by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, February 4.
- Climate change threatens the Winter Olympics’ future – and even snowmaking has limits for saving the Games
- New arms race looms as clock ticks down on last Russia-US nuclear treaty
- The steel porcupine: How Ukraine plans to defend itself after the war (“Ukraine’s Plan B is to be able to protect itself if allied security guarantees prove worthless.”)
- For Peace, More Ukrainians Consider the Once-Unthinkable: Surrendering Land
- Russian attacks on Ukraine energy sites ‘particularly depraved’, UK PM Starmer says
- Ukraine-Russia talks: how close is a peace deal and what does each side want? (“Despite Trump-appeasing shows of willingness, a big gap remains between the positions of delegations meeting in Abu Dhabi”)
- Elon Musk calls Spanish PM a ‘tyrant’ over plan to ban under-16s from social media and curb hateful content (Every country should do this.)
- Israel strikes Gaza, killing 19 including women and children, after saying Hamas violated deal
- Exclusive: Donors reluctant to fund US-led Gaza plan as Hamas disarmament push stalls
- US shoots down Iranian drone approaching aircraft carrier
- Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of ex-Libyan leader, reportedly shot dead
- Colombian president and Trump put aside insults for amicable White House meeting (The question is, why?)
- Trump’s New “Prison Camp” Threat Unleashes Fury Even in MAGA Country (“The next phase of ICE’s big ramp-up: a nationwide network of vast detention facilities. But guess what? Even parts of Red America are saying no.”)
- A victory for Haitian immigrants, briefly explained
- Brothers of Renee Good, woman killed by immigration officer, call for action in Congress
- Congressional Democrats vow justice for US citizens harmed by immigration agents: ‘You deserve peace’ (“No Republicans attended hearing with brothers of Renee Good and three US citizens shot and detained by federal agents”)
- Not a Single Republican Shows Up to Hear Renee Good’s Brothers Testify (“Republicans apparently aren’t interested in hearing the testimony of Renee Good’s brothers after an ICE agent killed her in Minneapolis.”)
- Immigrants’ Recent Effects on Government Budgets: 1994–2023
- Homeland Security is trying to force tech companies to hand over data about Trump critics
- DHS Hunts Down 67-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Who Criticized Them in Email (“The Department of Homeland Security is using a little-known tool to go after its critics.” WTF???)
- “This Job Sucks”: DOJ Attorney Asks Judge to Hold Her in Contempt (“A lawyer working with the Minnesota attorney’s office said she just wants some sleep, after working so hard to try to get ICE to follow court orders.”)
Attorney for government tells judge in ICE case: ‘This job sucks’ (“Julie Le made the remark while she was representing the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota, where federal officers are conducting a massive immigration crackdown.”)- Judge limits feds’ use of weapons against anti-ICE protesters in Portland
- The Paramilitary ICE and CBP Units at the Center of Minnesota’s Killings (“Two agents involved in the shooting deaths of US citizens in Minneapolis are reportedly part of highly militarized DHS units whose extreme tactics are generally reserved for war zones.”)
- ICE demanded Maine sheriff’s employment records following his criticism of arrest (Insanity.)
- How Stephen Miller Stokes Trump’s Boundary-Pushing Impulses (“The White House aide has been an architect of aggressive immigration sweeps in U.S. cities and deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean”)
- DOJ Orders Emergency Surge Prosecutors From All US Attorneys
- With just 10 days to negotiate, a DHS shutdown appears inevitable (“Democrats and Republicans can barely decide on who should be negotiating — let alone how to agree on immigration enforcement.”)
- Standoff over ICE tactics could trigger another partial government shutdown
- Trump signs bill to end government shutdown and fund DHS for two weeks (“The House passed, and President Trump signed into law, a bill funding almost all of government. It puts DHS on stopgap funding after federal agents killed two people in Minneapolis.”0
- Our Power-Mad President Wants to Change How We Vote Forever
- Trump wants Republicans to ‘nationalize’ US elections. The Constitution might get in the way (Why only “might” get in the way?)
- Trump Doubles Down on Calls for Republicans to Nationalize Elections (“President says federal government agents should be involved in counting votes, a role the Constitution explicitly grants to states”)
- I Wrote a Book in Support of Nationalizing Elections. Trump Changed My Mind.
- Trump Is Doubling Down on All the Wrong Things (“Republicans are worried about the midterm elections, but the president doesn’t seem to be.”)
- Trump’s New Threats to American Elections (“The reasons to worry about election integrity are becoming more urgent.”)
- Tulsi Gabbard running solo 2020 election inquiry separate from FBI investigation (Really, REALLY not good.)r
- This is what democracy looks like (“There is an uncountable number of repositories of power all across the United States. Some are huge and obvious: the federal government, major corporations, police departments, billionaires. But there are millions of small ones, too, including small businesses, community groups, churches — and the people themselves.”)
- Never forget Epstein’s little helpers – the powerful men who knew about his crimes, and helped him out anyway
- Donald Trump Has Built a Clicktatorship (“Even the administration’s budget proposals read like Truth Social posts.”)
- https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/america-freedom-task-force-250-trump-anniversary-history-smithsonian-kennedy-center/ (“As America’s 250th anniversary approaches, the president wants to control the country’s future by bulldozing its past.”)
- ‘It’s attacking the public’s right to know’: Georgia Fort on the White House going after journalists (“Independent journalist Georgia Fort discusses her arrest and President Trump’s continued attack on journalism with MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow.”)
- Common Ground Is for Suckers
- Judge seems skeptical of legal justification for Pentagon’s punishment of Sen. Mark Kelly
- It’s the Billionaires, Stupid (“The faultline for Dems in the run to 2028 will be attitudes toward elites”)
- Trump, Changing Course, Throws Harvard Deal Talks Into Chaos (“In the latest example of his mercurial negotiating style, President Trump went from dropping his ask for a $200 million fine to demanding $1 billion from the university.” The NY Times actually believed Trump had dropped his ask? OK…)
- ‘Comeback Kid’ no more: Dems aren’t protecting the Clintons from Epstein scrutiny (“The party-wide reluctance to defend two former standard-bearers signals a rejection of the Clinton brand.”)
- Colorado River Negotiators Are Nearly Out of Time and Snowpack (“With another federal deadline only weeks away and record-low snowfall further drying out the watershed, states have begun talking about whether they are prepared for litigation.”)
- Melinda French Gates reacts to new details about Bill Gates in the Epstein files
- What to know about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, mother of ‘Today’ show’s Savannah Guthrie
- Alleged ransom notes investigated in disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother
- Kennedy Center teaches MAGA a tough lesson (“Donald Trump’s coalition is finding that they can’t bully their way into the nation’s art and culture”)
- Sen. Warner calls Gabbard to testify after Georgia election office raid, Trump FBI call
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Calls What Happened in Fulton County, Trump’s Threats to “Nationalize” Elections “deeply alarming,” “profoundly inappropriate” (“This is about whether these same tactics we’re seeing now, or worse, will be used to disrupt free-and-fair elections.”)
- Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Blasts Trump’s Villainization of Immigrants, Says In Fact They’ve Been “Part of the Great Success of This Nation” (Sen. Kaine: “any policy that starts with the wrong assumption is bankrupt morally, bankrupt legally, bankrupt economically”)
- Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says Trump’s Call to “Nationalize the Elections” Is “not constitutional, not legal and it’s not going to happen” (On the Clintons testifying, Walkinshaw says Republicans more interested in “a spectacle around it and” and “a kind of circus atmosphere” than in getting the facts.)
- Ben Cline whined to the City Elders about redistricting, because it means his job
- Prince William residents turn out en masse for congressman’s data center town hall
- Walkinshaw Leads Bill to Pay Federal Workers During Shutdowns
- Where Are the New Virginia [10D-1R] Redistricting Maps? Lots of (Juicy) Details Are Coming Out. (“Democrats in both chambers want a 10D-1R map, but they disagree on what that map looks like and blew past their self-imposed deadline…”)
- With General Assembly Democrats deadlocked on maps, Texas results pose a question: Does Virginia really need to redistrict? (“For a party that says it’s drawing new lines to create ‘fair elections,’ it seems curious that Democrats are slighting some of the candidates already in the field to create districts that benefit party insiders — the legislators actually drawing the lines.”)
- Lucas says proposed new congressional maps are expected this week (“Right now we’ve got folks working on marriaging the maps…so I’m thinking within 48 hours we’ll see a marriaged map.”)
- New Virginia AG seeks to join legal effort to support redistricting (“Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D) has asked to intervene in a legal case where Republicans are trying to block Democrats’ efforts to draw new congressional maps.”)
- Editorial: Virginia poised to rejoin market-based carbon reduction program (“Returning to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will benefit Hampton Roads and the whole of the commonwealth.”)
- Va. watermen push back against terrapin protections on crab pots
- VA House of Delegates Passes Bills by Del. Dan Helmer to Keep January 6th Insurrection in History Books, Ban “Musk Lotteries” (House Republicans, disgracefully, vote against the 1/6/21 bill)
- The Virginia Senate passed legislation aimed at limiting immigration enforcement in courthouses
- New Virginia minimum wage passes out of the House
- Virginia on track to reform probation following bipartisan bills
- Democrats push ‘restorative justice’ in Virginia schools
- General Assembly considering measure that threatens state funding for VMI (“Another bill would dissolve VMI’s board and transfer governance to Virginia State University.”0
- Nobody asked Chris Runion his thoughts on an Augusta County ICE detention center
- ‘We don’t want to become the dumping grounds’: biosolids bill advances (“Community concerns over PFAS continues to grow across the commonwealth”)
- State funding cuts to HIV programs leave Southwest and Southside with gaps in care (“The region’s only provider of wraparound care through the Ryan White program closed two offices and laid off staff after losing state funding. Now 600 clients are served by three case managers.”)
- 4 South Hampton Roads mayors will not run again, opening door for new blood (“Four South Hampton Roads’ mayors intend to step down after their current terms end in 2028, opening the door for new leaders in the region’s biggest cities. They are: Chesapeake Mayor Rick West, Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer, Suffolk Mayor Mike Duman and Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander.”)
- Claim rejected that late Roanoke judge traded sex for legal advice
- Jewish leaders raise alarm over Fairfax County GOP chair candidate’s antisemitism (“While Arnoldi is not seen as a particularly viable candidate in the upcoming Feb. 28 election, local political observers say, her campaign has still given some pause to both Jewish and Republican activists who worry her radical views underscore a creeping embrace of antisemitic sentiment in the GOP fueled by leading far-right commentators including Tucker Carlson, whose interviews she has eagerly endorsed.”)
- CWG Live: Chilly through Friday, then back to the deep freeze this weekend
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