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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, December 19.
- Food becoming more calorific but less nutritious due to rising carbon dioxide (“Researchers noticed ‘dramatic’ changes in nutrients in crops, including drop in zinc and rise in lead” Yikes.)
- Wind, solar and batteries smash output records in midst of pre-Christmas heatwave (This is in Australia specifically, but it can and should be everywhere.)
- ‘Massive disruption’: UK’s worst-case climate crisis scenarios revealed by scientists (This is specifically the UK, but could and probably will be everywhere.)
- ‘A Singularly Turbulent Time’: Deeper Uncertainty Looms Over the Global Economy
- EU agrees €90bn loan for Ukraine as Putin says Kyiv ‘refusing to end this conflict’
- Putin tells his annual news conference that the Kremlin’s military goals will be achieved in Ukraine (Pure evil.)
- EU Agrees to Use Joint Bonds to Loan €90 Billion to Ukraine
- Europe salvages credibility with $105 billion loan for Ukraine but shelves plan to use Russian funds
- Ukraine war live: Putin praises Trump in lengthy speech as Zelenskyy welcomes EU’s €90bn loan
- US Approves $11 Billion Arms Sale to Taiwan, Drawing China’s Ire
- Scoop: TikTok signs deal for sale of U.S. unit after years-long saga
- TikTok Says It Signed Agreements for New US Joint Venture
- Trump not ruling out war with Venezuela
- Two Countries. Two Tragedies. One Huge Difference. (“In the wake of the Bondi massacre, Australia is uniting in a way that seems impossible in Donald Trump’s post-truth America.”)
- Chile’s far-right president taps into support for Pinochet that never went away (Really, REALLY disturbing.)
- Trump pauses green card lottery program after Brown University, MIT shootings (Why? One person did this, not everyone with a green card.)
- ICE Says U.S. Citizen’s Birth Certificate Is Fake After Arresting Her: Attorneys (“Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales was arrested on Sunday. ICE won’t release her despite extensive documentation of her citizenship, her attorneys told HuffPost.” WTF???)
- Judge Convicted of Obstructing Agents as They Sought Undocumented Immigrant (“The Wisconsin state judge, Hannah C. Dugan, was accused of ushering a man to a side door as federal agents waited outside a courtroom.” That’s an absolutely absurd verdict by the jury.)
- Prosecuting ICE’s Goons Will Be Hard—but Not Impossible
- It’s time to accept that the US supreme court is illegitimate and must be replaced (100%)
- Trust these numbers? Economists see a lot of flaws in delayed CPI report showing downward inflation (“A chief point of concern is the way housing inflation was calculated, specifically the owners’ equivalent rent figure for November.”)
- Trump’s Big Speech Was So Detached from Reality That CNN’s Fact-checkers Could Use a Good, Long Nap
- ‘Execution was abysmal’: Trump economy speech doesn’t meet GOP hopes
- Lies, Damned Lies and Trump Speeches (“What MAGA genius thought that Trump’s “affordability” speech was a good idea?”)
- Donald Trump In Panic Mode (“In Trump’s shouty, hepped-up “presidential” address, we saw a desperate and delusional man. Public pressure can make him weaker.”)
- Trump gave an unusually partisan White House address. Should networks have given him the TV time? (“Still, it’s not a guaranteed yes, with Obama and President Joe Biden being denied requests in recent decades.”)
- Republicans blow past ObamaCare deadline but don’t slam door on deal
- House Democrats assert themselves as Republicans struggle to set agenda (“Under Hakeem Jeffries, the minority party has kept GOP leaders on the back foot since September.”)
- It’s Time to Kick Trump, 79, Out of the White House—and Into a Padded Cell (Yes, it is, but it’s not going to happen unfortunately.)
- Trump’s Attacks on Rob Reiner and Others Characterize an Uninhibited 2nd Term (“Many of President Trump’s supporters love his professional-wrestling style of leadership. But some of his recent attacks have sickened even some of his own political allies.”)
- Trump move to dismantle climate agency blows up Senate funding deal
- Coast Guard abruptly deletes swastika, noose entry from policy manual
- Friday is the deadline to release the Epstein files. Here’s what to expect
- Exclusive: Frustration mounts at Justice Department as it races to redact some Epstein files, sources say
- Year of the Epstein files enters final chapter
- Epstein files to be released after months of delays from Trump officials (“Huge archive – set to shed fresh light on Epstein’s misdeeds – legally obliged to be released before midnight deadline”)
- Trump will sign order to ease marijuana restrictions (So who’s making a ton of money off of this?)
- Exclusive: Top lawyer for military joint chiefs told chairman that officers should retire if faced with an unlawful order
- The White House ballroom will never be built (“Trump can’t focus long enough, even on his $400 million passion project”)
- Trump hangs plaques mocking Biden, Obama along White House Colonnade
- “It’s a disgrace”: Dems rage over “Trump-Kennedy Center” renaming
- JFK’s family erupts over “Trump-Kennedy Center” renaming plan
- Trump and His Loyalists Move to Name the Kennedy Center for Him
- Trump’s handpicked board votes to rename Washington performing arts center the Trump Kennedy Center
- Erika Kirk endorses JD Vance for president in 2028
- MAGA infighting erupts at Turning Point USA Conference
- Man suspected in Brown University shooting and MIT professor’s killing is found dead, officials say (“Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown student and Portuguese national, was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief.”)
- Brown University shooting suspect died from self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials say (“Claudio Neves Valente, who was found dead in a storage facility, also killed an MIT professor at his Boston-area home”)
- Mystery of Why Brown Shooter Murdered MIT Genius
- New York Times columnist David Brooks appears in latest Epstein photos
- Mamdani’s new appointments chief resigns over anti-Jewish posts
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says Last Night, “you saw an angry old man [Trump] giving a partisan screech that doesn’t solve anything” (“[Trump’s] got one line of excuse – ‘I’m going to blame it on the last guy.’ I think Americans are tired of that kind of BS…Americans are not buying Donald Trump Show version two.”)
- Governor-Elect Spanberger, General Assembly Leaders Announce Key Legislative Priorities to Lower Costs for Virginia Families (“The ‘Affordable Virginia Agenda’ Includes More Than 15 Bills Focused on Saving Virginians Money”)
- This is how Gov.-elect Spanberger will begin tackling ‘affordability’ (“Abigail Spanberger, who won big in Virginia last month by promising to address affordability, rolled out specific policies on health care, housing and energy.”)
- Spanberger offers agenda specifics ahead of 2026 session
- Spanberger makes affordability centerpiece of 2026 agenda as legislative session nears (“Governor-elect proposes sweeping changes to health care, utility regulation and housing one day after Youngkin budget rollout.”)
- Spanberger unveils plan to make Virginia more affordable
- Gov.-elect Spanberger outlines energy priorities with focus on efficiency, battery storage
- Spanberger introduces proposals aimed at affordable health care, energy and housing
- Pope & Schapiro: Youngkin’s final budget, special elections, and a statue for Virginia
- Republican voters in Virginia will blame their party for health insurance increases (Will they, though?)
- Violent crime continues to decline in Virginia, but hate crimes are growing
- Video: Former VA Del. Mark Levine Explains REALLY Clearly Why Once Trump Orders Red States to Gerrymander Dems Out of Existence, We *HAVE TO* Fight Back (As former Del. Levine explains, if you don’t understand this, “You’re naive – you’re nice, you mean well, [but] you’re naive.”)
- Regulators to consider appeal against Dominion Energy natural gas plant
- U-Va. board likely to name president Friday amid calls to pause search (“Scott Beardsley, dean of the University of Virginia’s business school, has emerged as the top candidate, people familiar with the matter said.”)
- Online threat made to school divisions in Virginia, including Albemarle County
- FERC approves amended MVP Southgate project
- Then & Now: Mountain Valley Pipeline moves ahead with Montgomery County compressor station
- CWG Live: After gusty morning storms, falling temperatures and very strong winds (“Spotty wind damage and power outages are possible. Mainly cooler ahead.”)
