by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, August 19. 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 the Iran quagmire dragging on, a possible deal on tariffs with Canada, ICE insanity – including in Northern Virginia, Natalie Harp, Brendan Carr, primary results, Trump’s corrupt ballroom races ahead, etc.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS (Climate crisis “cooking Europe’s oceans”; mRNA novel cancer vaccine for melanoma; Iran quagmire drags on; Canada tariffs deal – or not?; etc.)
- As Seas Rise, Scientists Race to Save Coastal Marshes From Drowning (“A majority of coastal wetlands are on track to shift inland or disappear in the coming decades without intervention. That will have major consequences.”)
- Carbon pollution has fuelled ‘massive expansion’ of marine heatwaves in Europe, study finds (“Hottest periods this year in most sea regions would have been ‘virtually impossible’ in a preindustrial climate”)
- Climate change is cooking Europe’s oceans, scientists find (DISASTER!)
- Novel Cancer Vaccine Prevents Melanoma From Returning in First for mRNA
- Netherlands slams US sanctions on top ICC officials (“The Dutch foreign minister expressed support for the court’s president and demanded that international tribunals ‘be able to freely carry out their mandates.'”)
- Threatening Friends and Courting Enemies in Trump’s ‘Upside-Down World’
- A warehouse burns near Moscow. In Ukraine, drone crews prepare to strike again
- Sacked Ukrainian defence minister calls for presidential election (“Martial law has been in place in Ukraine since February 2022, under which elections are suspended.”)
- Trump appears to repeatedly contradict his own top advisers on the Iran war
- DOJ unseals new charges against 17 hackers in Iran-backed campaign
- Iran reportedly weighs attacks on U.S. targets in Europe as UAE severs trade with Tehran
- South Korean and US militaries shorten drills by about half after Trump ordered a reduction
- Trump Pushes for Kim Jong Un Meeting This Year (Why the F***???)
- Israeli airstrikes hit Syrian airbase, drawing Turkish condemnation
- Families’ agonising search for answers as thousands still missing in Gaza
- Trump dangles Netanyahu endorsement in pressure campaign on Gaza
- Liberia Agrees to Take 1,200 Deportees From U.S. (“The arrangement is one of the largest known deals that the Trump administration has struck to expel migrants who cannot be sent back to their home countries.”)
- U.S. quietly deporting Mexican migrants to Guatemala and Honduras, angering Mexico
- Trump postpones 50% tariffs on Canadian goods
- Trump says US and Canada have reached last-minute deal to delay 50% US tariffs on Canadian imports (Again, the media should never just put “Trump says” in headlines; should at least put the caveat that Trump is a pathological liar.)
- Trump pauses new tariffs on Canada for three days, saying deal close
- Activist forced out of US after criticising Trump-aligned Colombian politician (“Beto Coral held up banners in Florida warning fellow Colombians to not vote for Abelardo de la Espriella”)
NATIONAL NEWS (ICE insanity; “Make Measles Great Again”; Disney loses patience with fascist crap from Brendan Carr; primary results, including upset loss for Rep. Eugene Vindman’s twin brother in Florida; Darline Graham is totally unqualified to be a US Senator; Natalie Harp; etc.)
- Minnesota attorney general sues Texas governor to compel extradition of ICE agent for trial
- Trump’s ICE nominee helped lead one of the nation’s most sweeping crackdowns (“Lance Schroyer’s work to deputize Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers as immigration agents offers a glimpse of what he might do if confirmed as the next ICE director.”)
- How Far Will the Trump Administration Go to Deport Mahmoud Khalil? (“Khalil, a legal permanent resident, protested Israel when he was a student at Columbia. Now the Trump Administration is trying to kick him out of the country.”)
- Big Oil Could Face ‘Catastrophic Outcomes’ Without Republican Supreme Court (“At the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual meeting, members of Leonard Leo’s network explain why the right-wing court majority is crucial for protecting oil companies from climate lawsuits.” ALEC=EVIL)
- Trump Administration Moves to Allow Logging in Pristine National Forests (COMPLETELY unacceptable.)
- COVID is ‘growing’ in nearly every state, CDC reports. Here’s where levels are highest
- Make Measles Great Again (“Trump’s war on vaccines is coming to a kindergarten near you.”)
- Trump to Nominate Heidi Overton, a Top Domestic Policy Aide, for F.D.A. Commissioner (“Dr. Overton is a fierce opponent of abortion rights and a supporter of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.” WILDLY unacceptable!)
- Behind the Curtain: The new existential threat to AI (“Republicans and AI CEOs are in full panic mode watching politicians and the public turn on the physical engines of AI growth. In private, they tell us they can’t find a compelling message to shift opinion fast enough. Their nightmare — a political and economic daisy chain that cripples the AI revolution — is already taking shape.”)
- Senator presses Hegseth, Caine for commitment to keep US military out of the midterm elections
- Trump’s Menacing But Dumb Plan to Break the Midterms (“He can try to fake a national emergency to seize control of elections, but it won’t work”)
- ABC sues FCC over challenge to its broadcast licenses, saying actions present ‘existential threat’
- Disney and ABC sue FCC, seeking to stop early license renewal process (Brendan Carr is an authoritarian thug.)
- Revealed: FCC chair Brendan Carr’s close ties to White House and rightwing media (“Internal documents obtained by Guardian show White House meetings, scheduled calls with top Trump officials and communications with Fox News producers”)
- Disney runs out of patience with Brendan Carr’s bullsh*t (“Mickey Mouse hits back after a year of fascist harassment.”)
- Gas prices were a staple of GOP ads in 2024. Now it’s Democrats’ turn.
- Meet Natalie Harp, the aide so close to Trump she once rode in an SUV trunk to accompany him
- Yes, We Absolutely Should Talk About Natalie Harp (“Republicans claim President Trump’s closest aide is off-limits. Are they kidding?”)
- ‘With All My Heart, Natalie.’ Trump’s Most Devoted Aide Emerges. (“President Trump’s White House aide Natalie Harp is always by his side. What, exactly, does she do?”)
- Who is Natalie Harp? Sen. Jon Ossoff puts Trump aide in spotlight (“The former TV news anchor began working for Trump in 2022 and has become a close aide during his second term.”)
- Trump aide Natalie Harp nurses his decline (“The president’s defensive reaction to rampant speculation reveals his fear of aging”)
- Former Fauci aide pleads guilty to dodging federal public records laws (“David Morens’ former boss, Anthony Fauci, has said he did not participate in a scheme to hide emails about a controversial researcher’s funding.”)
- Most Americans believe Trump has inappropriately profited since returning to power, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds (Should be 100%, as this is just a fact.)
- Politics drove antisemitism probes against Ivy League schools, DOJ whistleblower says
- How Pete Hegseth could become the presidential candidate of the right-wing media’s id
- How data centers and power lines could turn Texas governor’s race blue (“Rural voters may not stop the spread of data centers, but they could stop Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.”)
- Democratic socialist Angie Nixon scores upset in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary (Alex Vindman, who is Eugene Vindman’s twin brother, outspent Nixon something like 15:1 or whatever…but lost anyway, by double digits no less. Yikes.)
- 8 takeaways and surprises from Florida, Wyoming and Alaska primaries (“Embattled Rep. Cory Mills (R-Florida) lost his re-election bid, another Trump gubernatorial pick fell, and another democratic socialist won a Democratic primary.”)
- The Left Notches Another Win With This Secret Weapon: Old-Fashioned Organizing
- A Stunning Win for the Left in Florida: 6 Takeaways From Tuesday’s Primaries
- Democratic State Representative Scores Upset Win in Florida Senate Primary (“Angie Nixon faces another difficult test this November against a Republican incumbent heavily favored to win.”)
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz Wins Primary in Historically Black District
- Embattled Florida Republican Rep. Cory Mills loses his fight to keep his House seat
- Donalds, Jolly to face off to replace DeSantis in Florida
- Mary Peltola and Dan Sullivan Advance in Key Alaska Senate Contest
- HD-12: Dukes Defeats Timko In Butler County Shocker (This is “a district that President Donald Trump carried by 18 points”; a Democrat just picked it up!)
- Darline Graham defends her résumé in South Carolina debate after saying ‘national security is not my thing’ (“The appointed senator and her GOP primary opponent, Rep. Ralph Norman, traded criticism a week ahead of the primary runoff following Lindsey Graham’s death.”)
- Lindsey Graham’s Sister Booed by Crowd in Embarrassing Debate Flop (She’s completely unqualified for this job.)
- Trump Humiliated by String of Endorsement Flops in Key Races
- Rancher Beats Trump-Backed Candidate in Primary for Governor of Wyoming (“Eric Barlow’s defeat of Megan Degenfelder, the state superintendent of education, again showed the limits of the president’s favor.”)
- Max Miller insists he can win again — but warns in court filings he’s bleeding union support and cash
- DeSantis Appointee Arrested on Child Sexual Abuse Charges (“Mike Caruso, a close ally of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has been arrested and charged with five felonies.”)
- The worst primary in America just ended (“An Islamophobic Congress member beat an antisemitic influencer. It may be a sign of the GOP to come.” Two absolutely HORRIBLE people. What a party, huh?)
- A Texas University Becomes a Petri Dish for a Conservative Overhaul (“Texas Tech is using A.I. to cut left-leaning content in its curriculum. Some say the effort to ferret out forbidden topics is a dystopian academic nightmare.”)
- Trump’s Ballroom Is Rising at Breakneck Speed: 20 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week (“Although the fate of the ballroom is tied up in court, the Trump administration argues that the project is too far along to be stopped now.”)
- Preservation group urges supreme court to suspend Trump’s $400m White House ballroom project (“National Trust for Historic Preservation filing comes after president made emergency bid for construction to continue”)
- The Kennedy Center board votes to close for two years and add Trump’s name back (The HEADLINE should make clear the the Kennedy Center board is now filled with Trump lackeys.)
- Trump put thousands of soldiers on Washington’s streets. They seldom stop crime
VIRGINIA NEWS (Warner presses Meta; Kaine calls Trump’s Oman threat “deranged”; former NextEra attorney absolutely must recuse herself from Dominion-NextEra merger case; “deeply disturbing” ICE incident in Arlington; etc.)
- Sen. Mark Warner Presses Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Ads Featuring Child Sexual Abuse Material, Non-Consensual Intimate Images (“It strains credulity that Meta was (or is) unknowingly hosting—and profiting from—such blatantly illegal content”)
- Warner: Meta was running paid ads depicting child sexual abuse material (Horrible company.)
- Kaine Calls Trump’s Oman Threat ‘Deranged’ as the Hormuz Fee Deal Comes Into Focus
- Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says the “Art of the Deal” Guy Is “unable to make a deal to end his own mistake” with “Stupid” Iran War (Walkinshaw says Trump’s “catastrophic war in Iran” unlikely to end in 2026)
- Don’t Be Fooled by Rob Wittman’s Attacks on Shannon Taylor (“Here’s what Wittman is likely to say when cornered”)
- Federal judge rejects Virginia mask ban for law enforcement (“The judge wrote that the law is an “unlawful regulation” of the federal government.”)
- Beyer says his office has received reports of ICE violence and warrantless detentions in Northern Virginia (“The congressman cited two Arlington cases and said his office has logged several other encounters in the past 10 days. A local coalition reported detentions in Alexandria within the same window.”)
- SCC commissioner, former NextEra attorney declines to recuse herself from merger case (That’s completely unacceptable, as she a) promised she’d recuse herself from ANY cases involving NextEra; b) this has the appearance of impropriety, which needs to be avoided. Spanberger et al should demand that she step aside in this case.)
- Dominion-NextEra merger could mean higher rates in the long run, experts tell Virginia lawmakers (The presentations by experts made clear that this merger should be rejected, or at the minimum should be subject to a lengthier review process than six months.)
- Some Virginia legislators oppose Dominion-NextEra merger, others are waiting for more info
- Could a Dominion-NextEra marriage be bad news for rooftop solar?
- Spanberger signs executive order to boost Virginia’s emergency preparedness
- Arlington/Falls Church Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti: “This is deeply disturbing.” (“I have urged the [Arlington County Police Department] to immediately conduct a thorough investigation to determine what happened here.”)
- Funding for Virginia’s fire service is insufficient, studies show. There are ideas for how to change that.
- DOJ probes William & Mary over alleged race-based scholarship policies (“The review of the Williamsburg institution marks the third Virginia public university targeted for federal investigation during Trump’s second term.” Totally bogus bullshit.)
- Proposed new fees, regulations for hunting, fishing, boating and camping draw mixed reactions from Virginians
- Franklin official resigns abruptly 2 days after disclosing data center’s demise (“Supervisor Mike Meredith said he had ‘broken trust’ and didn’t want to hinder Franklin County’s development. Then he left the meeting.”)
- Chesapeake hospital reaches tentative agreement with DOJ over health care fraud case stemming from Perwaiz surgeries
- DC-area forecast: Less humid today, storm chances return tomorrow
