by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, January 13. And don’t forget, today is the Democratic “firehouse primary” for SD39, which Sen. Adam Ebbin is vacating to join the Abigail Spanberger administration in February. See below for video of last night’s SD39 forum in Alexandria, with participating candidates Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, Mark Levine and Charles Costen-Sumpter (the other candidate, Amy Jackson, didn’t attend).
- The world’s great climate collapse
- Photos Capture the Breathtaking Scale of China’s Wind and Solar Buildout
- World central bank chiefs ‘stand in solidarity’ with US Fed chair Powell
- Russian strikes on Ukraine kill four, knock out heat and power
- Trump’s exercise of raw power upends world order, sending friends and foes reeling
- ‘Shoot to Kill’: Accounts of Brutal Crackdown on Protests Emerge From Iran
- Iran’s Regime Is Unsustainable
- Iran crisis live: UN says ‘cycle of horrific violence’ in Iran must end as Germany warns regime is in its ‘final weeks’ (“Friedrich Merz says government is ‘effectively at the end’ after hundreds of protesters reportedly killed in the ongoing crackdown”)
- The Latest: Iran eases some restrictions and allows calls abroad as death toll spikes
- Trump threatens 25 percent tariff on ‘any country’ that trades with Iran
- Trump leans toward Iran strikes but keeps diplomacy open for now
- Trump’s Plans for Venezuelan Oil Run Headlong Into Reality
- U.S. plane used in boat strike was made to look like civilian aircraft (“Use of the plane prompted legal debate after the operation over whether concealment of its military status amounted to a ruse that violated international law, officials said.”)
- U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane (“ven accepting the Trump administration’s claim that there is an armed conflict with suspected drug runners, the laws of war bar ‘perfidy.'”)
- Bipartisan group of lawmakers introduces bill to prevent military action against NATO members (“The legislation would prevent the Trump administration from taking action to invade a NATO country or territory, such as Greenland.”)
- House Republican introduces bill to let Trump annex Greenland
- BBC seeks to have Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit dismissed
- Israel poised to start construction of bypass through heart of West Bank (If Kamala Harris were president, she’d be pushing back hard against this crap.)
- Minneapolis Is in Mourning. It’s Also Very, Very Pissed Off (“In the hours after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, the city came together — and found a difficult balance of grief and rage”)
- The violent “randomness” of ICE’s deportation campaign (“What ICE is doing in American cities is very distinct.”)
- F.B.I. Inquiry Into ICE Shooting Is Examining Victim’s Possible Ties to Activist Groups (“Former department officials warned that such a broad inquiry raised the specter that forms of political protests could be criminalized.” Appalling and 100% unAmerican.)
- Minnesota and Illinois Sue Trump Administration Over ICE Deployments
- Minnesota sues federal government to try to end deployment of immigration agents
- Trump Suggests Renee Good’s ‘Disrespectful’ Attitude Justified Fatal ICE Shooting (Trump is sadistic scum, pure evil – and if you still support him, so are you.)
- Why Vance Committed So Hard to the Minneapolis Shooter (JD Vance has no soul whatsoever, just pure lust for power…like Glenn Youngkin)
- GoFundMe Ignores Own Rules by Hosting a Legal-Defense Fund for the ICE Agent Who Killed Renee Good (“The fundraiser for the ICE agent in the Renee Good killing has stayed online in seeming breach of GoFundMe’s own terms of service, prompting questions about selective enforcement.”)
- Trump’s Scheming to Sack Powell Paves the Road to Constitutional Ruin
- Trump Allies and Officials Fear Blowback From Powell Probe
- Trump’s War Against Jerome Powell Enters a Dark New Chapter
- Jeanine Pirro Is Going After Powell, Heedless of Backlash
- ‘Freaked out’ about the bond market: White House reels from Powell probe (“The inquiry, which blindsided many White House aides, is renewing fears over the future of the central bank’s independence and offering fresh fodder for concerned Senate Republicans, many of whom will be needed to confirm the next Fed chair.”)
- Scoop: Bessent told Trump that investigation of Fed chair creates a “mess”
- Trump’s Attack on the Fed Is Already Backfiring
- GOP flinches on the Fed
- Bessent unhappy with criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell
- Trump may have damaged the case against Jerome Powell before it’s even begun
- Donald Trump Is Losing in Court (“Yes, Trump-nominated appellate court judges have often and wrongly sided with the administration, as the Times noted. But according to the Times’ own numbers, after one year in office, judges have overall ruled against Trump and his regime about ⅔ of the time.”)
- The Resistance Libs Were Rightfpo
- A Breathtaking Week of Pure Trump Id (“Military success in Venezuela has emboldened the president to flex his power even more.”)
- Trump’s hall of mirrors presidency (“From Jan. 6 to Venezuela, Trump has created his own reality and it threatens to subsume our own”)
- Court says Trump admin illegally blocked billions in clean energy grants to Democratic states
- E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution (Evil and insane.)
- Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Latest Effort to Stop Offshore Wind Project
- Judge reverses Trump order halting Revolution Wind
- Alito’s Recusal in Oil Case Renews Questions About Justice’s Investments (“Nearly one-quarter of the associate justice’s $1 million in individual stock holdings are in fossil fuel companies.”)
- US supreme court to hear trans athletes cases that could erode key protections (“A ruling against two athletes in West Virginia and Idaho could have far-reaching implications for civil rights”)
- Trump Has Complained About Pam Bondi Repeatedly to Aides
- Trump DOJ fires prosecutor who declined to pursue James Comey case (“The prominent career prosecutor had become the No. 2 official in the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia.”)
- Former special counsel Jack Smith to testify publicly about Trump probes
- Shrinking GOP majority puts Speaker Johnson on the hot seat (“LaMalfa’s death and Greene’s exit leave Johnson with a 218-213 majority in the House, allowing him to lose no more than two votes on any given bill, assuming all members are present and Democrats are unified in opposition.”)
- Meta names former Trump advisor Dina Powell McCormick as president, vice chair
- Jackson Synagogue Burning Suspect Tells Judge, ‘Jesus Christ Is Lord’ (Jesus was, of course, Jewish. Also, wonder how the synagogue arson suspect was radicalized.)
- FBI says arson suspect targeted Mississippi synagogue because it’s a Jewish house of worship
- Eric Adams’ next act is exactly what you thought it might be (“The crypto-loving former New York City mayor is launching a digital token he says will fund efforts to combat antisemitism.”)
- To anybody still using X: sexual abuse content is the final straw, it’s time to leave
- Virginia Democratic Members of Congress Rip Trump’s “mafia-style shakedown of the Fed,” “phony investigation of Fed Chair Powell on made-up charges,” “intimidation” and “naked retribution”
- Video: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10) on Regime Change – by the Iranian People – Being a “very good thing”; Congress Needing to Check Trump’s War Powers; “Renee Good did not deserve to die”; etc.
- Video: Fmr. VA Del. Wendy Gooditis (D-Clarke) Announces Her Candidacy for U.S. House; Says “President Trump and Ben Cline [R-VA06] have attacked our health care, our jobs, and our democracy, and they are hurting families across Virginia” (What VA06 will end up looking like remains an open question, pending possible redistricting…)
- Former Del. Gooditis enters 6th District congressional race, but she’s probably running for a district that doesn’t exist yet
- Lisa Vedernikova Khanna drops out of First District Democratic race
- Spanberger endorses Perriello in comeback bid for Virginia House seat
- Video: On the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, VA Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger Says She’ll Tell Trump Administration “we do not want [ICE] trying to sow fear, sow division within our communities” (ICE “going in, wearing masks, terrifying communities, they are breaking down that trust.”)
- Smart environmental policies will deliver a more prosperous future for all Virginians (“Industries ranging from tourism to seafood to outdoor recreation are vital to Virginia’s economy. They all depend on clean water, writes guest columnist Jay C. Ford.”)
- Governor-Elect Abigail Spanberger Announces Carrie Chenery as New VA Secretary of Commerce & Trade (Chenery “previously served as the Executive Director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership”)
- Spanberger names Jenna Conway to run Virginia Department of Education (“Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger has chosen Jenna Conway to run the Virginia Department of Education as the state superintendent of public instruction.”)
- Advice for Spanberger as she prepares to take office
- Democratic senators grill UVA rector on new president
- AFP column on UVA president search fuels questions at Senate subcommittee hearing (“Also not a fan: Sheridan, a MAGA appointed to the BOV by the outgoing MAGA governor, Glenn Youngkin. Sheridan went out of her way to make a public show of laughing at the suggestion that she would ever consider reducing herself to even knowing what an Augusta Free Press is. She definitely knows what an Augusta Free Press is.”)
- Va. senators grill UVA leaders over DOJ deal, leadership search, diversity programs
- Virginia colleges resist disclosing athletic revenue-sharing
- 11th District Voters To Choose New Delegate In Jan. 13 Special Election
- Del.-elect Elizabeth Guzman: Businesses should ‘pay their fair share’
- Historically, aesthetically maligned manufactured housing could expand under newly proposed Virginia legislation
- Polls open Tuesday for special election to fill open seats in Virginia General Assembly (“Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for in-person voting Tuesday in Districts 11 and 23, which include parts of Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford counties, as well as Fairfax City.”)
- CWG Live: Sunny and near 50 today; rain showers late Wednesday (“Rain Wednesday could briefly mix with snow before ending late at night; Snow showers possible Saturday night.”)

![Video: On the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, VA Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger Says She’ll Tell Trump Administration “we do not want [ICE] trying to sow fear, sow division within our communities”](https://bluevirginia.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/spancolbert-238x178.jpg)






![Video: On the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, VA Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger Says She’ll Tell Trump Administration “we do not want [ICE] trying to sow fear, sow division within our communities”](https://bluevirginia.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/spancolbert-100x75.jpg)

![Video: Fmr. VA Del. Wendy Gooditis (D-Clarke) Announces Her Candidacy for U.S. House; Says “President Trump and Ben Cline [R-VA06] have attacked our health care, our jobs, and our democracy, and they are hurting families across Virginia”](https://bluevirginia.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/goodiitisvideo-100x75.jpg)