by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise (economic, environmental, etc.) for Friday, June 26.
INTERNATIONAL
- European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists say (“Study also finds high humidity means people in hundreds of cities are enduring their worst ever heat stress”)
- Too hot for work: why extreme heat is a threat to Europe’s productivity (“High temperatures make some workplaces dangerous, with economists warning disruption will dent growth”)
- Europe’s Deadly Heat Wave: A Jolt for Climate Action, or Just for A.C.? (“Heat-related deaths and disruptions to daily life are forcing politicians to reckon, in different ways, with a rapidly warming planet.”)
- Pope moves to clarify when wars are justified. Trump probably won’t like the answer.
- Ukraine’s Growing Drone Armada Is Overwhelming Russia’s Air Defenses (“Kyiv’s escalating campaign is leading to restrictions on fuel sales in Russia, surging gasoline prices and regular images of black smoke clouds.”)
- Russia preparing possible ‘provocation’ in Baltic states or Poland, sources say (“Kremlin may attempt to test Nato cohesion as Russia comes under growing pressure from Ukraine, according to sources from two countries”)
- Xi Jinping has hosted more than a dozen leaders this year, as ‘middle powers’ look beyond the US (“China’s leader wants to promote his alternative to the current world order, and his efforts are being assisted by a capricious US”)
- Iran insists on right to control shipping in Strait of Hormuz after ship hit near Oman
- Iran Attacks Cargo Ship, Testing Trump’s Deal to Reopen Strait (“Attack takes place hours after Iranian warning to ships not to use routes that the regime hadn’t sanctioned”)
- How Iran Devastated an American Naval Base—and Caused a U.S. Recalculation (“Satellite imagery reveals for the first time the extent of what Iran destroyed at Naval Support Activity Bahrain”)
- To protect the Iran peace talks, will Trump finally restrain Netanyahu?
- After Starmer’s ‘purge’, could Andy Burnham lure back Labour’s bruised leftwingers? (“Socialists marginalised under current PM are anxious about whether his replacement will again disappoint them”)
- Why The World Ignores Genocide in Sudan (“The country finds itself in cycle after cycle of bloody civil war, intensified by a brutal intramilitary power struggle and exploitative foreign powers like the United Arab Emirates seeking an opportunity to profit from the bloodshed. Vanity Fair reports from inside the mounting human rights disaster.”)
- Neighbors dig through Venezuela rubble to search for loved ones after 2 deadly earthquakes (Horrible.)
- Aerial footage reveals destruction in coastal Venezuela
- Venezuela Quakes Hand Rodríguez a Chance to Build Legitimacy
- Rescuers race to find Venezuela quake victims as global relief effort gains pace (“At least 235 people were killed, with thousands more injured, after two of the country’s strongest quakes in over a century.”)
- Bizarre questions and an all-male ‘jury’: woman strangled by US pilot in Britain tells of airbase trial (“Sarah Steele waives anonymity to call for greater scrutiny of how US military courts are allowed to ‘rip apart’ vulnerable witnesses in the UK”)
NATIONAL
- WATCH: Stephen Miller says ‘America’s doors are closed fully to asylum seekers’ after Supreme Court rulings (This guy is a fascist, 100%, also just pure evil.)
- The Supreme Court Once Again Endorses Trump’s Racism (“The court took a look at Trump’s obviously bigoted handling of the Temporary Protected Status program and said, ‘Nothing to see here.'”)
- Democrats demand Mullin keep pledge to supply list of canceled Noem contracts
- The Supreme Court lets the Trump administration end legal protections for Haitians and Syrians (This court is illegitimate, extreme, lawless, and incompatible with the rule of law in this country.)
- The Supreme Court Just Okayed a Heartless Order to Kick Legal Migrants Out of Our Country (“The Trump administration is jumping for joy, and we should all be disgusted.”)
- Justices Clash on Whether Race Played a Role in Trump’s Bid to Deport Haitians (Pathetically weak headline by the NY Times – of COURSE Alito et al are racist!)
- Immigration Hard-Liners Had Repeatedly Lost in Court Before Justices’ Ruling
- Sam Alito Wrote One of the Cruelest Opinions of in Recent Memory
- Supreme Court’s ruling to end protections for Haitian, Syrian immigrants could have broader impact
- The Anti-Immigrant Supreme Court
- The Supreme Court Backs Trump’s Gutter Racism (“Samuel Alito led the majority on a despicable, precedent-shredding misadventure so that they could whitewash the president’s calumnies and expel the refugees he hates.”)
- Supreme court conservatives accused of advancing ‘white-supremacist agenda’ (“Lawmakers and advocates condemn ‘disastrous’ decisions that allow Trump officials to strip away migrant protections”)
- This Decision Is a Slap in the Face to Immigrants Who Followed the Law
- The Supreme Court Is Unshackling the Presidency
- The Supreme Court’s embarrassing new Second Amendment decision, explained (“Every Second Amendment case handed down by this Court is arbitrary, because the Court’s leading precedent makes no sense.”)
- The Supreme Court’s New Expansion of the Second Amendment Is Genuinely Deranged
- As billionaires’ wealth soars, US workers struggle: ‘The rich keep getting richer for no good reason’
- The Americans Trump Would Rather Not See (“There are some uncomfortably eugenicist vibes in Trump’s latest disability policy, which authorizes states to institutionalize more Americans.”)
- Senate GOP scrambling for a strategy to please Trump on SAVE America Act
- Trump’s fixation on election overhaul bill derails GOP agenda on Capitol Hill
- Trump Keeps Undercutting Republicans’ Message, Squandering His Own Trifecta (“Divisions between the president and his party on Capitol Hill have muddled Republicans’ midterm pitch to voters, and have crippled the G.O.P. at what should be the peak of its power.”)
- Trump calls on House GOP hard-liners to end floor blockade (“President Donald Trump instructed a band of his GOP hard-liner allies to end their House floor blockade with multiple major bills at risk of being derailed.”)
- Johnson Says He Will Send Housing Bill to Trump (“After meeting with the president, the speaker said he would send him a housing bill that Mr. Trump declined to sign this week. There was no word on whether he would sign it.”)
- A Judge Won’t Drop the Lawsuit Against Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund (“The move adds to pressure on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to take formal action to end the fund before his confirmation hearing next month.”)
- The Meltdown (“One day that captures how Trump has gone from unpredictable to chaotic”)
- Judge orders DOJ to release more Epstein files
- Todd Blanche ‘conceded’ violating law on Epstein files, judge finds (“Court gives DOJ a week to remove redactions or justify them.”)
- Dismal turnout for Trump’s “massive rally” mars Fox’s America 250 smear campaign
- Editorial: Ending protections run counter to federal civil service’s purpose
- Supreme Court Backs Trump’s Gutter Racism
- Tucker Carlson is not leaving the GOP. He wants to take it over (“The podcast host envisions a more radical Republican Party”)
- Why did Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene leave the Republican party? (“Disillusioned America firsters, like Carson and Greene, are angry at Trump’s foreign interventions, may sit out the midterm elections”)
- Marc Elias: The Stakes in November
- After wins by democratic socialists, centrist Democrats unite to push back (“Thirteen Democratic House members and candidates announced their support for an initiative that commits them to centrist principles”)
- House Dem centrists plot Mamdani Caucus counterattack
- Democrats’ real plan to control Congress again (“New York’s socialist insurgents are getting the headlines. But in swing House districts, the establishment has been getting its way.”)
- FEMA official who claimed he teleported to Waffle House ousted from agency, sources say
- Vance, an admirer of Richard Nixon, says Watergate would be ‘a 12-hour news story’ today (Can JD Vance actually be as stupid as he sounds?)
- Vance dismisses Watergate scandal, says ‘deep state’ went after Nixon (Vance seems insane.)
- Elon Musk ordered to give deposition in alleged ‘vote buying’ election scheme
- John Bolton, Former Trump Adviser, Is Expected to Plead Guilty in Classified Information Case
Mr. Bolton is expected to admit to - Mamdani Gets His Rent Freeze
- A district that went +20 for Trump now in play for Democrats (“Democrat Blake Gendebien is in a dead heat with Republican Anthony Constantino in a deep-red upstate New York congressional district, internal poll shows.”)
- Texas Public School Students May Soon Be Required to Read the Bible (“Texas is set to pass what may be the first state-mandated book list for public school students. It focuses on classic literature and includes Bible excerpts.”)
- GOP nominee for N.Y. governor says House candidate Brad Lander would be ‘a camp guard in the concentration camp’ for Nazis (Disgusting.)
- Reflecting Pool liner cut with sharp knife or razor, National Park Service says (There’s basically zero chance that actually happened.)
VIRGINIA
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Expresses Grave Concerns About Interference in 2026 Elections “from people…who will bow down to any Donald Trump wish” (Also: New Postmaster General “should not be in the job if he’s talking about going beyond the law”)
- Tim Kaine demands answers on reports trafficking victims were killed in U.S. strikes
- Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says Trump Thinks Making It Harder to Vote Is “more important than our bipartisan bill to make it easier for Americans to afford a home” (On the Reflecting Pool fiasco: “the promise the president made for beautiful blue water is far from the case today”)
- Subramanyam: ‘More people arrested’ over Reflecting Pool than Epstein files
- Notes from the Square: 2 former 6th District competitors swap endorsements (“Plus: Attorney General Jay Jones issues a message to the firearm industry and $6.19 million to be disbursed from the EPA to clean up brownfields in Southwest and Southside Virginia.”)
- Pope & Schapiro: A budget, a possible comeback, and the 250th
- Virginia’s NextEra merger review must put Virginia families first (By LG Ghazala Hashmi)
- Virginia joins initiative to create three-year bachelor’s degree model
- After Judge Issues Injunction Against Virginia’s New Assault Weapons Ban, AG Jay Jones Vows To “urgently file a motion to stay this ruling” (“We will continue to vigorously defend Virginia’s assault weapons ban and magazine capacity restrictions”)
- Budget amendment would give ratepayers estimated $3 monthly rebate from RGGI funds (“Officials say $650 million from RGGI fund to be split between flood mitigation projects and energy efficiency for low-income residents”)
- Consumers to get RGGI rebates
- Alcohol industry warns cannabis enforcement plan could strain ABC enforcement
- GUEST OPINION: It’s time to tell my story (by Hala Ayala)
- Northern Va. workers vote in local union election (“Prince William County government workers are fighting for better pay and more say on the job.”)
- Tom Homan had himself one of those Culpeper County sheriff’s deputy badges
- Virginia drought update: We’re still very much in one, with little relief in sight
- Special prosecutor named in investigation of Buchanan County elected official (“The assistant commonwealth’s attorney from Bland County who is handling the case said he doesn’t yet know the target of the investigation.”)
- DC-area forecast: Rain chances grow into the weekend as humidity rises (“Occasional showers and storms seem likely tomorrow as humidity sets up camp. At least temperatures remain subdued until heat builds next week. Looking very hot mid- to late week.”)
