International News Briefs for Thursday, April 17, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – Here are some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on, Thursday, April 17, 2025.
U.S. Judge Finds “Probable Cause” to Hold Trump Admin in Contempt over CECOT Transfers
Apr 17, 2025
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said Wednesday he has “probable cause” to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court over its “willful disregard” of his order last month to halt flights transferring immigration detainees from the U.S. to the notorious CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador. Judge Boasberg noted that Trump officials have since “failed to rectify or explain their actions,” giving the administration one week, until April 23, to respond.
On Wednesday, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador but was blocked from meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was sent to CECOT on the March flights in what the Department of Homeland Security has admitted was an “administrative error.” Both the Trump administration and the government of Nayib Bukele have refused to release and return Abrego Garcia. Senator Van Hollen spoke to reporters in San Salvador after meeting with Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen: “I’m asking President Bukele, under his authority as president of El Salvador, to do the right thing and allow to Mr. Abrego Garcia to walk out of a prison, a man who is charged with no crime, convicted of no crime, and who was illegally abducted from the United States.”
Senator Van Hollen said the vice president told him El Salvador would keep Abrego Garcia locked up since the U.S. government is paying his country to do so. The senator also said more members of Congress are planning to visit El Salvador soon. Van Hollen’s visit came as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomed El Salvador’s defense minister to the Pentagon. After headlines, we’ll be joined by Vince Warren of the Center for Constitutional Rights for more on this story.
ICE Violently Arrests Massachusetts Man After He Reveals He’s Not the Target of Their Search
Apr 17, 2025
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are continuing to carry out violent raids and arrests across the U.S. Video has emerged showing ICE agents smashing a car window and forcibly removing a man this week in New Bedford, Massachusetts, even after he explained to officers he was not the person they had been looking for and that he was waiting for his lawyer to arrive. Juan Francisco Méndez is a 29-year-old father from Guatemala who’s currently in the midst of immigration proceedings to finalize his asylum status in the U.S.
California Faith Leaders Condemn Plans to Reopen Dublin Prison as ICE Jail
Apr 17, 2025
Image Credit: ICE Out of Dublin Campaign
In California, faith leaders and community members gathered Wednesday to protest Trump’s plans to turn the notorious, now-shuttered Dublin women’s prison — dubbed the “rape club” — into an ICE detention center. This is Rev. Deborah Lee.
Rev. Deborah Lee: “He’s trying to get billions of dollars to go towards the Department of Homeland Security for ICE operations, to move people, to arrest people, to detain people and to deport people. We all know that this will make our communities more unsafe. And we know that he cannot deport people without detention beds, which is why this place is so important, that we not allow more detention beds to open up here in Northern California.”
IRS Could Revoke Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status over Refusal to Bend to Trump
Apr 17, 2025
The IRS is reportedly considering revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status in retaliation for Harvard refusing to collaborate with the Trump administration over its demands related to DEI and criminalizing free expression. The Trump administration has already moved to block over $2 billion in federal funds for Harvard.
DOJ Sues Maine for Refusing to Comply with Anti-Trans Order
Apr 17, 2025
The Justice Department is suing the state of Maine after it refused to comply with a Trump administration order banning trans athletes in school sports. This is Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Attorney General Pam Bondi: “The state of Maine is discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports. … We are seeking to have the titles returned to the young women who rightfully won these sports. And we are also considering whether to retroactively pull all the funding that they have received for not complying in the past.”
Maine Governor Janet Mills responded in a statement, “this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”
Israel’s Genocidal Attacks on Gaza Continue, Slaughtering Children, Displaced Palestinians
Apr 17, 2025
Israel’s military has stepped up a series of deadly strikes on tent encampments for displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as the United Nations warns Israel’s renewed assault has uprooted about half a million people since Israel shattered the ceasefire in March. Earlier today, an Israeli airstrike targeted tents in the Jabaliya refugee camp, killing at least seven people. Separately, 10 Palestinians were killed in an overnight attack on a tent encampment in Khan Younis, with children among the dead and wounded.
Youssef Abu Alrous: “A 12-year-old disabled child, he burned to death in his wheelchair. We carried him. Even his bones had melted as we pulled him out. This is the child’s wheelchair. A child, 12 years old!”
Dr. Abu Safiya’s Lawyer Warns Kamal Adwan Director Is Being Tortured in Prison
Apr 17, 2025
Palestinians are marking the annual Prisoner’s Day holiday with marches demanding the release of political prisoners. Rights groups say there are nearly 10,000 Palestinians currently held in Israeli jails. Four hundred of them are children. More than a third are being held without charge under Israel’s so-called administrative detention policy.
On Wednesday a lawyer for the jailed director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, said his client had experienced beatings, mistreatment and torture inside Israel’s notorious Ofer Prison. The lawyer, who was last able to visit Dr. Abu Safiya on March 19, said, “He is suffering greatly. He is exhausted from the torture, the pressure and the humiliation he has endured to force him to confess to acts he did not commit.”
Reports: U.S. in Talks with Yemeni Fighters over Possible Ground Attack Against Houthi Movement
Apr 17, 2025
Bloomberg News is reporting U.S. officials are in talks with pro-government militias in Yemen about a possible ground offensive to oust Houthi fighters from the Red Sea coast. U.S. aerial attacks on Yemen since mid-March have killed at least 123 people, as Houthis vow to continue targeting ships in the region that are tied to Israel’s war on Gaza.
Last week, a group of Democratic lawmakers called on the Trump administration to halt its attacks on Yemen, citing the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional approval, or a declaration of war, to directly attack another country.
Mass Gaza Protests in Karachi; Police Crack Down on Student Protests in Germany, Netherlands
Apr 17, 2025
Protests against Israel’s assault on Gaza continue. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched through the Pakistani city of Karachi in solidarity with Palestinians.
On Wednesday, police in Berlin violently arrested Palestinian solidarity protesters in front of Humboldt University. That followed similar scenes in the Netherlands on Monday, when Dutch police used batons to beat protesters who had occupied a campus building to demand the University of Amsterdam cut ties with Israeli institutions.
Protesters Arrested on Roof of U.K. Factory That Supplies Israeli Weapons Maker
Apr 17, 2025
Image Credit: Instagram/@pal_action
In Britain, police arrested two people Wednesday as they held a protest on the roof of a factory that supplies hardware to Israel’s biggest weapons producer, Elbit Systems. The activists reportedly sabotaged parts inside the GRiD Defence Systems factory before climbing to the rooftop and unfurling a banner reading “GRiD and Elbit — Blood on Your Hands.”
Palestine Action activist 1: “We are just regular people who oppose genocide, who oppose companies on U.K. land selling weapons that are used to kill children. In the past month alone, we have seen babies with no heads, children’s bodies blown apart.”
Palestine Action activist 2: “Bodies, dead weight, literally flying from the sky from how powerful these bombs are that are obliterating entire neighborhoods. We cannot stand back and just do nothing.”
Prosecutors Seek to Ban Discussion of Gaza at Upcoming Trial of “Louisville Five” Protesters
Apr 17, 2025
In Kentucky, prosecutors are asking a Louisville judge to silence any discussion of genocide or Israel’s assault on Palestinians ahead of the June trial of five activists who were arrested last year as they blocked entrances to plants operated by Raytheon and BAE Systems, which supply weapons to the Israeli military. The motion also seeks to bar defendants from wearing Palestinian keffiyehs and from holding protests in the vicinity of the courthouse.
Sudan’s RSF Declares Rival Government as Civil War Enters Third Year
Apr 17, 2025
In Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has declared the formation of a rival government as Sudan enters its third year of a devastating civil war that’s spawned the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The conflict is showing no signs of ending, after high-level meetings in London collapsed this week, and the Sudanese army remains engaged in bloody battles with the RSF. At least 300 people were killed in displacement camps over the weekend in the war-ravaged western Darfur region. We’ll have more on Sudan later in the broadcast.
Tunisian Opposition Politicians Launch Hunger Strike Amid Mass Trial of Dissidents
Apr 17, 2025
Human Rights Watch is warning the Tunisian government has turned arbitrary detention into “a cornerstone of its repressive policy,” as President Kais Saied continues to crack down on his opponents and critics. This comes amid a mass trial against dozens of people, including prominent politicians and media figures, whom the Saied government has accused of plotting against the state. Last week, six detained opposition figures launched a hunger strike, while hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Tunis.
Hayat Ayari: “It’s tyranny in every sense of the word — no freedom of opinion, no freedom of expression, no freedom of action. Over the smallest thing, a person finds themselves in prison. Even what I’m saying now could get me arrested and jailed tomorrow. This is reality. I’m not making this up.”
Colombian Indigenous Leader’s Murder Is Third of the Year
Apr 17, 2025
In Colombia, Indigenous leader Erik Ánderson Menza Pavi was shot and killed in the southwest Cauca region on Saturday. He is at least the third Indigenous community leader to be killed in the region this year. Rights groups warn the survival of the Indigenous Nasa people are at heightened risk amid the “systematic attacks.”
“Illegal and Economically Destructive”: California Sues Trump over Tariffs
Apr 17, 2025
California is suing to block President Trump’s tariffs, which it says are illegal and “economically destructive.” This is California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Attorney General Rob Bonta: “Trump has had to resort to creating bogus national emergencies that defy reason. He’s even claimed there’s an influx of illegal immigration and illicit drugs crossing over the Canadian border as the basis for imposing across-the-board tariffs on Canada. It is completely untrue.”
In other trade news, President Trump claimed “big progress” was made in tariff negotiations with Japan, after Trump unexpectedly joined the preliminary talks Wednesday. Meanwhile, Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is at the White House today, where she’s expected to defend European trade interests as she meets with Trump.
Guards Charged with Murder over Beating Death of New York Prisoner Messiah Nantwi
Apr 17, 2025
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Family of Messiah Nantwi
Here in New York, two white prison officers were charged with second-degree murder over the killing last month of Messiah Nantwi, a Black 22-year-old prisoner who died at the Mid-State Correctional Facility after being viciously beaten by guards. Another eight officers were charged with related offenses in the fatal beating, which took place during a prison guard wildcat strike.
Puerto Rico’s Energy Grid Collapses for Second Time in Four Months
Apr 17, 2025
In Puerto Rico, the LUMA Energy corporation says it could take up to three days to restore electricity after the island’s energy grid collapsed Wednesday, plunging the entire US territory into darkness for the second time in four months. It’s the latest in a series of blackouts since Puerto Rico privatized its electrical grid in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Puerto Ricans pay some of the highest electricity rates in the U.S. despite frequent outages.