Tuesday (5/12) News: “Trump goes to China as Iran war smolders”; “Rod Stewart praises King Charles for putting ‘little ratbag in his place’”

by Lowell

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

• Some Climate Shocks Can Increase the Likelihood of War (“Researchers warn against oversimplifying climate change’s role in conflicts. But some conditions can increase the likelihood of violence, a new study finds.”)
• How underwater speakers are helping revive coral reefs devastated by climate change
• ‘Not normal’: On one April day, all of the planet’s top 50 hottest cities were in a single country
• At U.S.-China summit, Trump aims for stability after Xi shows he can push back
• Trump goes to China as Iran war smolders
• Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI (“Tim Cook and Elon Musk, among other tech CEOS, will accompany the US president on a trip to China”)
• Trump and Xi appear intent on keeping deep differences over Iran war from overshadowing China summit
• What’s at stake for trade, Taiwan and Iran in Trump’s high-risk summit with China’s Xi
• China Increasingly Views Trump’s America as an Empire in Decline (“For decades, many Chinese viewed the United States with a mix of admiration, envy and resentment. President Trump’s volatile second term shattered that image.”)
• Trump’s Complaints About Iran War Leaks Prompt Aggressive DOJ Investigations (“President Trump privately complained to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about media leaks in the wake of the Iran war last month, according to administration officials familiar with the matter”)
• Trump news at a glance: president says he ‘didn’t even finish reading’ Iran’s peace proposals
• Middle East crisis live: Iran could enrich uranium to weapons grade if attacked, senior lawmaker warns
• Trump says ceasefire with Iran on ‘life support’ after rejecting peace proposals
• The Art of the Ceasefire (“How President Trump’s approach to the war in Iran is turning endless conflict, interrupted by fleeting pauses, into the status quo.”)
• U.S. and Iran Are Locked in a Stalemate That’s Neither Peace Nor War
• The U.A.E. Has Been Secretly Carrying Out Attacks on Iran (“One strike in April hit an oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island”)
• Frustrated Trump more seriously thinking of restarting combat operations in Iran: sources (“Sources said a major decision on how to proceed is unlikely to be made before Trump’s departure to China, slated for Tuesday.”)
• Evolving drone war in southern Lebanon clouds Iran peace prospects
• Starmer allies voice support as they leave cabinet meeting after PM defies calls to resign
• The UK’s Far Right Is On the March—Thanks to Keir Starmer
• Rod Stewart praises King Charles for putting ‘little ratbag in his place’ on US trip (“Do Ya Think I’m Being Mean About Donald Trump? Yes.”)
• Eurovision song competition starts with the first semifinal after boycott over Israel
• Developer of Australia’s biggest renewable projects to offer cheap power below $66/MWh for data centres (Clean energy is also super CHEAP energy!)
• Senate Republicans warn Trump against Cuba military attack
• Trump and Rubio’s escalating rhetoric show a Cuba invasion could be imminent
• Kari Lake, Who Led Effort to Shutter Voice of America, Is Named Ambassador to Jamaica (Lake is an insane person and shouldn’t be an ambassador anywhere. We are truly living in a bizarre, FUBAR timeline.)
• Trump nominates Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano to diplomatic posts (Mastriano’s also horrible.)
• Democrats express ‘grave concerns’ over secretive ICE deportation flights
• Stephen Miller in Retreat (“The once-powerful aide’s influence has quietly diminished.”)
• Kennedy Is Driving a Vast Inquiry Into Vaccines, Despite His Public Silence (This guy is an unmitigated DISASTER.)
• US government studies into vaccine safety are being suppressed
• Trump Thinks the Supreme Court Works For Him (“Despite handing him an endless array of political wins over the past few years, the president still believes his nominees haven’t shown sufficient loyalty.”)
• It’s Only a Matter of Time Until the Supreme Court Cracks on the 14th Amendment
• Supreme Court temporarily extends women’s access to a widely used abortion pill
• Makary keeps working amid questions over his FDA future (This clown was Youngkin’s top health advisor.)
• Trump’s gas tax holiday pitch faces early Capitol Hill headwinds (Really dumb idea; will barely impact gas prices, doesn’t address the root causes of the problem, and defunds crucial repairs/maintenance tfor highways, bridges, etc.)
• ‘My life is not affordable. No one cares’ (“76% of Americans call cost-of-living issues their biggest economic problem”)
• Inflation expected to jump to a 3-year high as Iran war continues to fuel rising prices
• Navy Plans to Buy 15 Costly Trump-Class Battleships by 2055 (That’s totally f’ed up; we don’t need new battleships, as that is NOT where warfare is headed at all.)
• Trump officials cancel rule that made conservation a ‘use’ of public lands (That’s REALLY f’ed up.)
• New poll finds a majority of Americans unsure if attempts on Trump’s life were real (“One in four respondents believed the attempted attack at the correspondents’ dinner was staged, according to the poll. The same was true for Butler, where 24% of respondents believed the attack was staged. Sixteen percent felt the same about the foiled plot in West Palm Beach.”)
• Why Republicans Are Still Drawing House Maps, While Democrats Are Stuck (“The G.O.P. has seized an edge on redistricting thanks to two court rulings, and it has more room to maneuver for extra seats before the midterms.”)
• The VRA Ruling Might Have Handed Republicans a Weapon to Attempt a Jan. 6-style Midterm Coup (“An outlandish scenario to refuse to seat newly elected blue state representatives just became more plausible”)
• Republican Judges Leave Democrats No Choice But To Escalate (“They’ve officially joined Trump’s effort to rig the midterm. And if that’s not enough to move Democrats off the fence, the fight to save democracy may already be lost.”)
• Democracy Has Never Depended on Perfect People, but on Refusing to Give Up Simply Because We’re Tired (“Whether by instinct or strategy, Trump-era politics operates at a level of constant conflict that leaves people mentally worn down”)
• Five ways the media can do better in this critical moment (“Third, don’t put lies or falsehoods into headlines or news alerts. Just because the president says something it doesn’t warrant handing over a megaphone”)
• Supreme Court halts order for Alabama to use US House map with 2 largely Black districts
• Supreme Court greenlights 11th-hour Alabama redistricting plan for 2026 election
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice leaves Democratic Party over antisemitism concerns (“David Wecht is becoming an independent due to “acquiescence to Jew-hatred” from prominent Democrats.”)
• Democrats Can’t Let This Antisemitic Sex Therapist Win Her Runoff
• Inside the wild fight to oust a top GOP Trump critic (Massie’s heinous, but the reasons why Trump’s trying to oust him are bad as well…)
• Trump Gets 3 ‘Fully Functional’ Arcade Games Erected At D.C. War Memorial (WTF???)
• Reflecting Pool Repairs to Cost $13.1 Million. Trump Had Promised $1.8 Million. (“The Interior Department added $6.2 million to the no-bid contract for repairs to the Lincoln Memorial pool late last week.” Wildly corrupt and f’ed up.)
• Nonprofit sues the federal government over plans to paint Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue
• Survey work begins for contested Trump Triumphal Arch project in Washington (Fascistic garbage.)
• This moderate Republican senator is already eyeing the exits 16 months into his term (The “mainstream media” loves calling Republicans who basically votes 100% with Trump “moderate”; it’s a sickness, really.)
• Trump picks Cameron Hamilton to run FEMA (Right winger who ran for Congress in VA07 in 2024 and lost the Republican primary to Derrick Anderson, who then lost to Rep. Eugene Vindman by about 2 1/2 points.)
• Fmr. Rep. Elaine Luria Calls on Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) to Publicly Apologize for Racist Remarks Targeting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (“In interview, Kiggans agrees with racist ‘get your cotton-picking hands off of Virginia’ comment”)
• Democrats call on Kiggans to resign after radio interview
• Key Republican faces Democratic calls to resign over radio interview
• Rep. Kiggans defends response after radio host’s racial remark aimed at Jeffries (It’s indefensible.)
• VA Democrats’ Emergency Application to the U.S. Supreme Court Argues VA Supreme Court’s Decision Was “deeply mistaken,” “violates federal law in two separate ways” (Also: “The text of the Virginia Constitution…unquestionably refute[s] the Virginia Supreme Court’s interpretation”)
• Virginia Officials Ask Supreme Court to Restore Voting Map Drawn by Democrats
• Virginia Democrats appeal to U.S. Supreme Court to save new House maps (“Some top Virginia Democrats express little hope that the appeal will affect this November’s congressional elections and instead will focus on running in existing districts.”)
• Trump Wins Big as Virginia Dems Won’t Go Nuclear to Save 4 House Seats
• Virginia Democrats appeal redistricting loss to SCOTUS
• 250 Years of Commonwealth History Upended by Virginia Supreme Court; Now It’s Time to “turn your anger into action”
• Democrats have missed a key point in Supreme Court ruling: It lays out how early voting is an American tradition (“Legal circumstances forced Democrats to argue that early voting wasn’t part of the election. The court, in a conservative ruling, details how the roots of early voting go back to Colonial times. This should help buttress early voting against attempts to restrict it.”)
• The sheer waste of Virginia’s redistricting referendum staggers the conscience (“The costs — reflecting the desperately high stakes for partisan control of Congress in November’s federal midterm elections — are insane, columnist Bob Lewis writes.”)
• Helmer reacts to court striking down new Va. maps
• Video: Gov. Abigail Spanberger Signs Landmark Paid Family & Medical Leave Law (“Virginia is the first state in the south to create a paid family & medical leave program”)
• Spanberger signs watered-down paid family and medical leave bills (“Spanberger narrowed the definition of family to exclude “chosen family.” Impacted here: the LGBTQ”)
• Virginia becomes first Southern state to mandate paid family and medical leave for workers
• Virginia Returns to ERIC After Youngkin’s Costly, Irresponsible Withdrawal (“Conspiracy theories weakened voter file maintenance; rejoining ERIC restores a proven system”)
• Virginia’s new “clean slate” law to go into effect this summer (“This summer, many people with criminal convictions will be able to seal their records.”)
• Hiring new Virginia Tech president likely to take 6 to 8 months, search firm says
• Councilwoman asks Mayor Avula to publicly support collective bargaining bills (“The two bills — brought by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, and Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax — would repeal a statewide ban on collective bargaining by public employees.”)
• Richmond councilors sign off on $3.5B budget for FY27 (“The plan includes record school funding, raises for all city employees — and another utility tax rate hike.”)
• Roanoke approves balanced budget that sees cuts across departments
• Roanoke budget approved by 5-2 vote — the second consecutive year of significant cuts (“Mayor Joe Cobb said a third year of cuts is not out of the question.”)
• Google suggests clean energy might power Botetourt County data center
• Editorial: New NRHA revelations demand Norfolk officials’ action (“If these NRHA contracts had been an anomaly, the mess might have been remedied with less drastic corrective action.”)
• Last Week with The Schilling Show: The MAGA hate that UVA Athletics makes possible
• CWG Live: Tiptop today, but rain chances Wednesday, and then late-week warmth (“Showers, maybe a thunderstorm, could move in Wednesday afternoon and continue through the evening.”)