by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, December 26.
- 2024 Was The Year Of Floods; Expect Climate Crisis To Continue
- Russia: It’s up to Trump team to make first move to improve ties (Screw that!)
- Why Trump’s Promise to End Russia’s War Worries Ukraine
- Russia Attacks Ukraine Energy Network in Christmas Assault (Evil.)
- Russia arrests 4 suspects accused of plotting to kill top military officers on Ukraine’s orders
- Russia says it’s using bitcoin to evade sanctions
- Biden pledges more U.S. arms to Ukraine after Russia’s Christmas attack
- Russia-Ukraine war live: Ukraine claims it struck military facility in Russia
- Kazakhstan’s senate chief: cause of Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash unknown for now (Putin’s Russia is definitely a suspect.)
- Azerbaijan observes day of mourning for air crash victims as speculation mount about its cause
- President Aliyev launches criminal probe into Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash
- Dozens Dead in Airliner Crash ‘Likely’ Caused by Russian Air Defenses
- Russia seeks to play down speculation over Azerbaijan Airlines crash
- Ceremonies held across Asia to mark 20 years since the Boxing Day tsunami (“The waves, which towered as high as 30 metres, killed more than 220,000 people in 15 countries in the deadliest tsunami in history”)
- South Korea opposition plans vote to impeach acting President Han (“The opposition Democratic Party had threatened to impeach Han if he did not immediately appoint three justices to fill the vacancies at the Constitutional Court. Parliament backed three nominees on Thursday, but Han has yet to formally appoint them.”)
- China Ousts Two Military Lawmakers as Xi’s Defense Purge Widens
- Israeli strike kills 5 Palestinian journalists in Gaza, officials say
- Israel Loosened Its Rules to Bomb Hamas Fighters, Killing Many More Civilians (Why even have rules if you can just “loosen” them whenever you like?)
- Deadly Ambush, Protests Challenge Syrian Leaders’ New Power (“After a period of celebration over the fall of the Assad regime, old sectarian and political divisions have reasserted themselves.”)
- Assad loyalists kill 14 in clash with Syria’s new ruling forces (“The clash took place with supporters of the ousted leader in Tartous, a stronghold of his Alawite sect.”)
- Trump Trolls Canada With NHL Legend as ‘Governor’ Idea
- Trump Threatens to Take Over Canada, Panama Canal, Greenland in Christmas Day Message
- Accusations of genocide. Charges of corruption. Improbably, Netanyahu had a good year
- Israelis See Chance to Remake Middle East in War’s Wake
- America’s Big Natural-Gas Footprint Is About to Get Even Bigger
- Bald eagle officially declared US national bird after 250 years
- What Judges Can Do for the Rule of Law Under Trump
- Companies Are Scrambling to Fund Trump’s Inauguration. He’s Keeping Track
- What if Trump Does Everything He’s Promised—and the People Don’t Care? (“A combination of factors—fear for some, exhaustion for others, resignation for others—may push many activists to the sidelines, limiting our capacity to slow down and eventually defeat Trumpism. Apathy would play a role in that. The reality is that life will go on as usual for most people during the Trump administration. Most people won’t be targeted by DOJ, the FBI, or the IRS”)
- Democracy Is No Bulwark Against Oligarchy (“That’s the lesson of 2024, and John Adams thought about it a lot.”)
- Trump’s Tariff Plan to Hit Affordable Cars the Hardest (“The U.S. car industry has a ‘big case of anxiety’ about the president-elect’s proposed 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada.”)
- Trump and his allies say the GOP is the party of free speech. Their actions say otherwise.
- Trump’s top border adviser says he will bring back family detention
- Trump’s first day frenzy (“President-elect Trump is setting the stage for an explosive first day in office: pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, a vacuum sealing of the southern border and a massive regulatory rollback affecting vast swathes of the American economy.”)
- Trump surrounds himself with a tight-knit group of right-wing tech barons (Actually FAR-right-wing tech barons. Nightmare.)
- A Reflective Biden Harbors Some Regrets as His Term Winds Down
- Why did Bidenomics fail to deliver at the polls? (“Sound ideas, poorly targeted.”)
- Conspiracy theory is the new normal: 2024 was the year QAnon went mainstream (“The single biggest reason Trump won? The median voter ignores real news to consume endless disinformation”)
- Trump, GOP zero in on Liz Cheney as potential target (This is the complete OPPOSITE of the rule of law.)
- Jack Smith’s Team Is Already Preparing for Trump’s ‘Retribution’ (“Trump has pledged to use the Justice Department and FBI to go after his enemies. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team is getting ready”)
- Mark Zuckerberg and Meta got a big win. They have the House GOP to thank. (“The billionaire and his company needed Speaker Mike Johnson’s help to stop legislation that would have regulated social media for the first time.”)
- At CNN, lower TV ratings and heightened anxieties about what’s ahead (CNN is a joke.)
- Bird flu kills 20 big cats at Washington wildlife sanctuary (UGH.)
- Spanberger faces reckoning with left in bid for Va. governor (The article itself provides no evidence whatsoever, other than some quotes from the usual suspects – mainly GMU Professor Mark Rozell, who loves bashing Democrats – that Spanberger actually “faces reckoning with left”)
- How Virginia plays into the history of campaign finance laws (“The Master Plan podcast examines Associate Justice Lewis Powell Jr. and ex-Gov. Bob McDonnell.”)
- As he enters his final year as governor, what will Glenn Youngkin’s legacy be? (Other than a quote from Jim Gilmore – who cares what he thinks? and another from Doug Wilder, this extremely short/shallow article doesn’t actually examine what Glenn Youngkin’s legacy will be. Lame.)
- Roanoke Mayor-Elect Cobb discusses zoning, crime, and working with new City Council members
- Then & Now: Monument to Black Union soldiers finds a home in Rocky Mount
- Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney reflects on the city’s declining poverty
- D.C. area forecast and updates: Still cold through tomorrow, then a warmer weekend with rain at times
