by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, November 17.
- A Loss and Damage Fund Is Taking Shape at COP Climate Talks
- Dengue fever spiked to record levels in 2024: Climate change will make it even worse
- Human rights groups raise alarm on crackdown by COP29 hosts
- Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid in biggest missile strike in months, officials say (“Blasts heard in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Black Sea port of Odesa as Poland scrambles fighter jets as a precaution”)
- Russia launches ‘massive’ missile and drone attack on Ukraine energy
- Russia grinds deeper into Ukraine after 1,000 days of grueling war
- Russia’s soldiers bringing wartime violence back home
- Russia pounds Ukraine’s power grid in ‘massive’ air strike (Just a reminder that NATO was supposed to have provided Ukraine with security guarantees in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. What ever happened to that???)
- Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China
- Xi Says China Is Ready to Work With Trump to Boost Relations (“China’s leader warns against starting a ‘new Cold War’”)
- During meeting with Biden, China’s Xi cautions the U.S. to ‘make the wise choice’ to keep relations stable
- Biden’s final meeting with Xi Jinping reaps agreement on AI and nukes
- Why Trump’s Space for Deal-Making in the Middle East Has Shrunk
- Dozens killed and wounded in Israeli strikes across Gaza, medics and Hamas media say
- Rightwing settlers in Israel welcome ‘dream team’ of Trump and his hardline appointments (“Palestinian groups shocked by US president-elect’s favouring of outspoken supporters of far-right activists in the region” Why would they be “shocked?” This is EXACTLY what we all should have known – and many of us DID know – Trump would do!)
- Pope Francis calls for investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute ‘genocide’
- American Kakistocracy (“Italy knows a thing or two about what the United States faces—but there are key differences between the two countries’ experiences.”)
- Trump Allies Were Told to Stop Saying They’ll Put Migrants in ‘Camps’
- Trump Boosters Expect Big Returns on Their Investment: ‘The Shackles Are Off’ (“Wealthy donors to the president-elect’s campaign anticipate a more business-friendly atmosphere, including the firing of Biden-era regulators.”)
- Donald Trump’s Team Of Rejects Will Lead Us To Disaster
- Donald Trump’s Cabinet of Wonders (“The President-elect’s nominations look like the most flagrant act of vindictive trolling since the rise of the Internet. But it is a trolling beyond mischief.”)
- Trump may start his second term with a stunning power grab (“Could Trump force the Senate into recess — and then appoint whoever he wanted to the government?”)
- Enough (“We would like to believe that many of the ideas on Mr. Trump’s demented wish list won’t actually come to fruition and that our democracy can once more withstand the new president and the people with whom he surrounds himself. But that is just desperate, wishful thinking. As of yet, there is nothing that will break the iron grip Mr. Trump has on his base, and Vice President-elect JD Vance is young enough to carry the mantle going forward for political cycles to come. Absolutely anything is possible, and we must acknowledge this, not out of surrender, but as a means of readying ourselves for the impossible fights ahead.”)
- The ‘team of vipers’ is back (“Cliff Sims wrote the definitive tale of Trump administration infighting. He’s back, and fangs are out.”)
- When Will Democrats Learn to Say No? (“Achieving a supermajority means declaring independence from liberal and progressive interest groups that prevent Democrats from thinking clearly about how to win. Collectively, these groups impose the rigid mores and vocabulary of college-educated elites, placing a hard ceiling on Democrats’ appeal and fatally wounding them in the places they need to win not just to take back the White House, but to have a prayer in the Senate…Ruthlessly prioritizing winning will make the groups mad, and that’s OK — in fact, it will be good for them. Groups have become too accustomed to enjoying access without holding themselves accountable.”)
- DOJ and FBI officials reach out to lawyers as potential Trump revenge prosecutions loom
- Anxiety And Dismay Inside The Justice Department After Trump Taps Gaetz As Attorney General
- Trump is determined to see Gaetz as AG despite unease (This is an example of the media failing – using the phrase “despite unease” instead of “despite the fact that Gaetz is an appalling pick,” etc.)
- Trump won. The celebrations started. Then the trouble began.
- As Trump’s plans become clearer, reject these four dangerous ideas (Trump’s “picks are meant to do two things: show his iron-grip control over the Senate; and sow chaos and despair in the non-MAGA members of the American public.”)
- Bessent, Lutnick in Final Push for Trump Treasury Secretary Pick
- Defense pick Hegseth paid accuser but denies sexual assault, attorney says (“Documents obtained by The Post provide extensive detail about allegation and the response by Trump’s defense secretary pick.”)
- Trump transition team compiling list of current and former U.S. military officers for possible courts-martial (“All of the officers were involved in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which independent reviews have blamed on both the Trump and Biden administrations.”)
- Democratic leaders across US work to lead resistance against Trump’s agenda (“Democrats from California to Illinois prepare to ‘Trump-proof’ and ‘fight to death’ against his extreme proposals”)
- Trump picks fracking firm CEO Chris Wright to be energy secretary (Another horrendous pick.)
- Trump taps oil executive Chris Wright as Energy secretary
- Jay Bhattacharya, an NIH critic, emerges as a top candidate to lead the agency (“The Stanford physician was excoriated by NIH’s director in 2020 for his ‘fringe’ ideas on covid. Four years later, he’s poised for power in Trump’s Washington.”)
- Trump, Musk and new cabinet nominees celebrate at UFC (“Two of Trump’s key cabinet picks, Robert F Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard, plus Vivek Ramaswamy, who will lead Trump’s cost-cutting “Department of Government Efficiency” with Musk, were also in the crowd.” Dystopia.)
- Kamala Harris raised $1 billion-plus in defeat. She’s still sending persistent appeals to donors
- Sherrod Brown Has Some Advice for His Reeling Party (“To draw workers back to the Democratic fold requires telling a better story about what the party has accomplished for them.”)
- Tesla Has the Highest Fatal Accident Rate of All Auto Brands, Study Finds
- Editor-in-chief of Scientific American steps down after anti-Trump comments (“The magazine’s top editor wrote several profanity-laced social media posts about the results of the election”)
- Musk appears to pressure Trump on Cabinet and tariffs, raising eyebrows
- Alex Jones Is Trying to Halt the Sale of Infowars. Elon Musk’s X Just Got Involved in the Case (“At an emergency hearing this week, lawyers for the social media company appeared. They haven’t explained why.”)
- BREAKING: Del. Kannan Srinivasan Wins Democratic Nomination for Upcoming (1/7/25) Virginia SD32 Special Election (SD32 Republicans also selected their nominee, with <1/3 the votes cast as for the Democratic nomination.)
- Video: Meet the Six Democrats Running for the SD32 Nomination Today (From 9 am to 4 pm in Loudoun County) (The candidates are Del. Kannan Srinivasan, former Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj, Sree NagiReddi, Puja Khanna, Hurunnessa Fariad and former VA Del. Ibraheem Samirah.)
- Democrat Srinivasan, Republican Harding to face off for Loudoun Senate seat
- Tumay Harding, Kannan Srinivasan to face off in VA Senate District 32 special election
- Commentary: Richmond didn’t get ‘fleeced’ in failed real estate deal. VCU Health did
- Despite methodology differences, Richmond mayor stands by new City Hall review
- UVa student says he was bullied for being Jewish before his housemate pulled a gun on him (WTF???)
- Arlington Adopts Adaptive Reuse Policy to Transform Office Vacancy
- Virginia Tech board to consider curriculum adds and an elimination
- D.C.-area forecast: Staying mild through midweek. Some rain possible late Wednesday.
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
