by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, May 1.
- Arctic plant study reveals an ‘early warning sign’ of climate change upheaval (Just a reminder that The Guardian has MUH better coverage of climate, as well as US politics and pretty much everything else, compared to most US media)
- Opinion | Climate Change Urgency Has Declined. The Green Transition Hasn’t. (Climate change urgency should be INCREASING – a LOT!)
- UK banks put £75bn into firms building climate-wrecking ‘carbon bombs’, study finds
- Solar panels to be fitted on all new-build homes in England by 2027 (“Government to press ahead with net zero plans as Keir Starmer rejects Tony Blair’s criticisms of climate policy”)
- US and Ukraine sign minerals deal that solidifies investment in Kyiv’s defense against Russia (“Move seals a deal to create a fund the Trump administration says will begin to repay roughly $175bn provided to Ukraine”)
- Seven takeaways from US-Ukraine resources deal (“The language used by the US in announcing the deal is notably harsher towards Russia than is usually the case from the Trump administration.”)
- Trump Ally Lindsey Graham Pushes Russia Crackdown (“South Carolina senator builds support for new sanctions on Moscow and tariffs on countries that buy Russia’s oil”)
- Ukraine and U.S. Sign Economic and Reconstruction Deal
- US and Ukraine Sign Resources Deal After Tense Negotiations
- ‘Bumbling f-king idiot’ Steve Witkoff shouldn’t be leading Iran, Russia negotiations, allies and insiders say
- China’s Export Orders Plunge, Hit by Trump’s Trade War
- New Mideast Project Is Latest Trump Company Deal Tied to a Foreign Government (Sure sounds corrupt!)
- Iran had imperial ambitions in Syria. Secret embassy papers show why it failed
- Rwanda responds warmly to Trump request to take noncitizen deportees
- Trump administration weighs sending migrants to Libya and Rwanda, sources say (WTF???)
- Behind Trump’s Deal to Deport Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Most Feared Prison
- Trump says he ‘could’ bring Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador, but won’t (So, Trump *is* defying the US Supreme Court now. Which means we ARE in a constitutional crisis, RIGHT NOW. Why isn’t everyone acting like it???)
- Trump officials must report efforts, if any, to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, judge rules
- El Salvador Is Said to Have Spurned U.S. Request for Return of Deported Migrant
- Schrödinger’s Detainees (“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is one of hundreds of prisoners in El Salvador who have been denied their day in court.”)
- Mohsen Mahdawi Has Been Released from Federal Custody (“To President Trump and his cabinet: I am not afraid of you.”)
- Trump struggles to explain weak economic data as he reaches 100-day mark
- Trump’s tariffs: ‘It feels like Covid 2.0. So many things are getting disrupted’
- US is weeks away from pandemic-like supply chain disruptions from tariffs (“Some of the last cargo ships carrying Chinese goods without crippling tariffs are currently drifting into US ports”)
- Trump Says Kids May Just Have To Live With Fewer Toys Because Of His Tariffs (“Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30”)
- Trump on possible toy shortage: “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30”
- Senate GOP leaders succeed in protecting Trump tariffs
- GM Lowers Guidance as Trump Tariffs Will Cost Up to $5 Billion
- Trump ran on boosting prosperity. Now an economic bust looms.
- Trump’s bubble of economic unreality is coming close to bursting
- Fox spins economic contraction under Trump: “Some might say that wasn’t as big a drop as anticipated”
- A Flashing Economic Warning and a Sharp Political Jolt
- Why is the economy shrinking? (“Three columnists discuss a GDP report that revealed the economy contracted in the first quarter of 2025.”)
- RFK Jr.’s HHS Orders Lab Studying Deadly Infectious Diseases to Stop Research (“NIAID’s Integrated Research Facility is one of the few federal facilities charged with studying Ebola. Tuesday afternoon, all of its work was put on indefinite pause by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s department.” INSANE.)
- RFK Jr. will order ‘placebo’ testing for new vaccines, alarming health experts
- The little-known database at the heart of Kennedy’s vaccine conspiracy theory
- RFK Jr. will require shift in how new vaccines are tested, HHS says
- NIH cancels participation in Safe to Sleep campaign that decreased infant deaths (RFK Jr. is an unmitigated DISASTER.)
- RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory (RFK Jr. is completely insane.)
- RFK Jr. Goes Full Tinfoil, Pledges to Stop Chemtrails in Latest Dr. Phil Interview
- RFK Jr. Sat Down with Dr. Phil For a Conversation That Was Completely Detached from Reality (“The HHS Secretary used the magic phrase that has murdered science in this century: ‘Do your own research.'”)
- John Roberts wrote three cases dissolving the separation of church and state. Will he take another leap of faith?
- The religious right is headed toward a revolutionary victory in the Supreme Court (This court SUCKS.)
- The Supreme Court Seems to Think the Separation of Church and State Is Anti-Catholic Bigotry (These people are unAmerican fanatics/theocrats.)
- ‘A ruthless agenda’: charting 100 days of Trump’s onslaught on the environment
- Trump’s first 100 days will require a second Reconstruction
- 12 Most Painfully Sycophantic Comments From Trump’s ‘Kim Jong Il-Style’ Cabinet Meeting
- Lovefest or Cabinet meeting? For Donald Trump, it’s both (Vomit-inducing.)
- House Republicans advance plan to cut federal worker benefits and undermine civil service protections (Horrible.)
- As Musk steps back, DOGE looks to Congress to finish what it started
- Move fast and destroy things: 100 chaotic days of Elon Musk in the White House (“From mass firings to unprecedented influence, Musk has left little of the federal government untouched in Doge role)
- DOGE Put a College Student in Charge of Using AI to Rewrite Regulations (Utter insanity.)
- DOGE hits Trump country
- Trump is losing (“His administration is great at breaking things — but they’re failing in their bigger goal.”)
- Johnson fails to solve SALT problem after key meeting
- The GOP plan to fund Trump’s agenda is running into a major roadblock: Trump
- Majority of public opposes GOP plan for Medicaid cuts: Poll
- Republicans hit early snags as they start crafting a massive bill for Trump’s agenda
- Some Good News: Americans Are Rejecting Trumpism (“Despair isn’t useful, but polls are: Donald Trump’s dismal recent numbers are a bright light in dark times, and point to a shifting tide.”)
- Democrats are all but done with Trump impeachment talk
- FEC Commissioners Begin a De Facto Shutdown with a Warning for Congress (“The Federal Election Commission is about to lose its quorum for high-level business.”)
- Musk, Tesla chair slam report saying its board wants to replace him as CEO
- Tesla Board Opened Search for a CEO to Succeed Elon Musk
- Johnson meets with Stefanik after ambassador blowup
- AOC says she is ‘weighing’ a bid to lead House Oversight Democrats
- Kamala Harris says ‘courage is contagious’ in major speech excoriating Trump
- The loss of editorial freedom at 60 Minutes is a sorry milestone for US media
- Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Speaks on US Senate Floor in Advance of Vote on His Legislation to End Trump’s Global Tariffs (“The Constitution of the United States puts two powers clearly … within the hands of Congress: the power to tax and the power to conduct trade policy, including the imposition of tariffs”)
- Here we go again: Kaine, Warner vote to confirm another Trump nominee (“Virginia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both voted on Tuesday to confirm a 2020 election denier, David Perdue, to be the Trump administration ambassador to China. I’m with you. What the hell?”)
- Video: Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA09) Says He Hopes “Somebody’s Doing Polling,” Because at This Point “it would be very very difficult for [John Reid] to be able to win the race” (Also: “it was only after the press had the pictures, that the second phone call was made where the governor then made a stronger request that [Reid] leave the race.”)
- Virginia congressmen dispute future cuts to Medicaid
- ‘Lagging’ forecast for Virginia’s economy as feds point to shrinking GDP (“Recent data from the Richmond Fed also points to slowing sectors.”)
- National ranking shows despite hike, Virginia teachers’ pay is stagnant compared to other states
- Meals on Wheels in Virginia doesn’t deserve federal funding uncertainty
- At least $100 million in research grants cut from universities across Virginia (Trump/Musk insanity.)
- Abigail Spanberger: “President Trump and Republican Lawmakers Are Willfully Threatening Virginians’ Access to Care by Putting Medicaid Funding in the Crosshairs” (“As the next Governor of Virginia, I will always stand up to extreme politicians who are content to rip away healthcare from hundreds of thousands of our neighbors”)
- Throughout Trump’s First 100 Days, Winsome Earle-Sears Cheered on Trump’s Devastating Agenda Instead of Fighting for Virginians (Earle-Sears: “I’m supporting what the President is doing.”)
- Day #6 of the VA GOP’s Bitter Civil War: Youngkin, Earle-Sears Appear to Throw in the Towel; WaPo Columnist Wonders If “bigotry trumps ideology in the Republican Party” (Meanwhile, Rs call for ouster of Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC)
- Top Youngkin strategist breaks silence, denies Reid’s extortion claims as GOP feud continues
- At packed Henrico rally, John Reid blasts ‘Richmond swamp’
- Youngkin senior adviser denies Reid’s allegation of extortion
- Youngkin aide defends against extortion claim by Lt. Gov. nominee (“Matthew Moran, executive director of Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC, issued a sworn affadavit against claims he tried to extort GOP nominee John Reid.”)
- Is it over? 8 more things to know about the John Reid controversy. (“The bid to push the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor off the ticket appears to have come to an end, but questions about Republican unity linger.”)
- Reid rallies supporters amid controversy, calls for GOP unity
- Youngkin advisor hits back at Republican LG nominee over extortion claims
- Williams: When Virginia’s GOP trips over its own DEI (“John Reid is gobsmacked that the leopard attempted to eat his face.”)
- How will Youngkin act on parental notification bill after lawmakers rejected his amendment?
- Second Danville battery system will save utility customers millions, officials say
- Local protest rallies set for May Day in Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington
- Charlottesville schools to get $19.6 million federal property at no charge
- CWG Live updates: A warm welcome to May with shower chances late
