Thursday News: “Mapped: Pro-Trump Heartland Institute’s European Network”; Trump’s Venezuela Tanker Seizure “sounds a lot like the beginning of a war”; “Trump still hasn’t endorsed a plan to avoid impending Obamacare hikes for millions”; “In 2025, Democrats Flipped 21 Percent of GOP-Held Legislative Seats”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, December 11.

• ‘Not normal’: Climate crisis supercharged deadly monsoon floods in Asia (“Cyclones like those in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia that killed 1,750 are ‘alarming new reality’”)
• Sea urchin species on brink of extinction after marine pandemic
• EU proposes loosening rules on AI gigafactories in green rollback (“Latest package in dismantling of environmental rules also suggests repealing hazardous chemicals database” WTF?)
• Europe’s world-first carbon tariff is coming. Here’s what to know. (“The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is part of a broader effort to decarbonize heavy industries in Europe and globally. It takes full effect Jan. 1.”)
• Mapped: Pro-Trump Heartland Institute’s European Network (“The U.S. climate science denial group is attempting to forge a global anti-green alliance.”)
• ‘Reflation is back’ says Deutsche Bank as global central banks diverge from Fed
• Meta shuts down global accounts linked to abortion advice and queer content (“More than 50 organisations report sites being restricted or removed, with abortion hotlines blocked and posts showing non-explicit nudity triggering warnings”)
• U.S. Blueprint to Rewire Economies of Russia, Ukraine Sets Off Clash With Europe (“Undisclosed appendices to peace proposals detail Trump’s plan to unlock frozen Russian funds and bring Moscow in from the cold.”)
• ‘She was very, very thin’: eyewitness sheds new light on Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna’s final days (“Soldier’s account corroborates reports Ukrainian journalist was transported to prison deep inside Russia, where it is believed she died”)
• Trump finally confirms using vulgar slur about several countries in 2018
• Venezuelan Nobel laureate Machado arrives in Oslo after 11 months in hiding
• Disguised and in Danger: How a Nobel Peace Prize Winner Escaped Venezuela (“María Corina Machado slipped through 10 military checkpoints to reach a fishing boat bound for Curaçao and a private jet.”)
• What Explains Trump’s Aggression Toward Venezuela? Who Knows. (“To better understand the president’s foreign policy, one must study the behavior of small children.”)
• Venezuela decries ‘act of piracy’ after US forces seize oil tanker off country’s coast (“Footage uploaded to X by US attorney general shows its forces landing on the tanker in major escalation of Trump’s pressure campaign”)
• US lawmakers voice concerns about Venezuelan tanker seizure: ‘sounds a lot like the beginning of a war’
• What Trump’s latest dramatic Venezuela move means (“US seizure of oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela is one of the most important twists yet in a military pressure campaign”)
• U.S. Steps Up Campaign Against Maduro in Seizing Tanker Off Venezuela (“The seizure comes as the United States builds up its forces in the Caribbean as part of a campaign against President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.”)
• US Seizes Sanctioned Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Venezuela
• Remember the Torture Memos? The Boat Strike Memos May Be Worse.
• How a U.S. admiral decided to kill two boat strike survivors (“The controversial order given by Adm. Frank Bradley is under scrutiny from Congress. Inside the most consequential deliberation of his career.”)
• ‘He’s going to be next’: Trump threatens Colombian president (Yep, Trump TOTALLY deserved that fake FIFA “peace prize”)
• Jared Kushner – and three Arab monarchies – are at the heart of the Paramount-WBD bid
• Hungary’s Orban says Trump strategy grasps Europe’s ‘civilisation-scale decline’ (Orban is horrible.)
• More than 30 dead after Myanmar military air strike hits hospital
• U.S. Moves to Drop Charges in International Soccer Corruption Case (“Hernán López, a former Fox executive, and an Argentine sports marketing company were convicted in 2023 of bribing officials to secure soccer broadcast rights.”)
• Foreign tourists could be required to disclose 5 years of social media histories under Trump administration plan (“The Customs and Border Protection proposal would apply to travelers from more than 40 countries.” Crazy.)
• Trump admin reveals new militarized zone plan for California-Mexico border
• Trump administration separates thousands of migrant families in the US
• Trump launches $1m ‘gold card’ immigration visas
• Inside Kristi Noem’s bitter feud with Trump’s border czar (“The acrimony is so deep between President Trump’s border czar and his homeland security secretary that the two officials barely speak to or meet with each other, insiders tell Axios.”)
• A Year of Hell for Immigrants (“In the first Trump administration, cruelty was the point. Now, it is the norm.”)
• John Roberts’s Dream Is Finally Coming True (“The chief justice has been working to neuter the Voting Rights Act since the beginning of his career.” EVIL.)
• Judge Emil Bove Faces Ethics Complaint for Attending Trump Rally
• ‘Silent Dissents’ Reveal Growing Fed Resistance to Powell’s Cuts (“A slew of finer details from the meeting revealed just how divided the central bank has become.”)
• Trump still hasn’t endorsed a plan to avoid impending Obamacare hikes for millions (“The Senate will vote Thursday on a key Republican health care plan, but its fate is uncertain, and Trump still hasn’t endorsed any specific proposals.”)
• Health insurers ask GOP to fix their fraud problem — and extend Obamacare subsidies (“In a last-minute plea, insurers are urging Republicans to crack down on fraud in their industry.”)
• States argue enhanced Obamacare subsidies not the cause of fraud (“State health care exchanges say they have few problems with fraud. Instead of killing the subsidies, policy experts suggest fixing the federal exchanges instead.”)
• How the wind industry misread Trump (“Some executives hoped a low-conflict strategy and assistance from GOP moderates would help them survive the president’s second term. Then Trump went to war.”)
• A Visual Breakdown of Trump’s Pardon Spree
• 13 Republicans defy GOP leadership, vote with Dems to advance repeal of Trump order on federal unions (“A vote on repealing President Trump’s executive order is expected Thursday”)
• Trump Doesn’t Want to Talk About Affordability. Democrats See That as a Gift.
• GOP lawmakers unhappy with Trump’s affordability message: ‘You can’t call it a hoax’
• How voters really feel about affordability
• Pentagon did not conduct routine investigation on whether Hegseth damaged national security by sharing strike plans on Signal
• Trump enters Warner Bros. fight, says it’s ‘imperative that CNN be sold’ (This is Putin/Orban-style shit.)
• Influencer feuds trigger total MAGA meltdown
• Indiana Senate to vote on Trump-backed congressional map despite GOP resistance
• A New Report Reveals the Real Reason Democrats Lost in 2024 (“It wasn’t because Biden voters shifted to Trump—but because so many of them stayed home. Here’s how Democrats can motivate them once more.”)
• In 2025, Democrats Flipped 21 Percent of GOP-Held Legislative Seats (“The party secured strong gains reminiscent of 2017, our annual review of state legislative results shows. They won multiple new seats in New Jersey, Virginia, Iowa, and Mississippi.”)
• What Could Thwart the G.O.P.’s Plan to Pick Up 5 House Seats in Texas (“Republicans redid their voting maps so they could flip those seats to help keep control of the U.S. House. But achieving that goal is far from guaranteed.”)
• A Democratic mayor for Miami is not just Trump backlash – it’s a seismic shift
• New York Times, after Trump post, says it won’t be deterred from writing about his health
• Right-wing media are poised to escalate attacks on women as MAGA cracks emerge (“As MAGA begins to fracture, elements of the coalition may seek to rally behind anti-feminism”)
• South Carolina measles outbreak is ‘accelerating,’ driving hundreds into quarantine (“Some students who remain unvaccinated are now in a second 21-day quarantine since the beginning of the school year.” GET VACCINATED!)
• CBS News Names Tony Dokoupil the New Face of ‘Evening News’
• Tony Dokoupil Is Named Anchor of ‘CBS Evening News’ (“He replaces John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois in one of the most high-profile decisions of Bari Weiss’s early tenure as the network’s editor in chief.”)
• ‘Human trafficking behind prison walls’: women jailed in Texas allege rampant sexual abuse
• GOP bill would rename Black Lives Matter Plaza after Charlie Kirk (Hell f’ing no.)
• Pam Bondi’s welcome woke rollback (I’m including a link to this Bezos Post editorial just to remind everyone to cancel their subscriptions to this right-wing rag.)
• Warner: ‘I just can’t get out of the fight’
• American Conversations: Senator Mark Warner (“We talked about the Gang of Eight, the Intelligence Community, the importance of nonpartisan intelligence reports, and what is happening to our governmental systems under the Trump administration.”)
• Kaine pushes back on Trump’s economic claims after Pennsylvania rally
• Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Raises Concerns About Nvidia’s Sale of High-Tech Chips to China, Asks “Is this transfer being done out of a financial interest to undercut America’s national security posture?”
• Sen. Kaine urges vote on Venezuela military actions, presses for ACA subsidy extension
• Perriello consolidates support in 5th, Macy picks up Kaine endorsement in 6th, but will they wind up in the same district?
• Video: Beth Macy gets Tim Kaine endorsement for congressional campaign
• Redistricting is not a top priority for Spanberger
• Spanberger wants to steady, grow Virginia’s economy amid ‘chaos’ in Washington
• Governor-Elect Spanberger Announces Del. Candi Mundon King as Secretary of the Commonwealth Appointment (“The Secretary of the Commonwealth plays a vital role in ensuring that the Office of the Governor is responsive to the needs of Virginians”)
• Veteran environmental legislator David Bulova selected as Virginia’s next resources secretary (“The Fairfax Democrat brings decades of environmental planning and Chesapeake Bay policy experience to a top role in Spanberger’s cabinet.”)
• Jay Jones announces senior staff for attorney general’s office
• Youngkin Loses Battle Over Virginia Board Picks
• The Interview | Lt. Governor-Elect Ghazala Hashmi
• Brian Mosier: Virginia’s electric co-ops strive to meet record energy demand
• Dog attacks persist in Virginia prisons despite 2024 law change (“Patrol canines have bitten incarcerated people in the head, stomach, arms and legs — and in two cases, attacked corrections officers.”)
• Nominees are set for Jan. 6 Virginia state Senate special election (“The contest to replace Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi in the 15th District could determine the fate of four proposed constitutional amendments.” Actually, it’s a safe-blue district…)
• State Crime Commission has reviewed 85% of Mary Jane Burton’s cases (“The Virginia State Crime Commission has so far identified over 300 criminal cases for deeper review by an expert legal panel as part of the ongoing investigation into former forensic analyst Mary Jane Burton’s work. Of these cases, 124 involve people who are currently incarcerated.”)
• Virginia Tech to lead research into hurricane impacts on southern Appalachia
• Va. lawmakers prioritize establishing Gaming Commission as senator plans to re-introduce Fairfax casino bill despite pushback
• Should a casino open in Tysons? Fairfax County leaders vote no
• Fairfax Co. approves plan to significantly increase fees for trespass tows
• Roanoke County supervisors approve rezoning for 224 apartments
• CWG Live: Colder air and wind chills, plus snow chances Friday and Sunday (“It feels like 20s most of Thursday. Then it’s two quick-moving snow chances, with the latter having more potential.”)