change that.
- CWG Live: Rain and wintry mix this afternoon through evening
