Saturday (5/30) News: “This Deadly Ebola Outbreak Is Almost Entirely Our Fault”; “Judge Reopens Trump’s I.R.S. Suit and Questions His ‘Weaponization’ Fund”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, May 30.

• As Climate Change Extends Europe’s Heat Season, Schools Bake
• This Deadly Ebola Outbreak Is Almost Entirely Our Fault (“Maybe, just maybe, we shouldn’t have let Elon Musk and the cargo-shorts militia cut USAID funding in the first place.”)
• Ebola travel bans stir up Covid-era conflict over outbreak response
• This Deadly Ebola Outbreak Is Almost Entirely Our Fault (“Maybe, just maybe, we shouldn’t have let Elon Musk and the cargo-shorts militia cut USAID funding in the first place.”)
• Ebola shows how Trump’s health policies are going global — and coming home
• ‘Silent death’: Ukraine’s killer robots sow fear among Russia’s troops
• Ukraine using AI drones to strike vital convoys supplying Russian troops (Excellent, nail the motherf***ers!)
• Ukrainian drones strike port, oil depot in southern Russia, authorities say
• Nato ready to defend ‘every inch’ of territory as Russian drone hits Romania (“Mark Rutte says Moscow’s ‘reckless behaviour is danger to us all’ after drone hits apartment building, while Russia denies involvement” OK, NATO, time to step up and actively help defend Ukrainian air space. Like…today would be good!)
• Trump defrosts relations with Europe’s last dictator Alexander Lukashenko (“Belarus’ president has been accused of flagrant human rights violations and enabling Russia’s war in Ukraine. That hasn’t served as a barrier to his friendship with Donald Trump.” EVIL!)
• A Fig Leaf for Surrender (“when they announce a deal, which they will, it won’t be a deal because most of it will be punted into the future and the elements of the deal will not be as good as the past deal that we had and it won’t be very meaningful”)
• Looming Iran peace deal shows how Trump’s maximalist goals have shrunk (“Sobering reality for president after three-month odyssey that threatens to take him back to where he started”)
• Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ is nowhere to be seen with Iran (“The self-proclaimed master dealmaker can’t seem to stop sabotaging his own negotiations”)
• No deal announced after Trump meeting to make ‘final determination’ on Iran (This “deal” would be FAR worse than what we had under President Obama, btw…and it would come after a disastrous, super-expensive, bloody war to boot!)
• Trump claims to be on verge of peace deal but Iran signals no agreement reached
• Defense Chiefs Discuss Hormuz as Hegseth Takes Swipe at European Allies
• Newsmax host says a reported potential deal with Iran “sounds like a pretty bad deal” (“A deal that ends the Iranian blockade before nuclear negotiations even begin? That would make no sense. It would be a gift to a lying regime before we obtain anything tangible at all.” 100% accurate.)
• Iran’s Hard-Liners Try to Derail Potential Deal With the U.S.
• The U.A.E.’s Secret Role in the War Involved Dozens of Strikes on Iran (“The attacks were conducted in coordination with the U.S. and Israel and went on for weeks”)
• Israeli soldiers share rare accounts from Gaza, describing ongoing killings despite the ceasefire (This entire situation is a nightmare…thanks to Hamas, first and foremost, but also due to Israel’s far-right government. The combination of those two has led to disaster, including the fact that 10/7 happened in the first place.)
• The Plot to Eliminate Gaza (“What Trump’s Board of Peace really means for the future of Palestine.” If you in any way/shape/form helped elect Trump and defeat Harris, BTW, this disaster is heavily on you.)
• US military strikes another boat in Pacific, bringing death toll above 200 (Every one of these needs to be investigated as a potential war crime.)
• Four more villagers rescued from flooded cave in Laos (“Five people have now been brought to safety after being trapped for more than a week. Two remain unaccounted for.”)
• ‘The rug pulled out from everyone’: the chaos of Trump’s new green card rules
• Trump’s mass deportations are only possible with racial profiling (“As ICE ramps up street arrests, court records show that agents are disproportionately going after Latinos.” No Latino should vote Republican – ever.)
• Fears of travel chaos flare as Mullin weighs pulling customs officers from Newark airport
• Pregnant asylum seeker who was detained at Dulles will return to Ghana
• Held for 10 days by Customs, pregnant woman, disabled son ordered released
• ICE Agents to Leave Site of Volatile Protests at Detention Center
• Sherrill tries to ‘lower the temperature’ at immigration detention facility
• The White House’s Aliens.gov Site Brags That ICE Arrested More Than 700 US Citizens (“The website, which compares human beings to extraterrestrials, touts arrest numbers from the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown. But some of its details are really out there.”)
• Actually, Most Immigrants Won’t Need to Leave U.S. to Get Green Cards, D.H.S. Says
• ICE Agent Wanted in Minneapolis Shooting Is Captured in Texas (“Christian Castro, who had been charged with assault in the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, was taken into custody Friday morning.”)
• Rock-bottom immigration rates leave mark on U.S. economy (“President Trump’s immigration crackdown is causing one of the sharpest slowdowns in U.S. population growth in decades. Economists are beginning to tally the effects, with some warning that the damage will stick around.”)
• There are no Supreme Court vacancies, but some judges are acting like there might be
• Zandi Says US Is ‘Uncomfortably Close’ to Recession
• Poll: Trump’s economic message isn’t breaking through
• Prices in the U.S. Are Rising at the Fastest Pace in Years
• Inflation is spreading through the U.S. economy beyond the pump (“Fresh inflation data now suggests the challenge may be deeper and longer-lasting than many expected.”)
• Trump order endorses plan to halve vaccines recommended for children (Totally f’ed up.)
• Millions of Americans are losing their health insurance (“The GOP’s Big, Beautiful Bill sought to roll back the Affordable Care Act. Now, the human costs are becoming clear.” The media really needs to stop calling it by Trump’s propagandistic, Orwellian name.)
• Postal Service moving forward with Trump’s attack on mail voting (“The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said in a yet-to-be-published proposed rule Friday that it’s drawing up plans to radically crack down on mail voting by sending ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government.” That’s completely insane.)
• Senate Republicans face a knife-edge over Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund (“They can back the president’s fund to benefit his allies or defy a commander-in-chief who just ​ended the careers of two Republican senators.” Why does Reuters say “commander-in-chief” in this headline? Very, very weird.)
• Judge Reopens Trump’s I.R.S. Suit and Questions His ‘Weaponization’ Fund (“The ruling was a blow to both President Trump, who had voluntarily dismissed the suit last week, and to the Justice Department, which used the suit to establish a fund likely intended for Trump allies.”)
• Judge launches inquiry into Trump-IRS settlement that led to ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
• Trump’s $1.8 Billion Settlement Fund Sparks Alarm Inside White House (“Top White House aides have discussed whether to kill ‘anti-weaponization’ fund after Republican backlash”)
• Trump Ordered to Address ‘Grievous’ Fraud Claims in IRS Case
• Judge probes whether Trump defrauded the court to create $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund (Trump should be in prison for so many reasons. His sons as well, plus his son-in-law for sure, plus…many others.)
• Pam Bondi Just Threw Todd Blanche Under the Bus, and I’m All Here for It
• Bondi Blames Acting AG Todd Blanche for Epstein Files Controversies
• Bondi, Pressed Over Epstein Files, Places Responsibility on Blanche and Patel
• Lead federal prosecutor in James Comey seashells photo case steps aside
• The Justice Department Erases History; Lawfare Restores It (“Last week, the Justice Department deleted thousands of press releases related to the Jan. 6 insurrection and other matters. Here they are.”)
• Democrats have fresh hope to win back Senate – could they really pull it off?
• Is JD Vance the 2028 Front Runner? Trump Has Questions.
• The Real—and Deeply Corrupt—Reason Trump Is After E. Jean Carroll (“Actually, it’s not reason, singular. It’s reasons, plural. And there are 88.3 million of them.”)
• Pentagon recruiting troops to watch White House UFC fights, memos show (“Internal messages reviewed by The Post stipulate that military personnel must pay their own way and meet strict physical requirements to be eligible.” What a bunch of f’ing bullshit.)
• Trump Bought Stock In UFC’s Parent Company As He Promoted White House Fight (Massively corrupt!)
• Kennedy Center Must Remove Trump’s Name From Building, Judge Orders (“In an incensed social media post, President Trump suggested that the ruling might prompt him to cast the center aside after more than a year at its helm.”)
• Judge says Trump can’t add his name to Kennedy Center and blocks planned closure
• The Kennedy Center Enters the Unknown (“It may or may not close. Trump says he’ll abandon it. And the fight isn’t over.”)
• White House Finally Releases Trump’s Medical Report—With Major Omissions (“The president’s physician declared him in excellent health, despite a 14-pound weight gain.” Spoiler: Trump most definitely is NOT in excellent health!)
• Trump should come clean about his all-too-obvious decline (He should, but there’s ZERO chance he will.)
• NEW POLL: JAMES TALARICO LEADS KEN PAXTON IN TEXAS SENATE GENERAL ELECTION
• Journalist Favored by Trump Is in Talks to Join White House in Temporary Role (“John Solomon said he was being vetted for a role as a ‘special government employee,’ a status given to part-time, outside advisers to the federal government.”)
• Stephen Miller’s Wife Doxed This Young Dem. Then the MAGA Rage Hit. (“Paulina Mangubat’s life was upended in a big way this week. She talks about it in an exclusive interview.”)
• What the Hell Is Going on With Trump’s Freedom 250 Concert? (“C + C Music Factory rapper Freedom Williams posted an expletive-adorned rant, Morris Day said it was a “no,” Young MC dropped out, but Vanilla Ice says he’s in” Vanilla Ice? LOL!!!)
• Louisiana Republicans pass new electoral map that guts majority-Black district
• Condemning a Nazi Tattoo Shouldn’t Be This Hard (“Why aren’t more Democrats calling out Graham Platner?” It’s crazy, it really is…)
• Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Wonders Whether Pam Bondi Will “just answer the questions openly and honestly today” or Risk “a future Congress where perhaps a subpoena is truly enforced”
• Analysis: Spanberger sure did veto a lot of Democratic bills her freshman year
• Clean Virginia: Spanberger Trades One Ethics Problem (VA Tech Rector John Rocovich) For Another (Top Dominion Executive Edward Baine)
• ‘I will not resign’: Rocovich challenges Spanberger, Republicans push back on dismissal
• Spanberger removes Virginia Tech rector, citing ethics concerns (The Bezos Post finally reports on this story, a couple days late.)
• Bill Bolling lost his Republican Party to Donald Trump, and it’s his own fault (“That’s where Trump is held accountable – if he tells you he’s going to be a dictator on Day 1, and you still vote for him, he’s going to be a dictator on Day 1, and thereafter, and if you’re Bill Bolling, and you don’t like that, too bad, you’ve lost your party…Bill, personal note: he does that because people like you, who had three times to stand up to him, failed to do so, because you were blinded by the prospect of him getting your party back into political power. Joke’s on you – he has the political power, and you no longer have a party.”)
• Virginia Tech considers classifying some criticism of Israel as antisemitic
• Appalachian Power seeks rate increase
• Armed Forces Brewing sues Norfolk residents, social media account for $50 million (“Armed Forces Brewing, which left Norfolk in 2025, is suing a group of city residents and arguing they led a coordinated takedown campaign against the military-themed brewery.”)
• After 14 years of oversight, the suit against Virginia’s largest prison for women is dismissed
• Federal judge denies homeschooled student’s bid to play sports for Roanoke County school
• Ahead of LGBTQ Pride Month, Richmond raises Rainbow Flag
• Bus hits cars on I-95 in Virginia, killing 5 people and injuring 34, state police say (Horrible.)
• ‘The bus was going really, really fast,’ survivor says of deadly Virginia crash
• Despite recent rain, drought warning advisory continues for most of Virginia
• CWG Live updates: Sunny with a breeze today, and more nice days on the way (The weather guys shouldn’t use words like “nice,” they should just report what the weather is, in this case sunny, mild and dry. On the latter point, we’re stil in a drought, thus need rain pretty badly, and that’s not “nice” IMHO.)