Sunday News: “Trump Is Briefed on Options for Striking Iran as Protests Continue”; “Trump and Vance Are Fanning the Flames. Again”; “Shooting death of [Renee Good] matters to all of us”; “Fascism or freedom? The choice is yours”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, January 11.

• Pope Leo Confronts Trump on His Own Terms
• Inside Ukraine’s Quest to Build a Missile to Strike Deep in Russian Territory (“The company that built one of the country’s most potent drones is trying to replicate its success with a cruise missile.”)
• Winter pierces Kyiv homes after Russia knocks out heat (“The war’s fourth winter could be the coldest and darkest yet, with damage to the grid bringing utilities to the brink. Temperatures are below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 F) and set to plunge.”)
• Zelenskyy vows new operations targeting Russia (“Kyiv is expanding military operations amid escalating attacks by Moscow on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure.”)
• A thousand Kyiv apartment blocks still without heating after Russian strike (This is pure terrorism by Russia. Trump’s apparently ok with it.)
• ‘Massacre’ feared in Iran as security forces seek to crush protests (“The Trump administration is considering military options in response to the unrest, U.S. officials said.”)
• Iran warns it will target US troops and Israel if America strikes over protests
• Trump considers options as Iran cracks down on protests
• Trump says U.S. is ready to help Iranians get freedom
• Trump Is Briefed on Options for Striking Iran as Protests Continue
• Israel on high alert for possibility of US intervention in Iran, sources say
• ‘There wasn’t even time for CPR’: Iran medics describe hospitals overwhelmed with dead and injured protesters
• What Makes the Iranian Protests Different This Time (“Unrest has spread across the Islamic Republic as it faces economic disaster at home and a profound weakening of its network of regional allies.”)
• Iran Threatens US, Israel as Protests Enter Third Week
• Iran protesters defy crackdown as videos show violent clashes
• Son of Iran’s toppled shah seeks a role as protests expand
• Denmark Is Sick of Being Bullied by Trump (“The U.S., once Denmark’s closest ally, is threatening to steal Greenland and attacking the country’s wind-power industry. Is this a permanent breakup?”)
• Trump’s Greenland threats echo dark moments of cold war alliances (“Soviet invasions of allies helped destroy the Warsaw Pact – Trump’s dangerous rhetoric risks repeating the mistake inside Nato”)
• Greenland’s party leaders firmly reject Trump’s push for US control of the island
• Trump’s Venezuela, Greenland Threats Make Canada Fear It’s Next
• Trump Is the Political Earthquake Shaking Latin America (“The U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro has divided the region. But every nation wants to avoid being next.”)
• Exclusive: US may lift more Venezuela sanctions next week, Bessent says
• Nobel Institute says Peace Prize cannot be transferred after Machado suggestion
• US urges its citizens to flee Venezuela amid reports of paramilitaries
• Trump declares national emergency to shield Venezuelan oil cash (Illegal/unconstitutional.)
• Trump Wants to Accelerate Extraction in Venezuela. So Do Drug Trafficking Organizations. (“Illegal mining has enriched the Maduro regime and criminal groups while devastating the Amazon and its people. The U.S. is pulling out of organizations aimed at stopping the harm.”)
• U.S. Launches Major Strikes on Islamic State Targets in Syria
• ‘History will tell’: as US pressure grows, Cuba edges closer to collapse amid mass exodus (“Disillusioned with the revolution after 68 years of US sanctions and a shattered economy, one in four Cubans have left in four years. Can the regime, and country, survive the engulfing ‘polycrisis’?”)
• Australia’s most powerful turbines unveiled as fourth wind farm reaches financial close in Xmas flurry
• Judge blocks Trump administration from revoking immigration parole
• Trump and Vance Are Fanning the Flames. Again. (“Renee Good was not a ‘domestic terrorist'”)
• Anti-ICE protesters assemble across the US after shootings in Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon
• Anti-ICE Protests Spread Nationwide
• Day after Minneapolis shooting, Noem ordered new restriction on congressional oversight
• Nationwide anti-ICE protests call for accountability after Renee Good’s death
• Thousands of Minneapolis ICE Protesters March to Shooting Site
• “I’m Not Mad At You”
• Is It Good Politics to Defend a Harmless Woman Getting Shot in the Face? (“Yes, Trump thinks defending law enforcement in every case, and as aggressively as possible, is good politics. But that doesn’t mean it is.”)
• Congress is debating the possible consequences for ICE and even Noem after Renee Good’s killing
• ‘You guys just killed my wife’: Inside the fatal Minneapolis ICE shooting (“Renee Good and Jonathan Ross are now at the center of furious debate over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown” CNN frames it as a “debate,” instead of what’s actually happening, which is the right wing gaslighting, wildly lying, etc.)
• A Disturbing Pattern Has Emerged In Trump’s Second Term — And It’s Playing Out With Renee Good (“‘How else do you justify shooting a stay-at-home mom with stuffed animals in her car?’ the attorney for one woman who survived a federal agent’s gunfire told HuffPost.”)
• US protests condemn ICE killing of Renee Good and ‘a regime that is willing to kill its own citizens’
• America’s Job Market Has Entered the Slow Lane (“Hiring sputtered. The unemployment rate rose. 2025 put a decisive end to the hottest job market in a generation.”)
• The Flu Really Is That Bad (“The virus is storming the country, a reminder of how terrible its toll can be.”)
• Trump’s ‘Superstar’ Appellate Judges Have Voted 133 to 12 in His Favor (“Trump promised to fill the appeals courts with ‘my judges.’ Now they’ve formed a nearly united phalanx to defend his agenda from legal challenges.”)
• How Trump’s offshore wind halt is derailing his party’s energy agenda (“Construction on every U.S. offshore wind farm is on pause — and so are Congress’ once-promising negotiations on energy-permitting reform.”)
• Williams: Fascism or freedom? The choice is yours
• ‘I don’t know how we recover from this’: Trumpers realizing they can’t keep lying to us
• Smithsonian removes Trump impeachment text as it swaps his portrait
• Out of Spite, Trump Used Veto Power to Punish Florida Tribe That Opposed “Alligator Alcatraz” (“The move quashed a bipartisan bid to transfer 30 acres of the Everglades to the Miccosukee.” Trump is a whiny little bitch.)
• Ellison and the Lie
• Scoop: Bannon quietly making moves toward 2028 run (Ee gads.)
• Bob Weir, co-founder of rock group the Grateful Dead, dies at age 78 (“Rhythm guitarist helped guide the legendary jam band through decades of change and success”)
• ICYMI: Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) Doubles Down on Vote to Jack Up Health Care Costs; Claims 3 Years “a very long time” for Families to Have Access to ACA Tax Credits
• “Federal Fallout” for Virginia Continues in 2026: Economic and Political Impacts; Redistricting (“do the Democrats go maximum?”); How Aggressive Will the Dem-Controlled General Assembly Be?; Can Spanberger Really Do Much About Affordability?
• How a chance meeting led to an unlikely friendship for Virginia’s next governor (“William C. Mims, a senior justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia and former Republican lawmaker, has bonded with Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger.” VERY slow news day, apparently…lol)
• Editorial: Shooting death of Minnesota woman matters to all of us (“Good’s killing matters to every community in Hampton Roads and across Virginia. It matters because the wife and mother shot and killed could have been anyone. “)
• Primary Results: Braddock District Democrats Pick School Board Candidate
• Over 90 more women join massive unnecessary surgery lawsuit against Chesapeake Regional Medical Center (“Over 90 women on Thursday joined 510 in suing Chesapeake Regional Medical Center and its senior executives for allowing Javaid Perwais, an obstetrician and gynecologist, to perform medically unnecessary surgeries, many of which resulted in permanent sterilization, without their consent.”)
• Real-life ‘Dopesick’: Virginia pain clinic owner gets 45 months in prison
• CWG Live: Becoming blustery today with some sun; seasonably cold through Monday (“Less chilly Tuesday and Wednesday. Maybe a snow chance Thursday into Thursday night?”)