International News Briefs for Friday, August 29, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Friday, August 29, 2025.
Amid Deepening Famine, Israel Declares Gaza City a “Dangerous Combat Zone”
Aug 29, 2025
Israel’s military has declared Gaza City “a dangerous combat zone” as it ramps up its offensive to seize the Gaza Strip’s largest urban area. The announcement came as Israel carried out drone, artillery and fighter jet attacks that killed at least 41 Palestinians since dawn, including children and people searching for food. Meanwhile, UNICEF warns Gaza’s starvation crisis due to Israel’s blockade is growing worse by the day, telling Al Jazeera, “famine is absolutely ravaging Gaza City.” Thousands of the city’s residents have been fleeing their homes, most of them heading toward the coast, as Israeli forces attack eastern suburbs.
Mohammed Al-Adham: “What should we do? Do we stay here to die, to be broken? My two brothers died. My mother was martyred. My cousins were killed before my eyes. What should we do? We keep moving from one place to another, until God above looks upon us.”
Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israeli forces in Gaza recovered the body of Ilan Weiss, a 55-year-old Israeli abducted by Hamas in October 2023. Forty-nine hostages remain in Gaza, at least 27 of whom are deceased, according to Israel. On Thursday, Israel’s far-right Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich called for the annexation of the Gaza Strip if Hamas refuses to disarm. Hamas condemned his threat as an “official call to exterminate” Palestinians.
Palestinian and Israeli Protesters in West Bank Demand End to Gaza Assault
Aug 29, 2025
Image Credit: Combatants for Peace
Israeli forces have arrested at least nine Palestinians in raids across the occupied West Bank. Among those detained is a school principal and the head of a village council. Separately, two Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli troops during a raid on Nablus, and a Palestinian man was shot in the feet by Israeli settlers east of Nablus. The continuing West Bank violence came as Israeli and Palestinian protesters gathered in Beit Jala for a weekly vigil, demanding an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Combatants for Peace protester: “We’re here, Israelis and Palestinians from Combatants for Peace, in a joint vigil mourning the children of Gaza, thousands of children that have been killed. What was their crime? What did they deserve? Their futures have been stolen. And we’re here to mourn them and to say, ‘No more.’”
Flooding Displaces More Than 1 Million in Pakistan
Aug 29, 2025
More than a million people have been displaced in Pakistan after the worst flooding in more than four decades. Monsoon rain and the release of water from overflowing dams in India caused three major rivers to burst their banks, destroying crops and businesses in the region and flooding more than 1,400 villages in Punjab province. Since June, the floods have killed more than 800 people in Pakistan.
Thai Constitutional Court Removes Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra
Aug 29, 2025
Thailand’s Constitutional Court has removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office. She was found guilty of ethics violations over a phone call to Cambodia’s former leader. In a leaked recording of the call, she criticized the Thai military’s conduct in clashes with Cambodia last month. Paetongtarn is the fifth prime minister since 2008 to be removed from office by Thailand’s top court.
Security Council Votes to Wind Down U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon
Aug 29, 2025
Two Lebanese soldiers were killed and two others were injured Thursday when an Israeli drone exploded in south Lebanon. This comes as Israel attacks Lebanon almost on a daily basis despite reaching a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah in November. Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to end the U.N.’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon over the next two years. Currently about 10,000 peacekeepers are stationed in southern Lebanon. In the past, the U.N. has accused Israel of firing on its peacekeepers in the region.
This comes as the U.S. has been pushing for Hezbollah to disarm. Lebanon will reportedly present a plan this Sunday to encourage Hezbollah to surrender its weapons, after which Israel is expected to offer its counterproposal to withdraw from Lebanon.
Democrats Demand Assault Weapons Ban in Wake of Minneapolis School Shooting
Aug 29, 2025
In Minneapolis, family members have identified the two students killed Wednesday when a shooter fired over 100 rounds through the window of a church at the Annunciation Catholic School, as children and other worshipers gathered for the first Mass of the new school year. Eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel loved his family, friends and “any sport he was allowed to play.” And 10-year-old Harper Moyski was described as a “bright, joyful, and deeply loved 10-year-old” who adored her big sister. Fifteen other children and three adults were wounded in the attack.
On Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was looking into psychiatric medications as a cause of mass shootings. He repeated the unsubstantiated claim in a Fox News interview.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: “We’re launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence.”
Kennedy’s comments drew backlash from Democratic lawmakers. Minnesota Senator Tina Smith wrote on social media, “I dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don’t kill kids, antidepressants do. Just shut up. Stop peddling bullshit. You should be fired.” On Thursday, elected officials gathered at Minneapolis City Hall to demand immediate action on gun control. This is Congressmember Ilhan Omar.
Rep. Ilhan Omar: “This is something that is simple, a simple ban to make sure people who should not have access to these weapons do not get them and then cause harm and trauma for generations to come in our communities. It is a simple ask.”
RFK Jr. Taps Deputy to Lead CDC After White House Fires Director Who Opposed Anti-Vaccine Moves
Aug 29, 2025
Image Credit: Amy Rossetti/Department of Health and Human Services via AP
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday his top deputy, Jim O’Neill, will serve as the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after the White House abruptly fired CDC Director Susan Monarez less than a month after she was confirmed by the Senate. Monarez is challenging her dismissal. O’Neill is a biotech investor who has worked for the far-right billionaire Peter Thiel and has previously served as a speechwriter in the George W. Bush administration. He has no formal training in medicine. The New York Times is reporting that the Trump administration fired Monarez after she declined to fire agency leaders or to accept all recommendations from a vaccine advisory panel stacked by RFK Jr. with anti-vaccine activists. Meanwhile, staff at CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta staged a mass walkout Thursday to support senior officials who stepped down in protest of RFK Jr.’s actions. Infectious disease experts Demetre Daskalakis, Daniel Jernigan and Debra Houry thanked colleagues and promised to keep fighting to protect public health.
bq. Dr. Demetre Daskalakis: “Whether it’s in preventing overdose, chronic disease, stopping Ebola at its source rather than letting it come to this continent, you are the people that protect America.”
bq. Dr. Daniel Jernigan: “And what makes us great at CDC is following the science. And so let’s get the politics out of public health.”
bq. Dr. Debra Houry: “We need Congress to intervene. We need our appropriations. We need to follow science. We need to have ethics back.”
Fed Governor Lisa Cook Sues to Keep Her Job After Trump Attempts to Fire Her
Aug 29, 2025
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., Thursday challenging what she called President Trump’s “unprecedented and illegal” attempts to fire her. The case is likely to end up at the Supreme Court.
White House Seeks to Use Chicago Naval Base for Immigration Crackdown
Aug 29, 2025
President Trump’s so-called border czar Tom Homan warned Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will “ramp up” immigration raids in Los Angeles and other sanctuary cities. Homan’s threat came as the White House said it was seeking to use Naval Station Great Lakes, a U.S. military base on the outskirts of Chicago, as a staging ground for the Department of Homeland Security to carry out immigration raids.
Meanwhile, the government of Rwanda said Thursday it had accepted seven immigrants from the United States as part of a third-party deportation deal. The Trump administration is also seeking to deport people to South Sudan and Eswatini even though they have no connection to those countries.
In Florida, officials are reportedly emptying an immigration detention camp in an Everglades swamp dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by Republicans, after a federal judge ordered much of the facility to be closed over environmental violations.
U.S. Air Force to Offer Full Military Honors to January 6 Rioter
Aug 29, 2025
The U.S. Air Force is offering full military honors to Ashli Babbitt, the January 6 rioter who was shot by officers as she stormed the U.S. Capitol four years ago to protest President Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election. This comes as a federal judge offered a refund to another January 6 rioter, Yvonne St Cyr, who was ordered to pay $2,200 in restitution and fines. She had her felony conviction dropped by Trump in a blanket pardon of January 6 rioters.
Trump Administration Withdraws U.S. from U.N. Review of Human Rights Record
Aug 29, 2025
Image Credit: UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
The Trump administration says the United States will withdraw from a U.N. review of its human rights record. Under the Universal Periodic Review, all 193 U.N. member states are required to present their human rights record for peer review every four-and-a-half years. This is the first time the U.S. — or any other U.N. member — has refused to participate. In a statement, the ACLU said, “This move is a chilling attempt to evade accountability, setting a terrible precedent that would only embolden dictators and autocrats and dangerously weaken respect for human rights at home and abroad.”
Texas GOP Lawmakers Advance Bill to Expand Abortion Restrictions
Aug 29, 2025
Republican lawmakers in Texas have advanced a bill to expand abortion restrictions. On Thursday evening, the Texas House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of House Bill 7, which allows private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures, distributes, mails or provides abortion medication to or from Texas. Plaintiffs winning their lawsuits would receive a cash bounty of at least $100,000. The bill now heads to Texas’s Republican-controlled Senate. In a statement, the ACLU of Texas said the legislation would “fuel fear among manufacturers and providers nationwide, while encouraging neighbors to police one another’s reproductive lives, further isolating pregnant Texans, and punishing the people who care for them.”
Trump Signs Executive Order Banning Unions at Several Government Agencies
Aug 29, 2025
Ahead of the Labor Day weekend, President Trump signed an executive order Thursday stripping union protections from federal employees. Under the order, several government agencies, including NASA, the National Weather Service and the Office of the Commissioner for Patents, will end their collective bargaining agreements with unions. Trump cast his executive order as critical for protecting national security. On Thursday, members of 30 unions and organizations marched in Washington, D.C., to protest Trump’s anti-worker policies.
NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Joins Rev. Al Sharpton’s “March on Wall Street”
Aug 29, 2025
The Reverend Al Sharpton led hundreds of demonstrators for the “March on Wall Street” Thursday to protest President Trump’s assault on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and his attempts to control Democratic-led cities led by Black mayors. New York State Assembly member and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani marched alongside Reverend Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. The other mayoral candidates — Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams — did not attend the march. This is Zohran Mamdani addressing the crowd in Lower Manhattan.
Zohran Mamdani: “As we stand here in the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, as we stand here by Wall Street, where last year they had more than $40 billion in bonuses, we ask ourselves: How is it that one in four New Yorkers are still living in poverty? We ask ourselves: How is it that we have still yet to answer the question that Dr. King posed all those decades ago? Because what he said then, and what we must answer now, is: What good is it to have the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can’t afford to buy a hamburger?”