International News Briefs for Friday, June 6, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – Here are some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Friday, June 6, 2025.
Trump and Musk Trade Threats and Insults as Deepening Rift Threatens Trump’s Signature Bill
Jun 06, 2025
President Trump is threatening to cut off billions of dollars in federal contracts with Elon Musk after the two engaged in a dramatic online feud just days after Musk left his role as a White House adviser. Tension had been escalating since Musk, the world’s richest man, called Trump’s budget bill a “disgusting abomination” because it will increase the federal deficit by $2.5 trillion.
On Thursday, Musk threatened to decommission the Dragon spacecraft used by NASA, which would imperil astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Musk also appeared to back the impeachment of Trump and took credit for Trump winning the presidency.
In one online post, he referenced Trump’s friendship with the deceased convicted sexual trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, writing, “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
Trump accused Musk of going “crazy” after an electric vehicle tax credit was removed from the House budget bill. In one post, Trump wrote, “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
On Thursday, shares of Tesla fell 14% before rebounding. We will have more on this story after headlines.
Netanyahu Acknowledges Israel Armed Gangs Accused of Looting Humanitarian Aid
Jun 06, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged his government has been arming a criminal gang in Gaza that has repeatedly been accused of looting humanitarian aid trucks. This comes as the new shadowy U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid operation known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has suspended aid deliveries again — despite starvation spreading in Gaza. Some aid was briefly distributed on Thursday. Palestinians described risking their lives to receive a small portion of food aid.
Palestinian woman: “We died inside. We died. We died. We can’t. All this to get food for our children. I got this, a bit of flour, a bit of lentils and two packs of pasta. We died. They made us pass at the peak of the heat, and they killed us. We can’t walk. We can’t go on.”
The U.N. is warning that acute malnutrition among Gaza’s young children has soared in recent months, with more than 2,700 Palestinians under the age of 5 diagnosed. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has called for a halt to what it calls the “relentless and systematic decimation of hospitals in Gaza.” Meanwhile, a fourth journalist has died following Israel’s attack on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital. Ahmed Qaljah, who worked with Al Arabiya, is the 226th journalist killed in Gaza since 2023.
Israel Attacks Beirut’s Suburbs and Southern Lebanon in Latest Ceasefire Violation
Jun 06, 2025
Lebanon is accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire by bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday night. The attack came on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday. It marked the fourth time Israel has attacked the Lebanese capital since the November ceasefire began.
French Stevedores Refuse to Move Military Cargo Bound for Israel
Jun 06, 2025
In southern France, dock workers at a port outside Marseille have refused to move military cargo bound for Israel, to protest the Netanyahu government’s assault on Gaza. The secretary-general of France’s trade union federation told reporters, “It is unacceptable that [union dock workers] should be the ones forced to uphold the fundamental principles of international law and French values. The government must immediately block all arms deliveries to the State of Israel.”
House Progressives’ “Block the Bombs Act” Would End Transfer of Offensive Arms to Israel
Jun 06, 2025
On Capitol Hill, nearly two dozen congressmembers have co-sponsored a bill that would withhold offensive weapons from Israel. The Block the Bombs Act seeks to cut off the flow of arms that violate international law and humanitarian norms. This is Washington Democrat Pramila Jayapal, a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal: “How many more children will we watch burned in flames? How much more carnage do we have to witness as the Netanyahu government uses U.S. taxpayer-funded weapons to kill Palestinians with impunity and to run roughshod over the Geneva Conventions and our own U.S. laws? How many more American-made bombs must we watch hitting hospitals, schools, shelters, indiscriminately killing aid workers, civilians, women, babies? How many more entire communities do we have to watch razed to the ground? This has to end. It is an affront to human dignity, to our collective conscience.”
State Department Sanctions ICC Judges over War Crimes Investigations
Jun 06, 2025
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court. It’s the latest move by the U.S. to retaliate against the Hague-based court after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Drop Site News reports a leaked State Department memo reveals the Trump administration is considering a radical restructuring of the agency that would see the consolidation or elimination of over 3,400 U.S.-based staff positions, as well as entire bureaus dedicated to conflict resolution, women’s rights, public diplomacy and humanitarian coordination.
Trump Withdraws Nomination of Elon Musk Ally to Lead NASA
Jun 06, 2025
President Trump has withdrawn his nomination of Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman is a billionaire private astronaut and close associate of Elon Musk who has twice flown aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. His nomination had been approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, and the full Senate was set to vote on it in the coming days. This comes as the White House has proposed cutting NASA’s budget by a quarter, with science programs cut nearly in half, which would lead to the cancellation of dozens of missions and thousands of layoffs.
Trump Administration Waives Environmental Laws to Speed Border Wall Construction
Jun 06, 2025
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has signed waivers to speed construction of 36 miles of new border wall in Arizona and New Mexico. In a statement, the department said Noem was exercising her authority to waive environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act.
Meanwhile, a Peruvian woman who was detained by U.S. Army soldiers and arrested by a Border Patrol agent in West Texas on May 12 has been acquitted of illegally entering a national defense area. Adely Vanessa De La Cruz-Alvarez already faces deportation, but could have received a prison term of up to 18 months for entering the narrow strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border that President Trump recently transferred to the military.
ICE Agents and Their Prisoners Left Stranded in Shipping Container in Djibouti
Jun 06, 2025
Nearly a dozen ICE agents have been left stranded alongside a group of eight deportees in a converted shipping container at a U.S. military base in Djibouti. That’s according to an extraordinary document filed in federal court Thursday by an ICE official, who writes that agents and detainees face risks from disease, extreme heat, poor air quality, and warnings of potential rocket attacks on the base by Yemen’s Houthi fighters. The deportees arrived in Djibouti aboard a U.S. deportation flight after a federal judge ruled they could not be transferred to South Sudan — a nation on the brink of civil war to which they are not citizens. Rather than return the deportees to the U.S. to reopen their cases, they were rerouted to Djibouti.
Judge Grants Release to Massachusetts High School Student After 6 Days in ICE Custody
Jun 06, 2025
In Massachusetts, a federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of Milford honor roll high school student Marcelo Gomes da Silva. Last week, immigration agents arrested the 18-year-old on his way to volleyball practice. Gomes was able to reunite with his family and friends in an emotional scene after his release on $2,000 bond. He told reporters he was confined to a windowless room holding dozens of men, with no access to the outdoors, no privacy and no shower for the entire six days he was jailed.
Marcelo Gomes da Silva: “She said, she was like — she was like, ‘Do you know why you’re arrested?’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t.’ She said, ‘Because you overstayed your visa. You came here in 2013, and in 2015 you overstayed.’ And I told her, I was like, ’Ma’am, I’m I was 7 years old. Like, I don’t know nothing about that stuff. Like, I don’t understand how it works.’”
After Marcelo was detained on Saturday, on Sunday there was graduation. He was supposed to be in the band in which he plays. After graduation, the students marched in their gowns to town hall to protest his detention.
Trump Administration Returns Wrongly Deported Guatemalan Immigrant
Jun 06, 2025
For the first time, the Trump administration has returned a wrongly deported immigrant. A Guatemalan man identified in court filings as “O.C.G.” was returned to the U.S. on Wednesday, following a federal judge’s order to “take all immediate steps” to reverse his deportation to Guatemala, where he was previously held for ransom and raped.
Lawsuit Alleges Jared Polis Collaborated with ICE to Share Residents’ Personal Data
Jun 06, 2025
A new lawsuit alleges Colorado Governor Jared Polis collaborated with the Trump administration after it issued a secret subpoena to force Colorado officials to turn over personal information on residents sponsoring unaccompanied migrant children. According to the lawsuit, Governor Polis directed his staff to comply with the order, even though he had signed a law explicitly prohibiting such cooperation.
Judge Halts Deportation of Family of Egyptian Man Charged in Boulder Attack
Jun 06, 2025
In more news from Colorado, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt deportation proceedings against the family of the Egyptian man charged in Sunday’s firebombing attack in Boulder, which injured 12 people at a protest in support of Israeli hostages. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem personally announced the deportation proceedings in a video she shared on social media earlier this week.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem: “We’re also investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack, if they had any knowledge of it or if they provided support to it.”
Attorneys for the wife of Mohamed Sabry Soliman and their five children wrote in a successful lawsuit challenging their deportation, “It is patently unlawful to punish individuals for the crimes of their relatives.”
Ethics Complaint Accuses Attorney General Pam Bondi of “Serious Professional Misconduct”
Jun 06, 2025
Dozens of attorneys, law school professors and retired Florida Supreme Court justices have filed an ethics complaint against U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi with the Florida Bar Association, accusing her of “serious professional misconduct.” The complaint says Bondi threatened Justice Department lawyers with discipline or termination if they failed to “zealously pursue the President’s political objectives.” Bondi has played a central role in the firings and resignations of numerous government lawyers during her four months leading the Justice Department.