by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, May 8.
- Our cities are choked by cars – here’s how experts would fix them (“Turning parking bays into green spaces and prioritising cyclists may be the fastest routes to improving urban life”)
- UN health agency chief says hantavirus outbreak shows why US should rejoin (“The World Health Organization and U.S. health officials are working together despite President Donald Trump’s withdrawal.”)
- Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of breaching Victory Day ceasefire
- Meeting ‘Madyar’: the Ukrainian drones boss raining on Putin’s parade
- For Putin, Problems (and Paranoia) Keep Mounting (“Drone attacks, internet blackouts, and a sudden downturn in the economy have led some prominent Russians to start openly questioning their President’s grip on power.”)
- European countries emerge as NATO leaders as U.S. role recedes
- Gulf States Lift Restrictions That Blocked ‘Project Freedom’ in Strait of Hormuz (“Decision to restore access to bases and airspace paves way for U.S. to resume operation to guide ships through waterway”)
- Exclusive: Oil-price bets ahead of Iran war news totalled $7 billion, reporting shows
- US military strikes sites in Iran as countries exchange fire
- U.S. and Iran Exchange Fire Amid a Declared Truce (“The U.S. military said it struck Iranian military targets after, it said, Iran fired on U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump threatened more if Iran didn’t agree to a peace offer.”)
- Iran Turns to China Rail Link to Try to Bypass US Blockade
- Trump shelved ‘Project Freedom’ after Saudis refused use of bases and airspace
- So What Exactly Is Going On With the Iran Peace Talks Now? (“For all of Trump’s tough talk, Iran has the upper hand.”)
- Iran hawks erupt over terms of Trump’s peace proposal
- Trump news at a glance: US and Iran exchange fire, which president calls ‘love tap’
- Military force has got the US nowhere with Iran – here is what a realistic negotiation would look like (“Making a deal means the US finding a position that doesn’t threaten the Iranian regime’s survival. The alternative is a prolonged and damaging stalemate”)
- China Sees a ‘Giant With a Limp’ as U.S. Drains Weapons on War in Iran (“America’s ability to deter China in a war over Taiwan is weakened, Chinese analysts say, giving Beijing leverage in an upcoming summit with President Trump.”)
- Trump’s crackdown on China-linked solar firms stalls U.S. factory boom
- Starmer says he won’t quit after local elections deliver losses for Labour and wins for Reform UK
- Starmer’s Labour suffers huge losses as hard-right Reform gains in U.K. elections (Starmer looks like he’s going to have to step down.)
- Trump ally Roger Stone condemned for providing lobbying services to Myanmar’s military junta (“Stone being paid $50,000 a month to ‘rebuild’ relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed government” Pure evil.)
- State Department reviewing all Mexican consulates in U.S. as tensions grow
- U.S. to Review Mexican Consulates After Right-Wing Claims Against Them (“The State Department said it would review all Mexican consulates in the U.S., following claims in conservative media that the consulates interfere in politics.”)
- Trump threatens EU with ‘much higher’ tariffs if no trade deal signed by new deadline
- Federal court rules against new global tariffs Trump imposed after loss at the Supreme Court
- Trade Court Rules Trump’s 10% Global Tariff Is Illegal
- Trade court strikes down a second round of Trump tariffs
- ICE Keeps Detaining the Same US Citizen Again, and Again, and Again. He’s Fighting Back. (““I only wish to live my life in peace,” Leonardo Garcia Venegas said in a declaration.”)
- Federal and State Officials Discuss Closing Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ (“The immigrant detention center in the Everglades, which Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, opened last July, may be too expensive to keep operating.”)
- </US will start revoking passports for thousands of parents who owe child support, AP learnsa>
- Why is the CDC Silent About the Hantavirus Outbreak?
- After SCOTUS Destroyed the Voting Rights Act, Southern States Rush to Pass Jim Crow Voting Maps (“We’re seeing the greatest purge of Black power since the era of Reconstruction.”)
- John Roberts likes being political. He just doesn’t like the accountability that comes with it. (“Roberts complained Wednesday that people view the justices as ‘political actors.’ They are, though, issuing political decisions that have real-world consequences.”)
- John Roberts Refuses to Admit the Damage He’s Doing to the Supreme Court (“The court has more political power than ever—and its chief justice needs to take some responsibility.” Roberts is completely pathetic.)
- Judge rules Trump administration’s cancellation of humanities grants was unconstitutional
- Is Trump’s Justice Department trying to discredit itself? (“The DOJ used to avoid spectacles like the Louise Lucas raid.”)
- Pope & Schapiro: The FBI’s raid on Lucas’ office and cannabis dispensary
- The ‘America First’ Corporate Graveyard (“IN THE MIDST OF AN ENERGY CRISIS, the Trump administration is paying companies to not build more energy infrastructure. You read that correctly.”)
- Here’s what to expect from Friday’s release of the April jobs report
- Why young and old men are leaving the labor force at record rates (“One-third of men in the U.S. are not working or looking for a job, the lowest level since 1948 aside from the pandemic, Labor Department data shows.”)
- Kash Patel ordered polygraphs of more than two dozen members of his team, sources say (“The FBI director is said to be looking for leaks and has ordered polygraphs to be taken of current and former members of his security detail, as well as other staff.”)
- USPS considers allowing people to ship handguns through the mail (…the f***???)
- Paramount’s Paper Trail (“Two press freedom groups that hold Paramount shares are demanding internal records over concerns the Ellisons have agreed to compromise the editorial integrity of CNN to secure approval for the Warners deal, Status has learned. “)
- CNN was Ted Turner’s brainchild. It faces a precarious future
- Tennessee enacts new US House map carving up majority-Black district in Memphis
- John Fetterman: I haven’t changed. Here’s what has.
- Right-wing media spent months claiming Trump’s ballroom wouldn’t cost taxpayers a penny. Republicans are now proposing $1 billion in taxpayer money to secure it. (Just assume that every word said on right-wing media like Fox “News” is a lie.)
- Trump drives across Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to inspect new blue coating he’s putting on it
- Minneapolis man who attacked Ilhan Omar pleads guilty (Dangerous wacko.)
- Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Mark Warner Detail How $1 Billion Could Help Virginians Instead of Funding Trump’s Ballroom (e.g., “$1 billion could pay for Medicaid coverage for a full year for over 25% of the Virginians who lost it due to” due to Trump’s Big Ugly Bill)
- Four Richmond voters filed a lawsuit trying to force certification of the redistricting referendum
- Editorial: Speculation runs rampant following FBI raid of Sen. Lucas’ offices (“The absence of facts gives oxygen to speculation, and justified fears this is another instance of retribution rather than equal justice under law.”)
- Specifics around FBI search of Sen. L. Louise Lucas’ office still unclear (“The FBI and US Attorney’s Office are not releasing information on the searches.”)
- Louise Lucas FBI raid exposes Trump, but also Spanberger, whose silence is telling (“It will be hard to convince me that the investigation into Lucas is anything but a mob shakedown, but I’m also here to say, the Spanberger folks are probably not unhappy to have something to at least distract the chief thorn in their sides, if not get her out of the game for good.”)
- I Do Not Entirely Trust Abigail Spanberger (“The Virginia governor’s recent veto could have a major effect on Virginians’ Fourth Amendment rights.”)
- Virginia’s paid leave law brings new benefits—and new costs—for workplaces
- Move over, sheep. Cattle are grazing solar sites, too, and that’s good news for Virginia.
- As gas prices rise, Virginia Democrats push for federal electric vehicle funding
- Video, Press Release – “Study: Concrete Local Work Moderates Partisanship Among Rural Residents”
- Virginia unions urge Spanberger to sign collective bargaining bill as deadline nears (“Gov. Abigail Spanberger has about two weeks to decide whether to expand collective bargaining rights to hundreds of thousands of public employees in Virginia.”)
- Jones seeks to dissolve injunction that led to the ‘Lynchburg loophole’ on gun background checks
- Dominion announces plans for new 3-gigawatt gas plant in Cumberland County (Stupid.)
- The Roanoke Valley uses less water today than it did 20 years ago. What that means for Google.
- How many trans kids in Waynesboro school bathrooms are we talking about here?
- Surveillance without consent: How the Shenandoah Valley got wired without anyone asking
- Public health officials warn of rise in measles, as Va. hantavirus patient under monitor
- Person from Virginia on cruise ship with hantavirus cases returns home, is being monitored
- Virginia Beach works to woo tourists after curfew, 2 recent shootings
- ‘They’re out of chances’: Sen. Bill Stanley threatens to shut down Danville animal shelter after recent euthanasia
- Va. man pardoned for Jan. 6 crimes sentenced to 7 years for Henrico burglary (Of course.)
- CWG Live: Warmer today through Sunday, with a few showers and storms Saturday
