International News Briefs for Wednesday, February 4, 2026
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Wednesday, February 4, 2026.
Trump Doubles Down on Calls for GOP to “Nationalize” Voting in the U.S.
Feb 04, 2026
President Trump doubled down on his calls for the Republican Party to “nationalize” voting in the United States, even as the White House tried to walk back his comments. Republican lawmakers also criticized the idea, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune saying, “It’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one.” Speaking to reporters yesterday in the Oval Office, President Trump repeated false claims about the 2020 election and urged the federal government to take over voting in the U.S.
President Donald Trump: “If a state can’t run an election, I think the people behind me should do something about it, because, you know, if you think about it, a state is an agent for the federal government in elections. I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do them anyway.”
Article I of the U.S. Constitution designates individual state legislatures with determining how elections are held. Meanwhile, House Republicans unveiled the “Make Elections Great Again Act,” calling for voters to present a photo ID and verify their citizenship when registering to vote. It comes as officials in Fulton County, Georgia, promised to take legal action after the FBI last week seized truckloads of ballots and documents from the 2020 election.
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard defended her presence at the FBI raid of the Fulton County election center, telling Democratic lawmakers that she was there to identify possible foreign interference. Gabbard is also facing renewed backlash following reports by The Wall Street Journal that she is allegedly hiding a whistleblower complaint accusing her of wrongdoing. The Journal reported the whistleblower’s complaint is so “highly classified” that it is “said to be locked in a safe,” and it has not been shared with Congress. The whistleblower’s lawyer has also accused Gabbard of stonewalling the complaint, which was filed last May.
Renee Good’s Brothers Urge Congress to Restrain Federal Immigration Crackdown
Feb 04, 2026
Speaking on Capitol Hill, the brothers of Renee Good urged Congress to restrain President Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Brent and Luke Ganger testified at a hearing held by congressional Democrats Tuesday on the violent use of force by federal immigration agents deployed to cities across the U.S. Brent Ganger read from his eulogy to his sister, saying Good was “unapologetically hopeful.”
This is Luke Ganger addressing lawmakers yesterday.
Luke Ganger: “The completely surreal scenes taking place on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation. This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents. These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever.”
Not a single Republican lawmaker showed up to the hearing. Among others who testified at the forum Tuesday were Aliya Rahman, who was violently dragged out of her car by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis; Martin Daniel Rascon, who was shot at by border agents in California while driving with his family; and Marimar Martinez, who was shot five times by a federal immigration agent in Chicago last year. This is Martinez.
Marimar Martinez: “At the hospital, I remember seeing multiple agents standing around watching me be treated for my wounds. My arms, legs and chest were all wrapped in bandages. I had seven bullet holes in my body.”
Democratic Congressmember Robert Garcia then displayed texts by a Border Patrol agent after he shot Martinez.
Rep. Robert Garcia: “The agent linked an article about your shooting and texted, ‘Read it. 5 shots, 7 holes. … I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys. Oh well, it is what it is. Shit happens.’”
New York Attorney General James Announces Legal Observers to Document Federal Immigration Raids
Feb 04, 2026
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday she will be deploying legal observers to document federal immigration raids across the state. The move comes as federal immigration agents face mounting scrutiny over excessive use of force in the aftermath of at least four fatal shootings since September.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, several people were detained by ICE in Jersey City and Hoboken over the weekend. A video recorded by Jersey City Councilmember Jake Ephros during the arrests has gone viral, in which an ICE agent is heard saying, “I don’t need a warrant, bro. Stop getting that in your head, that’s it.”
Trump Signs Consolidated Funding Bill, Ending Partial Government Shutdown
Feb 04, 2026
President Trump signed the consolidated funding bill hours after it passed the House, ending the partial government shutdown. The legislation includes only a two-week extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Democratic lawmakers are calling for reforms on federal immigration enforcement as part of a deal to negotiate more funding for DHS. In a statement after the House vote, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “Americans from every corner of the country are demanding accountability and an end to the lawless, paramilitary tactics that ICE is using in our communities. Absent bold and meaningful change, there is no credible path forward with respect to the Department of Homeland Security funding bill next week.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro Meets With Trump at the White House
Feb 04, 2026
Image Credit: X/@petrogustavo
Colombian President Gustavo Petro sat down with Trump in a closed-door meeting that lasted approximately two hours at the White House Tuesday. It was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders following months of tension and heated exchanges over the Trump administration’s military strikes on civilian boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean. Their talks also came a month after the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in early January.
After the White House meeting, Petro shared a photo on social media with a note apparently handwritten by Trump that said, “Gustavo–A great honor–I love Colombia,” with a photograph of the two leaders shaking hands and smiling. Trump took on a drastically different tone after he previously insulted Petro and falsely accused him of being a drug trafficker, threatening Colombia with U.S. military action. Petro spoke after the meeting yesterday.
President Gustavo Petro: “I told him that between free people, one cannot act under blackmail: ‘Do this, or else this happens.’ No, we do not act under blackmail. And I think the photos and the atmosphere of the meeting show a meeting between equals who think differently — yes, with different powers, obviously, but capable of finding common paths. That’s it, nothing personal. He did not speak to me about his businesses, nor I about mine, which I do not have.”
Colombian President Petro traveled to Washington, D.C., on a special visa after the Trump administration revoked his previous one in September, when Petro joined a pro-Palestine rally outside the United Nations headquarters in New York and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey Trump. The Trump administration also issued sanctions against Petro and his family in October.
U.S. Military Announces It Shot Down Iranian Drone in the Arabian Sea
Feb 04, 2026
The U.S. military announced that it shot down an Iranian drone that approached its aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. It comes as President Trump confirmed that the U.S. was currently negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Istanbul on Friday.
Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 21 Palestinians in Gaza
Feb 04, 2026
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 Palestinians, including children, across Gaza today. Israel has killed over 500 Palestinians since the U.S.-brokered so-called ceasefire went into effect last October. It comes as thePalestinian Red Crescent says the evacuation of patients and wounded Palestinians via the southern Rafah crossing has been canceled for today. Israel has been tightly controlling the Rafah crossing since it partially reopened on Monday, after two years of total closure. On Tuesday, only five medical evacuees were allowed to leave, and only 12 Palestinians were allowed to reenter Gaza from Egypt. Fifty-six-year-old Huda Abu Abed was among the few people let back into Gaza after Israel’s delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing under last year’s ceasefire.
Huda Abu Abed: “They said the crossing was going to open. You know how long we’ve been waiting for the crossing to open? Because no matter what, there is nothing like your homeland. It is right there. Everything needed for life is available. Everything is there. But our longing for our country, we can’t be distant from it or give it up.”
Meanwhile, two Human Rights Watch employees have resigned after the organization’s leadership blocked a report which called Israel’s denial of the right of return for Palestinians a crime against humanity. Omar Shakir, who led the Israel and Palestine team, said in his resignation letter, “The one topic even at Human Rights Watch, for which there remains an unwillingness to apply the law and the facts in a principled way, is the plight of refugees and their right to return to the homes that they were forced to flee.”
Click here to see our interviews with Omar Shakir.
Trump Insults CNN Reporter Kaitlan Collins for Not Smiling as She Asked About Epstein Survivors
Feb 04, 2026
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office yesterday, President Trump insulted CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins for not smiling as she asked about Epstein survivors.
Kaitlan Collins: “What would you say to the survivors” —
President Donald Trump: You are so bad.”
Kaitlan Collins: — “who feel like they haven’t gotten justice?”
President Donald Trump: “You know, you are the worst reporter. No wonder
— CNN has no ratings because of people like you. You know, she’s a young woman. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face.”
Kaitlan Collins: Well, I’m asking you about survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, Mr. President.”
President Donald Trump: “You know why? You know why you’re not smiling? Because you know you’re not telling the truth. And you’re a — you’re a very dishonest organization, and they should be ashamed of you.
Kaitlan Collins: “These are survivors of a sexual abuser.”
Recently, President Trump called CBS’s Nancy Cordes “stupid,” Katie Rogers from The New York Times “ugly,” and when Catherine Lucey of Bloomberg News asked him about releasing the Epstein files, Trump told her, “Quiet, piggy.”
Hearst Magazines Union Stages Walkout Calling for a Fair Contract
Feb 04, 2026
Hundreds of workers at Hearst Magazines staged a half-day walkout in New York City to call for a fair contract, protections against AI, better wages and work flexibility. This comes as management failed to reach an agreement with the union after their contract expired last month. This is Mary Fama, an art director at Cosmopolitan magazine, speaking to Democracy Now!
Mary Fama: “AI is going to be a problem for writers, for creatives for a long time. And these are the things that are — you know, we’re worried about in the future. So we want these AI protections now, to keep us, you know, safe and know that our work is respected here.”