by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, April 17.
- Half the World’s People Depend on Rice. New Research Says Climate Change Will Make it Toxic
- Bibles, bullets and beef: Amazon cowboy culture at odds with Brazil’s climate goals
- Climate Change Threatens World’s Supply of Blood, Study Warns
- Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet (Interesting, maybe Musk should get on one of his rockets and go check it out! LOL)
- How Russia is seizing Ukrainian homes in Mariupol
- Trump Is Helping Putin Kill Ukrainians (“The USA Is Running Down Ukrainian Air Defense in Coordination With Russia”)
- Exclusive: Moscow plans to use seized US-owned company to feed Russian army (“Canned food maker Glavprodukt, which was seized in October and is the only American-owned firm to be taken under state control, has been caught in the crosshairs.”)
- China’s Plan to Fight Trump’s Trade War (“A professor at M.I.T. on how Xi Jinping is likely to respond to U.S. tariffs and why the standoff won’t weaken the Chinese Communist Party’s grip on power.”)
- China Wants Countries to Unite Against Trump, but Is Met With Wariness
- Trump includes US troop costs in tariff talks with Asian allies
- Re-arm, reassure and spend big: how the Asia Pacific is responding to a new era under Trump (“The US president has upset global norms in the space of weeks, spurring a flurry of defence spending, diplomatic overtures and offers to boost trade”)
- Europe Seeks a Direct Line to Trump, Skeptical That Aides Speak for Him
- Italy’s Meloni heads to US with unlikely mission for Europe (“She will have to walk a tightrope between representing the interests of the EU and remaining in the US president’s good books.”)
- Canada party leaders grilled in election debate on how to tackle Trump
- A Depleted Hamas Is So Low on Cash That It Can’t Pay Its Fighters
- Postmortems of rescue workers killed in Gaza show ‘gunshots to head and torso’ (“Findings likely to increase pressure on Israel to give a full account of incident amid accusations of war crime”)
- Trump Waved Off Israeli Strike After Divisions Emerged in His Administration (“Israel developed plans for attacking Iranian nuclear facilities that would have required U.S. assistance. But some administration officials had doubts”)
- Iran Says Shifting U.S. Messages on Nuclear Talks Are ‘Not Helpful’
- Van Hollen speaks to press after meeting with El Salvador VP about return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia
- El Salvador denies senator visit with mistakenly deported man: Van Hollen
- Maryland Sen. Van Hollen meets with El Salvador’s vice president in push for Abrego Garcia’s release
- U.S. Senator Denied A Meeting With Kilmar Abrego Garcia In El Salvador
- Scoop: Another House Democrat seeks to go to El Salvador
- Judge finds “probable cause” the Trump admin is in contempt over March 15 flights
- Boasberg: Give Alien Enemies Act Detainees A Chance In Court Or Else Face Criminal Contempt
- Trump Is Sending People To The Camps (“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary and strong language. President Trump’s plan to have migrants — and potentially U.S. citizens — rounded up, flown to El Salvador, and confined there in a maximum security facility”)
- The Contempt of a Fascist Regime (“America is officially in a massive constitutional crisis as the Trump Administration defies court orders demanding the return of immigrants who were kidnapped and deported without due process. “)
- ICE agents smashed car window and seized Guatemalan man who’s seeking asylum, family says (Disgusting.)
- A Columbia Activist Sought Middle Ground on Gaza. The U.S. Detained Him.
- We’re About to Find Out What Mass Deportation Really Looks Like (“The Trump administration’s campaign to remove millions of people from the United States could soon be supercharged by Congress.”)
- The Kidnapping of Tufts University Student Rumeysa Ozturk Is Indefensible (“This is only slightly less odious than the case currently roiling up everything from Washington to San Salvador—and it begins with further evidence that Secretary of State Marco Rubio now has been reduced to a microbial carbon-based life-form.”)
- Right-wing media baselessly promoted claim that Tufts student was associated with Hamas — an internal State Department memo said otherwise
- The showdown between Trump and the courts just escalated (“Judges are threatening consequences if the administration keeps flouting their rulings.”)
- Powell Warns of ‘Challenging Scenario’ for Fed as Trade War Rages
- Trump Says Fed Chair Powell’s Termination Can’t Come Fast Enough (Trump appointed Powell, who is doing an excellent job!)
- Terrible Sign for Stock Market After Brutal Tariff Warning (“The head of the Federal Reserve and a senior analyst both had bleak outlooks on the economy.”)
- Manufacturing jobs are never coming back
- The Chamber decides against a lawsuit on Trump tariffs (“The influential business group is concerned that even if it successfully challenges tariffs imposed under an emergency law, the duties could be reapplied under another.” Pathetic.)
- Study: Most Pro-Trump podcasters support Trump’s tariffs but some fractures emerge
- Trump’s Tariff Madness Is About One Thing: His Thirst for One-Man Rule
- Destroying endangered species’ habitat wouldn’t count as ‘harm’ under proposed Trump rule (Completely insane.)
- NIH’s retiring top nutritionist accuses RFK-run agency of “censorship”
- Exclusive: US consumer safety agency to stop collecting swaths of data after CDC cuts (“The U.S. consumer product safety agency will stop collecting data on injuries from incidents like car accidents and adverse drug effects due to staff cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” Totally f’ed up.)
- CDC autism report disputes RFK Jr’s claims about why the condition is on the rise
- Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards (Pure misogyny and racism.)
- A deadly E. coli outbreak hit 15 states, but the FDA chose not to publicize it (“The outbreak linked to romaine lettuce killed one person and sickened at least 88 more, including a 9-year-old boy who nearly died of kidney failure.”)
- Leading Nutrition
- Internal budget document reveals extent of Trump’s proposed health cuts (“HHS would be asked to absorb a $40 billion cut, about one third of its discretionary budget.” That is INSANE!)
- Internal Trump administration document reveals massive budget cut proposal for federal health agencies
- Federal Workers Are Facing a New Reality (“The problem for government employees isn’t just low morale. It’s the manufactured chaos.”)
- Exclusive: Musk’s SpaceX is frontrunner to build Trump’s Golden Dome missile shield (WILDLY corrupt. Just imagine the reaction if Biden, Obama, Clinton, Harris, etc. had done ANYTHING like this!)
- Trump funding freeze upends agricultural research at US universities
- How the Radical Right Captured the Culture (“Blame Hollywood’s “unwokening” and the extraordinary rise of right-wing podcasters on slop: intellectually bereft, emotionally sterile content that’s shaped by data and optimized for clicks.”)
- How a “No-Scalps Policy” Is Shaping Trump’s Consequence-Free Second Term (“The more the media reports on the president’s norm busting and law flouting, the more he digs in. It’s already created an administration essentially immune to traditional accountability journalism.”)
- Trump exploiting antisemitism fears to undermine rule of law, warns Jewish coalition
- Federal judge calls Trump’s order targeting prominent law firm a ‘shocking abuse of power’
- Former Trump Official Targeted With Government Probe Vows to Fight (“Chris Krebs, the top cybersecurity official in Trump’s first term, resigned from his private-sector job”)
- Third top Pentagon official suspended in leak investigation (“Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, was suspended a day after two other political appointees were placed on leave.”)
- How the Establishment Is Helping Trump’s Revenge-a-thon (“And why we shouldn’t expect him to hold back anytime soon.”)
- Trump administration plans to end the IRS Direct File program for free tax filing, AP sources say (WTF???)
- Why Elon Musk installed his top lieutenants at a federal agency you probably haven’t heard of
- DOGE assigns staffers to work at agency where it allegedly removed sensitive data
- DOGE Cuts Pull AmeriCorps Volunteers Off of Disaster Relief Jobs (Crazy – and ILLEGAL.)
- Trump administration asks IRS to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status (WILDLY authoritarian behavior – also illegal.)
- DHS threatens to revoke Harvard’s eligibility to host international students unless it turns over disciplinary records (Also WILDLY authoritarian.)
- Trump’s freeze on $2.2B to Harvard provided no proof of wrongdoing
- Donald Trump calls Harvard a ‘joke’ and says it should be stripped of funds
- Ice cream, outlandish ideas and chasing girls: Inside the long relationship between Trump and Lutnick (Yuuuuck.)
- I Hate to Say This But DNC Vice Chair David Hogg’s New Maneuver Is Ill-Advised—and Worse-Timed
- Gavin Newsom Is Embracing MAGA While Suing Trump Over Tariffs (“The governor’s Trump tango is getting dicier by the day.”)
- Trump administration issues order to stop construction on New York offshore wind project (“The Trump administration issued an order Wednesday to stop construction on a major offshore wind project to power more than 500,000 New York homes, the latest in a series of moves targeting the industry.” Insanity.)
- Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says he hasn’t heard from Trump since the arson attack
- GOP Rep Says Arson On Shapiro’s House Should Make Him ‘Tone It Down’ On Trump (That is really sick by Dan Meuser.)
- FL Governor’s Former Spokesman Accused Of Exposing Himself 4 Times
- Musk’s baby machine: Inside his mission to spike the birth rate (Absolutely deranged.)
- Williams: Youngkin and Earle-Sears were all in on DEI – until they weren’t
- 1Q25 Fundraising Totals for Virginia Statewide, Other Offices
- Virginia Fundraising for Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General Dropped Over 40% in 1Q25 Compared to 1Q21. What Might Have Caused That?
- Here’s what finance reports reveal about Virginia’s busy election year (This is SO stupid by the WaPo: in fact, these totals, far from being “astronomical,” are down 40% or more from four years ago at this time. It’s almost like the corporate media needs to hype this sh*t in order to get people interested in reading their articles.)
- Democrats surge past Republicans in fundraising for targeted House seats
- Public utilities regulator hears proceedings on Dominion’s long-term energy plan
- Medicaid cuts will hurt Virginians
- Virginia Department of Health hit with $219M in federal cuts; eliminates 500 jobs
- Miyares co-signs letter urging congressional PBM reform as Youngkin weighs Virginia’s own efforts
- Rappahannock River included on national danger list
- Status of $20 million federal grant for Southwest Virginia programs is in limbo (“A group of Senate Democrats say the grant to the University of Virginia was included on a list of federal funding targeted for cancellation. The money would fund a community center, energy-efficiency improvements for child care centers and other projects in Southwest Virginia.”)
- Lily Franklin raises more money than all but one other House of Delegates candidate in the state (and that’s the speaker)
- Gov. Youngkin criticizes Richmond city in report on water system failure (Maybe the criticism is deserved, but the thing is, you certainly can’t believe a word pathological liar Youngkin has to say – on ANY subject.)
- Virginia scientists work to save salamander decimated by Hurricane Helene (“Eastern hellbenders were hard hit in Virginia when Helene struck in September 2024. Now wildlife experts are trying to save them.”)
- Editorial: Redacted UVa. shooting reports won’t help colleges improve safety
- Council proposes $21M in budget additions, but don’t identify who proposed changes
- VMI installs Youngkin ally as interim board president amid ongoing upheaval (“Gottwald has been a major donor to Youngkin’s political efforts and to the Spirit of VMI PAC, a group composed of alumni, parents and students that has pushed back against diversity reforms and called on supporters to ‘reject the woke assault on VMI.'” The phrase “woke assault” automatically labels this person as a right-wing nutjob.)
- Fairfax Co. police launches recruiting push targeting laid-off federal workers
- Staunton: Magistrate issues warrant in ‘rolling coal’ incident at April 5 protest
- Former Roanoke City Council candidate charged with election fraud
- CWG Live updates: Frosty chill gives way to mild sunshine; summery warmth on Saturday
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