Friday News: “Trump’s ‘Irreversible’ American Carnage in Greenland”; “What images of a detained five-year-old boy reveal about Trump’s draconian ICE crackdown”; “Trump ‘engaged in criminal activity’, Jack Smith says in Capitol Hill testimony” (Also, Smith “Pantsed” Ben Cline)

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 23.

• US officially leaves World Health Organization (The U.S. is now a rogue nation.)
• Indonesia takes action against mining firms after floods devastate population of world’s rarest ape (“Conservationists hail the ‘desperately needed’ measures and urge greater protection after up to 11% of endangered Tapanuli orangutans wiped out”)
• Thailand’s endangered ‘sea cows’ are washing ashore – pointing to a crisis in our seas (“The Andaman Coast has one of the largest concentration of dugong in the world, so why are numbers falling dramatically and what can they tell us about a biodiversity warning cry”)
• US, Ukraine and Russia head to Abu Dhabi for first three-way talks (“Moscow says prior talks with Washington ‘useful in every respect’ and repeats demand for Ukraine to exit Donbas” UGH.)
• Kyiv is freezing in the dark as Russian strikes leave Ukraine’s capital powerless
• Zelensky says he hopes first Ukraine, Russia and US talks are ‘step towards ending war’ (“Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators are heading to Abu Dhabi today for the first trilateral talks since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022”)
• Trump’s envoys meet Putin for four hours on Ukraine
• Trump’s Greenland ‘Deal’ Appears To Exist Only In His Head (“Denmark says it has no intention of ceding any territory on the Arctic island, raising the question of what he achieved beyond sowing chaos and bad blood.”)
• Trump’s ‘Irreversible’ American Carnage in Greenland (“The president’s madcap quest to take over the territory is yet another blow to the post-World War II global order that brought America prosperity”)
• ‘The damage has been done’: As Trump claims victory on Greenland, Europe loses trust
• Europe has stopped pretending
• How not to lead (“America’s allies may comply for now. But the damage to trust will have consequences.”)
• The West Stepped Back From the Brink. But Europe’s Distrust of America Lingers.
• Trump Casually Denigrates NATO’s War Dead
• Trump prompts outrage with claim Nato troops avoided frontline in Afghanistan
• China, US sign off on TikTok US spinoff
• Kushner’s vision for rebuilding Gaza faces major obstacles (“Without security, Kushner said, there would be no way to draw investors to Gaza and or stimulate job growth. The latest joint estimate from the U.N., the European Union and the World Bank is that rebuilding Gaza will cost $70 billion. Reconstruction would not begin in areas that are not fully disarmed, one of Kushner’s slides said.”)
• Bid to rein in Trump’s Venezuela war powers fails in US House
• Mark Carney Says Firmly That ‘Canada Doesn’t Live Because of the United States’
• Trump withdraws Canada’s invite to Board of Peace
• What images of a detained five-year-old boy reveal about Trump’s draconian ICE crackdown (“Liam Ramos, a preschooler, is just one of a number of kids caught up in dystopian ICE surges in Minnesota and beyond”)
• ICE’s growing lawlessness, briefly explained
• The Dark Ideology Behind Stephen Miller’s Immigration Crusade: Part II
• ‘Enough Is Enough’: Hundreds of Minnesota Businesses Take Stand Against ICE
• New ICE policy allows officers to enter homes without a judge’s warrant. Here’s what experts say (“Experts say the Trump administration is seeking to usurp guardrails that are enshrined in the Fourth Amendment”)
• ICE Has Been Given the Tyrannical Power That Literally Triggered the American Revolution
• ICE has detained four children from Minnesota school district, officials say
• House approves DHS funding, other final spending bills amid ICE uproar
• House passes sprawling spending package as Democrats split over ICE funding (“The House voted separately on DHS funding and another package of bills to avoid a partial shutdown and repeal a law that allows certain GOP senators to sue DOJ for $500,000.”)
• House Passes Spending Package Over Democratic Revolt on ICE
• House Dems help GOP pass bills to fund ICE, avert shutdown (“Seven Democrats voted for the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that included funding for ICE: Reps. Jared Golden (Maine), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Laura Gillen (N.Y.).”)
• Jury Acquits Man Accused of Placing $10,000 Bounty on Border Patrol’s Bovino
• White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest
• White House shares doctored image portraying arrested church protester in tears
• Target of Viral Botched ICE Raid Was Already in Prison
• Economic blackout in Minnesota to protest against ICE: ‘No work, no school, no shopping’ (“Organizers demand ICE leave state and agency be investigated for constitutional violations”)
• Conservatives who once railed against federal agents now applaud them (“Since Ruby Ridge and Waco in the 1990s, some right-wing populists had excoriated federal law enforcement. Now those agents are being deployed by their allies.”)
• Winter storm live updates: Heavy snow and brutal cold to sweep across the U.S.
• Trump rails against Powell: ‘Fed has been hurt and discredited’ (Trump is completely unhinged.)
• Top CDC vaccine adviser questions need for polio shot, other longstanding recommendations (Completely insane people.)
• Trump: There is ‘probably’ going to be another government shutdown (“Trump’s prediction came as lawmakers race to pass remaining funding bills before Jan. 30 deadline.”)
• Trump sues JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon over cutting off banking access
• Dimon Now Has a $5 Billion Reason to Stand Up to Trump
• A Year Inside Kash Patel’s F.B.I. (Nightmare.)
• Trump ‘engaged in criminal activity’, Jack Smith says in Capitol Hill testimony
• “Go f*ck yourself”: Jack Smith hearing rocked by angry altercation
• Jack Smith defends move to seek criminal charges for Trump’s effort to overturn 2020 election
• Jack Smith Isn’t Afraid of the House Judiciary Committee
• It’s Time to Talk About Donald Trump’s Logorrhea
• Democrats are campaigning as if the 2026 election will be fair. That’s a mistake (“Trump’s remarks and Project 2025’s proposals have made the plan clear. Democrats must focus on stopping it”)
• FCC Cracks Down on Talk Shows Hosting Partisan Candidates (WTF???)
• Democrats: It’s more than “just the economy, stupid”
• The slavery exhibits at the President’s House have been removed following Trump administration push
• U.S. House Democrats from Virginia Vote Against Funding DHS (a “lawless, corrupt organization that is bringing violence and mayhem to peaceful American communities”) and “out-of-control ICE”
• Video: Jack Smith “Fact Checks” Far-Right Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) Over and Over Again, as Cline Basically Laughs Off Trump’s Threats to Witnesses, Courts, etc. – and the Need for a “Gag Order” (Regarding the Bob McDonnell corruption case, Smith pointed out that “the Supreme Court changed the law on what constituted an official act.”)
• Ben Cline thinks he’s going to be a top congressional MAGA next year: Who gets to tell him?
• Jack Smith pantsed Ben Cline in front of Congress and the TV-viewing world
• Bill Introduced to Set VA Constitutional Amendment Referendum for April 21 to “temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections” (Bill Introduced to Set VA Constitutional Amendment Referendum for April 21 to “temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections”)
• Bill would set April 21 for redistricting referendum (“Democrats have said proposed congressional district maps will be available for voters to see by the end of January.”)
• Redistricting update: Both sides have 10 days to prepare briefs for Tazewell judge
• 9 facts to know about the Virginia economy (“Trump’s downsizing of the federal government virtually eliminated employment growth in Virginia in 2025, and other trends.”)
• Video: In Press Conference on Virginia’s Response to Upcoming Storm, Gov. Abigail Spanberger Stresses That Law Enforcement, National Guard Are to Focus on Clearing Roads and Helping People – Not on Immigration Activities (Spanberger says what’s happened in MN and elsewhere has engendered “fear,” “distrust” and “confusion”; also Youngkin’s “prior executive order number 47” has “created some real challenges”)
• Spanberger has a message for immigrant Virginians ahead of this weekend’s winter storm (“Their goal, their intent in this emergency is to get people who need to get to a hospital to a hospital, to get people who are stranded on the road backs to someplace safe”)
• Governor Spanberger declares State of Emergency in advance of winter weather expected this weekend
• Pope & Schapiro: One week in for the General Assembly and the Spanberger administration
• Could a free school breakfast bill become law this year?
• Governor Abigail Spanberger is keeping ‘relentless focus’ on affordability (“Virginia is going to have to be nimble and reactive.”)
• Virginia home sales report looks good for everybody but the underhoused
• Energy-efficiency bills clear House committee (“The bills would help some residents replace oil and propane heat with electric heat and would study barriers to access for energy-efficiency and weatherization programs.”)
• Price-gouging law activates in Virginia after state of emergency declared
• Federal judge allows Va. inmates rights’ lawsuits to move forward
• New legislation could alter landscape of high school sports, transfers in Virginia
• Winter road salting is a growing source of pollution. Virginia officials want alternatives
• Fairfax County approves new school boundaries for the first time in decades
• Virginia: Massive snowstorm predicted to shut down residential roads for days (“With more than a foot of snow possible in the Shenandoah Valley, the Virginia Department of Transportation is busy pre-treating major roadways in advance of the massive storm.”)
• UPDATE: Latest Richmond forecast projects 6 inches of snow followed by ice and bitter cold
• Weekend snow totals become clearer, state of emergency declared
• CWG Live: Partly sunny, breezy today. Major winter storm Saturday night and Sunday.