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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, August 22. 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 (Climate crisis; Trump administration wants to “make the world safe for war criminals”; Trump insanely claims Strait of Hormuz as “American territory”; Canada-US trade talks collapse after media stenographically reported that “Trump said” they succeeded; etc.)
- A Global Gathering to Tackle the Planet’s Soil Crisis Is Underway in Mongolia
- Would even an AI disaster on the scale of Hiroshima be enough to make humankind protect itself? I fear not (“It’s clear here in Silicon Valley that AI is advancing faster than humans’ ability to control it. That means even sober prophecies seem optimistic”)
- US plans to pay $850 million of the $5 billion it owes the United Nations
- With ICC sanctions, Trump wants to make the world safe for war criminals
- Thank You for Your Inattention to This Matter (“The good news is that the world has stopped responding breathlessly to Donald Trump’s every empty provocation. That’s also the bad news.”)
- Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta’s alleged strategy laid out in first week of landmark trial (“In trial that opened on Tuesday, California and 28 other states accused the company of designing addictive sites and violating laws protecting children’s privacy”)
- As Russian missiles rain down on Kyiv, casualties mount and the mood darkens (“Ukraine’s military has run out of US Patriot interceptors to repel ballistic attacks, which have one aim, the capital’s mayor says: to destroy morale”)
- The Fall of Russia’s Only Antiwar Party Has Exposed Putin’s Vulnerability (“Yabloko spent decades censoring itself to survive. The war in Ukraine made continuing that balancing act impossible.”)
- Rescuers dig through Ukraine mall wreckage as Zelensky condemns ‘despicable’ strike (Putin is absolute evil. So of course Trump has a hard-on for the guy…)
- The secret oil operation keeping prices from skyrocketing (“‘Dark’ tanker transits through Strait of Hormuz avoid Iranian drones”)
- Ahead of tough new U.S. sanctions, Iran criticizes ‘extraterritorial sovereignty’
- US, Iran keep up hostile rhetoric ahead of new sanctions
- Trump says he views strait of Hormuz as ‘American territory’ (“President at rally in South Carolina makes comments on key strategic waterway and jokes about bombing Iran”)
- Persuasion, denial and bluster: Trump ‘stuck’ on Iran war ahead of elections
- Trump Hates the Troops. The Troops Are Taking Notice. (“The administration is desperately trying to spin the hopeless war in Iran as a success, but our service members and their families are telling a different story.”)
- Navy families evacuated from Bahrain face ‘uncharted territory’ amid bureaucratic confusion
- Pentagon adds 60 wounded to Iran war casualty count
- Iran’s Top Politicians Urge an End to the War (“The country’s president and its parliamentary speaker say Tehran needs to negotiate an exit and shore up its economy while it has leverage.”)
- Former British and French diplomats urge action over Israel’s ‘erasure’ of Palestine (If Kamala Harris were president, there WOULD be action!)
- Israel elevates clash with a key American ally as election nears (I mean, both Erdogan and Netanyahu are heinous.)
- Hamid Karzai Helped Oust the Taliban. Now He Lives Under Their Rule (“Afghanistan’s first elected president speaks on regime change wars, conflict with Pakistan and why he’s still talking to the Taliban.”)
- Ebola frontline workers missing wages as outbreak spreads ‘exponentially’ (“People fighting to contain rapidly growing outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo describe the obstacles and dangers they face”)
- US imposes 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products, and Canada says it will retaliate
- U.S.-Canada trade talks collapse just before deadline for tariffs
- Canada-U.S. Trade War Escalates as Talks Collapse
- Canada says it will match US tariffs ‘dollar for dollar’ as trade talks break down
- JD Vance reportedly mocks Carney for trying to ‘out-tough’ Trump on trade (JD Vance is a psychopath.)
- Carney Stands Up to Trump in Trade War Despite the Risks (We should all be rooting for Canada and Carney!)
NATIONAL NEWS (More ICE insanity; Blanche already doing a bunch of horrible things at DoJ; John Roberts continues to be the worst Chief Justice in modern US history; Hegseth’s “twisted” assault on the free press, specifically Stars & Stripes; etc.)
- 5 Deportees Are Flown by US to Equatorial Guinea After they Resist Deplaning in Liberia (“At least five of the people flown to Liberia under the Trump administration’s third-country deportation program resisted leaving the plane. They were then flown to Equatorial Guinea.”)
- Prison Firm Donated to Trump’s PAC After ICE Gave It $165 Million a Year in Contracts (MASSIVE corruption; imagine if this happened in the Obama or Biden administrations???)
- ICE detains Haitian pastor ‘beloved’ by Springfield community
- Ankle Monitors Leave Haitians in Ohio Feeling Shaken and Shackled
- Trump’s 75-country immigrant visa ban struck down by judge
- ICE agent jailed on allegations of breaking into ex-girlfriend’s apartment
- House Democrats urge DHS’s Mullin to scrap ICE plans for shock gloves
- Trump announces temporary pause of beef import tariffs in effort to lower prices ahead of midterms
- ‘Trump in purgatory’: A White House plan to lower beef prices is dividing the president’s supporters
- The Iran war is testing a depleted Treasury (“An exodus of top Treasury officials comes as Secretary Scott Bessent is poised to play an even larger role in the Iran war.”)
- Outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts; people sickened with E. coli and salmonella
- Experts raise alarm over Trump’s public consultation on vaccines policy (“Asking people to weigh in on adoption of different categories in move that will sow confusion and create access challenges, say experts”)
- Chief Justice Declines to Halt Trump’s White House Ballroom Construction, for Now (Roberts is heinous.)
- Chief Justice John Roberts Must Really Want to Boogie at Trump’s Big, Ugly Ballroom (“A federal judge tried to halt the construction of this hideous addition to the White House, but that got in the way of Roberts letting the president do whatever the hell he wants.”)
- Five Outrageous Things Trump’s New Attorney General Has Already Done (“It didn’t take Todd Blanche long to take a wrecking ball to long-standing Department of Justice principles.”)
- Acting U.S. attorney was serving illegally when he subpoenaed Letitia James, appeals court rules
- Trump US attorney pick can no longer investigate one of the president’s top foes, court rules
- Trump Threatens Suit Over Report He Doesn’t Like, Aiming to Intimidate a Critic (“It was the latest example of President Trump’s bid to use the legal system against those who voice unflattering facts and opinions generally protected by the First Amendment.”)
- Postal Service Publishes Finalized Plan to Restrict Mail Ballots (This is wildly unacceptable!)
- Democrats Are Gearing Up for a Wave of Investigations Into Trump and His Allies
- The White House Freak-Out Over Natalie Harp (“The West Wing’s explosive response to a fleeting jab didn’t kill the story. It enabled days of coverage.”)
- Natalie Harp Pictured On Trump’s Personal Plane in Leaked Video
- What Natalie Harp Carries (“Trump’s devoted aide, who is said to follow the President around with a printer, does not seem to be driven by the conventional desires for wealth and power.”)
- Ed Martin leaving Justice Dept. after tumultuous tenure that alienated colleagues
- Army Secretary Expected to Step Down by Year’s End (“Dan Driscoll’s plan to leave follows months of tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth”)
- Hegseth Launches Twisted Attack on Free Press Over Carrier Scandal (“The publisher and editor of Stars and Stripes were given the boot after an interview cautioning against censorship.”)
- Pentagon dismisses Stars and Stripes leadership after editor, reporter oppose military interference (OUTRAGEOUS!)
- Pentagon fires Stars and Stripes editor, publisher and reporter
- MAHA and the Midterms (“RFK Jr.’s coalition helped elect Trump—but there are signs the MAHA–MAGA alliance is wearing thin. How might this shape upcoming elections?”)
- The week the data center backlash exploded (“Politicians on the left and right are suddenly jumping aboard the anti-data center bandwagon.”)
- Why Polling Chaos Could Create Big Problems for American Politics (“Bad polls. Misleading betting odds. Surveys meant to shape narratives. Ahead of the midterms and 2028, there is suddenly serious confusion about candidate strength and voter sentiment.”)
- Scott Jennings as press secretary could be Trump’s final coup (“How CNN transformed the conservative pundit into MAGA’s loudest mouthpiece” Utterly disgraceful and unforgiveable by CNN)
- Trump’s Other Ballroom: An 11,000-Square-Foot Banquet Hall in New Jersey
- Karoline Leavitt to work for Trump-affiliated super PAC after leaving White House
- The US has a plan to save the Colorado River. Experts say it won’t be enough to stop the crisis (“The 10-year blueprint mandates water cuts of up to 40% for California, Arizona and Nevada”)
- As GOP warns data centers put Ohio Senate seat at risk, Husted defends energy policy
- Trump’s super fans are torn on Darline Graham ahead of key GOP Senate contest
- Trump, his clout on the line, stumps for Graham in South Carolina
- How a Progressive Democrat in Florida Gave Her Party New Hope — and New Fears (“Angie Nixon, a state lawmaker from Jacksonville, shocked Democrats in red Florida by soundly defeating her centrist primary opponent. Now comes the hard part”)
- ‘Stop gaslighting me!’: Florida Democrats’ Senate nominee and party chair have heated call over socialism
- We Tried to Cover a Tom Kean Campaign Event. Someone Called the Police.
- Colorado GOP Gov Nominee Claims to Have Battled ‘Demons’ With ‘Reptilian’ Eyes (“Improbable stories are a foundational element of Marx’s career as a Christian Nationalist Evangelist preacher and podcaster. Marx, a Marine veteran, claims to hold multiple high-level black belts stemming from his stepfather’s creation of a martial arts system…”)
- MAGA Inc. sits on campaign cash as donors indicate only Trump can save Paxton
VIRGINIA NEWS (Luria’s health care plan; Macy’s bluegrass song; Loudoun County’s huge tax revenues from data centers; etc.)
- VA02 Democratic Nominee Elaine Luria Releases Plan to Make Health Care Affordable & Accessible for Every Virginian (In stark contrast, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) “voted to gut Medicaid and take away health care subsidies, making care more expensive”)
- Video: New, Original Bluegrass Song “Beth Macy Goes to Washington” Reminiscent of “Mark Warner Country” (“I love this song. It really captures the energy of the campaign”)
- ‘Beth Macy Goes to Washington’ campaign jingle hits the radio airwaves
- Trump wants to flood the market with cheap foreign beef: Why is Ben Cline silent on this?
- Cline “enjoyed” visit to food bank that Trump defunded
- Va. loses almost 48,000 jobs in year; unemployment at 3.7%
- Support workers’ rights? These candidates on the Va. ballot do too
- Stuart: Water permit to Amazon would be ‘indefensible’
- A County Got Rich From Data Centers. Some Question ‘At What Cost?’ (“Loudoun County, Va., hosts more than 250 data centers that bring in huge tax revenues. But some officials and residents worry the county has become too dependent on that cash.”)
- A Virginia mystery: what’s happened to the piping plover?
- Rain floods historic Wells Theatre in downtown Norfolk
- Drought advisories remain unchanged, despite some recent rain
- DC-area forecast: Muggy with some showers today, then nicer days return
