sby Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, May 29.
- Solar, wind, and EVs have knocked out a doomsday climate scenario (“Explosive growth in clean technologies has pushed an old coal-heavy scenario out of the realm of plausibility, according to a recent study. But there’s more work to be done.”)
- Ask a Climate Therapist: Is it still ‘catastrophizing’ if the threat is real? (“Learn to distinguish between threat awareness, which is necessary and healthy, and threat rumination, which exhausts without informing.”)
- Air pollution slows lung growth during childhood, UK study shows
- Portugal breaks hottest May day record as Europe swelters in heatwave (This is f’ed up.)
- Weather tracker: deadly May heatwave shatters records across Europe (“Temperatures across parts of continent around 10-15C above average for this time of year, while thunderstorms strike eastern Australia”)
- Global heating is making hajj ever more dangerous, report finds (“Rising heat in Saudi Arabia threatens millions of Muslim pilgrims – but cutting fossil fuels would keep it safer”)
- With a stalemate in Ukraine and discontent at home, Putin seems ready to escalate his war
- Inside Putin’s $26 Billion Quest for Longevity (“From mini-pigs and organ printing to cryotherapy and genetics, Russia’s president has turned antiaging research into a Kremlin priority”)
- Exclusive: Imported voters, fake websites – Russia’s covert efforts to stop Armenia’s pivot West
- EU says Russia has crossed ‘another line’ after drone hits Romanian apartment block
- Russian drone strike ‘most serious security incident’ in Romania since start of Ukraine war (“Romanian president leads outrage as Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ‘ready to support Romania in whatever way is necessary’”)
- US, Iran Reach Deal on Extended Ceasefire Pending Trump Approval
- The TACO Equilibrium (“Oil markets expect Donald Trump to end the Iran war imminently. That might be why he doesn’t.”)
- Iran War Updates: U.S. Officials Say They Are Closing In on Arrangement to Reopen Strait of Hormuz (“President Trump has not signed off on the emerging framework, according to U.S. officials. But it could set the table for extending the cease-fire and more substantive negotiations.”)
- Bombs, Bargains and Bluster: Trump’s Iran Approach Sows Confusion (“President Trump’s pendulum swings on Iran have often seemed driven by mood and moment rather than any discernible strategy.”)
- The Pentagon Knew Enemies Could Track Troops’ Phones for Years. Now They Are (“The US military has long known that cheap fixes could stop location data from exposing its troops. It adopted almost none—and now says adversaries are using the data to target soldiers during a war.”)
- How Japan Lost 3 Million People in 5 Years (“The staggering population drop underscores the depths of the country’s accelerating demographic crisis”)
- Netanyahu orders Israeli army to seize ‘70% of Gaza Strip’, violating ceasefire deal (“Speaking in West Bank settlement, Israeli PM, who is fighting for political survival before elections, says ‘we are squeezing Hamas’”)
- Netanyahu says he has directed IDF to increase control of Gaza to 70% (This is not going to end well.)
- Inside Lebanon’s Fraught Push to Disarm Hezbollah (“Can one of the world’s most heavily armed militias be curbed without ripping the country apart?” Doubtful, unfortunately.)
- WHO chief arrives in DRC promising Ebola outbreak ‘can be stopped’ (“Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls for ceasefire, saying no conflict is worth condemning people to death from preventable disease”)
- Greenland’s independence champion despised Denmark. Trump changed his mind (“For decades, Aqqaluk Lynge was a leading light of Greenland’s drive to break away from Denmark, its old colonial master. Trump’s threats to seize the island have convinced him that Europe and Denmark are now a bulwark against American aggression.”)
- Boat Strikes Have Failed to Curb Flow of Cocaine to U.S., Experts Say
- After New Push by the Bolsonaros, U.S. Labels Brazilian Gangs as Terrorist Groups
- Tech Billionaire Peter Thiel Finds a New Escape: Argentina (Argentina has a long history of being a refuge for Nazis, so this tracks.)
- Trump administration deported 21,000 to places US calls too dangerous to visit (“The overwhelming majority of those deported had no criminal convictions, and at least 600 were children” Pure evil.)
- Airlines, hotels warn against Trump admin threat to international flights to ‘sanctuary cities’
- Pregnant asylum seeker detained, held with son at Dulles airport for the past week (“Emergency hearing set in Alexandria federal court on May 29.”)
- Delaney Hall ICE Detainees Take Aim at GEO Group’s Bottom Line (“Immigrants held at GEO Group’s Delaney Hall in Newark are on a labor strike and a hunger strike, refusing to perform the jobs that keep the place running.”)
- Scenes From the “Sacrifice Zone” (“In Newark, near my home, the most intense ICE protests since Minneapolis are unfolding. It’s not hard to see why.”)
- Night of chaos at Delaney Hall as ICE agents shove protester into path of oncoming truck, beat and pepper-spray others
- Brett Kavanaugh just won a surprising victory for racial justice (“Justice Brett Kavanaugh is a Republican. He served in a Republican White House, typically votes with the Court’s other Republicans, and even sometimes sides with President Donald Trump in major cases that divide the Republican Party.”)
- As 2028 approaches, America needs ranked-choice voting more than ever
- Trump Bought Lots Of Dell Stock — Then The Pentagon Gave Dell A $9.7 Billion Contract (“The president was hyping Dell in public speeches not long after he invested somewhere between $1 million and $5 million in the tech company.”)
- Michael Dell courted Trump early. His company has reaped rewards (BIG-TIME corruption.)
- Trump Wants a Gag Order for Every Single Government Worker (“You can’t divorce the demands for secrecy from the corruption itself.”)
- Iran, Gas Prices, the Ballroom: Trump Professes Indifference Over Fallout
- The Epstein interview you won’t see (“Pam Bondi is back on Capitol Hill today to answer questions about the Jeffrey Epstein files. But Americans won’t be able to watch lawmakers grill her on the sex trafficking case that has sparked bipartisan outrage and conspiracy-fueling intrigue.”)
- Pam Bondi to face closed-door questioning from House lawmakers over Epstein files
- There’s No Escaping the Rot in This Justice Department
- E. Jean Carroll still terrifies Trump (“Justice Department efforts to rewrite history show #MeToo still matters”)
- Criminal probe of E. Jean Carroll creates major headache for Senate GOP
- DOJ probe targets Hoffman nonprofit tied to Carroll case
- DOJ probes Democratic-allied nonprofit that helped pay E. Jean Carroll’s legal bills (“The investigation centers on statements Carroll made during a deposition in her civil lawsuit against President Donald Trump, in which a jury found that he had sexually assaulted and defamed her.”)
- In Carroll Lawsuits Inquiry, Scrutiny Turns Toward Private Citizens Who Antagonized Trump (“The Justice Department is said to be examining the funding of lawsuits brought by E. Jean Carroll, an author who has never sought a public role, political power or governmental authority.”)
- White House has yet to release results of Trump’s latest physical at Walter Reed
- Blue Origin rocket explodes ahead of launch, in major setback for space company (Hard to feel bad for Bezos about anything.)
- “Say something! Do something!”: Bruce Springsteen’s tour is a call to action (“The “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour is a rock ‘n’ roll narrative about collective action in dangerous times”)
- ‘No Kings’ movement planning nationwide event on Trump 80th birthday
- CBS News Names Outsider to Lead ‘60 Minutes’ as Part of Major Shake-Up (“Bari Weiss, CBS’s editor in chief, named Nick Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker, as the show’s executive producer. The network also fired two on-air correspondents.” So much for 60 Minutes. Very sad.)
- The ‘completely new’ ‘60 Minutes’ (“New” but mos definitely NOT “improved”)
- Shake Up at ‘60 Minutes’ as CBS News Ousts Executive Producer Tanya Simon, Correspondents Cecilia Vega, Sharyn Alfonsi; Taps Nick Bilton to Run Newsmagazine
- ABC Submits Broadcast Renewal Applications to FCC ‘Under Protest,’ Says Agency Order Is ‘Unlawful, Arbitrary and Unconstitutional’
- ABC blasts Brendan Carr for ‘assault’ on its TV licenses
- ‘Why are we talking about this?’: Democrats are furious that the Bidens won’t go away (“Jill Biden’s new memoir is the latest of many pain points for Democrats who want to move on from 2024.”)
- Jill Biden Worried Her Husband Was Drugged on Debate Night (“In a new memoir, Jill Biden describes her own shock and fear over the president’s calamitous performance.”)
- Trump news at a glance: president really wants his face on US money before he’s dead (“Trump’s latest vanity project would require changing law that prohibits any living person from appearing on US currency – key US politics stories from Thursday 28 May”)
- Bessent blasts Washington Post reporting on Trump appearing on $250 banknote (Should be noted in the headline that Bessent is a Trump lackey and pathological liar.)
- Trump’s $250 Greenback Is a Gift to the Criminal Class
- Trump’s Monumental Legacy (“Across Washington, the president is overseeing a sprawling reimagination of the landscape that amounts to one of the most ambitious physical remakings of the capital by a modern president.” All for the worse, and much of it corrupt and illegal! All of that should be in the HEADLINE by Politico, but of course it isn’t.)
- The Trump Administration Is Spending $5 Million to Coat Horse Statues in Gold (“The Interior Department quickly gave nearly $100 million in contracts in a rush to beautify D.C.” Massive corruption.)
- Martina McBride, Morris Day among wave of cancellations at Trump-linked Freedom 250 concerts (They can’t even get D-tier and F-tier acts to perform. What a total f’ing joke.)
- Musical acts back out of performing at Trump-affiliated concert series
- In a Shocking Twist, Musicians Are Deciding That Playing Trumpstock Is a Bad Career Move
- Artists bail on D.C. bash for America’s 250th birthday after being listed on the lineup (“Morris Day and the Time, Young MC and Martina McBride said they wouldn’t be performing during a 16-day stretch of festivities on the National Mall starting in late June.”)
- The GOP’s Attacks on James Talarico Are Straight Out of the Incel Handbook (“Claims about low testosterone and false accusations of veganism might play well to the online far right, but will they win an election?” Sick f’ers.)
- He hasn’t been seen in Congress for months. Now Republicans are worried. (“Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s New Jersey district is among the country’s most competitive, and his absence from the House since March has sparked increasing alarm in his party.”)
- Michigan Gov. Whitmer says she won’t run for president in 2028 then backtracks hours later (“You know, I never thought I would run for governor, so I guess I should know better than to say any of it. Never say never”)
- How an Ambitious Energy Giant Wielded Political Power in Florida (“NextEra, which is seeking to buy Dominion Energy, has often butted heads with consumer groups, residents and journalists in its home state.”)
- Why Was the Chief of Staff for a Leading Republican Senate Candidate on a Group Chat With Famous White Nationalists? (“The answer somehow makes it even worse.”)
- Incumbent Ben Cline, challenger Beth Macy talk issues in 6th District race
- Republican Party of Virginia Announces Candidates for U.S. House Seats
- Vindman Clinches Democratic Nod in 7th District
- Fmr. VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R/3x Trump Voter): “In Donald Trump’s GOP there is no room for dissent. You must back Trump all the way every time, or he and his most ardent supporters…will come after you.”
- Gov. Spanberger Removes VA Tech Rector John Rocovich, “Effective Immediately,” Citing Violations of Code of Ethics, “governing statutes” etc.
- Spanberger fires Rocovich from Virginia Tech Board of Visitors; Rocovich says he won’t step down (“Rocovich pushed back, saying the governor’s actions are ‘legally unsupportable.'”)
- Governor fires Virginia Tech Rector Rocovich, appoints Dominion Energy’s Edward Baine as replacement
- Spanberger dumps Virginia Tech Board of Visitors president in political shakeup
- Gov. Spanberger fired the Virginia Tech rector
- Spanberger Removes Virginia Tech Rector
- Governor fires rector of VT Board of Visitors, makes new appointments
- The People Teaching Me Civics Weren’t Born Here; My Immigrant ESL Students in Virginia Are Reminding Me What Citizenship Requires
- Federal school voucher program harms Virginia’s most vulnerable families (“During his last week in office, Gov. Youngkin opted Virginia into the Educational Choice for Children Act. Its impact on Virginia students could be serious.”)
- Spanberger on her cannabis veto: ‘There is a bill I would have signed’ (“In an interview with Cardinal News, the governor said she felt the time frame of the legislation rushed the process of rolling out legal retail sales.”)
- Pope & Schapiro: A budget break, a political comeback, and a college board firing
- State police announce private firearm sale background checks have resumed (“The checks, which began again on Wednesday, had been halted since October following a Lynchburg Circuit Court injunction.”)
- Is Dominion’s plan to merge with NextEra good or bad for Virginians? (“The impressive clean energy portfolio notwithstanding, anyone who expects a NewEra takeover to end Dominion’s infatuation with fossil gas is mistaken, columnist Ivy Main writes.”)
- Navy’s new Trump-class battleship likely will be completed at Newport News shipyard
- Update: New measles exposure reported related to Buckingham County outbreak
- Flying Squirrels owner sues Diamond District developer for defamation (“According to the suit, Jason Guillot accused Lou DiBella of threatening to kill Guillot and his family if Guillot did not sell a piece of real estate to the baseball team.”)
- Virginia Board of Pharmacy sets hearing to review possible recordkeeping violations at Danville Area Humane Society (“The board will consider evidence related to the shelter’s records of sedative and euthanasia drugs. “)
- Lynchburg City Council passes resolution to dial back Liberty University growth projections
- Solar farm planted on otherwise unusable Lorton landfill (“The solar farm will save Fairfax County an estimated $12 million in energy costs.”)
- Arlington Catholic priest on leave, after allegation of sexual misconduct with minors
- CWG Live updates: Mainly clear and comfortable conditions to come (“Lots of sun-filled days are ahead that are near or a hair cooler than normal.”)
