Tuesday News: “Why MAGA Wants to Betray Ukraine”; “The [GOP] Must Collapse if the Republic Is to Survive”; “John Kelly…confirm[s] several disturbing stories about Trump,” who “ramps up violent rhetoric”; McCarthy’s Speakership in Dems’ Hands?

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, October 3.

• Cities are struggling with warmer, wetter weather. Better climate models could help.
• In Shipping, a Push to Slash Emissions by Harnessing the Wind
• Emerging Economies Need Much More Private Financing for Climate Transition
• Three Climate Change Challenges Where Startups Needed to Reach Net Zero
• 3 scientists win Nobel Prize in physics for work on electrons in atoms during split seconds
• Pope suggests blessings for same-sex unions possible in response to 5 conservative cardinals
• ‘They’re just meat’: Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin
• Putin’s Pals Brag: Elon Musk ‘Really Is Our Agent!’
• Ukraine war: Burger King still open in Russia despite pledge to exit (Not acceptable.)
• Russian ruble weakens past symbolic threshold of 100 against the dollar
• Why MAGA Wants to Betray Ukraine
• Inside Ukraine’s Fight to Retake Bakhmut: ‘The Ground Was Covered in Bodies’
• This is what the U.S. is getting by aiding Ukraine
• Mali in meltdown as militants advance and U.N. withdraws
• Australia has enough renewables to reach 100pct at times, but coal gets in the way
• From $26 Billion to Bust: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Astonishing Rise and Fall
• How Trump Turned an Oval Office Fantasy Into G.O.P. Doctrine (“The Republican push to use military force against drug cartels in Mexico started during Donald Trump’s presidency. He wants to make the idea a reality.”)
• Most Americans comfortable with solar panels, turbines in their communities, Post-UMD poll finds
• Tougher Return-to-Office Policies Aren’t Filling Half-Empty Buildings (“Office attendance in big cities is still barely half of what it was in 2019, and company measures are proving largely ineffective at boosting that rate.”)
• FBI interviewed individuals who accuse Amy Coney Barrett faith group of abuse
• Clarence Thomas recuses himself as Supreme Court rejects ex-Trump lawyer John Eastman’s appeal
• The Payday Loan Industry Is Coming for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• The Supreme Court starts its new term with dismal approval ratings
• Two right-wing judges seem to be trying to rig a US House race (“Once again, the Supreme Court must deal with judicial arsonists on the Fifth Circuit.”)
• The Supreme Court’s new term will be dominated by dangerous and incoherent lawsuits
• The Republican Party Must Collapse if the Republic Is to Survive
• “The Trump empire … will fold like a stack of cards,” says former prosecutor (“Former DOJ and N.Y. prosecutor Kenneth McCallion: Trump’s empire was ‘largely an organized crime organization’”)
• Trump attacks New York court for fraud trial that threatens his business career
• Trump’s New York Fraud Trial Kicks Off With News He’ll Be Tried Without a Jury Because His Lawyers Didn’t File the Paperwork for One (“Uh, oops?”)
• Trump ramps up violent rhetoric
• John Kelly confirms Trump’s ‘suckers’ remark about war dead (Kelly confirmed a lot more than that, and it’s all REALLY disturbing.)
• Exclusive: John Kelly goes on the record to confirm several disturbing stories about Trump
• John Bolton: It’s ‘entirely possible’ Trump wants his supporters to kill Mark Milley
• Trump’s decision to show up in New York for start of his civil trial was as personal as it was political
• Trump fundraises off fraud trial: ‘Nothing can break me’
• Fraud trial threatens to shred Trump’s cherished self-image (“The ex-president’s confrontation with the law will be impervious to the tactics he has used to confound political institutions”)
• Trump’s recent comments have taken a dark and aggressive turn (NBC means a MORE “dark and aggressive turn”)
• Trump Lawyers Back to Old Antics on Bank Fraud Trial Day One
• Democrats are torn on whether to rescue Kevin McCarthy
• Gaetz’s GOP support could put McCarthy Speakership in Democrats’ hands (“At least four Republicans are joining Gaetz in backing McCarthy’s ouster — potentially enough to remove McCarthy from office, depending on technicalities like absences and present votes, if all Democrats also support removing the Speaker.”)
• Rep. Matt Gaetz files resolution to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House
• Gaetz moves to oust Speaker McCarthy
• Democrats Weigh Whether to Rescue McCarthy From G.O.P. Ouster Bid
• Democrats can’t really save Kevin McCarthy
• Here’s what happens next in the showdown between the speaker and hard-right Republicans in the House.
• Biden Knows Trump Isn’t the Only Thing Standing in His Way
• Senate Democrats must enact rules changes. Comity is long gone.
• Right-wing media are setting the stage for the next Republican president to commit mass atrocities against immigrant families (Pure evil.)
• Pentagon official charged with participating in dog fighting ring (Despicable.)
• National Republican Congressional Committee shares 4chan-style post on X (This party is completely off the far-right-extremist deep end.)
• Marty Baron, Lionized and Lambasted at The Washington Post, Has a Story to Tell (“Sitting down with Vanity Fair in his Berkshires home, the celebrated former Post executive editor gets candid about his new memoir, in which he opens up about staff unrest, Jeff Bezos, and Donald Trump: ‘The press is still struggling with him in the way that the press in other countries has really struggled to cover autocrats.’”)
• What was Elon Musk’s strategy for Twitter? (This is fascinating…and very disturbing.)
• Elon Musk Hit With Lawsuit For Falsely Accusing Man Of Being Part Of Neo-Nazi Brawl
• Rep. Matt Gaetz’s father, former State Senator Don Gaetz, seeking a return to office
• Hillary Clinton: Our nation is in dire need of leaders like Dianne Feinstein
• What Newsom’s relationship with labor says about his Senate pick
• Meet Laphonza Butler, the Emily’s List president and Kamala Harris ally entering the senate
• Bowman camp slams ‘Nazi’ Republicans after fire alarm flap
• US Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas carjacked by three armed attackers about a mile from Capitol (“As Congressman Cuellar was parking his car this evening, 3 armed assailants approached the Congressman and stole his vehicle. Luckily, he was not harmed and is working with local law enforcement.”)
• Metro derailment probe finds loose bolts on some rail car brakes (“The derailment of a wheel led to a fourth day of delays for commuters while 360 rail cars were temporarily removed for emergency inspections.”)
• Editorial: Shutdown avoided, but some Virginia representatives disappoint (“Those three [Bob Good, Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith] are unabashed conservatives, hostile toward moderates and unwilling to compromise, even on a bill that would benefit their constituents. The make-up of their districts means they can cater to primary voters while being insulated from the wrath of general election voters.” They’re not really “conservatives,” they’re far-right extremists…unless the Virginian-Pilot’s arguing that all conservatives are far-right extremists?)
• Virginians Avoid Disastrous Shutdown, No Thanks To These Republicans
• Virginia Democrats Work to Stop Threat of Future Government Shutdowns
• Majority of Virginia Republicans in Congress Vote Against Keeping Government Open (“These same MAGA Republicans want to bring their extremism to Richmond and take total control of our state government. We can’t let that happen.” – DPVA)
• Good won’t vote for McCarthy as speaker, but puts budget bills first
• Virginia breathes sigh of relief as shutdown averted (for now)
• NEW: DLCC Announces A Total $2 Million Investment In Virginia (“The DLCC sets a new record for its direct investment in this critical battleground this cycle, now at one million each for the Democratic House and Senate Caucuses”)
• VA Public Records Exemption for University Presidents’ Papers Limits Oversight
• Enrollment is growing at Virginia HBCUs. But they face historic underfunding.
• Want VA Women to Continue Being Able to Decide, Along with Their Doctors, What to Do with Their Bodies? Then We Need to Replace Anti-Choice Extremists Like Del. Karen Greenhalgh (R) on 11/7.
• Debating the Dulles District: Letourneau, Khanna talk zoning, housing and transportation policy
• Casino Developer Linked To Obscure Political Donation, Filings Show (“Christopher Clemente, CEO of Comstock Holdings, appears to have used a different entity to make a donation to the campaign committee of a candidate running for re-election in Loudoun County, according to campaign finance filings.”)
• Roanoke dedicates Henrietta Lacks statue Wednesday
• Richmond’s Ellwood Thompson’s purchased by Florida-based grocery company
• D.C.-area forecast: Sunny warmth on repeat for a few more days