Sunday News: In “Scathing Opinion,” “Judge orders 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father be released from immigration detention”; “The Media Malpractice That Sent America Tumbling Into Trumpism”; “Texas Stunner”; “An immigration detention warehouse has no place in Virginia”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, February 1.

• ‘Normal life has disappeared’: Russia’s energy offensive plunges Ukraine into dark and bitter cold
• ‘It’s not just about surviving’: the Ukrainian frontline city where life goes on under cover (“Whether in streets draped in anti-drone nets or deep in urban basements, Kherson residents go about their everyday activities with the constant threat of Russian bombing”)
• Ukraine war briefing: US reports ’constructive’ peace talks with Russia as Zelenskyy pushes for ‘results’
• NATO’s ability to deter Russia has taken a hit with trans-Atlantic infighting
• Why TikTok’s first week of American ownership was a disaster
• China is leading the charge to nuclear Armageddon – and Starmer barely noticed (“The Doomsday Clock is ticking ever more loudly as arms-control mechanisms fail and leaders become more reckless. The time to be alarmed is now”)
• Iran’s Gen Z Helped Propel the Protests. They Paid With Their Lives. (“A generation who grew up in a more connected world rebelled against a failing economy and strict social rules.”)
• Calls grow in Iran for independent inquiry into protest death toll (“Pressure mounts after government said it would publish names of those killed during recent unrest”)
• Iran’s supreme leader warns any US attack would spark ‘regional war’
• Top Iranian official says progress made towards launching negotiations with the U.S.
• Second Epstein victim claims she was sent to UK for sex with Andrew, lawyer says
• Epstein files lead to resignation in Slovakia and calls in Britain for former prince to cooperate
• Slovakia PM’s national security adviser resigns over Epstein links
• Preparations underway at Rafah crossing a day before Israel says travel to resume
• ‘Spy Sheikh’ Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company (“$500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty came months before U.A.E. won access to tightly guarded American AI chips ” Violates the emoluments clause, big time – ergo, 100% impeachable.)
• More than 120 dead after multiple suicide and gun attacks in Pakistan, officials say
• How Trump Took Up the ‘Christian Genocide’ Cause in Nigeria (Again, the media fails; in this case, the headline should CLEARLY STATE that there is no “Christian Genocide” in Nigeria – THAT IS A LIE. So why doesn’t the headline say that???)
• Trump’s immigration crackdown means more children detained by ICE (Appalling.)
• How Alex Pretti’s Death Became a National Tipping Point (“Several factors converged to force a remarkable shift in the federal government’s aggressive efforts in Minnesota.”)
• Get Out of Our Cities: Another Nationwide Uprising Against ICE (“Powerful images from around the country show thousands of demonstrators participating in a national day of action.”)
• Facing Immigration Backlash, Trump Called Schumer to Cut a Deal
• Shutdown likely to continue at least into Tuesday
• Mike Johnson told not to count on Dems’ votes to end shutdown
• Judge orders release of 5-year-old detained by ICE in Minnesota
• Judge orders 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father be released from immigration detention (“The judge’s scathing opinion quoted Thomas Jefferson’s grievances against ‘a would-be authoritarian king”)
• Federal Courts Undercut Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign
• In Scathing Ruling, Federal Judge Orders Release of Liam Ramos From Detention (“Judge Fred Biery said federal agents were ‘traumatizing children.'”)
• Minnesota citizens detained by ICE are left rattled, even weeks later
• Judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota as a lawsuit proceeds (Ugh.)
• ICE claim that a man shattered his skull running into wall triggers tension at a Minnesota hospital
• Bovino Is Said to Have Mocked Prosecutor’s Jewish Faith on Call With Lawyers (So Bovino isn’t just a fascist, he’s a neo-Nazi?)
• Labor unions rally, march to Portland ICE facility in protest
• A red hat, inspired by a symbol of resistance to Nazi occupation, gains traction in Minnesota
• Resistance erupts over ICE’s warehouse buying spree
• Under Pope Leo XIV, American Catholics Are Uniting to Defeat MAGA Authoritarianism
• ICE Goons’ Gunpoint Snatch-and-Grab of U.S. Citizen Thwarted (These ICE goons should be: a) fired; b) arrested.)
• (“Trump Jokes About Suing Warsh if He Doesn’t Lower Interest Rates” Why is the Wall Street Journal reporting this as “Trump Jokes?” Isn’t that just state media, stenography, uncritical amplification, etc?)
• Don Lemon vows to fight charges in First Amendment showdown with Trump (The media reporting this as a “showdown” is complete crap; this is Trump viciously assaulting the First Amendment, and the media should say so clearly!)
• 2026 US power sector outlook (“Read Utility Dive’s road map to the year ahead for FERC, affordability, renewable energy, distributed energy resources and more.”)
• Why We Already Know Year Two of Trump 2.0 Will Be Worse Than the First (“The Tulsi Gabbard raid and the IRS lawsuit represent corruption on a level no one could even have imagined—until Trump came along.”)
• The Media Malpractice That Sent America Tumbling Into Trumpism (“Political journalists need to stop pretending they don’t know what Republicans are going to do.”)
• Jeffrey Epstein files: don’t be fooled. Millions of files are still unreleased
• Handling of Epstein files is ‘outrageous’, say attorneys of his sex trafficking survivors
• Epstein lawyers discussed possibility of cooperation with prosecutors days before his death, files reveal (“Less than two weeks before convicted abuser was found dead, lawyers met with Manhattan federal prosecutors”)
• From Elon Musk to the former Prince Andrew, a who’s who of powerful men are named in Epstein files (Disgusting.)
• They Said They Weren’t Close to Epstein. New Documents Show Otherwise. (“Materials released by the Justice Department revealed that leading business and political figures had enduring relationships with the disgraced financier.”)
• Elon Musk pours millions more into helping Republicans keep Congress (Musk is an extremely negative, corrosive force in American politics.)
• This Is Not a Drill (“It’s only February, and the November elections are already in peril.”)
• ‘Ask E. Jean’: The other Trump doc that they’re making sure you don’t get to see
• 12 states are hoping for early spots on Democrats’ 2028 primary calendar (“The Southern region is even more crowded. South Carolina, another historic early primary state, which has traditionally tested candidates’ mettle with Black voters, is applying again. But so is Georgia, which has become one of the most hotly contested battleground states in recent years, plus North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.”)
• Judge Calls DOJ’s Statements On Slavery Exhibit Display ‘Dangerous’ And ‘Horrifying’ (“You can’t erase history once you’ve learned it. It doesn’t work that way.”)
• Trump questions if GOP can overcome voters’ ‘psychological’ midterms hurdle
• Democrat Christian Menefee wins election for US House, narrowing GOP’s slim majority
• Democrat Taylor Rehmet wins a reliably Republican Texas state Senate seat, stunning GOP
• Texas Democrats score landslide upset in race Trump badly wanted to win
• GOP STUNNED: Democrat Flips Reliably Republican Texas State Senate Seat
• Maryland Democrats barrel toward redistricting standoff
• ‘Melania’ Isn’t Even Good Propaganda (“Amazon poured tens of millions of dollars into the Brett Ratner-directed documentary. It fails on virtually every level”)
• Melania Is the Nightmare End Point of Celebrity Docs
• Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says Trump Administration Clearly Has Not Followed the Law on Epstein Files Release Deadline, Redactions… (Also, need to “follow the money” on “this child sex trafficking ring”)
• Editorial: An immigration detention warehouse has no place in Virginia
• RPV delays chairman election by one week, citing base’s election security concerns
• Ivy Main: “If localities cared about saving farmland, they would approve more solar.” (“[T]hese days the choice is not between farming and solar; farming and solar are increasingly compatible ‘crops.'”)
• 5 poems for troubled times, from Virginia’s new Lt. Governor (“Virginia’s Lt. Gov-elect Ghazala Hashmi (D) holds a PhD in poetry and selected five poems for fellow Democrats that brought her comfort over the past year.”)
• ‘Walk for Peace’ monks expected in Richmond on Monday, passing through Chesterfield on Sunday
• David Toscano’s distinctly Virginian political style is hard to find in Virginia nowadays
• Mayor Avula urges patience in icy weather, acknowledges some residents’ challenges
• Updated snow totals for southeastern Virginia: Forecast down
• CWG Live: Dangerous wind chills today. Watching a chance of light snow midweek. (“Punishing wind chills start below zero this morning, only reaching the single digits to low teens this afternoon.”)