International News Briefs for Tuesday, September 23, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill Dozens of Palestinians, Including Children
Sep 23, 2025
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 38 Palestinians and injured another 190 over the past 24 hours. An estimated half a million Palestinians remain in Gaza City despite an advance by Israeli tanks, paratroopers, explosive-laden robots and remote-controlled vehicles. Among the latest victims is a 5-year-old Palestinian girl named Noor, whose parents frantically searched the rubble of their Gaza City home Monday after it was flattened by an Israeli strike.
Nidal Daloul: “Bring me Noor. Bring me Noor. In seven years, I’ve only had her. I do not have any children except her. Noor is under the rubble. Where is Noor?”
Noor was found under the debris but later died in an ambulance. Her family had fled their home in the Zeitoun neighborhood after it was destroyed in a previous strike. Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry is warning that patients face “certain death” at hospitals that have nearly exhausted fuel supplies needed for generators that power lifesaving medical equipment.
Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco Follow France in Recognizing Palestinian State
Sep 23, 2025
France has formally recognized a Palestinian state for the first time. President Emmanuel Macron declared France’s recognition on Monday as the United Nations convened its General Assembly for the 80th consecutive year.
President Emmanuel Macron: “The time has come. This is why, loyal to my country’s historic commitment to the Middle East for peace among Israeli people and the Palestinian people, I declare that France recognizes today the state of Palestine.”
Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco also declared their recognition of a Palestinian state Monday. With France’s recognition, the United States is now the only member of the U.N. Security Council not to recognize Palestine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the declarations as a “huge reward to terrorism” and said that a Palestinian state “will not happen.”
Italian Unions Lead General Strike Demanding End to Israel’s Assault on Gaza
Sep 23, 2025
In Italy, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of dozens of cities Monday as Italian labor unions led a nationwide 24-hour general strike to demand an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza. In Rome, tens of thousands joined a march that blocked a major highway. There were similar scenes in Bologna, where student protesters occupied university lecture halls. In Venice, police fired water cannons to disperse protesters, while dockworkers led marches in Genoa and other port cities, seeking to block weapons exports to Israel. This is Genoa resident Dario Rossi.
Dario Rossi: “Genoa is a port and, therefore, the ideal place to try and stop this trade in arms that are fueling genocide. These weapons should not be allowed to pass, because our laws prohibit trading arms with countries that are at war and violate human rights, yet they pass through unhindered. Fortunately, we have a very combative group of dockworkers here who are fighting tooth and nail and dragging the entire citizenry into this protest, which is spreading nationally and internationally.”
Supreme Court Allows Trump to Fire FTC Commissioner
Sep 23, 2025
The Supreme Court is allowing President Trump to fire the Federal Trade Commission’s last remaining Democrat, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, and is set to hear oral arguments in December on whether federal law grants presidents the power to fire officials of independent agencies. In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote, “[President Trump] may now remove — so says the majority, though Congress said differently — any member he wishes, for any reason or no reason at all. And he may thereby extinguish the agencies’ bipartisanship and independence.”
ABC to Resume Broadcasts of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” But Sinclair Stations Will Continue Censorship
Sep 23, 2025
ABC has announced that Jimmy Kimmel’s show will return to the airwaves this evening, after it was indefinitely suspended following FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s threats to revoke the broadcast licenses of affiliates over comments Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk’s assassin. In a statement, the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, said, “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Disney’s statement came as a movement to boycott Disney+, Hulu and other Disney-owned subscription services was gathering steam in the wake of Kimmel’s suspension. Meanwhile, Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns dozens of ABC affiliates, said that it would not air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on its stations and would replace it with news programming.
On Monday, unions led a rally for free speech outside Jimmy Kimmel’s studio in Hollywood. Joining the protest was California Democratic Congressmember Laura Friedman.
Rep. Laura Friedman: “It’s the Trump administration deciding what you can watch on television, what jokes he thinks you should be able to hear. He does not want dissent, and he’s not above using the highest powers of the law to clamp down on dissent. That’s un-American, it’s dangerous, and it’s something that we need to raise the alarm about.”
Trump Links Tylenol to Autism Without Evidence and Proposes Changes to Childhood Vaccine Schedule
Sep 23, 2025
President Trump is proposing sweeping changes to how children are vaccinated, saying the MMR vaccine should be broken up into separate shots. At a White House press conference, flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid head Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump said children should instead receive separate shots for measles, mumps and rubella — though he apparently forgot the name of rubella. Trump also recommended removing aluminum from vaccines and said parents should wait until their children are 12 to vaccinate against hepatitis B, falsely stating the viral infection is only sexually transmitted, even though it can also be spread through open wounds, contaminated objects, during birth or through breastfeeding. Trump said his recommendations were “based on what I feel.” He made the remarks while promoting unproven claims that vaccines and the common painkiller acetaminophen cause autism — despite decades of research showing no proven links.
President Donald Trump: “Effective immediately, the FDA will be notifying physicians that the use of aceta — well, let’s see how we say that, acetaminophen, acetaminophen — is that OK? — which is basically commonly known as Tylenol, during pregnancy can be associated with a very increased risk of autism. So, taking Tylenol is not good.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists called the announcement “irresponsible,” adding, “It is highly unsettling that our federal health agencies are willing to make an announcement that will affect the health and well-being of millions of people without the backing of reliable data.”
Miami Herald: Two-Thirds of Immigrants Held at “Alligator Alcatraz” in July Have Disappeared
Sep 23, 2025
In immigration news, hundreds of people who were once detained at the troubled immigration jail in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” have disappeared. The Miami Herald reports about two-thirds of the 1,800 immigrants who were held there in July have gone missing from ICE’s online database, with their families unable to locate them. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ruled the jail could continue to operate despite reports of abuse.
NYT: Trump Admin Attempting to Limit Enforcement of the Fair Housing Act
Sep 23, 2025
The Trump administration is trying to limit the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act — that’s according to a New York Times review of dozens of emails, memos and other internal communications, as well as interviews with current and former employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Speaking to the Times, lawyers say they have been blocked from communicating with clients without approval from a Trump appointee. Staff members also detail how their fair housing work is being dismissed as an offshoot of DEI. In response, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said her office is reviewing documents shared by whistleblowers inside HUD.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “These documents detail how the Trump administration apparently views the office that enforces civil right protections in housing as a, quote, ‘optics problem.’ Imagine thinking that defending Black families from being denied a mortgage because they’re Black, or protecting a mom and her kids from living with an abusive father, is a, quote, ‘optics problem.’ Imagine thinking that it’s an optics problem to help the dad with a bad knee whose landlord refuses to install a handrail on the stairs.”
Prominent Egyptian Blogger and Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah Released from Prison
Sep 23, 2025
Image Credit: X/@Monasosh
Prominent Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah has been released from prison along with several other prisoners following the announcement of presidential pardons on Monday in Egypt. Alaa spent most of the last 12 years in and out of detention due to his political activism. Alaa Abd El-Fattah reunited with his mother Laila Soueif, who had been on a hunger strike for months demanding her son’s freedom. Also celebrating Alaa’s release Monday at the family home was his sister, Sanaa Seif.
Sanaa Seif: “We wish for this moment to come for all the families of political detainees. I’m praying that this is the end of tragedies in our family and that Alaa is allowed to travel and to be with his son.”
We’ll have more on Alaa’s pardon and release later in the broadcast.
In related news, a human rights investigation has uncovered a mass grave in Egypt’s North Sinai, which researchers believe was used by the Egyptian military to bury the bodies of victims of extrajudicial killings.
Colombian Government Terminates Arms Purchases from the United States
Sep 23, 2025
The Colombian government has terminated arms purchases from the United States, its largest military partner, as tensions rise with the Trump administration over accusations Colombia is failing to combat cocaine trafficking. Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced U.S. intervention, saying his government “will not be blackmailed” and that more cocaine has been seized under his administration than any previous presidents.
In more news from Colombia, 12 former soldiers have been sentenced to eight years of reparations work over their role in the extrajudicial executions of 135 civilians during Colombia’s U.S.-backed conflict. The killings were part of what became known as the false positives scandal, when U.S.-backed Colombian soldiers massacred thousands of civilians, falsely counting them as rebel fighters.
White House Rebuffs Offer by Maduro for Direct Talks with Trump
Sep 23, 2025
Image Credit: Donald Trump via Truth Social
The White House said Monday it had dismissed an offer by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to engage in direct talks with President Trump aimed at deescalating a U.S. naval buildup near Venezuela’s coast. The brush-off came after Trump declared he had ordered the bombing of another vessel he alleged was trafficking drugs to the United States. Trump shared video on his social media site Truth Social of an apparent airstrike on a speedboat, writing in all caps, ”STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!” Trump did not specify where the bombing occurred, the name of the alleged terrorist organization involved, or who conducted the attack. The strikes appear to have occurred outside of any declared war zone, targeting civilians who posed no immediate threat. Legal experts say such extrajudicial killings violate both U.S. and international law and constitute war crimes.
ICC Charges Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte with 3 Counts of Crimes Against Humanity
Sep 23, 2025
The International Criminal Court has charged former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity. Duterte is accused of orchestrating the extrajudicial killings of dozens of people between 2013 and 2018 as part of his devastating so-called war on drugs. The U.N. estimates over 8,600 people were killed during Duterte’s rule, with some estimates suggesting the true toll could be three times higher. Last year, Duterte admitted under oath that he oversaw a “death squad” of gangsters while he served as mayor of the southern city of Davao.