International News Briefs for Friday, October 31, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Friday, October 31, 2025.
Israel Continues Striking Gaza Despite Claiming to Abide by U.S.-Brokered Ceasefire
Oct 31, 2025
Israel is continuing strikes on Khan Younis in southern Gaza and neighborhoods of northern Gaza City, even as Israeli officials claim they’re abiding by the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The attacks came as Israel confirmed Hamas had returned the bodies of two Israeli hostages, while the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza reported Israel had returned the bodies of 30 Palestinian prisoners, some exhibiting signs of torture. Al Jazeera is reporting that a Palestinian has been killed by Israeli gunfire in Gaza City.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post is reporting that a classified report from the State Department’s Office of Inspector General found that Israeli military units committed hundreds of possible violations of U.S. human rights law in Gaza that would take years to investigate. It’s the first time a U.S. government report has reviewed the scope of Israeli actions in Gaza under the Leahy Laws, legislation that bars U.S. military assistance to foreign military personnel accused of human rights abuses.
Report: Google and Amazon Violated Their Own Terms of Service in Israel’s $1.2 Billion “Project Nimbus” Deal
Oct 31, 2025
A new investigation details how the tech giants Google and Amazon violated their own terms of service in a lucrative contract with the Israeli government to provide cloud computing and AI services used during Israel’s two-year assault on the Gaza Strip. The investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call and The Guardian finds that as part of the $1.2 billion deal known as “Project Nimbus,” Google and Amazon are obliged to secretly notify Israel if a foreign court orders them to hand over data stored on the companies’ cloud platforms. This comes just weeks after a campaign by current and former workers at Microsoft compelled the tech giant to cut off Israel’s access to its Azure cloud computing platform, which Israel had been using to spy on millions of Palestinian civilian phone calls.
Death Toll from Hurricane Melissa Rises to 49
Oct 31, 2025
The death toll from Hurricane Melissa has risen to 49. On Thursday, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness shared images of the hardest-hit areas of the island, showing homes lying in ruin amid twisted corrugated metal, dangling power lines, flooded neighborhoods and streets covered in mud. Holness says the southern beach town of Black River was almost “totally destroyed.” At least 19 deaths were recorded across Jamaica. Meanwhile, Haiti reported 30 deaths due to days of torrential rains from Melissa. Twenty others remain missing. On Thursday, Venezuela said it was sending aid to Jamaica and Cuba. Meanwhile, officials in Havana said they were open to receiving disaster assistance from the U.S. government. More than 730,000 Cubans evacuated ahead of the storm; many returned to scenes of destruction and an uncertain future.
Yanisleidy Escalona: “Life before the cyclone was already difficult because we don’t have resources. Here we’re surviving however we can, with a lot of fear about what’s to come, because for today at least we have food, but tomorrow we don’t even know what we’re going to eat.”
Prince Andrew Stripped of Royal Titles and Evicted from Royal Mansion
Oct 31, 2025
In the United Kingdom, officials at Buckingham Palace say Prince Andrew will be stripped of his royal titles and will vacate his home at the Royal Lodge in Windsor. He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. This follows new revelations about the extent of Andrew’s friendship with the late serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and allegations by survivor Virginia Giuffre that Andrew forced her to have sex with him three times, beginning when she was 17. Giuffre died in April of an apparent suicide. Her family said Thursday that she’d “brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage.” A recent poll showed 91% of Britons have a negative opinion of Andrew. This is London resident Harry Humphries.
Harry Humphries: “So, I’m happy he’s got stripped of his titles, his royal titles, as well. He should be kicked out of the country, because these guys live off us. We’re the working class. We’re the people in charge, basically.”
Meanwhile, across the pond here in the U.S., House Speaker Mike Johnson is continuing to refuse to seat Arizona Congressmember-elect Adelita Grijalva. She would be the final vote needed for the discharge petition demanding that Congress release the Epstein files being held by the Department of Justice.
Trump Urges Republicans to Kill the Filibuster to End the Government Shutdown
Oct 31, 2025
The U.S. federal government shutdown has entered its 31st day. On Thursday, President Trump urged congressional Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster to pass a funding bill that would end the shutdown. Vice President JD Vance warned holiday travel could be a “disaster” if the shutdown continues. Meanwhile, food benefits for about 42 million Americans are set to expire this weekend, as the Trump administration refuses to tap into the $5 billion contingency fund for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. On Thursday, a federal judge in Boston signaled that she would order the Trump administration to fund SNAP, saying, “Congress has put money in an emergency fund, and it is hard for me to understand how this is not an emergency.” Meanwhile, several states, including Louisiana, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Virginia, have declared states of emergency to disburse state funds for food assistance programs. And several other states have boosted funding to food pantries to mitigate the looming hunger crisis.
This is R’zwan Hawkins-Jones, a sophomore at Georgia State University and recipient of SNAP benefits.
R’zwan Hawkins-Jones: “Your country is supposed to be supporting you, and the last thing you want to worry about is if you’re going to have food on your table at the end of the night. If you’re working every day, the last thing you — the main thing you want is food. You shouldn’t have to worry about all these expenses, plus if you’re going to eat or if your family is going to eat.”
Trump Cuts Refugee Admissions to 7,500, Prioritizing White South Africans
Oct 31, 2025
The Trump administration is sharply reducing the number of refugees admitted annually to the U.S. to 7,500 people; most of them will be white South Africans. That is a steep decline from last year’s cap of 125,000 set under President Joe Biden. Sharif Aly, president of the International Refugee Assistance Project, said, “By privileging Afrikaners while continuing to ban thousands of refugees who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is once again politicizing a humanitarian program.”
404 Media: ICE and CBP Using Facial Recognition Technology to Identity Immigration Status
Oct 31, 2025
Federal agents are actively using facial recognition technology in the field to identify people and their immigration status during stops that seem to have little justification beyond the color of someone’s skin. That’s according to a report in 404 Media, which cites several videos in which masked federal agents are seen using smartphones to photograph people after demanding they show IDs. In this example, a Border Patrol agent confronted a pair of teenagers in Chicago.
Border Patrol agent: “Man, if you just tell me you were born here and give me an ID, you’ll be good.”
Teenager: “I was born here, but I don’t got ID.”
Border Patrol agent: “You don’t have no ID?”
Teenager: “No.”
Border Patrol agent: “Can you do facial?”
“Can you do a facial,” one of the masked federal agents said to another. It’s not clear what smartphone app the agents were using. 404 Media previously reported immigration agents have been using Mobile Fortify, an app built on a database of 200 million images, which can return the subject’s name, date of birth, alien number and whether they’ve been given an order of deportation.
Dramatic Video Shows ICE Agents Violently Arresting Mother Driving Her Daughter to School
Oct 31, 2025
In more immigration news, new video shows federal agents in Rockingham County, Virginia, violently arresting a mother driving her daughter to school, after she failed to recite her Social Security number during an immigration stop. Video of the incident shows the 16-year-old daughter of Jaykie Funez-Andrade crying out as the agents tackle her mother to the ground, press her face-down into the pavement and handcuff her. Before the violent arrest, Funez-Andrade reportedly showed agents her work permit, Social Security card, driver’s license and car registration, but they arrested her anyway. She was taken to the Harrisonburg Regional Jail. Her daughter said, “I want this video out there because I want my mother home.”
Federal Judge in Chicago Orders Border Patrol Commander Bovino to Appear for a Deposition
Oct 31, 2025
In Chicago, a federal judge on Thursday ordered Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino to appear for a deposition to explain federal agents’ use of tear gas and other less lethal weapons against protesters who’ve taken to the streets to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. We’ll have more on this story after headlines.
General Orders National Guard in All 50 States to Prepare “Quick Reaction Forces” for Riot Control
Oct 31, 2025
A top U.S. military official, Major General Ronald Burkett, has ordered the National Guards of all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories to form “quick reaction forces” for riot control purposes. That’s according to an internal Pentagon memo reviewed by The Guardian, which details how 23,500 troops will be trained in the use of batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray on crowds. The memo also says the Pentagon will deploy military trainers to all states and territories with the goal of making the “quick reaction forces” ready by January 1, 2026, with each state reporting on its monthly progress.
Hegseth Orders Pentagon to Provide Lawyers to DOJ to Bolster Immigration Crackdown
Oct 31, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to provide dozens of lawyers to the Justice Department for temporary assignments in Memphis and near the U.S.-Mexico border that could run through next fall. That’s according to the Associated Press, citing a memo sent Monday to all branches of the military and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff seeking to bolster the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. This follows the Pentagon’s recent move to send up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges.
U.N. Condemns Massacres in Sudan’s Darfur Region: “No One Is Safe in El Fasher”
Oct 31, 2025
The U.N. Security Council Thursday condemned the mass killings by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur region. It comes as Sudan’s government says the RSF has killed at least 2,000 people in the three days since the paramilitary group has seized control of the city. Here’s Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, the assistant secretary-general of the U.N. for Africa.
Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee: “Despite commitments to protect civilians, the reality is that no one is safe in El Fasher. There is no safe passage for civilians to leave the city. There are also reports of large-scale atrocities perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces in Barah, in North Kordofan, following the recent capture of the city.”
Protesters Demand Justice for Victims of Rio de Janeiro Police Raid That Killed 119
Oct 31, 2025
In Brazil, protests erupted after a massive police raid on a drug gang in favelas in Rio de Janeiro left 119 people dead. The favelas’ residents demonstrated against the use of excessive force by police and called on Rio’s governor to step down. Earlier this week, over 2,500 law enforcement agents stormed the favelas, home to some 300,000 people and considered to be the headquarters of one of Brazil’s most powerful organized crime groups. This is Grasiele Fernandes do Carmo, the sister of a victim of the police operation, described as the deadliest raid in Rio’s history.
Grasiele Fernandes do Carmo: “My brother wasn’t a bum, you understand? My brother was 22 years old and had finished high school. He had a formal job, and so they destroyed him. They ruined my brother’s life. They ruined our family. They destroyed our family.”