by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, June 2.
- The Trump administration has shut down more than 100 climate studies (“Tens of millions of dollars in NSF grants have been slashed, and scientists fear the US is about to lose a generation of climate researchers.” Psychopathic insanity.)
- Trump takes ‘wrecking ball’ to workers’ rights amid global ‘freefall’, new report says (“International Trade Union Confederation issued report showing conditions for workers’ rights across the globe have worsened” We’re moving in the wrong direction on multiple fronts.)
- Ukraine destroys 40 aircraft deep inside Russia ahead of peace talks in Istanbul
- Ukraine says more than 40 Russian warplanes hit in massive drone strikes
- Trump was not informed of Ukraine attack on Russia (Nor should he have been!)
- Ukraine’s audacious drone attack sends critical message to Russia – and the West
- Drone strikes ahead of Russia-Ukraine peace talks leave Trump’s credibility hanging by a thread (Trump has never had any credibility and never will.)
- Ukraine just rewrote the rules of war (“A drone attack damaged Russia’s bomber fleet — and exposed air base vulnerabilities worldwide…The Russian high command must have been as shocked as the Americans were in 1941 when the Ukrainians carried out a surprise attack against five Russian air bases located far from the front — two of them thousands of miles away in the Russian Far North and Siberia. The Ukrainian intelligence service, known as the SBU, managed to sneak large numbers of drones deep inside Russia in wooden cabins transported by truck, then launch them by remote control.”)
- NEWSFLASH: Russian airfields burning after massive, covert Ukrainian assault
- Ukraine Says It Destroyed Dozens of Warplanes Deep Inside Russia
- Ukrainian proposals for June 2 talks with Russia in Istanbul
- Trump promised peace in Ukraine within a day. Here’s what actually happened
- Russia and Ukraine Set to Restart Talks After Kyiv Hits Bombers
- China blasts US for its computer chip moves and for threatening student visas
- China counters Trump’s accusations of Geneva trade deal violations, says U.S. undermining consensus
- Boulder attack suspect used a flamethrower and yelled ‘Free Palestine’
- Eight injured in attack on Israeli hostage advocates in Colorado (“The attacker used a makeshift flamethrower and yelled ‘free Palestine,’ the FBI says.” Pure evil.)
- “Act of terror”: 6 injured as man uses flamethrower, incendiary device on pro-Israel demonstrators in Boulder (“Attack targeted a weekly meeting of Jewish community members who were walking to raise awareness of the Israeli hostages, ADL says”)
- Palestinians gunned down while trying to reach food aid site in Gaza, hospital says (Heinous; completely inexcusable.)
- Climate activist Greta Thunberg joins aid ship sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel’s blockade
- Secret Syrian intelligence files show missing US journalist was imprisoned by Assad regime
- Bolsonaro Wants to Stage a Trumpian Comeback. It Might Save Lula’s Presidency
- Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election (“Securing 50.89% of the vote, Nawrocki defeated the liberal, pro-European Union candidate Rafal Trzaskowski by less than a percentage point.” UGH.)
- Trump Aides Insist That Tariffs Will Remain, Even After Court Ruling (“One official said that the president is unlikely to delay his initial 90-day pause on some of his highest rates.”)
- ICE Barbie’s Big List of Sanctuary Cities Yanked After Fury
- List of ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ removed from US government website following criticism
- A ‘war on children’: as US changes Covid vaccine rules, parents of trial volunteers push back
- Key US weather monitoring offices understaffed as hurricane season starts
- The Massive Pipeline Buildout in the U.S. Is Mostly for Gas Going Overseas (“Plans for U.S. gas pipelines could lock in a dramatic increase in fossil fuel exports and their greenhouse gas emissions, a new report finds.” Bonkers.)
- ‘It’s completely unsustainable’: Republican lawmaker doubles down, knocks Trump tax bill
- Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” holdout Sen. Rand Paul says “the math doesn’t really add up”
- OMB director flatly denies megabill represents an attack on the social safety net (This Politico headline is a disgrace, just amplifying uncritically a flat-out, wild LIE by Russell Vought. Definitely NOT journalism.)
- Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ heads for showdown with Senate parliamentarian (Stop calling it that!)
- The Law Firms That Appeased Trump—and Angered Their Clients (Definitely dump these collaborators/cowards.)
- Exclusive: US veterans agency orders scientists not to publish in journals without clearance
- ‘Out Of His Mind’: Critics Aghast At Trump’s ‘Detached From Reality’ New Message
- Trump Amplifies Another Outlandish Conspiracy Theory: Biden Is a Robotic Clone
- Trump shares unfounded conspiracy theory claiming Biden was ‘executed’ in 2020
- Trump Spreads Bizarre Conspiracy Theory That Biden Was Executed and Replaced by a Robot Clone (Yes, we have a president who is completely and dangerously unhinged.)
- Trump Is Said to Have Known About NASA Nominee’s Donations Before Picking Him
- Musk Fends Off Trump Questions in Tense Interview Exchange
- Elon Musk on DOGE and why he doesn’t want to “take responsibility for everything the administration’s doing”
- “They’re Behaving Like Fascists”: Rep. Jerry Nadler Denounces DHS After Aide Is Detained, Handcuffed
- CNN Poll: A record share of Americans want the government to get more done. Few trust either party to do it
- Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard predicted young male voters flocking to Trump (“The trial was permission to believe men are the real victims — regardless of facts” That trial was insane, as were the reactions to it by many on social media…)
- Kaine, Warner condemn closure of Old Dominion Job Corps Center
- Video: Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA04) Says Elon Musk “came in, he tried to destroy something he didn’t understand, he got bored and he moved on with his life and left devastation in his wake.” (Rep. McClellan rips “Republicans who profess to be Christians who don’t follow the word of God”)
- Rep. Jennifer McClellan warns of harm from Medicaid cuts (“The Democrat says GOP spending cuts will lead to ‘sicker Virginians.'”)
- Spanberger is poised to win big in Virginia. But national Democrats could drag her down. (What a completely asinine framing by Politico.)
- Jay Jones wants to take on the Trump administration as Virginia attorney general (Yep, as does pretty much every other Democrat running statewide this year…all are emphasizing the need to push back against Trump.)
- House Republicans choose Kilgore as their new leader
- Delegate Terry Kilgore elected Republican leader of Virginia House
- State probe into Black communities’ displacement surges forward with infusion of funds (“Meanwhile in Newport News, a separate task force is working to address the displacement of a once-thriving Black neighborhood that was usurped to make way for Christopher Newport University”)
- Hampton Roads: Shipbuilding company furloughs 471 employees ‘to increase efficiency”
- Virginia sheriff’s stance on illegal immigration colors landscape on searches of Latino motorists (“Questions of whether Loudoun County’s stepped-up law enforcement program is targeting Latinos unfairly – alienating residents in the process – are bound to continue and require consideration, writes columnist Roger Chesley.”)
- Trump’s Budget Wish Could Threaten Billions in Clean Energy Investment in Virginia (“A range of solar, offshore wind and manufacturing jobs would be jeopardized if the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill clears the Senate in its current form.” Yes, now please stop calling it by Trump’s completely dishonest nickname – it’s “Big,” yes, but also UGLY!)
- ‘Care is resistance.’ Va. free health clinics strategize survival after state, federal funding cuts (“Richmond’s Health Brigade considers selling building to counter lost funding and keep offering services to uninsured or underinsured residents”)
- Emails: City finance employees have worked 4,400 hours of mandatory OT in 2025 (“Staffers in the city’s Department of Finance were required to work overtime during weekday evenings and on weekends for nearly three months, according to email correspondence obtained by The Times-Dispatch.”)
- ‘We didn’t just deploy. We delivered’: USS Harry S. Truman strike group returns home to Norfolk
- Agenda Roanoke: Mayor Joe Cobb to propose a strategic plan to address homelessness (“Roanoke has seen increased numbers of homelessness after the pandemic. Mayor Joe Cobb hopes to put together a task force to come up with new solutions.”)
- Abingdon man linked by authorities to cannabis stores is indicted on drug, gun charges
- CWG Live updates: Heat ramps up this week, while rain is more scarce (“Temperatures could reach 90 for the first time this year by Thursday,”)
