Thursday (7/2) News: “Brutal Heat Wave”=Climate Crisis; “Anti-George-Washington” Trump “Laughing All the Way to the Crypto Bank” – “Medieval Court”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise (economic, environmental, etc.) for Thursday, July 2.

INTERNATIONAL

• Ocean surface temperatures hit record high as world enters ‘uncharted territory,’ scientists warn (“The planet is warming because we’re emitting vast quantities of greenhouse gases, primarily from fossil fuel burning”)
• Scientists fear seabird die-off as El Niño looms: ‘We don’t know how bad this will get’ (“Many seabirds are starving to death as a marine heat wave lingers off California and fish seek deeper, cooler waters”)
• We Need to Retrofit the Planet. The Heat Wave Proves It.
• Understanding Ebola’s wildlife origins is crucial to preventing next big outbrea (“If we don’t know the source, not only do humans remain at risk but wildlife can suffer needlessly via retaliation”)
• Rights of Nature Laws Are Coming Up Against Legal Systems Designed for Destruction (“Landmark court rulings in Colombia and Bangladesh gave rivers a voice, but a new report says deep-seated issues are blocking transformational change.”)
• Seafood Industry Giants Failing to Tackle Pollution, New Study Finds (“More farmed salmon will not necessarily bring better food security, say researchers.”)
• U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Killed People. That’s the Truth.
• Renewables generated 45.5% of EU electricity in Q1 2026 (“Data released by Eurostat finds EU solar generated 58.8 TWh of electricity during the first three months of the year, up on the 55.3 TWh generated during the first quarter of last year.”)
• Net-zero champion Europe snared by climate change on its doorstep
• Russia ‘mounted drone surveillance of European nuclear sites over 18 months’
• Putin Is Slipping Into Delusion (“The Russian dictator remains obsessed with his war in Ukraine but doesn’t seem to comprehend how badly it’s going.”)
• Troop Casualties in Ukraine War Top 2 Million, Study Finds (“Russia has borne the heavier toll, with 1.4 million troops killed or wounded since it invaded in February 2022.”)
• At least 18 killed in ‘most massive’ Russian attack on Kyiv
• Trump Pledged No Forever Wars. Now He Risks Forever Talks With Iran. (“Tehran has well-worn playbook for putting off concessions that cross its redlines”)
• US-Iran talks conclude in Doha, focused on Strait of Hormuz
• Navy helicopter makes emergency landing in Arabian Sea, one crew missing
• Albania warned EU accession at risk over Jared Kushner-backed resort plans
• Vatican declares ultraconservative society in schism, excommunicates bishops and warns faithful
• One in 17 Australian homes now has a solar battery, as rebate installs pass 450,000 at one-year mark (We are so far behind in this country.)
• Trump declines to renew major trade deal with Canada, Mexico

NATIONAL

• Immigrant Arrests Surge to 10,000 in 5 Days as ICE Clamps Down (“The agency has doubled its daily arrest numbers without the fanfare of last year’s large urban operations, sowing fear in immigrant communities.”)
• Justice Barrett faces conservative ire, sexist attacks after birthright citizenship ruling
• Punishing heat wave peaks as East Coast readies for sweltering July 4 weekend (Definitely the climate crisis in action.)
• Live Updates: Brutal Heat Wave Broils Eastern U.S.
• The Supreme Court Is Gaslighting America About Its Own Legitimacy. Here Are The Receipts. (This Court is completely illegitimate, and anyone who pretends it IS legitimate is completely full of shit.)
• The Supreme Court hands Trump — and itself — more power
• Ruling on Trans Athletes Gave the G.O.P. a Win. Most Democrats Looked the Other Way.
• Judge Blocks Postal Service From Imposing Restrictions on Mail-In Ballots (“The ruling, based on agreements the service made in a 2021 legal settlement, was the second time a judge has blocked new curbs by President Trump on voting by mail.”)
• Trump Made $1 Billion on Crypto Deals While His Fans Lost a Fortune (“Roughly two-thirds of investors in the president’s memecoin are currently in the red”)
• Trump Is Laughing All the Way to the Crypto Bank
• Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto disclosure (“The White House insists there’s no conflict of interest as Trump reports $1.4 billion in income from an industry he’s deregulated.”)
• Crypto Brought Trump a Huge Windfall, Even as Many Investors Lost Big/a> (“President Trump and his family reaped vast financial rewards from a memecoin that generated losses for hundreds of thousands of investors.”)
• The Key Ways Trump’s Financial Interests Intersect With Government Policy (“President Trump’s business holdings, which garnered him more than $2 billion last year, create potential conflicts of interest surpassing any predecessor.”)
• Does Trump Worry About Conflicts of Interest? ‘I Found Out That Nobody Cared.’ (“American presidents have generally tried to avoid appearing to profit from the office. President Trump has chosen a different path.”)
• The Guardian view on Trump’s wealth and power: a medieval court wreaks havoc in the 21st century (“Supreme court rulings, and revelations of the president’s enrichment since his return to office, show that he has turned back the clock”)
• Soaring revenue at Mar-a-Lago shows how Trump’s business interests and politics intersect
• The Presidency Is Making Trump Exponentially Richer
• Trump accused of ‘disgusting’ greed after being paid over $2bn since return to office
• Trump Bought Hundreds of Stocks the Day Before He Paused Tariffs and Sparked a Historic Rally
• Kleptocracy Is Trump’s Most Lucrative Business Venture (“His investments make money even when his ventures fail!”)
• The GOP’s dirty little secret about the SAVE America Act (“The president is demanding the inclusion of mail-voting restrictions that are highly unpopular among some Republicans.”)
• The GOP confronts its lost summer
• Capitol agenda: House floor freezes ove
• Promising Much to Many, Johnson Loses His Grip on the House (“Republicans are growing frustrated with Mr. Johnson’s approach to governing with a razor-thin majority, saying that he promises more than he can achieve, frustrating the disparate groups in his caucus.”)
• Retired military leaders back 18 governors over National Guard refusal
• Williams: America’s ideal is worth celebrating. Its reality, not so much.
• Trump hijacked US’s 250 anniversary to serve ‘political ideology and pet projects’, congressional report says
• America Rings In its 250th, With Rifts Aplenty
• How Trump Has Become the Anti-George Washington (“As the United States celebrates a historical milestone, somehow we have managed to empower the absolute worst person possible to lead us.”)
• Trump takes first flight on Qatar-gifted Air Force One amid criticism (WILDLY corrupt.)
• Republican Senate Candidates Start Their Own Super PACs to Gain Cash Advantage
• The Many Ways Trump Is Trying to Tip the Scales for the Midterms (“President Trump is using the powers of his office to try to reshape the rules governing the midterms and future elections.”)
• Don’t Let the Supreme Court’s Big Decision Fool You. Trump Is Still a Threat to Mail Ballots.
• Democrats come under attack from within: ‘Horrible time to be an incumbent’
• There’s Nothing Democratic About These Socialists (“The DSA was formed in opposition to the very thing it has become.”)
• There Are Very Few Socialists in America (“But most of us are social democrats”)
• Something Is Happening in the Democratic Base (“Voters are over moderates and incumbents.”)
• The Colorado GOP Is Dangerously Close to Nominating a Guy Who Claims He Performed Exorcisms by Phone to Run for Governor (“The Republican party is in need of serious help.”)
• The Left Wins in Colorado—and It’s Not Because of Gaza or Socialism (“What the insurgent wave in Democratic primaries really proves is this: It’s no longer enough to be a liberal who votes the right way most of the time.”)
• How Once-Red Colorado Became Fertile Ground for Democratic Socialists (“Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old Democratic socialist, capitalized on the state’s leftward turn and voter dissatisfaction with incumbents”)
• Fox News Poll: An early look at the Georgia Senate race (“The Fox News survey, released Wednesday, finds Ossoff receives 56% support from Georgia registered voters compared to 43% for Collins.”)
• Fox News Poll: A close Senate contest is brewing in Iowa (“As it stands, Democrat Josh Turek has an early 4-point advantage over Republican Ashley Hinson: 50% vs. 46%.”)
• Colorado Governor Fires Officials Who Opposed Freeing Election Denier (Jared Polis is a disgrace.)
• New Jersey lawmakers send data center tariff bill to governor (“The bill applies to new and existing data centers of at least 50 MW and aims to shield other ratepayers from costs associated with the AI boom.”)
• Paramedics responded to a ‘cardiac arrest’ at Mitch McConnell’s home on day of hospitalization (“McConnell’s office hasn’t disclosed why the former Senate majority leader was hospitalized on June 14.”)
• Trump’s Renovation Turns the Reflecting Pool Literally Toxic (“The contractor that the Trump administration hired used products by the popular truck bed coating company Rhino Linings, according to the company’s website. But a closer examination of the materials used indicates that they could cause serious harm to the local wildlife that frequent the 6.5-million gallon basin.”)
• Trump sees bond with ‘great he-man’ Theodore Roosevelt at lavish library opening (Definitely not.)
• New Orleans residents on warning to abandon sinking city: ‘Nobody wants to leave home’ (“After a recent study found New Orleans is at a ‘point of no return’ amid the climate crisis, some locals say they will ‘only leave if forced to’. But what would it take to stay?”)
• Washington Is Fenced In for the 4th as Trump ‘Beautifies’ the Capital (“President Trump seems to have turned swaths of the city into either a construction zone or an armed camp as he seeks to prove that he alone can improve it.”)
• Fireworks on Mall likely to cause hazardous air pollution, documents show (“Internal National Park Service modeling for the July Fourth show predicts dangerous pollution around the Mall and ‘very unhealthy’ conditions across central D.C.”)
• Metro, DC leaders lay out more details on transit at new Commanders stadium
• Team USA Survives With 10 Men to Keep Its Historic World Cup Run Alive (“Despite a second-half red card, the Americans sank Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 to win their first World Cup knockout game in 24 years”)

VIRGINIA

• Warner visits hospital just weeks after it was labeled “at risk” of closure
• Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says Hakeem Jeffries Is “an exceptionally strong leader”; Mike Johnson Faces “a rebellion in his own ranks”; “no evidence that Bill Clinton ever went to [Epstein’s] island” (Walkinshaw also comments on the Supreme Court’s latest rulings)
• New Virginia Laws Take Effect July 1, Delivering Lower Costs and Creating Greater Affordability for Virginians Across the Commonwealth
• Hours After Virginia “first assault weapons ban in the South” Goes Into Effect, Author Dan Helmer Responds to “Outrageous Trump Administration Action” in Suing to Block It (“…we are not going to cave to an authoritarian regime that chooses profits over innocent lives”)
• Federal government sues Virginia over assault weapons ban
• Ryan-killer Harmeet Dhillon leading Trump DOJ effort to gut Virginia assault weapons ban
• Could the DC region’s newest convention center be in Tysons?
• In rural Southwest Virginia, some women travel over an hour to give birth
• Danville schools released from state oversight amid improved results
• City Council could weigh referendum to establish new tax to fund school construction
• Questions linger as Richmond’s Code Refresh nears final stages (“The initiative, known as Code Refresh, is a citywide overhaul of 1970s-era zoning rules that determine what can be built, where it goes and how much housing is allowed in different parts of the city. The refresh aims to bring zoning up to speed with the city’s vision for the future and adapt land use rules to better reflect how Richmonders already live. After years of public input and two revision rounds, the process is now approaching a critical point: the release of a third draft, expected in mid-July.”)
• Municipal report: Former Martinsville city manager fired for issues from hiring practices to fiscal irregularities to conflicts of interest
• DC-area forecast: Brutal heat peaks today through Independence Day