by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise (economic, environmental, etc.), for Monday, July 13. Also, as a much-needed break from politics and the mostly bad news of the world, check out the following interview of the great Billy Joel by Rick Beato, who does a SUPERB job talking to some of the best musicians ever. Basically, if I see a new interview by Rick Beato posted on YouTube, I click on it immediately!
INTERNATIONAL
- As climate and conflict collide, Indigenous leaders confront overlapping crises at the UN (“The 19th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will focus on violence, disaster relief, artificial intelligence, and more.”)
- Europe recorded 10,000 excess deaths during June heatwave (“The vast majority — more than 9,000 — were among people aged 65 and above.”)
- May and June heatwaves killed about 2,700 people in England and Wales, data suggests (“Extreme heat led to 440 deaths a day during June peak, say scientists, with climate crisis ramping up temperatures”)
- The Human Cost of DOGE’s War on U.S.A.I.D. (“Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the “public man-made death” that they’ve caused.” Musk, Trump, Rubio, etc. are mass murderers.)
- The World Is Cutting Ties With America. It’s Already Costing Us.
- Ukraine’s prime minister resigns, as Zelenskyy says country “is changing its political strategy”
- Zelenskyy will discuss Ukraine support and air defenses with European leaders in Paris
- How Lindsey Graham, Eager to Serve Trump, Became a Useful Idiot for Putin (“One sign of Graham’s descent into the abyss of Trump toadyism is not likely to receive much attention: his acrobatic flip-flop on the Trump-Russia scandal.”)
- Ukraine loses its closest ally in Trump’s circle (“Lindsey Graham had visited Kyiv and pressed for stronger sanctions on Russian oil in the days before his death. For Ukraine, the loss of an ally with Trump’s ear is a tough blow.”)
- How Ukraine Is Taking Out Russia’s Refineries (“Long-range strikes unleash fuel crisis in Russia and win rare praise for Ukraine from Trump”)
- US Senator Lindsey Graham’s Death Deprives Ukraine of Trump Whisperer (“European nations viewed Graham as a key White House influencer to support Ukraine and punish Russia.”)
- How Putin Turned Japan Into a Den of Spies
- U.S. and Iran exchange strikes as Strait of Hormuz standoff escalates
- How Trump Failed to Secure the Strait of Hormuz in His Iran Deal (“President Trump signed an agreement that Iran said gave it control of the waterway — and global energy supplies. Now, Iran’s military is violently asserting authority.”)
- Ceasefire disintegrates as US pounds Iran following intense weekend of strikes (“Washington’s regional allies fend off aerial attacks as Iran responds to strikes that US says hit ‘dozens’ of targets.”)
- Inside Israel’s Secret Operation to Cultivate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (So weird.)
- Inside Lindsey Graham’s final push for Saudi-Israel peace
- Support for Israel is less important for younger Jewish Americans, AP-NORC poll finds
- US congressman says ‘IDF is lying’ about his detention by settlers and soldiers (“Israeli ambassador to US accuses Ro Khanna of political stunt to distract from support for Graham Platner”)
- Syria’s new parliament holds first session since ouster of ex-President Assad
- The World Must Wake Up to the Horror in Sudan
- The Taliban’s war on education: ‘Nobody talks about what is happening to the boys’ (I don’t think I’ll ever fully comprehend why the Biden administration pulled ALL our troops out of Afghanistan; why not just leave enough to keep the Taliban from overthrowing the U.S.-backed government?)
- UN Ambassador Waltz: Cuba’s regime ‘is a national security threat’ (That’s simply a WILD LIE – yes, Cuba’s regime sucks, but it’s not a threat to the US at all!)
- At least 27 killed, 22 critically injured after fire engulfs Bangkok bar
NATIONAL
- New ICE boss, same old lies (“A fatal ICE shooting in Houston shows Markwayne Mullin is just a male Kristi Noem” Yep, Mullin is DISGUSTING!)
- Locked Away (“On a military base in West Texas, where the government has built a sprawling tent complex to hold thousands of immigrants, deprivation and dire conditions are part of the design.” EVIL!)
- Donald Trump’s Needless War with Iran Is His Biggest Economic Blunder (“As the midterm elections approach, gas prices have started to rise again, and the President’s poll ratings are in the cellar.”)
- Don’t be fooled: America’s inflation problems aren’t going away anytime soon
- Oligarchy in Action: The Case of Corporate Tax Cuts (“How big money trumps the people’s will — and how to reclaim democracy”)
- Trump tried to kill renewables. They’re growing anyway. (“Wind and solar generated more power than coal and nuclear during the first half of the year. Will that trend continue?”)
- One Weird Trick for Torpedoing Todd Blanche’s Hearing (“Trump voters tell me again and again they’re disappointed with the president over one thing. It could complicate his hopes for a new attorney general.”)
- EXCLUSIVE: FBI Admits it has Epstein Files Training Videos
- Senate GOP faces array of disagreements with Trump
- GOP leaders scramble to unjam the House as time runs short (“Lawmakers return Monday to uncertain prospects for the floor agenda.”)
- Massive giveaway to Trump donors buried in obscure government document (“The administration quietly delivers a huge win to corporate poultry processors, who have donated tens of millions to Trump and his allies, at the expense of family farmers.”)
- States Prepare Lawsuit to Block Paramount’s Merger With Warner Bros. (“State attorneys general are said to be getting ready to file a lawsuit as soon as this week to halt the $111 billion deal, a potential major obstacle.”)
- It was supposed to be Trump’s big legislative achievement. It could be a weapon for Democrats to win in the midterms
- 10 US House Swing Seat Candidates Fighting for Clean Energy & the Environment – Plus One More from Virginia!
- Lindsey knew better. He chose worse.
- Lindsey Graham and the rot of modern conservatism (“From Gingrich to Trump, Graham was a fixture as the GOP became increasingly malignant.”)
- Graham’s death highlights a power shift and a new question: What’s coming next in Washington?
- Lindsey Graham sacrificed his reputation to Donald Trump. He got plenty in return. (“His career explains why so many Republicans made peace with Trump — and what they gave up to do it.”)
- ‘A key link’: Trump’s Senate whisperer is gone (“Lindsey Graham’s death deprives President Donald Trump of one of his most effective Capitol Hill operators — and leaves Senate Republicans without one of their strongest links to the White House.”)
- Graham’s Death Highlights Congress’s Age Issue (“By the standards of the aging Senate, where the average age is more than 65, the South Carolina Republican wasn’t particularly old.”)
- The Scramble to Replace Lindsey Graham After His Sudden Death (“South Carolina’s Republican governor is set to fill role quickly, but Senate faces new challenges”)
- The Quintessential Politician of This Era (“The late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham made a mid-career turn to MAGA.”)
- What We Know About Lindsey Graham’s Final Days (“Senator Lindsey Graham died on Saturday night, a day after returning from Ukraine and four months before he was to face re-election.”)
- Preliminary findings reveal Graham died of “aortic dissection”: Medical examiner
- Republicans scramble to find a replacement for Sen. Lindsey Graham ahead of the midterm elections
- Lindsey Graham’s Career of Contradictions (“Over 30 years in Congress, Graham maneuvered across the political spectrum in search of relevance and influence.”)
- Who is Annie Andrews, the Democratic Contender for Lindsay Graham’s Former Senate Seat? (“Republican Senator Lindsay Graham had been preparing for a midterm reelection campaign. After his death on July 11, attention is on Annie Andrews, the Democratic pediatrician who is running for his seat.” Go Annine Andrews!)
- McConnell says a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking weeks of silence about health condition (Very, VERY odd.)
- McConnell says he ‘won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet’
- Graham Platner was an unforced error – the left has lessons to learn (“Many imagined his buff, gruff and tattooed traits would help him connect with working-class men. But this logic was flawed” Platner had a HORRENDOUS moral character – that’s the fatal flaw.)
- Did the media fall short in its reporting on Graham Platner? (Mixed bag)
- The Times’ Subpoena Showdown (“Over the last few days, as The New York Times braces for a potential precedent-setting legal showdown with the Trump administration over press freedom, the newspaper’s top leadership has been in close contact with the five reporters targeted by federal prosecutors”)
- Texas Hispanics swung hard to Trump. A new poll shows they’re furious at his deportations.
- Scientists blamed heat, drought and pollution for massive fish kills in Virginia and Maryland
VIRGINIA
- Virginia Democrats question DOJ’s plan to monitor primaries in two counties
- Video: Tom Perriello Explains Why He Believes He Can Win VA05, Which Trump Won by 12 Pts., This November (“I think people are pretty furious…there is a chance for a deeper political realignment here.”)
- Another Virginia prosecutor to face Congressional scrutiny this week (“Now, they’re calling Arlington prosecutor Parisa Dehghani Tafti to the Rayburn Building, but this time it’ll be behind closed doors.” This is absolutely outrageous!)
- Left hand, right hand: Virginia cools on data centers even as state policy promotes the AI that requires them (“The state budget includes multiple items that promote artificial intelligence. State colleges are adding AI programs. All these require data centers.”)
- Feds launch groundbreaking electric plane pilot program in Virginia (“Electric aircraft used a multistate corridor connecting Virginia and Maryland to carry organs through the National Airspace System.”)
- Legislators again pause plan to close state-run medical center, citing concerns over moving at-risk residents (“The Joint Commission on Health Care will need to vote on a plan to close Hiram Davis Medical Center by the end of July in order to meet a deadline set by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health.”)
- Community members protest ICE in Suffolk after viral video of apparent arrest
- Big turnout at Suffolk ICE Protest after video of arrest goes viral
- Shenandoah LGBTQ Center executive director stepping down from her post
- Virginia’s first adult high school celebrates its first graduate (“Brittany Mills, a mother of two from Rocky Mount, earned her high school diploma at Roanoke’s Excel Center 19 years after leaving school. Next, she plans to tackle community college.”)
- Plumbing issues, broken elevator at Norfolk apartments leave seniors frustrated
- DC-area forecast: Comfortable today and Tuesday before it’s suddenly scorching
