by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, September 21. 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 lots more…see below.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
- How Saudi oil scientists ended up working on the world’s most important climate reports
- Babies ‘will face almost twice as much’ extreme fire weather in Europe than great-grandparents (“Children born after 2025 will experience three more years of brutally fire-conducive weather as global heating intensifies”)
- Nvidia boss says there is ‘0% chance’ AI destroys the world by 2030
- All the signs say another financial crisis is coming. Here’s why we need to prepare for it now (“War, AI disruption and markets in turmoil: the warnings are all there. But lessons from the 2008 crash could help us”)
- Are global stock markets heading for a crash? (“Economies thrown into renewed turmoil as AI debt, Iran war and soaring government bond yields fuel alarm”)
- Trump Ramps Up Bid to Dismantle International Criminal Court (“Administration prepares sweeping sanctions that would cut the court off from much of the global financial system” Batshit f’ing crazy, corrupt, etc.)
- European spy chiefs warn Moscow is planning more decisive action against Nato (“Exclusive: Intelligence officers say Russian campaign could intensify ‘in months, not years’ – but that panic risks playing into Kremlin psy-ops”)
- Russia’s elections had few surprises – but how the Kremlin uses the results will be crucial (Calling this sham “elections” without noting that they’re totally rigged, NOT free-and-fair, etc. is journalistic malpractice. Period.)
- Trump to meet with Zelensky as Russia-Ukraine attacks intensify
- U.N. General Assembly to Confront Familiar Crises, New Conflicts and A.I.
- Trump eyes busy week of meetings as UN General Assembly gathers (Nice “neutral,” “safe” headline from Reuters – one which tells us basically nothing.)
- Trump heads into a week of diplomacy, hampered by a lack of allies (“At the United Nations on Tuesday and in meetings with China’s Xi Jinping on Thursday, the president will largely stand alone.”)
- Trump’s Taiwan retreat tests his chief China hawk’s influence (“Ivan Kanapathy, a longtime China hawk, is a top Asia adviser at the National Security Council at a time when the Trump administration has been particularly conciliatory with Beijing.”)
- America Is Blundering Toward War With China
- One Issue That Could Upend Fragile U.S.-China Ties: Taiwan Arms
- China Rare-Earth Magnet Exports to US Drop Before Xi-Trump Meet
- Bessent calls meeting with China Vice Premier He Lifeng ‘successful’ ahead of Trump-Xi summit (Again, at the minimum the media should point out up front that, whatever “Trump says” or “Bessent calls” – they lie CONSTANTLY.)
- US and China Hail Talks as Positive Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit (Again, who cares what they SAY, the media’s job is to let readers know what’s really going on.)
- North Korea Launches Ballistic Missiles, Dialing Up Pressure on the U.S. (BTW, why is Kim Jong-un Trump’s “friend,” and apparently it’s totally ok for North Korea to have nuclear weapons, but we had to go to war against Iran to prevent them from having nuclear weapons? Seems just a weeee bit inconsistent?)
- Iranian President Pezeshkian to head to New York for UN meeting as Trump warns of no-deal consequences
- Trump Gets Caught in a Dilemma Over a Saudi Plea for Military Help (“The president vacillated but decided on Sunday not to join Saudi Arabia, for now, in joint strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. But he also needs the kingdom’s cooperation in his war against Iran.”)
- Iran warns against new escalation by US and allies
- Middle East braces for more violence as Iran claims US is planning to renew bombing campaign (“Tensions grow as Trump tells Fox News he is considering ‘wiping Iran out’ after attacks on Riyadh by Houthi rebels”)
- How violent West Bank settlers are threatening Israel’s alliance with America (“It’s so bad now even Mike Huckabee is recoiling.”)
- What Life Is Actually Like in Gaza Today (“Nearly a year after the ceasefire, the analyst Jaser Abu Mousa explains the impediments to rebuilding, and the devastation of his own family.”)
- Challenges to Identity, Real and Imagined, Drive Europe’s Far Right (Totally f’ed up.)
- AfD leads as Merz rues ‘disaster’ in worst state election result in postwar Germany
- Merz Vows to Stay On After Record German Election Defeat (It’s not working, dude…)
- What’s next for Germany’s troubled chancellor after a string of state election defeats
- Whiplashed middle powers seek new alliances as Trump rages on world stage
- UK should ‘team up’ with Canada in new Europe alliance, Canadian minister tells BBCf
- Macron and Carney announce closer France-Canada ties amid Trump tensions (“Two leaders meet in French territory off Canada as Ottawa seeks stronger relations with EU while fighting trade war with US”)
- Police officer shot near Ontario synagogue on Yom Kippur
- The Wealthy Miami Residents Who Are Plotting Cuba’s Future (“The detailed plans are fueled by Trump’s warning that “Cuba is next”—even as the regime hangs on”)
NATIONAL NEWS
- ICE officer shoots Venezuelan man delivering food in Austin, lawyer says (“The victim was identified as Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez, 28, by his immigration attorney. He remains in a “serious but stable condition” after the shooting, authorities said.” The ICE officer should be arrested immediately, but won’t be.)
- Venezuelan DoorDash driver shot and wounded by ICE agent in Austin, Texas, officials say
- Banished to alien lands: Trump’s secret deportation deals (“After a plane journey in shackles, an Iranian woman found herself in the middle of Africa in a country she did not know existed. She is one of thousands deported from the US on the back of shadowy deals made with dozens of countries. An in-depth investigation reveals the ‘show of force’ costing American taxpayers millions” We’re going to need a Nurember-style court after this administration is outta there.)
- How Trump turned a refugee bureau into a $410 million deportation operation
- Federal agents detained U.S. citizen Sunday morning
- KSU women’s basketball player detained by ICE at Louisville airport | Exclusive
- Vance Has a Twisted Idea of What It Means to Be American (Everything about Vance is twisted.)
- US Diesel Tops $6.50 as Worsening Global Crunch Feeds Inflation
- RFK Jr.’s movement now has corporate sponsors (“The upcoming Make America Healthy Again Summit is brought to you by companies with business before the Health Department.” WILDLY corrupt!)
- Trump reportedly to form health funding board that could veto ‘woke’ initiatives (Completely insane. Also note, “woke” is an all-purpose word used by Trump et al for basically anything they don’t like.)
- The Pinball President (“No commander in chief has been better at seizing public attention than Donald Trump. But there is a difference between getting attention and doing something with it.”)
- Senate GOP sees battleground map widen amid voter anger over economy
- Expert ratings are ignoring signs of a blue wave (“Assuming we’re in a roughly neutral political environment doesn’t make sense given the history of the midterms, $4.50 gas or Trump’s dismal approval ratings.”)
- If the Democrats Win These Three Senate Seats, an Earthquake Happened (“The Trump-burdened GOP is suddenly playing defense in states they’ve barely had to for years. The reason: Some fighting Democrats have arrived on the scene.”)
- Wave of Setbacks Leaves Trump Frustrated and Looking for Credit
- Poll: Most voters say Trump has hurt the economy as competitive midterm election looms
- ‘He is kryptonite’: Republicans start breaking with Trump
- Republicans Are Unleashing Their Fundraising Advantage Against the Democrats
- More Democrats plan to vote in person in midterms
- CNN, MS NOW, Politico to sue White House over blocked access
- Waltz: Trump ‘absolutely within his rights’ to bar reporters ‘not behaving’ in good faith (So the next Democratic president will be “absolutely within his rights” to bar all right-wing media, correct?)
- Trump’s Attacks on the Media Are Self-Defeating (“When the president asserts that all negative coverage is false, he seals his party off from necessary criticism.”)
- Many ex-aides to Harris betting against a 2028 run
- Alaska’s Independent Streak Rears Its Head At The Wrong Moment For GOP
- James Talarico’s campaign could do lasting damage to the GOP (“The Texas Democratic nominee for Senate is teaching evangelical voters that Christians can be liberal” In fact, if they actually read what’s in the Gospels, Christians *should* be liberal – VERY liberal!)
- Why This Texas Senate Race Is Different (“You’ve seen this movie before: Democrats are promising that, this time, their charismatic candidate in Texas has a real shot. But something has changed in 2026.”)
- Trump Says His Contested Arch Would House Drones and Snipers (“The president’s announcement on Sunday echoed his justification for the White House ballroom: that the project was necessary for national security.” This is waaaaay beyond parody.)
- Trump Wants to Make His Triumphal Arch a Killing Machine
- Paramount Discussed $1.5 Billion California Investment to Clear Merger Hurdle
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani to meet with President Trump in New York City (Prediction: Mamdani fans will be ok with this, or at least not criticize him too much, while if HakeeM Jeffries or Chuck Schumer or whoever did the exact same thing, they’d go APESHIT!)
- Trump’s Chesapeake Bay order rebuked stormwater fees. Experts say it won’t end them.
VIRGINIA NEWS
- VA05 Dem Nominee Tom Perriello Rips Trump’s “clear attack on the First Amendment,” Warns “we should never allow it to become routine for the president to erode the pillars of a free society”
- Perriello, Macy hit McGuire, Cline on data centers. Here’s what they’re talking about (and what they’re not saying)
- With US House control hanging in the balance, Wittman faces Taylor in contentious VA-01 race (In the context of a general election race, “contentious” is an utterly ridiuclous, superfluous, non-value-added adjective. I mean, how could a race between a Democrat and a Republican for US House NOT be “contentious?” Anyway, it tells us absolutely nothing, but is a “safe”/”neutral” word for the “news” media to use…)
- The battle over data centers isn’t just about data centers, but they’re the battleground we have. (“Having long subsidized the data center industry and allowed tech companies to think that their only obligation was to secure the proper permits for construction, Virginia has an obligation to course-correct…The administration and General Assembly have to pull every lever of government to hit the brakes on new development and impose stringent conditions on existing data centers until Congress puts real protections in place and the AI companies prove worthy of our trust.”)
- Use social media settlement dollars to help Virginia kids touch grass
- Virginia boys falling behind in educational, job benchmarks, panel says
- What 200 readers told us about what’s most important in Virginia local elections (“Healthcare, democracy and data centers were top concerns heading into this year’s midterms.” Not affordability or the economy, which is what every poll shows is the #1 issue by a wide margin? Weird.)
- Virginia Beach schools, Civil Rights Office reach agreement over sexual misconduct investigations (“District must now strengthen policies, training, reporting and investigations to ensure students are protected from sexual misconduct by teachers and school officials.”)
- Norfolk prosecutors partner with Harvard to test new AI tool
- Charlottesville police seize guns, ballistic vest from home of suspected Mall shooter
- Safety Service Patrol worker killed in I-64 hit-and-run (Horrible.)
- DC-area forecast: Less warm today with afternoon shower chances; cool and rainy Tuesday
