International News Briefs for Friday, December 12, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Friday, December 12, 2025.
U.S. Tightens Sanctions on Venezuela and Plans to Seize More Oil Tankers as Trump Threatens War
Dec 12, 2025
The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Venezuela Thursday as President Trump repeated his threats to begin military strikes on land targets in Venezuela. The new sanctions target family members of President Nicolás Maduro, as well as six crude oil tankers and associated shipping companies. Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting the U.S. is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil, after it seized a massive Venezuelan oil tanker on Wednesday. Some Democratic lawmakers and at least one Republican have condemned the seizure, which Venezuela condemned as an “act of piracy.” Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen said the move shows the Trump administration’s cover story that it’s seeking to interdict drugs is a “big lie.” He added, “This is just one more piece of evidence that this is really about regime change — by force.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Won’t Rule Out Regime Change in Venezuela
Dec 12, 2025
The Senate’s top Democrat, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, refused to say he opposes regime change in Venezuela. Schumer spoke with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday.
Jake Tapper: “Do you disagree with President Trump’s ultimate goal of regime change in Venezuela?”
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “Look, the bottom line is, President Trump throws out so many different things in so many different ways. You don’t even know what the heck he’s talking about. You know, obviously, if Maduro would just flee on his own, everyone would like that. But we don’t know what the heck he’s up to when he talks about that. So, it’s very, very — you cannot say I endorse this, I endorse that.”
California Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna blasted Schumer’s comments, writing, “Yes, Democrats oppose regime change war in Venezuela. Instead of wasting trillions on endless wars, we must invest in jobs, healthcare, and housing for Americans. Why is this hard? We need a new generation to lead our party with moral clarity and conviction.”
12 Die in Gaza Strip Amid Winter Storm and Israeli Ceasefire Violations
Dec 12, 2025
In the Gaza Strip, at least 12 people were killed in the past 24 hours as torrential rains and floods descended on the besieged territory, collapsing shelters, makeshift tents and what remained of homes and buildings damaged by Israel’s relentless war. Among the victims are three children who died of hypothermia due to the winter storm. This comes as Israel’s military continues to violate the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal it agreed to October 10. Israeli forces killed at least two Palestinians in Rafah on Wednesday.
In the occupied West Bank, Israel has approved the establishment of nearly 800 new settler homes. The Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.
Health Insurance Costs Are Set to Explode After Republicans Reject Extended Tax Credits
Dec 12, 2025
Tens of millions of U.S. residents are set to see the cost of their health insurance plans skyrocket, after the Senate rejected a bill that would have extended tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. On Thursday, four Republican senators sided with Democrats and independents who voted in favor of a three-year extension of the healthcare subsidies, but the legislation failed on a vote of 51 to 48 after falling short of the 60 needed to break a Republican filibuster. Without a deal by December 31, some 22 million people will likely see their premiums double, on average. This is Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock.
Sen. Raphael Warnock: “Republicans today have taken a system that’s already struggling and broken it down even more. And the consequences for ordinary people, many of them in their own red districts, will be that they will have to delay response to their healthcare. They will have to find a way to pay more higher premiums. And for many people, they will literally pay with their lives.”
Hundreds Quarantined in South Carolina as Measles Spreads Rapidly in Unvaccinated Communities
Dec 12, 2025
South Carolina public health officials say hundreds of people are in isolation or quarantine amid a rapidly spreading measles outbreak in a northwestern region of the state with lower rates of vaccination. So far, 111 measles cases have been recorded, all but six of which occurred in unvaccinated people. Arizona and Utah are also experiencing a significant measles outbreak. Nationally, there have been almost 2,000 measles cases recorded in the United States this year, causing at least three deaths. The U.S. declared measles eliminated in the year 2000, but the disease has returned after vaccination rates fell during the COVID pandemic.
Rep. Haley Stevens Seeks Impeachment of Health Secretary: ”RFK Jr. Has Turned His Back on Science”
Dec 12, 2025
A Democratic lawmaker from Michigan filed articles of impeachment Thursday against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Congresswoman Haley Stevens accuses Kennedy of abdication of duty by restricting access to vaccines, spreading absurd conspiracies and putting lives in danger.
Rep. Haley Stevens: ”RFK Jr. has turned his back on science, on public health and on the American people. Under his watch, families are less safe, healthcare costs are skyrocketing, and lifesaving research, including right here in Michigan, is being gutted.”
Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have declined to co-sponsor the articles of impeachment. Meanwhile, the FDA is reportedly considering putting a black box warning on COVID vaccines, a warning reserved for drugs that can cause death. We’ll have more on this story after headlines, when we’ll speak with a former top vaccine expert at the CDC who resigned in June.
Indiana Republicans Revolt Against Trump’s Demand to Gerrymander Congressional Map
Dec 12, 2025
Republican lawmakers in Indiana have rejected a push by President Trump to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of next year’s midterm elections. On Thursday, 21 state senators with the Republican majority crossed the aisle to side with Democrats opposing the mid-decade redistricting effort, which was aimed at giving all nine of Indiana’s congressional seats to Republicans. The vote came after some Republican lawmakers who oppose the plan described violent threats they’d received from President Trump’s supporters. Ahead of the vote, the advocacy branch of the Heritage Foundation issued a warning to Indiana lawmakers: “If the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state. Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame.”
Kilmar Ábrego García Reunites with Family After Judge Orders His Release from ICE Jail
Dec 12, 2025
Kilmar Ábrego García has reunited with his family in Maryland after a federal judge ordered his immediate release from a Pennsylvania ICE jail on Thursday. But Ábrego García will have to check in with immigration officials today, just hours after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled against the Trump administration, writing, “Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been redetained, again without lawful authority.” Ábrego García’s case has been at the center of Trump’s brutal crackdown on immigration. Click here to see our coverage of Kilmar Ábrego García’s case.
ICE Agents in Minneapolis Racially Profile and Violently Arrest Somali American U.S. Citizen
Dec 12, 2025
Image Credit: City of Minneapolis via MPR
A U.S. citizen from Minnesota’s Somali American community is speaking out, after ICE agents racially profiled and wrongfully arrested him earlier this week in Minneapolis. Mubashir, who asked to be identified by his first name only, said he was on his lunch break Tuesday when masked federal agents tackled and pushed him. The 20-year-old informed the agents he was a U.S. citizen and could show them his passport. But instead, he said, the agents put him in a headlock and took him into custody, detaining him for hours without access to water and medical care. Mubashir described his violent arrest during a press conference Wednesday.
Mubashir: “All I did was step outside as a Somali American, and I just got chased by a masked person. The agent then, at one point — he didn’t identify himself. He didn’t say, ‘ICE! Stop!’ Like, I felt like I was getting assaulted, I was getting kidnapped. And that’s exactly what it was. And the way they were treating me, it was inhumane. They dragged me across the road. They slammed me to the ground, choked me. That was uncalled for.”
Federal immigration agents have arrested more than 400 people across Minnesota since Trump last week called Somali immigrants “garbage” in a racist tirade.
“You Lied on the Record”: House Democrats Grill Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem
Dec 12, 2025
On Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers repeatedly called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign as they confronted her on Trump’s immigration crackdown during a heated House Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday. Noem stood defiant, defending Trump’s nationwide raids, mass deportations and the use of force by federal agents. Noem’s opening statement was briefly interrupted by protesters, one of whom chanted, “Get ICE off our streets! Stop terrorizing our communities!” Democratic lawmakers accused Noem of lying and corruption. Meanwhile, Congressmember Delia Ramirez of Chicago, the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, announced she’s taking the first steps to impeach Noem. This is a portion of Representative Ramirez’s remarks to Noem.
Rep. Delia Ramirez: “You lied on the record, and you lied to members of this committee. You violated court orders by not turning around deportation flights bound for El Salvador, where we know that hundreds of people, under your leadership, have reported that they were raped, they were beaten, and they nearly died. And your agents used chemical weapons in Chicago despite court orders from District Court Judge Ellis forbidding their use.”
We’ll be joined by Congressmember Delia Ramirez later in the broadcast.
Justice Department Fails for Second Time to Win Grand Jury Indictment of New York AG Letitia James
Dec 12, 2025
The Justice Department has once again failed to bring an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James on charges that she lied on a mortgage application. It’s yet another blow to President Trump’s campaign of retribution against his political enemies. On Thursday, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, refused to indict James, after a separate grand jury in Norfolk last week also rejected an indictment sought by the Justice Department.
House Republicans Cross Aisle to Advance Bill Restoring Federal Workers’ Union Rights
Dec 12, 2025
Image Credit: American Federation of Government Employees
The House of Representatives voted Thursday to reverse President Trump’s executive orders stripping 1 million unionized federal workers at 40 federal agencies of their collective bargaining rights. Twenty Republicans joined Democrats to send the legislation to the Senate, over the objections of House Republican leaders who opposed the bill. Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, wrote, “The president cannot unilaterally strip working people of their constitutional freedom of association. In bipartisan fashion, Congress has asserted their authority to hold the president accountable for the biggest attack on workers that this country has ever seen.”
Disney Agrees to Allow OpenAI’s Sora App to Make Videos Using Copyrighted Characters
Dec 12, 2025
The Walt Disney Company announced Thursday it will invest $1 billion in OpenAI after agreeing to allow users of the Sora video generation app to make videos with hundreds of copyrighted Disney characters. It’s a first-of-its kind move by a major studio, coming two years after Hollywood screenwriters and actors went on strike to protect their livelihoods from generative AI. Responding to Disney’s deal, the Writers Guild of America wrote, “Companies including OpenAI have stolen vast libraries of works owned by the studios and created by WGA members and Hollywood labor to train their artificial intelligence systems. We have repeatedly called for the studios to take legal action to defend the valuable intellectual property we help to create.”
Trump Signs Executive Order Blocking States from Regulating AI
Dec 12, 2025
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday establishing a single national standard on artificial intelligence, while blocking states from enacting their own AI regulations. The order directs the Justice Department to set up an “AI Litigation Task Force” to bring lawsuits against states that pass new AI laws. It also directs the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to look into withholding funding for rural broadband internet from states seeking to regulate AI. This comes after a New York Times investigation found Lutnick and his sons run a network of companies in industries ranging from cryptocurrencies to AI data centers, and that Lutnick has promoted policies supporting the construction of data centers while serving in government.