Here’s your quick daily summary from Virginia Times, which lists the most important stories we published today. For each item, there is a short summary and a direct link. Use it to quickly catch up, keep up with the news, and share with coworkers, friends, and family. One scroll for your evening briefing: clear, trustworthy, and to the point. Thanks for reading the Virginia Times this evening.
There are 235,000 people in the U.S. who want to work.
The number of new unemployment claims went up to 235,000. This shows that the job market is getting weaker as layoffs in tech, media, and logistics spread through the economy. The rise doesn’t yet show a trend, but it makes it harder to see how growth and interest rate cuts will happen. Economists will keep an eye on continuing claims and changes next week to see if the demand for hiring is really going down or if it’s just normal seasonal noise. Markets lowered the chances of a rate cut while they waited for next month’s payrolls.
Hurricane Erin Sends Dangerous Rip Currents Up the East Coast
Hurricane Erin is sending long-period swells toward the Eastern Seaboard. This is making the surf rough and the rip currents dangerous from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. Officials tell swimmers to stay near lifeguards, follow the beach flags, and stay away from piers and jetties where the currents are stronger. As Erin turns northeast and gets weaker, some places, especially around high tide and inlets that are open to constant onshore flow, could still see flooding and beach erosion. Beach towns got ready for high-risk alerts on the weekends.
Judge Says Habba Can’t Legally Work as a Prosecutor in NJ
A federal judge said that Alina Habba has not been legally serving as New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney since July 1. This means she can’t do that job. The decision makes it harder for the government to keep her in office and changes how prosecutors are supervised. More filings are likely to come in as the parties think about their options for appealing and interim leadership plans. Court observers and defense attorneys are paying more attention to how cases are handled and how charges are made. There will probably be appeals.
U.S. and EU Unveil Major Trade Framework
Washington and Brussels announced a broad U.S.-EU trade framework that aims to lower tariffs, make standards more consistent, and strengthen supply chains in important areas. The first draft says that countries should work together on clean-tech inputs, critical minerals, and data governance. However, it also allows for exceptions for each country. Business groups liked the direction but want to know more about the rules for state aid, how they will be enforced, and when they will be in place. Negotiators say that sector annexes and targeted pilot programs will be available soon after working groups finish defining the scope in the next few weeks.
614 missiles and drones from Russia attack Ukraine.
Ukraine said that one of the biggest attacks of the war happened overnight when Russia sent 614 drones and missiles to different places. Most of the attacks were stopped by air defenses, but 11 places were still hit, including one owned by the US, which killed people and damaged infrastructure. Kyiv said the attack was meant to force Moscow to make diplomatic moves, but Moscow didn’t give a full public explanation. Today, investigators looked at the patterns of debris and collected pieces to improve interception methods across the country while repair crews worked to get the power back on.
Judge Says Elon Musk Has to Go to Court Over $1 Million Election Gift
A federal judge in Texas let a class-action lawsuit go ahead that said Elon Musk and America PAC lied to voters by promising to give away “a million dollars a day” during the 2024 election. The complaint says that the program was a way to get information while pretending to be a lottery. Musk says he didn’t do anything wrong. The ruling keeps the discovery process going and makes things more difficult for co-defendants. At the same time, experts in campaign law are arguing about what it means for political activity that involves disclosure, consent, and online incentive schemes. Discovery grows.
SEO Growth Stack: 5 Tools to Help You Quickly Move Up in the Rankings
Publishers who want to quickly and steadily move up the search results need the right stack. We recommend five tools: Ahrefs for finding backlinks and gaps, Semrush for keeping an eye on competitors, Google Search Console for fixing problems, PageSpeed Insights for speeding up your site, and Surfer or RankMath for making your pages look better. They work together to find gaps in intent, fix crawl problems, and make it easier to read content briefs. When you use the stack consistently, it helps you win faster and build authority in competitive niches that will last. We put quality content first and set realistic deadlines.
This wrap-up reflects top coverage published on Thursday, August 21, 2025.
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