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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise (economic, environmental, etc.) for Monday, July 20.
INTERNATIONAL
- In Search of Funding to Fight the Climate Crisis, Local Leaders Turn to Diplomacy (“International climate investors have largely ignored local governments in an economic system geared toward nations. Some leaders want to change that.”)
- Weather tracker: Flooding and landslides hit large parts of Asia (“Torrential rain has battered Vietnam, southern China and South Korea, leading to multiple deaths”)
- Ukraine targets Moscow with drones after huge Russian attack on Kyiv (“Russian capital targeted by 400 drones overnight a day after one of the war’s biggest ballistic missile attacks on the Ukrainian city”)
- ‘Everyone’s afraid to die’: Struggle to recruit soldiers in Ukraine turns violent
- Zelensky Seeks to Quell Growing Discontent Over Ouster of Defense Minister (“Ukraine’s president sparked protests with his surprise dismissal of a popular defense minister”)
- Zelensky erred. Ukrainians showed how a civil society works.
- Oil tops $90 as Middle East fighting escalates
- Tehran and Washington Face a ‘Wake Up Moment’ Over the War (“U.S. and Iranian attacks are unfolding in a way that risks a wider war they cannot contain, analysts warn, unless they can return to negotiations quickly.”)
- U.S. teeters on return to all-out war with Iran after more troops killed
- U.S. hits Iran for ninth consecutive night as American casualties rise
- US bombing of Iran expands as American troops killed and Tehran retaliates against the Gulf states
- Trump says Iran hit ‘very hard,’ as third US service member killed
- Ten Reasons the War with Iran is Going From Bad to Worse (“Trump Partied While American Soldiers Died”)
- New US escalation in Iran makes Trump’s endgame vacuum more urgent (“The president seems to be bombing again because the personal, political and economic costs of Iran’s major win so far — its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz — are impossible for him to accept. But he has yet to tell Americans why he believes this tactic may be more successful than it was before.”)
- The World’s Worst Nightmare: Donald Trump in Charge of a Real-Live War (“There are no best-case scenarios when a corrupt, vainglorious toddler is running the world’s deadliest military.”)
- Jordan Becomes New Flashpoint in U.S.-Iran War as Troop Deaths Ris
- How Biden Enabled Israel’s Aggression Toward Gaza—and Iran (“Top officials from the previous Administration now express regret over their failure to rein in Netanyahu.”)
- Trump’s War on the Future, Monetary Edition (“Trying to punish Brazil for adopting a better payment system”)
- ‘It’s total devastation’: inside the Amazonian war against illegal gold mining (“The Guardian goes on the ground with Brazilian forces fighting to eradicate mining that has destroyed protected areas of Indigenous land” Horrible.)
- Police cane supporters of India’s cockroach movement as thousands gather for march (“The months-old movement and the planned protest are seen as the biggest public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his third term in office.”)
- Why has Britain’s oldest political magazine become such a rabid cheerleader for Islamophobia?
- Burnham Vows ‘Hope and Unity’ as He Prepares to Take Power in UK (Seriously, good luck – you’ll need it!)
- Live updates: Andy Burnham is set to become the new UK prime minister
- ‘My work is done’ says Keir Starmer in final speech as PM, before Andy Burnham takes over
- Can Andy Burnham’s Manchesterism Save the U.K.’s Center Left? (“With a populist touch, and a focus on affordability and raising up left-behind communities, Britain’s new Prime Minister has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani.”)
- ‘He Won’t Leave’: Critics Rip ‘Narcissist’ Trump For Crashing World Cup Trophy Moment
- FIFA emerges as the $9 billion winner as the biggest, brashest World Cup ever draws to a close (Too bad.)
- The ‘hopeless, bad people’ just won Donald Trump’s World Cup (“The U.S. president has relentlessly targeted Spain. Its soccer stars just had the last laugh.”)
- Boos as Trump and Infantino enter the field for World Cup trophy ceremony (They are both corrupt scumbags.)
- Trump Relents From Spain-Bashing to Present Its Team the World Cup Trophy (“Mr. Trump, who this month referred to Spain as “hopeless,” seemingly had little choice but to exhibit diplomacy on Sunday as he handed the golden trophy to the country’s players.”)
NATIONAL
- Pressing Delete Won’t Eliminate the Truth (“From ICE agent crimes to climate change, Jan. 6 and hunger in America, the Trump regime is working to deny the public knowledge to confront its crimes and failures”)
- Federal Agents Were Told F.B.I. Will No Longer Investigate ICE Confrontations (“Senior officials deny such a change is in the works, despite guidance shared with agents around the country in recent days.”)
- Border Czar Blames 3 ICE Deaths On Failure To Comply — Before Making Shocking Admission (“One detail from ‘Face the Nation’ host Margaret Brennan left Tom Homan watch his defense crumble before his eyes.”)
- ICE officers to wear body cameras during vehicle stops, border czar says
- Majority of US voters link extreme weather to climate crisis, study finds (“Top Democrat says findings show public ‘way ahead of the politicians’ as Trump dismisses global heating as ‘hoax’”)
- The Supreme Court Has Gone Off the Rails. There’s Actually a Fix. We Just Have to Go Through With It. (“At least, people said, overturning Roe would have some consequences for this court, and the Republican Party that made it so. Nothing happened.” Yep, I kept waiting for some severe consequences for these lawless right-wing activists in robes, but…nada.)
- Test that found source of US explosive diarrhoea outbreak was false positive, health officials say (“The latest update from the US Food and Drug Administration means the exact source of the parasite is still not known.”)
- Trump’s funding cuts created ‘the perfect storm’ that slowed the government’s cyclosporiasis response
- Trump Says New Air Force One Will Be Taken Out of Service to Be ‘Maxed Out’ (“The Qatari-donated plane has been under scrutiny over whether it is fitted with sufficient defensive capabilities to adequately protect a U.S. president and others traveling on it.”)
- GOP fears over shutdown collide with SAVE America Act battle
- Trump would love to steal the election. But he’s floundering. (“Republicans would rather talk about almost anything else than his conspiracy theories.”)
- Donald Trump, the No-Bid President (“The trouble with competitive bidding is that it gets in the way of corruption. Our president knows how to solve that.”)
- Gas prices are rising again — and so is GOP grief in the midterms
- GOP midterm strategy: Make it a “hate election” (Republicans have been running on fear, loathing, bigotry, demonizaation, etc. for decades now.)
- Congresswoman Says ‘Homoerotic’ Side Of GOP’s Masculinity Mania Can’t Be Ignored (“Rep. Becca Balint had a list of reasons why Secretary Pete Hegseth’s fixation with making the military more manly looked like a full-on fetish.”)
- Epstein survivor on Blanche meeting: ‘We were gaslit’
- Trump could ‘do something positive’ rather than fixate on 2020 loss, Fetterman says (“Senator says Trump revisiting failed run against Biden ‘distracts from important things’ such as Iran war”)
- AOC channels Obama’s “Hope and Change” message
- Inside Trump’s Rush Job to Build His Arch (“If the president gets his way, new rules would lower the bar for building monuments in Washington.”)
- Döpfner and Bari’s Toast to Thiel (Disgusting – “By awarding MAGA billionaire Peter Thiel its highest-profile honor, Axel Springer is providing one of the clearest signals yet of the publisher’s rightward evolution under Mathias Döpfner.”)
- Bernie blowback: How Sanders’ primary endorsements have sparked a Democratic midterm war
- Maine Democrats Take Step Toward New Senate Pick, With Jolt of Momentum for Jackson (“Troy Jackson, a progressive former State Senate president, showed signs of significant strength, as half the state’s counties picked delegates to a convention where they will choose Graham Platner’s replacement.”)
- Troy Jackson has effectively secured the Maine Senate Democratic nomination (“Jackson’s preferred delegates have won a majority of the seats at next week’s nominating convention to replace Graham Platner.”)
- Jackson Earns Senate Nomination Sweep (“The North Woods logger and former state senator out-organized everyone to take Graham Platner’s place on the ballot.”)
- In Maine Senate Race, Democrats Go From Chaos to Coronation (“Troy Jackson’s emergence as the clear front-runner to replace Graham Platner spares the party some challenges but points to some new ones.”)
- The Odyssey’s Epic Box Office Haul Breaks The “Go Woke, Go Broke” Myth (“Christopher Nolan’s film made over $264 million this weekend, once again proving flops like Ghostbusters and The Little Mermaid weren’t due to politics—and people will pay for a great yarn.”)
VIRGINIA
- Video, Highlights: Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10) Rappahannock Townhall (7/18) (Topics include Trump’s “crazy speech” and corruption; data centers; Israel/anti-Semitism; threats to the 2026 elections; etc.)
- Mark Warner, back on CBS, blasts the network again over giving Trump free airtime
- Warner: No Democratic ‘retribution campaign’ if party wins midterms
- Congressman Walkinshaw has a bill headed to the Senate for the first time (“It’s been more than three years since Congress mandated that the Department of Homeland Security create a centralized program to collect data on fentanyl and put together a plan to keep chemical precursors from entering the U.S. But that never happened says Congressman James Walkinshaw, who introduced the Measuring Illicit Fentanyl Trafficking Act.”)
- It’s Time for a Blue Wave Like No Other (“Can you hear the rising chorus of demands for change? Can you feel the push for progressive reforms like we have not seen in decades?”)
- Spanberger leads trade mission to Europe
- Data centers want to build their own gas turbines. Would that skirt state renewable energy laws? (“As connection queues grow, data center companies propose to build out their own power, with many of them eyeing natural gas turbines”)
- Virginia schools gain spending flexibility under federal program (“Change is designed to help schools to spend less time on paperwork and more time improving student learning and meeting the needs of their local communities.”)
- Late on rent? New Virginia law gives tenants more time and protection from eviction (“An extended grace period, a statewide diversion program and other measures aim to help renters stay in their home.”)
- Virginia leaders considering common-sense change to state election schedules (“To change our state election cycles, we’d have to amend our state Constitution, which involves, you guessed it, eventually, the voters need to approve a constitutional amendment via a referendum.”)
- Why Northern Virginians will help pay for controversial rural transmission line project (“Valley Link’s Joshua Falls to Yeat Electric Transmission Line Project would use a 765-kilovolt line running from Campbell County to Culpeper County. PJM, which operates the regional grid, approved the project and is considering it a solution to address growing demand. The line could cost between $1 and $2 billion and is scheduled to be completed by 2029, though Craig Carper, a Valley Link spokesman, said that timeline may change.”)
- Four questions for the next president of Virginia Tech (“The presidential search committee meets again Tuesday. Here are some things the members ought to be asking, if they aren’t already.”)
- Merger talks for Appalachian School of Law continue amid Buchanan County leadership turmoil (“Local funding for the financially strapped school has been a point of contention between the board of supervisors and the county IDA.”)
- Competing for the crown: Rivers Casino wants to be the ‘entertainment capital of Hampton Roads’
- DC-area forecast: Nice today but threat of severe storms Tuesday (Suggestion: ditch junk words like “nice” and use actual, descriptive, meteorological words like “sunny,” “cloudy,” “rainy,” etc.)
