Monday (2/23/26) News Clips

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, February 23.

• Is Climate Change Making Inflation Worse?
• Fossil fuel pollution’s effect on oceans comes with huge costs (“A new study details the vast price society is paying for burning coal, oil, and gas.” All those “negative externalities” should be internalized.)
• Human rights are under assault globally, says UN Secretary General
• The Trump Administration Is Ending Aid That It Says Saves Lives (EVIL.)
• 4 years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a look at the war by the numbers
• Day 1461 of Putin’s Three-Day War (“Courage, betrayal — and reasons for hope”)
• Four years into its full-scale war in Ukraine, Russia is feeling the effects
• New Russia sanctions on hold as Hungary blocks EU package ahead of fourth anniversary of Ukraine war (Why is Hungary still in the EU?)
• Zelensky tells BBC Putin has started WW3 and must be stopped
• Confusion in UK and EU as Trump’s 15% global tariff creates ‘an unholy mess’
• EU Set to Halt US Trade Deal Approval Over Trump Tariff Risk
• EU says US must honor a trade deal after court blocks Trump tariffs
• For Iran’s Leaders, Refusing U.S. Demands Is a Risk Worth Taking (“Tehran sees capitulating to Washington on uranium enrichment and ballistic missiles as riskier to its survival than going to war, analysts say.”)
• Iran Could Direct Proxies to Attack U.S. Targets Abroad, Officials Warn
• Trump Considers Targeted Strike Against Iran, Followed by Larger Attack (“The top negotiators plan to meet in Geneva on Thursday for last-ditch talks, debating a new proposal that could create an off-ramp as two carrier groups massed within striking distance of Iran.”)
• Mexico Takes On Cartels as Killing of Drug Kingpin Sparks Violence
• US citizens urged to ‘shelter in place’ after Mexico drug lord’s killing sparks wave of violence
• Mexican army kills leader of powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel during operation to capture him
• Mayhem Rocks Mexico After Most-Wanted Cartel Boss Is Killed (“‘El Mencho’ was the longtime head of one of the nation’s most powerful cartels. Armed groups set fire to cars and buildings across Mexico in the wake of his death.”)
• Exclusive: New US military-led group aided Mexico’s hunt for ‘El Mencho’ cartel boss
• Denmark Rejects Trump’s Plan to Send Hospital Boat to Greenland
• Trump’s talk of sending a hospital ship to Greenland puzzles leaders
• Danish military evacuates US submariner who needed urgent medical care off Greenland
• New Dutch PM Jetten faces uphill task as minority government installed (“Rob Jetten became the youngest prime minister in Dutch history on Monday when his minority government was formally confirmed in power by King Willem-Alexander.”)
• Why Tariffs Aren’t Shrinking the U.S. Trade Deficit (“Exporting countries are sticking to their economic models, frustrating U.S. hopes that levies can fix imbalances.”)
• The Supreme Court’s Complicated Takedown of Trump’s Tariffs (“There are seven separate opinions—and even the Justices who agree with one another are in some ways at odds.”)
• Trump Aides Project Confidence on Tariffs After Court Loss
• US to stop collecting tariffs deemed illegal by Supreme Court on Tuesday
• Trump won’t blink on tariffs — because he can’t
• Trump Claims a Historic Turnaround for the U.S. Here Are the Facts. (“Trends on jobs, inflation and crime that began before Donald Trump retook office continued, largely unabated, in his first year back.”)
• The hidden ICE blueprint that should horrify every American
• Republicans eye opening for DHS deal this week as Democrats double down
• Top Noem aide entered cockpit before firing pilot over missing blanket, sources say (Completely f’ed up.)
• DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin’s replacement is even worse (“Kristi Noem isn’t shaking up DHS, she’s doubling down on violence and propaganda”)
• Bhattacharya’s growing power in Trump’s HHS worries health experts (“Bhattacharya, confirmed as NIH director in March of last year, was a Stanford University professor of medicine before joining the Trump administration. He was also one of the lead authors of ‘Great Barrington Declaration,’ a 2020 open letter calling for COVID-19 lockdowns to be rolled back.”)
• Exclusive: Epstein hid secret files in storage units across US (“Paedophile paid private detectives to remove equipment from his home in apparent attempt to thwart investigators, Telegraph can reveal”)
• Top Trump Stooge Has Tantrum After Keystone Kash Busted at Team USA Hockey Bash (“White House communications director Steven Cheung sprang to the defense of Kash Patel with a classic rant.” Unhinged/deranged.)
• Kash Patel Faces Backlash For Flying To Winter Olympics, Partying It Up With Team USA
• F.B.I. Director Celebrates Hockey Victory as Bureau Stares Down Crises (“Kash Patel’s trip to Italy came at a fraught and frenetic time for the bureau and Mr. Patel, who has shown little willingness to curb his jet-setting.”)
• FBI chief shown in raucous locker room celebration during Olympics trip
• Keystone Kash Busted Celebrating in Olympic Locker Room on ‘Work Trip’
• Poll: Most say the state of the union is not strong and the U.S. is worse off
• The Staggering Costs of Trump’s War on Public Service (“The administration’s steep cuts to public service jobs and research opportunities are saving Americans very little money—but they’re having a detrimental impact on society.”)
• The Real State of the Union: Millions of Americans Are Just Disgusted (“Yes, we’re angry about what Donald Trump is doing to our country. But even more than that, we’re heartsick over the countless ways in which he is destroying this nation.”)
• How to stop a dictator (“I spent months studying how authoritarians like Trump lose. The answer is shockingly simple.”)
• X Really Is Pulling Users to the Right
• Biden, aides project optimism in cancer fight, but close friends worry
• Armed Man Shot Dead at Mar-a-Lago Was Fixated on Epstein Files, Text Shows (“The armed man shot and killed by Secret Service agents outside President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property Sunday had grown increasingly obsessed with the Epstein files and was also a vocal supporter of Trump”)
• Armed Man Shot Dead at Mar-a-Lago by Trump’s Secret Service Was a 21-Year-Old From N.C.
• Blizzard pummels Northeast as snowfall pushes toward 2 feet (“Snowfall piled up rapidly Sunday night, as heavy bands pinwheeled around the strengthening storm, creating whiteout conditions.”)
• Scoop: Dems working on secret report found Gaza cost Harris votes (“Top Democratic officials who worked on the party’s still-secret autopsy of the 2024 election concluded that Kamala Harris lost significant support because of the Biden administration’s approach to the war in Gaza, Axios has learned.”)
• Top ’28 Dems retreat on AI — huge sign of rising backlash
• A Voice Sounding Like Trump Called Into C-SPAN And His Name Was A Pseudonym Trump Has Reportedly Used
• James Talarico Puts His Faith in Texas Voters (“The Senate candidate believes that Democrats can win by appealing to higher values. Can he succeed in the age of Trump?”)
• Closings & Delays: Washington DC, Maryland & Virginia (“Federal agencies in the Washington, DC area are Open under a 2 hour Delayed Arrival and employees have the Option for Unscheduled Leave or Unscheduled Telework. “)
• Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says Hillary Clinton “had nothing, zero, zilch, nada to do with Epstein; we shouldn’t be deposing her” (“I’m going to be there nonetheless, because I want to see what kind of 1990s scandals my Republican colleagues are trying to dredge up with respect to her.”)
• Confused about where redistricting stands after court rulings? Here are the key questions and answers. (Yancey goes with classic “both sideism” in this one, not surprising…because that’s who he’s always been. For instance, take the sentence – please, lol! – “If this had been the other way around, you can bet Democrats would have filed somewhere they would think they could get a favorable result.”)
• Virginia Senate budget ditches data center tax break to create more than $1B in revenue
• Video, Statements: VA House, Senate Democrats Release Budgets for FY 2026-2028 (Proposed Senate budget “Reins in a data center tax exemption projected to cost $1.54M/year that now forgoes $1.6B annually — redirecting over $1 billion into education, health care, housing, transit, and direct tax relief”)
• Data center tax break takes center stage in Virginia budget plans
• General Assembly budget proposals address federal cuts, ending data center incentives
• Lawmakers reshape Youngkin’s final budget with focus on affordability, no new taxes (“House and Senate money committees advance dueling plans that would end a major data center tax exemption while backfilling federal cuts and boosting schools and health care ahead of conference talks…The spending plan would also deliver $100 in tax rebates to individual filers and $200 to joint filers, raise the standard deduction, protect Medicaid, fund 3% annual teacher raises, invest $50 million in affordable housing and provide $205.7 million for Metro over the biennium.”)
• 10 things to know about the new state budget proposals
• First look at Virginia Democrats’ budget: Senate would end data center tax exemption (“The House and Senate money committees scrapped large swathes of former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s tax cuts in the budget. Instead, their spending proposals look to offset federal reductions to social programs.”)
• Video: Speaking at Democratic AG’s Conference, Jay Jones Says Trump “probably doesn’t like the fact that I’m sitting in this seat, but here I am ready to defend [against] anything that he’s trying to do.” (“I’m the first Black Attorney General in the history of Virginia, right? 407 years.”)
• What is ‘performance-based regulation’, and how can it lower utility bills? (“Virginia lawmakers want regulators to study whether tying utility profits to performance — not spending — could cut costs, reduce outages and improve service.”)
• How restrictive will the General Assembly be on skill games?
• Senate shuffles committee assignments (“Officially, Senate Democrats said that Marsden requested to leave the Appropriations Committee; however, multiple sources told Virginia Scope that Marsden made a disrespectful comment to the committee’s chair, Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, prior to a meeting. Marsden’s alleged comment to Lucas implied that she is not heavily involved in the Appropriation Committee’s work. Marsden and Lucas did not respond to a request for comment Friday morning.”)
• Pedestrian deaths — especially in Va.’s capital — cry out for a real solution, not more lip service (“Have the heart-rending stories of pedestrian-vehicle deaths and sobering stats finally registered with policymakers?” Bob Lewis NAILS IT.)
• Board of Visitors picks, political donors continue to overlap
• County leaders say bills would undermine fiscal responsibility and local authority | Guest column (Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors)
• The ‘Godfather of Data Centers’ Making Offers Big Tech Can’t Refuse (“Virginia’s Loudoun County is a giant data-center market thanks in part to a radio DJ-turned county executive director for economic development”)
• Williams: Creighton Court’s tenants can’t be left in the cold
• CWG Live: Snow showers taper during a windy and cloudy Monday (“A thaw settles in starting Wednesday with highs mostly in the 50s.”)