International News Briefs for Friday, April 18, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – Here are some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on, Friday, April 18, 2025.
U.S. Airstrikes on Yemen Kill at Least 58, Injure Over 100 Others
Apr 18, 2025
In Yemen, Houthi-run media reports U.S. airstrikes targeting the Ras Isa oil port have killed at least 58 people. Over 125 others were wounded. The U.S. has been systematically attacking Yemen over the past month after Houthi fighters vowed to continue targeting Red Sea ships tied to Israel’s war on Gaza. U.S. airstrikes on Yemen have killed over 180 people since mid-March, including many women and children.
Palestinian Photojournalist Fatma Hassona Killed with Family in Israeli Attack
Apr 18, 2025
Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza continues, claiming at least another 34 victims today, including 10 members of the same family who were killed in a strike on a home in Khan Younis earlier today.
Meanwhile, one of the victims of an Israeli airstrike earlier this week, on Wednesday, was revealed to be the young Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona. Hassona, who was killed along with at least nine other members of her family in Gaza City, is the subject of a new documentary that is set to premiere next month at the Cannes Film Festival. We’ll speak with the director of that documentary, Sepideh Farsi, later in the broadcast.
Hamas Rejects Interim Israeli Truce Proposals, Seeks Comprehensive and Full End to War
Apr 18, 2025
Hamas is calling for “comprehensive” ceasefire negotiations to definitively end the war on Gaza, including a full captives swap, as it rejected an Israeli interim proposal.
Khalil al-Hayya: “Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation. Even if the price is sacrificing all his hostages, we will not be part of passing this policy.”
ICC Demands Hungary Justify Its Failure to Act on Netanyahu Arrest Warrant
Apr 18, 2025
In legal news, the International Criminal Court has initiated proceedings against Hungary after the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán failed to execute an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Hungary earlier this month. Just ahead of the visit, Orbán announced he’s withdrawing from the ICC. Netanyahu is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Sen. Van Hollen Meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador as Legal Defeats Mount for Trump
Apr 18, 2025
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen confirmed Thursday night he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father whom the Trump administration says they forcibly transferred to an El Salvador mega-prison last month by “administrative error.” Van Hollen shared a photo of the two seated together at a table in what appears to be a hotel restaurant. Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador Wednesday in a push for Abrego Garcia’s release but had initially been barred from having any contact with him. Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer, celebrated the meeting, saying in a statement, “My children and my prayers have been answered.”
Meanwhile, in response to Van Hollen’s visit with Abrego Garcia, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on social media, “Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.” Bukele also wrote, “Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!”
Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland for almost 15 years, after fleeing gang violence in El Salvador, and is a sheet metal worker.
This comes as a federal appeals court ruled the Trump administration must comply with a judge’s order for government officials to be deposed over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case. That judge, Paula Xinis, is weighing contempt proceedings against Trump officials. In the unanimous ruling Thursday, 4th Circuit Court Judge Harvie Wilkinson, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, wrote the Trump administration’s acts are “shocking,” writing, “The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”
New Group of Immigrants Threatened with Removal Under Contested Wartime Act
Apr 18, 2025
ACLU immigration attorney Lee Gelernt has confirmed that a group of Venezuelan immigrants currently jailed at the Bluebonnet ICE detention center in Texas was told they are at risk of also being expelled from the United States under the controversial Alien Enemies Act of 1798, despite the ongoing legal challenges against its use.
Topics:
SCOTUS to Hear Arguments in Trump’s Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship
Apr 18, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments over President Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship, as the measure remains on hold. The hearing is scheduled for May 15, with a decision likely to be issued later in the summer. Several federal lower court judges have blocked the order, saying it violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Trump signed the executive order on his first day back in office.
In other immigration news, Reuters is reporting Secretary of State Marco Rubio is ordering officials to review the social media accounts of visa applicants who have visited the Gaza Strip anytime in the past 18 years, including for work with aid organizations.
U.S.-Born Man Arrested Under Florida’s Latest Anti-Immigrant Law After Crossing State Lines
Apr 18, 2025
A U.S.-born citizen who was arrested in Florida, accused of being undocumented and entering the state “unlawfully,” has been released after spending the night in jail on a 48-hour hold requested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE. Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez is from Georgia and was driving across state lines to his construction job in Tallahassee when he was pulled over and then taken into custody. He remained jailed despite presenting a copy of his birth certificate and Social Security card, brought to court by his mother. Lopez-Gomez was arrested and charged under a contested anti-immigration law known as SB 4C, signed by Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis two months ago, despite a federal court order temporarily blocking the measure from being enforced.
ICE Signs $30 Million Deal with Palantir as It Expands Mass Surveillance of Immigrants
Apr 18, 2025
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has signed a $30 million deal with the controversial surveillance tech giant Palantir, which will be used to help track and deport immigrants, including people who might have overstayed their visas. A database would also track cases of self-deportation and share data with Customs and Border Protection. The outlet 404 Media reports Palantir — which was founded by Elon Musk ally, billionaire Peter Thiel — has been working in recent weeks to increase ICE’s capacity to monitor immigrants with final deportation orders. The new agreement is an extension of a contract with Palantir first signed by the Biden administration.
Zohran Mamdani Joins NYC Jewish Community to Say “No Fascists, No Pharaohs” at Passover Action
Apr 18, 2025
Here in New York City, members of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, their allies, and elected leaders gathered Thursday for the group’s annual “Seder in the Streets” on the sixth night of Passover. The protest took place under the banner of “No fascists, no pharaohs.” New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani spoke at the event.
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani: “And we know that in this moment in this city, when one in four New Yorkers is living in poverty, when 500,000 children go to sleep hungry every night, when more than 90% of New Yorkers agree that affordability is a serious issue, that this freedom is not just a right to live with our families in homes, but to be able to afford that home, to afford that dinner that we can share together as we break that bread.”
Boston Jews Call for Release of Rümeysa Öztürk After Judge Denies Bond to Abducted Student
Apr 18, 2025
Image Credit: If Not Now Boston
In Boston, 400 Jewish residents and others joined rabbis and community leaders to call for the release of abducted Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk. The Passover rally was organized by the progressive Jewish group IfNotNow.
On Wednesday, an immigration judge denied bond for Öztürk, declaring her to be a potential, so-called danger to the community. Öztürk, who is from Turkey, was arrested for co-authoring a student op-ed on Tufts’ response to Gaza solidarity protests on campus.
Trump Escalates Attacks on Harvard, Targeting International Students
Apr 18, 2025
The Trump administration is threatening to bar Harvard from enrolling foreign students, unless university officials hand over the records of its current international students. This comes after Harvard openly rejected Trump’s earlier ultimatums to the school, asserting its “independence” and “constitutional rights.” Meanwhile, House Republicans launched a civil rights probe into Harvard over its policy on trans athletes and diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI, which defy Trump’s orders.
“The Fight to Win All Fights”: Students and Faculty Protest Trump Crackdown on Schools
Apr 18, 2025
Image Credit: Lantz Arroyo (@lantzarroyo)
On Thursday, protests took place on college campuses across the U.S. condemning the White House’s attack on education and students. This is a student at the University of California, Berkeley.
Sam Kaplan Pettus: “I think that we have something that we’re fighting for that is a little bit different than what we’ve been fighting for in the past. And that is our very right to keep fighting and our right to resist and our right to speak and learn and teach, even if it disagrees with the current political regime. And I think this is the fight to win all fights and that we need to show up in a way that is more powerful and more abundant than in the past.”
U.S. Judge Rules Google Illegally Operates Online Ad Monopoly
Apr 18, 2025
A federal judge ruled Google has run illegal monopolies on two markets for web advertising technology. It’s the second antitrust ruling against Google in the past year. In 2023, a federal jury also concluded Google’s proprietary app store is an unlawful monopoly. But the judge on Thursday struck down one of the Justice Department’s arguments against Google, making it unclear whether or when Google will be forced to sell off part of its online ad business. Consumer advocates welcomed yesterday’s news, with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren declaring, “Google is an illegal monopolist — and it’s time to break up this tech giant.”
Trump Threatens to Kick Out Federal Reserve Chair Powell
Apr 18, 2025
Trump threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after Powell opted not to cut interest rates and warned Trump’s tariffs are “highly likely” to raise inflation and slow growth. Trump made the comments, renewing an ongoing dispute in his first term, despite the Fed’s independence being protected by law.
President Donald Trump: “Oh, he’ll leave. If I ask him to, he’ll be out of there. But I don’t think he’s — I don’t think he — I don’t think he’s doing the job. He’s too late, always too late, a little slow, and I’m not happy with him. I let him know it. And if I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me.”
The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a case involving two labor officials whom Trump fired but were later reinstated after judges determined the president does not have the authority to remove them. An outcome favorable to Trump in that case could pave the way for him to also fire Jerome Powell.
New Rule Threatens Endangered Species by Allowing Industry to Destroy Protected Habitats
Apr 18, 2025
The Trump administration is seeking to redefine the meaning of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act, in a move which environmentalists warn would threaten the survival of hundreds of plant and animal species. The proposed rule would allow industry to degrade or destroy habitats of endangered species, including panthers, sea turtles, bald eagles, spotted owls, gray wolves and humpback whales.
Rubio Says U.S. Will Determine in “A Matter of Days” If It Should “Move On” from Ukraine War
Apr 18, 2025
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States will determine in the coming days whether ending Russia’s war on Ukraine is “doable,” and may soon withdraw U.S. involvement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term, because if it’s not, then i think we’re just going to move on, from our perspective.”
The comments reflect the tensions between Washington and Kyiv, and the growing wedge between Trump and his European counterparts as they try to compensate for the change in U.S. involvement in the Ukraine war under Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump said on Thursday his administration would sign a deal with Kyiv in one week exchanging security for access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. The details of the deal are said to still be under negotiation.
Inside Ukraine, Russian air attacks early today killed one person in Sumy and another in Kharkiv. The heavy bombardment in a residential area of Kharkiv wounded dozens of others, including children.
Topics:
Florida Son of a Sheriff’s Deputy Uses Mom’s Service Gun to Kill 2 People in Campus Mass Shooting
Apr 18, 2025
In Florida, a 20-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy killed two people and injured at least six others when he opened fire Thursday on the Florida State University campus. Phoenix Ikner used a gun that was the former service weapon of Leon County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Ikner, his mother. The suspect was also a member of the Sheriff’s Youth Advisory Council. A motive has yet to be disclosed.
Grand Jury Indicts Luigi Mangione; Charge Could Lead to Death Sentence
Apr 18, 2025
Here in New York, a federal grand jury indicted Luigi Mangione, charging him with stalking and murder through the use of a firearm in the December shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The murder charge holds a possible death penalty sentence, if convicted. Mangione’s lawyer accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of “prejudicing” the grand jury when she signaled recently she would seek the death penalty for Mangione. Mangione’s defense said, “The stakes could not be higher. The United States government intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.”