Sunday (6/7) News: “UK Deputy PM Says He Told Vance ‘You’re Wrong’ Over Nowak Case”; Trump “Honors D-Day Heroes by Praising Himself”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, June 7. ALso, check out the video of Bruce Springsteen and Kenny Chesney singing “This Land Is Your Land,” which IMHO should be the national anthem.

• Mass Sloth Deaths in Florida Show Why the Wildlife Trade Is a Pandemic Risk (“Necropsy reports from sloths imported by a planned Orlando tourist attraction document stressed animals riddled with bacteria, parasites and viruses. Scientists say the situation is a warning about the threat the booming wildlife trade poses to human health.” The wildlife trade is absolute evil.)
• 100 days of the Iran war: How global markets and the economy have been affected, in charts
• Ukraine’s deadly strikes are bringing the war home to Russians, and discontent is bubbling up (Good!)
• What’s Eating ‘Putin’s Brain’? (“Even Russia’s leading warmonger has run out of ways to justify the Ukraine invasion.” The guy’s a psychopath.)
• UK’s Starmer hosts Zelenskyy, Macron and Merz to discuss support for Ukraine
• Trump drags feet on drone deal with Ukraine, mystifying experts (Why is it “mystifying?” We all know Trump’s a Putin puppet. But the media can’t just say that, apparently.)
• Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv unleashes hundreds of drones on Russia after Putin rejected Zelenskyy meeting
• Armenia votes as Russia piles pressure on pro-West government
• With China’s Xi in North Korea, Kim to project confidence, defiance
• Hegseth invokes immigration and ‘invasion’ in D-Day speech in France (Hegseth is a white nationalist, fascist, etc.)
• Hegseth, at D-Day event, says Europe faces ‘invasion’ of dangerous ideologies (Hegseth is a raging xenophobe and also an imbecile.)
• Hegseth attacks Europe over migration with beach ‘invasion’ D-Day speech (Hegseth is evil.)
• U.S. eyes Iranian assets for Gulf allies’ reconstruction, source says
• US Intercepts Fresh Iranian Attacks as Peace Talks Stall
• Iran says staff blocked from entering US after players given World Cup visas
• Iran is “Trump’s Vietnam” — and it’s going to get a lot worse (“We’ve barely begun to feel the economic effects of Trump’s misbegotten war. This fall could get rough”)
• Trump Says Iran Has Made a ‘Big’ Nuclear Promise. It Isn’t New.
• Pentagon Sees Growing Espionage Threat From Israel
• Israeli airstrikes kill 9 including Lebanese army officers after ceasefire deal (That’s f’ed up.)
• Palestinians suffer from lack of proper toilets across Gaza’s vast tent cities (This whole situation is wildly unacceptable.)
• UK deputy PM told JD Vance his comments on murdered British student were ‘wrong’ (“Lammy says he told the US vice-president the teen’s murder ‘has got nothing to do with mass migration’.” Vance is pure scum.)
• UK Deputy PM Says He Told Vance ‘You’re Wrong’ Over Nowak Case
• The Guardian view on Henry Nowak’s murder: big tech and the far right are allied in an outrage arms race (“Anger and distress at the treatment of the stabbed teenager is widely shared. But the online amplification of myths and grievances must be tackled”)
• Ivanka Trump ‘Hysteria’ Sends Albanian Leader Into Meltdown (The entire Trump family – except for Mary Trump – is heinous.)
• In an Unsurprising Move, Trump’s Demented Family Could Turn a Nature Preserve Into Luxury Coastal (Demented and corrupt as f***.)
• Foreign Businesses Are Fleeing Cuba as Its Economy Collapses
• US Accepts Only White Refugees For Sixth Consecutive Month (This is a white supremacist administration, like imagine if David Duke or George Wallace had become president…that’s where we’re at, plus massive corruption and incompetence.)
• Raphael Warnock Says the Supreme Court Has Done ‘Violence’ to Democracy (100% accurate; the NY Times could just report this as fact, as opposed to hiding behind the “someone says” formulation.)
• Trump faces new Republican resistance in Congress as midterm pressures build
• American Democracy Wasn’t Designed for This (“Can our 18th-century institutions survive 21st-century technology?” Sure desn’t look like it!)
• Kennedy Shows Minimal Engagement With Vast Health Portfolio (“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has little interest in managing his department as he focuses on food and vaccine policies, according to colleagues.”)
• RFK Jr.’s movement was supposed to save the GOP’s majorities. It’s not even in the game. (“Make America Healthy Again groups have endorsed only one candidate in a competitive congressional race.”)
• The data center backlash coming to key midterm battlegrounds
• FBI Fires Several Analysts Tied To Disputed ‘Catholic Ideology’ Memo
• Trump, 79, Honors D-Day Heroes by Praising Himself (“The president spent the World War II anniversary sharing AI-generated images and videos of himself.” “Narcissistic maniac,” to quote a former Virginia governor who’s also a neurologist.)
• Trump issues pardon to former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading (“Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for trades made while working as a consultant and lobbyist. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000, representing the amount of the illegal gains, and pay a $10,000 fine. He was released in 2025. The Supreme Court in May rejected Buyer’s appeal without comment or noted dissent.”)
• Female Navy officers say they fear a career cap after Hegseth cuts women from promotions list
• Are Latter-day Saints Christian? The U.S. Defense Department doesn’t appear to think so. (“The Utah-based faith was, however, among those to make the department’s massively curtailed list of official religions.”)
• C.I.A. Officer Found With Gold Bars Said to Have Created Fake Spy Program (“A federal judge has ruled that David Rush, the C.I.A. employee, must remain in detention. U.S. officials say Mr. Rush funneled millions in federal funds to himself.”)
• The Bidens Return to the Stage: Online, in Bookstores and at a Best Western in South Dakota (“The re-emergence of the former first family has been fraught for some Democrats who just want to move on.”)
• What I Learned About Faith and Fatherhood from Charlie Kirk (I’m only including this to point out that JD Vance is deranged.)
• How Xavier Becerra turned around his campaign to be California’s governor (“In late March, his polling hovered near 3%, but in a stunning reversal Becerra has advanced to the general election”)
• Trump Looms Over Pivotal Republican Senate Runoff in Georgia
• James Talarico Isn’t Going to Let Ken Paxton Hide Behind Trump (“As the scandal-ridden Republican locks arms with the president, his opponent wants to remind voters who is actually on the ballot”)
• Graham Platner and the Rise of the ‘Dirtbag’ Democrat (Depends how one defines “dirtbag” – the definition includes “disreputable, mean, sleazy, or generally behaves badly,” and all of those certainly apply to Platner…also “vulgarity, irreverence, and aggressive populism.” Plus, he fantasizes about raping and murdering people, had a Nazi tattoo for years, twisted at least one girlfriend’s arm behind her back, etc, etc. But other than that, great guy! LOL)
• Cut Platner Loose (“Just a few years ago, Republicans sacrificed an Alabama Senate seat rather than endure an unacceptable colleague. Will Democrats do the same in Maine?” The problem is, Democrats almost certainly need the US Senate seat from Maine if they want to take back the US Senate majority, which…yep, they badly do!)
• 12 Injured, Including 2 in Critical Condition, After At Least 2 Shooters Opened Fire Near Festival in Ohio
• VA Senator Kaine Fell For Chloe Cole’s Anti-Trans Propaganda; Dems Must Not Make This Mistake (“Like the anti-trans former collegiate athlete Riley Gaines, Cole is a professional, one of many in a sprawling and well-funded apparatus furthering Christian nationalism and authoritarian control…It’s unclear whether Kaine simply forgot this, was ill-informed, or made some sort of political calculation at Wednesday’s Senate hearing when he ceded ground to Cole…anti-trans propaganda runs deep; Democrats need to talk and act incisively, or else risk stoking those flames.”)
• Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says “Republicans are full steam ahead to give the Trump family immunity from tax audits – and it’s outrageous!” (“It’s the Mar a Lago mafia, the Epstein class, all of it is coming together in this outrageous deal to protect the Trump family”)
• Congressman makes rare public appearance, dodges questions about healthcare costs (McGuire’s out in public a lot, actually, including outside the US Capitol in the pro-Trump mob on January 6, 2021.)
• How Virginia Democrats are coping with their redistricting defeat (“Three takeaways from a key swing district in Virginia.”)
• Ivy Main: “One thing is abundantly clear: NextEra and Dominion are focused on data centers, not residential ratepayers.” (“We are little insects under the feet of hyenas stalking wildebeest”)
• The budget provides a chance for real data center reform
• Spanberger seems to be trying to split hairs on data center tax incentives (“Spanberger wants to refocus the debate on the sunset to what we do with the incentives after 2035, which, conveniently, is well past her single four-year term as governor would have come to a conclusion in January 2030.” Yeah…2035 is waaaayyy too late, as these tax breaks have increased by more than 1,000x the past 15 years or so.)
• Spanberger names Hampton Roads leaders to boards of visitors, including NBA official Tony Brothers
• Wind farm project in Botetourt County nears the end of a long road
• USS Iwo Jima returns to Norfolk from extended deployment in Caribbean
• DC-area forecast: Sunday heat feels a bit more comfortable by afternoon