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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise (economic, environmental, etc.) for Saturday, August 15. Today’s biggest developments and headlines include the climate crisis (always at the top of these news highlights because it’s existential and should be a massive story every single day)…plus Trump bloss off concerns over conditions on the USS Lincoln – imagine if Joe Biden or Barack Obama had spoken about our military like this???; Trump tears up beloved Big Bend National Park for his insane, idiotic border wall; NextEra falls quiet on renewable energy; Karoline Leavitt the “worst White House press secretary of all time”; etc.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS (Climate crisis, Trump says USS Lincoln deployment “not nearly long enough,” doesn’t GAF about deplorable conditions on board; the Taliban continue to be pure evil; Israel on a wildly wrong, disastrous path; etc.)
- Europe’s scorched landscapes seen from space after summer heatwaves
- Europe’s Great Rivers Are Dying. The Continent Is In for a Shock
- In One Week During Europe’s Record Heat Wave, Deaths Increased by 16,000
- Heat Deaths in a ‘Cold’ Country Are a Warning to the Rest of Europe
- ‘The Energy Transition Cannot Become A New Form Of Colonial Violence,’ Brazilian Indigenous Leaders Tell UN Conference
- How the World’s Largest Electric Company Fell Quiet on Renewable Energy (“For years, NextEra Energy boasted it was a “leading clean energy company.” Now, as renewable energy faces political opposition, it’s stopped emphasizing that.” This is the company that wants to acquire Dominion Energy. Hmmm….)
- Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy warns Egypt of food supply threat caused by Russian strikes in Black Sea
- Russia’s economy has defied the skeptics. Cracks are getting harder to hide (“Russia’s wartime economy is still growing, but analysts say the headline data mask deeper strain. Civilians appear to be feeling the squeeze, with households trading down to cheaper and store-brand foods as real incomes come under pressure. Analysts do not expect economic stress alone to end the war in Ukraine. Some warn worsening conditions could instead incentivize President Vladimir Putin to escalate it.”)
- As China Pushes to Expand in Asia, Trump Focuses on Iran
- Trump dismisses military families’ concerns about grim conditions on USS Lincoln (“Asked if he was worried that the ship’s deployment had gone on too long, Trump said it was ‘not nearly long enough.'” Just imagine the reaction if Barack Obama had said that, or Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, etc, etc???)
- Trump says USS Lincoln’s deployment was ‘not nearly long enough’
- Not Just the Lincoln: Families Describe Human Waste, No Food, No End in Sight Across Multiple Ships
- Trump says USS Lincoln’s record time at sea during Iran operations ‘not nearly long enough’ (Trump is psycho.)
- Trump says record USS Lincoln deployment ‘not nearly long enough’ (“Trump said USS Lincoln family members are not concerned about conditions.”)
- U.S.-Iran ceasefire set to expire with talks at a standstill (“Negotiations to bring the war to a close remain deadlocked – and complicated by the fractured Iranian state.”)
- Trump says he will declare Strait of Hormuz a US territory (That would be wildly illegal; also, it’s insane to even suggest it.)
- ‘Revenge is inevitable’: Iran ramps up propaganda war with violent billboards (“Anti-U.S. messaging has intensified in recent weeks following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with artificial intelligence playing a major role.”)
- Iran defiant on strait as Trump tells Americans to accept high gas prices
- The Iran War Is Now About Who Blinks First Under Economic Pressure
- South Korea’s Lee urges talks with North Korea about finally ending Korean war (“Lee wants to end 1950-53 war, which has never had a peace treaty, but says talks should include curbing North Korea’s nuclear capabilities”)
- There’s a reason why Israel has done little to rein in settler violence. It’s not just Netanyahu (Israel’s on a disastrous path; it’s really sad to see the country, formerly of kibbutzim and great leaders like Yitzhak Rabin, go in the destructive – including self-destructive – direction they’ve gone…with no end in sight.)
- Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon kill 9 people, Health Ministry says
- Activists try to deliver aid to Palestinians in homes besieged by Israeli settlers (Israel’s far-right-extremist government is to blame.)
- Concerns grow over increased global ties with Taliban in Afghanistan
- Five years after the Taliban won, Afghanistan is still losing (What we should have done is kept enough forces in Afghanistan to ensure that the Taliban didn’t overthrow the pro-US government.)
- While Taliban leaders mark 5 years in power in Afghanistan, a UN official warns of a rights crisis (We never should have allowed the Taliban to come back into power. I really don’t get what Joe Biden was thinking.)
- Five years after the Taliban swept to power, does the West have any influence?
- At least 38 dead after Indonesia’s magnitude-7.7 earthquake, officials say
- CIA Behind Mystery Strikes on Ecuadorian Fishing Boats (If/when the Trump regime nightmare ends, we’re going to need accountability big time.)
- BBC seeks to subpoena Trump family members in defamation suit (“The British broadcaster says Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have relevant knowledge about the president’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021.”)
- Youngest Black professor at Cambridge who faced plagiarism claims is found dead (“Jason Arday, who was 37 when he became Cambridge’s youngest Black professor in 2023, resigned after he came under intense media pressure, with weeks of allegations about plagiarism in his academic work and questions surrounding claims about his athletic and fundraising accomplishments.”)
NATIONAL NEWS (ICE out of control in many ways; Trump tears up Big Bend; the horrible Karoline Leavitt; etc.)
- People detained at Mississippi ICE facility say they were sickened by gas leak and denied medical care
- They fought for the U.S. in Afghanistan. Now they worry about losing their green cards
- How Trump Is Trying to Weaken Migrant Children’s Legal Defense (“After failing to eliminate funding for unaccompanied minors’ lawyers altogether, the Administration is pushing cases toward entities that lack both immigration expertise and the capacity to take them on.”)
- ICE detained a Venezuelan soccer pro. His case shows the immigration backlog crisis
- US judge clears way for Trump to end Somalis’ deportation protections
- Springfield Haitians in ICE custody following immigration enforcement
- Chicago ICE team seen threatening drivers has roamed from Illinois to Minnesota to Virginia (“A federal agent from Chicago identified by community members as 40-year-old Martin Lagunas was recorded pointing his gun in a Virginia woman’s face on Monday. His team of ICE agents has been documented intimidating observers, drivers, and protesters across at least three states in the last year.”)
- Trump Backed Away From a Wall at Big Bend. But the Bulldozers Are Here. (“Despite objections, the administration appears to be moving ahead with border infrastructure in one of Texas’ most beloved parks.”)
- Why Trump is tearing up a beloved national park (“Big Bend National Park is the latest casualty of Trump’s border wall obsession.” This is evil and insane.)
- ‘Devastating’: bulldozers plough through Big Bend national park as Trump’s border work pushes ahead (Americans should be outraged by this.)
- A Young Immigrant’s Deportation Nightmare (“ICE is going to war against kids who have a special legal status.”)
- Consumer sentiment dips, especially among Republicans
- Retail sales slump in July
- Attorney General Blanche appears to endorse GOP candidate in latest politicization of DOJ (Remember when the media collectively lost its mind because Bill Clinton in June 2016 spoke for a few minutes on an airport tarmac in Phoenix with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch??? But now the media’s like, “yawn, whatever,” to FAR more serious, improper conduct by Trump’s Attorney General???)
- Trump Pivots to Crime as War, Economy Imperil GOP Midterm Hopes (I can’t tell you how much I despise this type of bullshit coverage – Trump “pivots,” blah blah blah. In fact, if you actually listen to what he has to say, the guy’s completely unhinged, what he says is wildly false, etc. Yet you don’t see that in the headline or framing of the article. WHY THE F*** NOT???)
- Prosecutors Examined Firm With Tie to Judge in Trump Hush Money Trial (“The U.S. attorney in Chicago subpoenaed a fund-raising firm that had been co-owned by the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who conducted the trial that led to Donald Trump’s felony conviction.”)
- Trump Family’s World Liberty Financial Gets Preliminary Approval to Launch a Bank
- MAHA and right-wing media revive debunked claim about the COVID vaccine and miscarriages to attack Dr. Fauci (Wildly irresponsible and damaging.)
- How Cyclospora Evaded the U.S. Food Safety System to Sicken Thousands
- Trump’s war on juries (“Jurors are being told that their careful work doesn’t matter.”)
- Killings and other violent crimes dropped sharply in 2025 (“…experts note crime began falling well before Trump returned to office.”)
- Stock Trading by Lawmakers Becomes a Campaign Attack Line (Pathological liar Rep.Jen Kiggans “frequently accuses her opponent, former Representative Elaine Luria, of ‘insider stock trading’ during her four years in Congress. Ms. Kiggans’s campaign did not point to any instances of insider trading, which is illegal, when asked about the allegations.” That last sentence says it all!)
- Constituents, Politicians Differ on Stances Toward Data Centers (“While the majority of Americans oppose data centers in their areas, many of the lawmakers representing them in Washington argue the U.S. can’t afford for the rapid buildout to slow.”)
- Fox Hits Trump with Crushing Polls—and Wrecks Fox’s Own Pro-Trump Spin (“Even Fox News is finding that Democratic Senate candidates are running ahead of their party brand in many places, while Trump is an albatross for their GOP opponents.”)
- Data center backlash echoes fossil fuel politics
- How $600B of Biden’s clean energy funding escaped Trump’s cuts (“A POLITICO analysis finds that while the administration wiped out hundreds of billions in clean-energy tax breaks, spending has been harder to unwind.”)
- US firms that kept DEI policies despite ‘go woke, go broke’ threats thrived
- Second Major Trump Official Exits Administration In Just As Many Days (“The news comes some 48 hours after now-former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced her exit Wednesday.”)
- The worst White House press secretary of all time (“Karoline Leavitt is leaving the White House. She won’t be missed by the media she mocked and despised” Except for idiots like Peter Sagal, who was arguing yesterday that actually, Leavitt’s kinda nice in private. WTF???)
- What American Jews want from the midterms (“Though a small electorate, Jewish voters are being pushed to the center of political debates this midterm cycle.”)
- Why Don’t Leftie Candidates Do Better Among Working-Class Voters? (“It isn’t that non-college voters are more ‘moderate.’ It’s something else entirely, and it will probably take about a decade to fix, if it’s fixable at all.”)
- Three More Congressmen Violated the STOCK Act
- Third Way Doesn’t Care About the Democratic Party (“The centrist organization is spending millions of dollars of corporate money on a campaign to manufacture right-wing talking points to flood the media.” The word “centrist,” BTW, is basically meaningless the way it’s thrown around.)
- Amid intra-MAGA fight, Trump weighs going all in for Darline Graham
- Wisconsin Picked an Extremist This Week, but Not the One You’re Thinking Of (Youngkin was busy campaigning for the extremist, and the Virginia political media was like, “not interested, don’t care, yawn.”)
- House Democrats PAC adds $6 million to Cleveland spending after Ohio’s Miller opts to stay in race
- Why Is Hunter Biden on a Media Blitz? (“The former president’s son is trading silence for airtime, using podcasts and essays to talk about his past and share grievances”)
- Accused Olympian seeks protection from future Reflecting Pool charges
- ‘I shot Mr Thompson’- What it was like inside court as Mangione pleaded guilty (Even if you despise the health insurance industry, there’s ZERO excuse for what Mangione did, and anyone who thinks he’s some sort of hero is really f’ed up.)
VIRGINIA NEWS (Subramanyam on ICE agents needing to face criminal charges; Youngkin has completely lost his mind – and the Virginia political media overwhelmingly doesn’t care; etc.)
- Video: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10) Says He Wants ICE Agents, Like the Ones in Bailey’s Crossroads, to “face…criminal charges if you pull a gun on someone” (“This is why people are so angry about ICE….[they ]want to cover up for these agents who do the wrong thing”)
- Video: Glenn Youngkin Goes Completely, Trump-Level Unhinged, Calls for “a recount and a revote of the original election” (Youngkin falsely claims Spanberger, VA Dems knew they were “violating the Constitution”)
- Firefighters union censures Gov. Spanberger over her vetoes of collective bargaining
- Equality Virginia: ‘Virginia’s leaders have a choice’ on gender-affirming care
- Judge declines to delay THC rule change for hemp products (“Virginia hemp businesses said the new rule, set to take effect Saturday, will render much of their inventory illegal to sell.”)
- Virginia’s priorities for the NextEra-Dominion merger (FYI, Del. David Reid recently switched back from Clean Virginia to Dominion Energy in terms of campaign contributions.)
- ‘Spirits Palooza’ boosts ABC profits despite falling sales
- High school student creates tool for Virginians to see what’s in their water
- Va. school board to appeal federal court order to remove Confederate school names (“Plaintiffs offered to fund a private mediator to establish a ‘community-driven’ renaming process and resolve $15 million in legal fees, which Shenandoah school leaders rejected.”)
- Trump’s shipbuilding plan can’t come at expense of Hampton Roads, Virginia lawmakers say (“President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon this week to open the door to building warships abroad and the creation of a fifth public shipyard on the Pacific coast. Virginia’s congressional representatives said they are skeptical of the move and concerned about potential economic impacts to the region.”)
- DC-area forecast: A nice start to the weekend, before storms return Sunday
