International News Briefs for Monday, June 23, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – Here are some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Monday, June 23, 2025.
U.N. Warns of “Spiral of Chaos” After U.S. Strikes Iran, Israel Continues Its Attacks
Jun 23, 2025
Image Credit: Maxar Technologies
The United Nations is warning of a “spiral of chaos” after the United States joined Israel’s war on Iran by attacking three Iranian nuclear sites. U.S. stealth B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker-buster bombs each weighing 30,000 pounds–the largest non-nuclear bombs ever dropped by the United States. The U.S. Navy also deployed 30 submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles. President Trump ordered the attack without seeking congressional approval. The Trump administration briefed some top Republican lawmakers ahead of time, but no Democrats. Trump addressed the nation on Saturday night.
President Donald Trump: “Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
Iran decried the U.S. attack as a grave violation of international law and warned it will result in “everlasting consequences.” Iran has long said its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes. In March, Trump’s own intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers that the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.” But Trump dismissed the findings, saying on Friday “my intelligence community is wrong.”
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticized the timing of the U.S. and Israeli attacks.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: “Well, I think it is irrelevant to ask Iran to return to diplomacy because we were in the middle of diplomacy. We were in the middle of talks with the United States when Israelis blew it up.”
Araqchi is in Moscow today for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Following the U.S. attack, Pentagon officials and Vice President JD Vance denied the U.S. was pushing for regime change but on Sunday President Trump wrote online “It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”
At the United Nations, Secretary General António Guterres said he was gravely alarmed by the U.S. attack.
António Guterres: “Two days ago, in this very chamber, I made a direct appeal: ‘Give peace a chance’. That call was not heeded. Instead, the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling. From the outset of the crisis, I have repeatedly condemned any military escalation in the Middle East. The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction.”
Earlier today Israel attacked six Iranian airports and parts of Tehran including the gates of the Evin prison. Al Jazeera reports huge explosions have rocked Tehran. According to one count, Israeli attacks have killed at least 950 people and injured around 3,450 over the past 11 days. Iran launched drones and fired missiles at Israel today in response. One missile struck a power station cutting off electricity for thousands in southern Israel. On Sunday, the Iranian parliament voted to back the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping routes. We will have more on Iran after headlines.
Protesters Decry U.S. Attack on Iran Amid Fears of All-Out War
Jun 23, 2025
Protests took place in major US cities to condemn Trump’s strikes on Iran, including in New York, DC, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. This is activist Nas Issa speaking from New York Sunday.
Nas Issa: “Already, Israel has killed hundreds of Iranians and injured thousands more, and we see that the fighting is now escalating more and more, and we’re here to say ‘That’s enough, and it’s time for the bombing to end’.”
Mahmoud Khalil Released From ICE Jail, Returns to New York
Jun 23, 2025
Columbia University graduate and Palestinian student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil has reunited with his wife and newborn son after being released on bail by a federal judge Friday following over 100 days in a Louisiana ICE jail. He was seized by federal agents in March, becoming the first pro-Palestinian campus protester to be jailed by the Trump administration. Mahmoud Khalil spoke briefly on Saturday after flying from Louisiana to New Jersey.
Mahmoud Khalil: “Still, the fight is far from over. The genocide is still happening in Gaza. Israel is still waging a full war against Palestinians across Palestine. The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide. This is why I was protesting. This is why I will continue to protest with every one of you, not only if they threaten me with detention; even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.”
On Sunday Mahmoud Khalil addressed over 1,000 supporters outside the Cathedral of St John the Divine in Manhattan and then led a march to the gates of Columbia University. We will have more from Mahmoud Khalil later in the program.
Amnesty Finds Israel Completely Razed Southern Gaza Town in More “Evidence of Israel’s Genocide”
Jun 23, 2025
Image Credit: via Amnesty International
While the world is focused on Iran, Israel is continuing its massacres in Gaza. Israeli attacks killed over 200 Palestinians over the past three days including many who were killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile Amnesty International reports satellite images show Israeli forces have completely razed what was left of the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a. Amnesty said the destruction “provides fresh evidence of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.”
U.K. Gov’t to Ban Activist Group Palestine Action After Air Force Base Breach
Jun 23, 2025
In the United Kingdom, the group Palestine Action is leading a major protest in London today amid reports the Labour government of Keir Starmer will announce a ban on the direct action group under Britain’s Terrorism Act. This comes after two Palestine Action activists breached the country’s largest air force base on Friday and damaged two fighter planes in protest of Britain’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. The activists also sprayed red paint into the jets’ engines and on the runaway to “symbolize Palestinian bloodshed.”
Suicide Bomb Kills 22 At Orthodox Church in Damascus
Jun 23, 2025
In Syria, a suicide bomb attack at a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus killed at least 22 people on Sunday. Over 60 others were wounded. Syria’s Interior Ministry blamed the attack on ISIS. It was reportedly the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar al-Assad’s government was toppled in December.
Border Patrol Agents Brutally Beat and Detain SoCal Immigrant Worker Amid Ongoing Raids
Jun 23, 2025
Image Credit: Instagram/@santaanaproblems
In California, there’s mounting public outrage after footage went viral of at least seven masked U.S. Border Patrol agents pepper spraying and brutally beating an immigrant father and landscaper while he worked outside of an IHOP restaurant in Santa Ana. Narciso Barranco is the father of three U.S. Marines. The agents are seen hovering over Barranco, who is pinned down against the pavement, as they repeatedly punch him before forcibly putting him in the back seat of an unmarked SUV. The 48-year-old father was taken to a detention facility in Los Angeles after his arrest Saturday. One of his sons told the Los Angeles Times that his father’s shoulder was dislocated and that he had not received medical attention. Barranco’s son also said his father had not been given any water or food after more than 24 hours in detention.
In related news, rallies have continued demanding the release of photojournalist Anthony Orendorff, who is being held at a Los Angeles jail without bail after being arrested while documenting an ICE raid in the neighborhood of Pacoima last week.
U.S. Judge Orders Release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia But He Faces Likely Detainment by ICE
Jun 23, 2025
In more immigration news, a federal judge in Tennessee has ordered the release of Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia from jail, where he’s been held since being brought back to the U.S. earlier this month after being wrongfully sent to and imprisoned in El Salvador. But Abrego Garcia will likely be then taken into ICE custody while he awaits his federal trial. The Trump administration is accusing him of helping transport undocumented immigrants —charges his legal team and family have denied. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to trafficking earlier this month.
Russian Air Attacks Kills at Least 10 in Kyiv
Jun 23, 2025
In Ukraine, a major Russian drone and missile attack has killed at least 10 people in and around the capital Kyiv. It’s the second such overnight assault over the past week. The attack hit residential areas and struck a hospital and metro station that serves as a bomb shelter.
Belarus Opposition Leader Sergei Tikhanovsky Vows to Continue Fight After Release from Prison
Jun 23, 2025
The government of Belarus has freed jailed opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky, alongside over a dozen other political prisoners, after direct talks with the U.S. He was imprisoned in 2020, ahead of national elections in which he planned to challenge the long-time rule of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Sergei’s wife Sviatlana ran for president instead but lost in what was widely viewed as a rigged election.
On Saturday Sergei Tikhanovsky was reunited with his family, who live in exile in Lithuania. He told reporters his children did not even recognize him. He also addressed his supporters.
Sergei Tikhanovsky: “They call those who oppose them traitors. And I will call anyone who does not resist them a traitor. …I want to address all Belarusians now and tell you, if you were waiting for a sign, here it is.”
Panama Declares State of Emergency Over Worker Rebellion
Jun 23, 2025
The government of Panama has declared a state of emergency, suspending constitutional protections in the Bocas del Toro province after two months of worker-led protests and road blockades in opposition to a contested social security reform. The province is a major banana-producing region where workers have spoken out against exploitative conditions by banana giant Chiquita. The corporation, formerly known as United Fruit Company, fired thousands of striking workers last month.
Texas to Display Ten Commandments in Public School Classrooms
Jun 23, 2025
Texas has become the largest state in the country to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms. Texas’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill as a federal appeals court ruled a similar law in Louisiana is “plainly unconstitutional.”