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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise (economic, environmental, etc.) for Sunday, July 26. Today’s biggest developments and headlines include the climate crisis (always at the top of these news highlights because it’s existential and should be a massive story every single day), Oil nears $100 as Red Sea attacks threaten new chokepoint in Iran conflict, “Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal risks igniting a Middle East arms race”, “The White House Correspondents’ Association takes another futile crack at celebrating the First Amendment with Donald Trump”, “Local U.S. TV News Will Soon Be Entirely Right Wing Propaganda”, and “A free clinic in Appalachia says they anticipate ‘unprecedented’ number of people to lose Medicaid.”
INTERNATIONAL NEWS (Fossil fuel companies fueled the climate crisis, Russia/Ukraine, Iran war, Berlin Pride festival attack, etc.)
- How Fossil Fuel Companies Made Us Believe Gas Was Clean (“A new report from the Center for Climate Integrity exposes ‘decades of deception.'” In fact, natural gas can be as bad or even worse than coal, depending on how much leakage of methane – a highly potent greenhouse gas – there is in the production and transportation of the gas)
- Wildfires in France drive 250,000 people from their homes and creep toward wine city of Bordeaux (Climate crisis.)
- More than 300,000 flee wildfires in France and Spain
- Can Tech Keep Whales Safe From Deadly Vessel Strikes? (“In San Francisco Bay, new AI-powered technology aims to help ships dodge whales whose long-haul migration is being disrupted by climate change.”)
- How Russia Uses Sexual Violence to Wage War (“Ukrainian former POWs and civilians have recounted sexualized torture they suffered in Russian camps, as evidence grows that the practice has become a core tactic.” Absolutely evil.)
- Zelenskyy accuses Russia of assisting Iran with satellite imagery of U.S. bases in Middle East
- Putin Gets Spectacularly Ambushed After Leaving His Bunker
- Ukraine strikes Iranian vessels in Caspian Sea, Tehran accuses Kyiv of ‘hostile and criminal act’ (“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s forces struck targets in the Caspian Sea ‘including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran’.”)
- Airstrikes have paused and talks are pressing forward. But can the US and Iran take the off-ramp?
- Trump Seems Trapped by Iran War, Even as He Wields the World’s Biggest Hammer
- Trump Holds Off on Major Escalation Against Iran as Advisers Raise Concerns (“Among the worries is that expanded hostilities could dangerously drain the diminished stockpile of air defense munitions in the Middle East.”)
- Iran war spreads to Red Sea and Caspian, Gulf quiet as US forgoes strikes
- It Isn’t Just Pickaxe: Trump’s Other Potential Nuclear Targets in Iran
- Pete Hegseth’s Iran war math doesn’t add up (“The defense secretary pegged the war’s cost at $37 billion. The real total is far higher”)
- Unreleased Documentary Footage Captures Graham’s Obsessive Push for Iran War
- Saudi Arabia’s Vast Oil Supplies Now Increasingly Depend on a Single Exit (“Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and closure of the Strait of Hormuz mean the kingdom is relying more heavily on the Suez Canal.”)
- Even Trump Can’t Spin This One (“You can’t post your way out of a war.”)
- Gulf countries want the war to end, but can’t agree on how (“Some Arab states are ‘more on the same page with the U.S. mission than others,’ said a Republican aide.”)
- Trump ordered military not to conduct strikes in Iran Friday
- Vance, Caine raised concerns about escalating war in Iran, sources say as US pauses consecutive nights of strikes (“Concerns about the US munitions stockpile and other potential negative implications were raised in a meeting on Friday”)
- E.U. Debate About Import Ban Reveals Deep Divides Over Israel
- Israel detains more than 70 suspects following deadly violence in the West Bank
- India’s ‘cockroach’ protest called off after education minister quits
- Brazil Denies Visas to U.S. Officials Over Election-Interference Fears
- ‘Scandalous, irrational and irresponsible’: French beekeepers’ fury at lifting of pesticides ban (“Allowing use of two neonicotinoids to combat crop-ruining disease will kill bees and reduce harvests, union says”)
- Van slams into crowd at Berlin Pride festival, killing 1 and injuring 16, as police identify suspect
- Police identify Islamist as suspect in Berlin Pride attack, seeking his arrest
- UK journalists ‘self-censoring stories about Trump and the right over safety fears’ (“Government-backed investigation finds risks are normalised amid ‘a narrowing of the public conversation’”)
- New UK PM says he is prepared to call out Trump ‘if right for Britain’
- Burnham rules out early UK election in exclusive BBC interview
- Venezuela men sue aviation firms who flew them to notorious Salvadorian jail (“Exclusive: CSI Aviation and GlobalX accused of violating civil rights as part of Trump immigration crackdown”)
NATIONAL NEWS (ICE, Trump’s assault on mail-in voting, >1 million children lost access to food benefits due to Trump and Republicans, what the hell is up with Mitch McConnell?; Which way should the Democrats go now?; White House Correspondents Dinner disgrace; etc.)
- ‘We’re human beings’: Haitians in the US fear family separation and deportation to violence (“More than 330,000 Haitian immigrants in limbo as Trump administration seeks to end temporary protected status”)
- The MAGA ‘Anchor Baby’ Myth Doesn’t Hold Water (“America should welcome birth tourists because they generate taxpaying citizens without the US having to invest in them”)
- This desert oasis is a biological wonderland. Trump’s border wall threatens to destroy it
- Heat dome expands across the central United States, creating dangerous conditions for millions (Stop emitting fossil fuels!)
- Appeals Court Upholds Blocks on Trump Order Restricting Mail Voting (“The ruling on Saturday was the latest rebuke to President Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting. The government says it may take the case to the Supreme Court.”)
- Trump’s anti-mail voting order gets blocked again, this time by federal appeals court
- Former FDA official says US handling of cyclospora near ‘catastrophic level’ (“Frank Yiannas calls for an independent review of the federal response to the illness causing explosive diarrhea” If you voted for Trump, explosive diarrhea is on you, figuratively and possibly LITERALLY!)
- Trump May Be to Blame for Less Accurate Weather Forecasts (“Experts say gutting the National Weather Service means fewer weather balloons, which means less data”)
- More than 1 million children lost access to food benefits after Trump bill passed (“Analysis finds more than 4 million Americans lost Snap benefits, or food stamps, from July 2025 to March 2026” If you voted for Trump, YOU are responsible for this!)
- Republicans head home for the summer after a string of losses in Congress (“GOP legislative priorities could be at odds with voters as midterms come into view and Democrats attempt a resurgence”)
- How much has buying that Trump Low Prices nonsense cost you so far?
- Trump Is Pushing Nuclear Energy. His Family and Supporters Could Benefit. (The “nucleus” of this story, so to speak, is CORRUPTION!)
- Republicans see ‘scary’ lack of enthusiasm among core voters ahead of midterms (“Pollsters and GOP groups are raising the alarm about an unmotivated base in an election year that would be tough no matter what, given the president’s low approval.”)
- Can This Man Save Democrats? (“Ben Wikler wanted to lead the Democratic Party after his party’s disastrous 2024. But Wikler, the former Wisconsin Democratic chair, may ultimately help Democrats even more with his new book: This Is the Plan: How to End America’s Meltdown and Save Democracy.” BTW, Ben Wikler should have been DNC Chair; why did anyone push for Ken Martin other than they “knew him,” he was “their friend,” blah blah blah?)
- Inside the Phone-Throwing Drama at the Troubled, Broke Democratic Party (“The Democrats should be well positioned to make gains in this year’s midterms. But inside party headquarters, every week brings paranoia, worries about money and, on occasion, emotional eruptions.”)
- Which Way Should the Democratic Party Go Now? (“It’s been a tumultuous primary season, but is this the Democrats’ Tea Party moment? Or is something more pragmatic emerging?”)
- McConnell faces growing questions about absence nearly six weeks after fall
- McConnell Aide Drops New Claims About Vanished Senator (“There is still no proof that McConnell is doing any of the things that his staff claims he is.”)
- A Brief Exchange That Shows the Enormous Difference Between Trump and Obama (“This is what a president sounds like.”)
- In Maine, Democrats Pick Troy Jackson to Replace Platner in Senate Race
- I’ve visited the Smithsonian hundreds of times. Warnings aren’t needed. (“An executive order from President Donald Trump may be laughable, but it shouldn’t be laughed off.”)
VIRGINIA NEWS (Virginia regulators downplayed data center health concerns, etc.)
- Spanberger admin to resume nursing home oversight board: ‘The stories we’re hearing concern me’
- Emails show how Virginia regulators downplayed data center health concerns (“The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality stepped into a fight over powering AI facilities with natural gas turbines. It could shape the industry’s future.”)
- A new law allows judges to seal criminal records, but the process is complex
- Williams: Being a city ‘on the rise’ is risky business
- Charlottesville appoints James Walker to head up Office of Police Civilian Oversight
- Woman, child taken to hospital after driver struck stand at Fairfax Farmers’ Market
- DC-area forecast: Comfortable sunshine today. A bit hotter with increasing storm chances early week.
