Thursday (9/3) News Roundup: El Niño “largest in at least 1,000 years”; ICE Recruits “Posed ‘Grave National Security Risks’”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, September 3.  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. Also, check out the video of Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) on Trump trying to meddle in the midterm elections; as Rep. Walkinshaw says, “The postal service, their job is to deliver the mail. Their job is not to administer elections or to reject ballots, which is what President Trump’s executive order would have them do. “

INTERNATIONAL NEWS (Climate crisis/”supersizing” El Niño; no end in sight to Iran war…or Russia’s assault on Ukraine; “Pete Hegseth’s Year of Blowing Up Boats”; etc.)

• UN warns of ‘supersized’ El Nias countries prepare for impact
• ‘Supersizing before our eyes’: UN warns of record El Niño approaching (“Event is likely to be largest in at least 1,000 years and will pile extra heat into a world already in a climate crisis” Absolute emergency, yet companies like Dominion keep pushing to build more fossil fuel facilities, which are the source of this disaster. Heinous.)
• The place that never freezes: the Arctic habitat where global heating threatens more ice, not less
• After the flood: human suffering on an unfathomable scale in Nepal’s worst-hit districts
• The world appears to be entering a higher-rate era. Here’s who will pay the price
• There Are Four Forces Pressuring Bonds: War Is No. 1
• A Spiral of Escalation for Russia and Ukraine, With No End in Sight
• Putin floats ‘chance’ at peace with Ukraine as NATO chief warns Russia is becoming ‘increasingly reckless’
• Ukraine’s drone attacks caused turmoil for Russians throughout summer
• Finland runs Europe’s biggest civil defense exercise since the Cold War
• Russia to close German cultural centers after Berlin blames Moscow for airport drone plot
• The New Jet-Powered Drones That Are Breeding Anxiety in Ukraine
• The wars in Ukraine and Iran are becoming dangerously enmeshed
• Hegseth Extends Mideast Deployments Into 2027, Escalating Strain on Troops (“Trump has told aides privately that he believes his strategy will eventually work, as 50,000 troops remain on hand to give him options”)
• Iran war escalation raises concern over civilian death toll
• In Small Iranian Town, a U.S. Attack Turns a Wedding Into a Tragedy
• Trump Returns to a Familiar Playbook as the War With Iran Flares Up Again (“The United States seems increasingly bogged down in Iran after six months of conflict, despite President Trump’s declarations of military dominance.”)
• Iran targets Kuwait in retaliation for US bombardments, and other Mideast news
• ‘We Are Stalled’: US-Iran Conflict Stuck With No End in Sight
• With diplomacy stalled, Trump returns to floating regime change in Iran
• Why Washington’s ‘Economic D-Day’ Against Iran Faces Steep Odds
• Israel ‘seeking Trump’s support for plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza’ (“Defence minister says he believes US backing could tip regional balance in favour of forced resettlement” That would be ethnic cleansing – hence a massive crime.)
• Ben-Gvir posts Palestinians on conveyor belts to detention camps. The world is silent (Ben-Gvir is evil incarnate — also the antithesis of Jewish values.)
• The far-right leader pushing Germans to forget the Nazi past (“Hans-Thomas Tillschneider could soon wield more power than any other far-right figure in Germany’s postwar history to turn his radical ideas into reality.”)
• Pete Hegseth’s Year of Blowing Up Boats (“The Pentagon has now killed at least 227 people in the Caribbean.” War crimes.)
• The US and Venezuela: a century-old relationship drenched in oil
• Trump’s Neocolonialism Will Backfire (“The President is touting his big Venezuelan oil deal, but his interventions abroad are stirring anger and having unintended consequences.”)

NATIONAL NEWS (ICE recruits’ “grave national security risks”; “Presented with bleak polling, the White House moves to make the midterms about Trump”; “Democrats’ new data center attack line”; “JD Vance says he’s doing ‘God’s work – and if that leads to the end times, OK’”; etc.)

• Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections (“A prosecutor planned to file civil rights charges — similar to those brought against the officers who killed George Floyd — against an ICE agent. In an email we exclusively obtained, he reveals that Trump officials quashed those plans.”)
• Revealed: US attorneys rally to free children held in immigration custody (“Trump administration has indefinitely stranded hundreds of kids and lawyers from over 50 organizations are fighting for their release”)
• Justice department orders US states to expand how they report undocumented immigrants
• ICE Whistle-Blower: Recruits Posed ‘Grave National Security Risks’
• Judge Blocks Trump’s Second Try to Restrict Birthright Citizenship
• ICE hasn’t paid for detainee medical care since October. Advocates call it the ‘death policy’
• Coast Guard plane carrying Markwayne Mullin makes emergency landing after engine failure
• ICE Plans to Pay $5 Million to Create National Voting Database
• Trump Administration Launches Blitz to Find Elusive Voter Fraud Ahead of Midterms
• New Mail Voting Rules Moved Forward Despite USPS Officials’ Concerns About Mass Disenfranchisement
• Postal Service Is Building Ballot Screening System Despite Ongoing Court Fight (“Election officials warn that the creation of a new online portal for states to upload voter information is already fueling confusion and could ultimately disenfranchise voters.”)
• How freaked out should you be about Trump’s plot to disrupt mail voting? (“There’s a very serious threat here. But it’s not as bad as some recent news might suggest.”)
• House Democrats block constitutional amendment to lock Supreme Court size at 9 justices (This court absolutely MUST BE expanded. I won’t support anyone for president who opposes this.)
• The Legal Wreckage of the Supreme Court’s Ballroom Follies (“The high court’s recent decision on the illegal addition to the White House shines a light on just how willing they are to let Donald Trump break the law.”)
• ‘Markets’ or ‘gambling’: The brewing Supreme Court fight over prediction markets
• Kalshi’s Clout in Washington Grows as New Regulatory Efforts Languish (“Even guardrails supported by prediction market platforms are stuck in limbo.”)
• MAHA’s Meat Obsession Exposes the Movement’s Delusions (“Robert F Kennedy Jr. and his acolytes say we should eat more meat, but that would only worsen the very problems Make America Healthy Again claims it is trying to solve.”)
• Kennedy asked to remove Pennsylvania measles death from CDC tally
• Officer Ousters, a Cash Crunch and Iran Attacks: The Headaches Mount for Hegseth (“The defense secretary is at odds with military leaders and lawmakers as the Pentagon navigates budget shortfalls and a revived Iran war.”)
• Tillis renews calls for Hegseth’s ouster (“I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country”)
• Trump encouraged Army secretary to stay in job
• Pentagon cuts access to classified information amid Iran war concerns
• Presented with bleak polling, the White House moves to make the midterms about Trump (“Despite economic headwinds and an unpopular war, Donald Trump’s allies believe Republicans will win in November if only they can get the president’s base to turn out.”)
• Republicans fear Trump will keep super PAC money and not spend on the midterms (“With the window for spending starting to shrink, a Trump-allied nonprofit is putting $1 million toward ads featuring the president, but his PAC hasn’t spent in contested races.”)
• Trump’s first midterm ads are heavy on ‘me’
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune warns Republicans could lose the Senate
• As Midterms Loom, Democrats Feud Over Defections
• Jeffries faces tricky balancing act on Democratic defectors
• MAGA begins to crack as 2026 GOP roster backs away from Trump’s tech vision (“Fox News poll finds 70% of voters want to hit the brakes on new data center construction in their communities”)
• Bernie, AOC and Bannon Can Agree on One Thing: the Fight Against Data Centers
• Democrats’ new data center attack line (“Democrats are invoking the Opportunity Zone program, which Republicans championed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”)
• Americans love AI. They don’t want the data centers that power it. (“The disconnect is becoming a political problem for Trump and politicians in both parties as voters embrace AI tools while revolting against the infrastructure needed to power them.”)
• Thune: Data centers should be ‘self-sufficient’ (That’s definitely not possible.)
• Trump ranks himself the greatest US president ever. Historians beg to differ (“… the most recent Presidential Greatness Project survey, which asked 154 academics about presidents, had rather different findings. It saw Trump ranked dead last, below even James Buchanan, who is frequently blamed for not averting the civil war.”)
• The Trump administration is taking stakes in more companies — and progressives are taking notes
• The President Can’t Handle the Truth
• Maggie Haberman Reveals GOP Midterms Convention ‘Error’ That Trump’s Team Somehow Overlooked (“…the first two games of the new NFL season will take place on the same days as the political event.”)
• Trump administration threatens to cut off agencies’ ties to Smithsonian
• Secret Service is getting the fortified White House that past presidents resisted
• JD Vance says he’s doing ‘God’s work – and if that leads to the end times, OK’ (“Vice-president says on evangelical podcast he would feel ‘not shocked if the antichrist was walking among us’”)
• Ted Cruz Is Testing the Waters for a 2028 Run—and Taking Swipes at JD Vance (Cruz is Youngkin’s BFF.)
• The MAGA Right Is Only Pretending to Be Censored (“The conspiracy theory that persists even though no evidence supports it”)
• Child sexual abuse survivor alleges Elon Musk’s AI chatbot used photos of her to generate new illegal images
• Elon Musk Unmasked in Alex Gibney Documentary: “Insane a Person This Chaotic Has So Much Power” (“He is the richest man on earth. An explosive new film from the Oscar-winning director suggests he also may be among the most dangerous.” He’s a white supremacist, conspiracy theorist, fascist, etc.)
• Florida Republicans worry they won’t capture big redistricting gains
• Texas Republicans turn against data centers, putting big tech on notice
• 3 dead, including suspect, in Minneapolis apartment building shooting that wounded 5 others
• Gloria Steinem, feminist icon and founder of Ms. Magazine, dies at 92 (R.I.P.)

VIRGINIA NEWS (Media reports on Virginia job losses, but doesn’t mention the reason for them – Trump, Republicans- in their headlines; new VPAP maps/indices; as the climate crisis rages, Dominion wants to build more fossil-fuel facilities that worsen it, also that will last long beyond the 2045 deadline for Dominion to be 100% renewable; etc.)

• Yahoo Finance Reports: Thanks Mostly to Trump’s Iran War, Which Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) Supports, Gasoline Prices Are Up Nearly $1/Gallon From a Year Ago (Kiggans “has voted seven times against bipartisan resolutions to end the war”)
• Wittman voted 60 times to undo the Affordable Care Act. Then he backed extending its subsidies. (“Democrats seize healthcare as a campaign talking point as some Republicans ‘walk a tightrope’ to address voters’ concerns while maintaining party priorities.” Hahaha, alrighty… As always, gotta love the “mainstream” media.)
• UVa forecast predicts loss of 18,050 jobs in Va. this year (Neither the Richmond Times-Dispatch, or more accurately Republican Times-Disgrace, headline or subheader points out that this is basically 100% due to Trump and Republicans. FAIL!)
• Virginia’s economy expected to grow modestly by end of 2026, job losses still expected
• Virginia’s job losses are accelerating, economic report says. Data center construction may be propping up the economy. (“The quarterly forecast from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service paints a mixed picture of the Virginia economy. GDP is expanding again but maybe not in ways that help a lot of people.”)
• Federal judge blocks new Virginia limits on existing local ICE agreementsFederal judge blocks new Virginia limits on existing local ICE agreements
• ‘Vote NO’: Virginia bishops instruct Catholics on abortion, same-sex marriage amendments (“The ballot question’s patrons called the letter, which was read from pulpits across the commonwealth, ;misguided’ and a ‘scare tactic.'”)
• New VPAP Maps, Indices for Virginia State Senate, House of Delegates, U.S. House Show Democratic Opportunities, Challenges (For 2027, VPAP shows 27 out of 40 State Senate seats either “blue” or competitive)
• If you don’t trust Spanberger with voting rights, vote for Question 3 (Spanberger’s restored the rights of 100,000 Virginians in just six months; the problem is that if/when there’s a Republican governor…)
• Hashmi Kicks Off Energy Costs Listening Tour in Loudoun
• Virginia Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi Launches Energy Costs Listening Tour with More Than 200 Attendees in Loudoun (Also, Sen. Russet Perry “called for rejecting the [Dominion-NextEra] merger and enacting a moratorium on new data center development”)
• Virginia Lt. Gov. launches listening tour as possible Dominion Energy merger looms
• Dominion’s missed forecasts a problem, officials say
• As sports betting surges, Virginia weighs how to curb gambling harms (“Industry leaders, health experts and policy makers discuss addiction risks, player safeguards and the prospect of legal online casinos at Richmond roundtable.”)
• Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer announces run for state Senate (“District 22 is currently represented by Aaron Rouse, a Democrat. Dyer and Rouse served on the City Council together before Rouse was elected to the Senate. Rouse plans to run for reelection, he said.”)
• Williams: On monuments, we’re still removing and improving
• Virginia Beach pauses on short-term rental limits, restricts parking option
• Waynesboro school superintendent: Our safety and security protocols worked
• Waynesboro: Everything we know at this point about the Westwood Hills shooting
• Greene County sheriff hires MAGA state senator to press case on 287(g) agreement
• Cumberland planning commission advances Dominion gas plant (Under the LAW, Dominion must be 100% renewable by 2045, or just 19 years from now. So why the F*** are they building new fossil-fuel-generated power facilities which will last far longer – possibly 40 or 50 years – than 9 years???)
• Cumberland county residents split on proposed gas plant, slated to be second largest in the nation (“Fenceline communities fear health, environment impacts while others see the plant as a chance for the rural county to bring in jobs and tax revenue”)
• Judge holds Virginia Beach School Board in contempt, orders fines after Kellam students’ records aren’t amended (“A judge found the Virginia Beach School Board in contempt for its failure to comply with an order, filed over six months ago, to nullify the disciplinary actions taken against three students for alleged racial harassment and bullying in 2025.”)
• Trail Conservancy, Kiewit launch Creeper Trail stewardship campaign
• Crossing guards return to Fairfax County high schools after student struck near South Lakes
• DC-area forecast: Heat index values back to brutal, plus more storm chances