International News Briefs for Monday, September 8, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Monday, September 8, 2025.
Israeli Military Blows Up Three High-Rise Residential Buildings in Gaza City
Sep 08, 2025
The Israeli military has blown up at least three high-rise residential buildings in Gaza City as Israel expands its operation to destroy the entire city and forcibly evict the city’s population of over 1 million residents. Many of the demolitions are being carried out by robots that place explosives inside homes. Israel has killed 32 Palestinians so far today. Officials say another 83 were killed over a 24-hour period ending on Sunday. Residents of Gaza City say there is no safe place to go.
Ibtasim Muqdad: “In regard to displacement, we were displaced before to the south. There were also martyrs there and bombardment. Wherever we went, there were bombardments, from one area to another, from Rafah to Khan Younis, from Khan Younis to Deir al-Balah. There were bombardments everywhere. We later came here. It is all the same. All displacement is for nothing. It is enough.”
Save the Children: Israel Has Killed on Average a Child Every Hour for Past 23 Months
Sep 08, 2025
Save the Children reports that Israel has killed more than 20,000 Palestinian children over the past 23 months — this means at least one Palestinian child has been killed every hour on average by Israeli forces. The group said, “If the international community does not step up, an entire generation of children in Gaza will be lost.”
Meanwhile, another six Palestinians have died from “famine and malnutrition,” bringing the total to almost 400, including 140 children, who have starved to death.
Six People Killed in Shooting in Occupied East Jerusalem
Sep 08, 2025
In Israel, an attack on a bus stop in occupied East Jerusalem has left six people dead and as many as 15 injured. At least one of the victims was a rabbi. Israeli authorities say they believe the attack was carried out by two Palestinians from the West Bank. Police said the attackers were both shot dead.
In other news from Israel, the country’s Supreme Court has ruled the government has failed to provide adequate food for Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The court ruled Israel must provide prisoners “a basic level of existence.” The ruling came in response to a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the Israeli rights group Gisha.
Nearly 900 Arrested at Palestine Action Protest in the U.K.
Sep 08, 2025
In London, police arrested nearly 900 people Saturday at a protest against the U.K. government banning the group Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act. It is now illegal for anyone in Britain to show support for Palestine Action. Protests against the ban have been mounting for weeks.
Tamara Abood: “Ordinary people who have never been on protests in their lives are, you know, reckoning with their conscience. They’re thinking, ‘I cannot keep sitting, day in, day out, and on my sofa watching this abject horror and do nothing.’ And so, the extraordinary thing is, you know, the images, the most powerful images we’re seeing, are of, you know, disabled, middle-aged, elderly white people being carted off by the police for the crime of saying, ‘Stop killing children.’”
In other protest news, organizers say over 110,000 people took to the streets of Brussels on Sunday in a major pro-Palestine rally that came days after the Belgian government announced it would soon recognize a Palestinian state and impose sanctions on Israel.
Thousands Greet Gaza Protest Flotilla in Tunisia
Sep 08, 2025
In Tunisia, thousands of people gathered Sunday to welcome boats carrying about 350 activists who are sailing to Gaza in an attempt to break the siege. Passengers on the flotilla include Nelson Mandela’s grandson, the South African MP Mandla Mandela.
Mandla Mandela: “Coming all the way from South Africa to participate in this is really a joy to once again be able to set sail and go and break the blockade in Gaza and end the siege, which has been going on for the past 18 years. And we hope that it will be received as such, because we are a peaceful people. We pose no threat. We are carrying humanitarian aid for our brothers and sisters.”
“Chipocalypse Now”: Trump Threatens Again to Send Troops to Chicago
Sep 08, 2025
On Saturday, President Trump threatened to send National Guard troops and ICE agents to Chicago, writing on social media, “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR” — a reference to his order to change the name of the Department of Defense. He also wrote, “I love the smell of deportations in the morning.” Trump accompanied the message with an AI-generated image depicting himself as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore from the Vietnam War film “Apocalypse Now,” in front of the Chicago skyline with helicopters, flames and the phrase “Chipocalypse Now.”
In response, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called the president a “wannabe dictator.” By Sunday, President Trump walked back his comments, telling reporters, “We’re not going to war. We’re going to clean up our cities.” Meanwhile, thousands of Chicagoans took to the streets on Saturday to protest Trump’s plans to send ICE agents and federal troops to the city.
David Álvarez: “National Guard and sending ICE agents here to our community is a direct threat to not only us, but our community. It is us. It is our neighbors and our friends. It affects everyone. Businesses have been dropping. Restaurants have been dropping. Everything has — people have been scared.”
Over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was launching new immigration raids in the Boston area. This comes after Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has repeatedly criticized Trump’s attacks on Boston and other sanctuary cities.
Thousands March in Washington, D.C., Against Trump’s Deployment of National Guard Troops
Sep 08, 2025
In Washington, D.C., thousands marched in the largest demonstration yet there against President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and the federal takeover of the district’s police force. The “We Are All D.C.” march was organized by a coalition of groups which include Free DC and the American Civil Liberties Union. The Trump administration is set to extend the deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. to December. Meanwhile, officials have dismantled part of a peace vigil outside the White House that had been running for more than four decades, under Trump’s orders to clear homeless encampments. Authorities reportedly mislabeled the vigil as a shelter.
Meanwhile, here in New York on Sunday, Trump was loudly booed by the crowd as he attended the U.S. Open men’s final. The United States Tennis Association had sent a memo to broadcasters, asking them to censor the crowd’s reaction to Trump.
South Korea Negotiates Release of Its Citizens Detained in ICE Raid at Hyundai Plant
Sep 08, 2025
Image Credit: ICE Handout
South Korea announced that it is sending a charter plane to the U.S. to bring back more than 300 of its citizens who were rounded up and detained by ICE at a Hyundai plant in Georgia. ICE officials arrested nearly 500 people, most of them South Korean nationals, on Thursday at the Hyundai-LG battery plant. Footage of the raid showed workers shackled in handcuffs and ankle chains and loaded onto buses. ICE officials have called it the largest enforcement operation in the agency’s history. South Korea’s foreign minister is expected to arrive in Washington today to discuss the release of the workers. The ICE raid comes as South Korea recently agreed to invest $350 billion in the U.S. in exchange for lower tariffs.
Trump Admin Threatens to Send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Eswatini
Sep 08, 2025
In other immigration news, the Trump administration is threatening to send Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the small African nation of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, after he expressed fear of being deported to Uganda. Abrego Garcia, who is seeking asylum in the United States, first made headlines in March when he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, where he was held in the notorious CECOT mega-prison.
Federal Immigration Board Rules Millions of Undocumented Immigrants Ineligible for Bond Hearings
Sep 08, 2025
On Friday, a federal immigration board at the Justice Department ruled that undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. are not eligible to be released on bond. According to the ruling, immigrants could be detained “for the duration of their proceedings,” which could take years. Lawyers say the ruling would mean that millions of immigrants could be subject to mandatory detention, including longtime residents. One former immigration judge, Dana Leigh Marks, told Politico, “It’s a total cynical move to try to force people to litigate their cases while they’re detained.”
Russia Launches Largest Drone Strike Against Ukraine, Hitting Government Building
Sep 08, 2025
On Sunday, Russia launched the largest drone assault against Ukraine since 2022, attacking the main government building in Kyiv for the first time. At least four people were killed in Russian strikes all over the country, including a mother and her baby. Ukraine also launched airstrikes against Russia, killing three people. Speaking to reporters, President Trump said he was ready to impose a second round of sanctions against Russia, but gave no additional details.
Trump Admin Orders Deployment of F-35 Fighter Jets to Puerto Rico
Sep 08, 2025
Image Credit: U.S. Air Force photo
The Trump administration has ordered the deployment of 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico as the U.S. threatens to carry out more strikes in Latin America under the guise of the war on drugs. Last week, the U.S. bombed a boat, killing 11 people, off the coast of Venezuela. The Marines and Navy have also been carrying out military exercises in Puerto Rico, including amphibious landing exercises.
This comes as CNN is reporting that Trump is considering carrying out strikes against drug cartels inside Venezuela. On Friday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro warned the U.S. against taking any more military action.
President Nicolás Maduro: “The government of the United States should abandon its plan of violent regime change in Venezuela and in all of Latin America and the Caribbean, and respect sovereignty, the right to peace, to independence.”
Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance dismissed accusations that the recent attack on the Venezuelan boat may have been a war crime if civilians were on board. Vance wrote on X, “I don’t give a shit what you call it.” Republican Senator Rand Paul criticized Vance’s comment, saying, “What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”
NYT: U.S. Navy SEALs Killed Civilians in Botched 2019 North Korean Raid
Sep 08, 2025
The New York Times has revealed that U.S. Navy SEALs took part in a failed top-secret mission to install eavesdropping technology in North Korea in 2019. The mission was aborted when the SEALs were spotted by a boat near the North Korean coast. The SEALs opened fire on the boat, killing everyone on board — believed to be two or three North Korean civilians who were diving for shellfish. The Trump administration never notified key members of Congress about the top-secret mission.
U.S. Added Just 22,000 Jobs in August
Sep 08, 2025
In economic news, new figures from the Labor Department show just 22,000 jobs were created in August — far lower than expected. The overall unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.3%. The Black unemployment rate jumped to 7.5% — its highest level in almost four years.
Bernie Sanders Campaigns with Zohran Mamdani in NYC
Sep 08, 2025
Senator Bernie Sanders brought his Fighting Oligarchy tour to Brooklyn College in New York on Saturday, where he campaigned with New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Sanders praised Mamdani’s vision for New York.
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “And what Zohran’s campaign is about is an understanding that today we are living in an unprecedented moment in the modern history of our country, and we have got to fight back in an unprecedented way.”
The Sanders-Mamdani rally comes as President Donald Trump is attempting to push New York Mayor Eric Adams to drop out of the mayor race in an attempt to help boost Andrew Cuomo. The Trump administration has reportedly considered making Adams the ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Civil Rights Activist Joseph McNeil, 83, Dies; Took Part in Greensboro Sit-in in 1960
Sep 08, 2025
Image Credit: Ricky Carioti/Washington Post via Getty
The civil rights activist Joseph McNeil has died at the age of 83. In 1960, he and three other North Carolina A&T State University students launched a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro; they refused to leave the whites-only lunch counter after being denied service. Their action inspired a nationwide wave of sit-ins aimed at desegregating businesses and public spaces.
Acclaimed Psychiatrist and Author Robert Jay Lifton Dead at 99
Sep 08, 2025
Image Credit: robertjaylifton.com
The acclaimed psychiatrist and author Robert Jay Lifton has died at the age of 99. He was the author of more than 20 books about the effects of nuclear war, terrorism and genocide. In 1967, Robert Jay Lifton won a National Book Award for his work, “Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima.” In 1986, he published the seminal book, “The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide.” He appeared on Democracy Now! several times, including in 2017, when he talked about Donald Trump.
Robert Jay Lifton: “Well, I wrote a letter, together with Judith Herman, to The New York Times, in which we raised two issues. One was his relation to reality, which is, I would say, solipsistic and untenable and very dangerous to everyone.”
Amy Goodman: “What do you mean, ‘solipsistic’?”
Robert Jay Lifton: “Solipsistic, from within the self. In other words, he only sees the world from within his sense of self. He can’t have empathy for others. He can’t really think into the future the consequences of his actions, because he’s totally preoccupied with the immediate event and how he can deal with it or manipulate it as emerging through the perception on the part of his sense of self.”