International News Briefs for Thursday, January 15, 2026
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Thursday, January 15, 2026.
U.S. Pulls Back from Some Middle East Bases Amid Trump’s Threats to Attack Iran
Jan 15, 2026
Image Credit: flightradar24.com
The U.S. has withdrawn military personnel from bases in the Middle East as President Trump has repeatedly warned that the U.S. would intervene on behalf of the protesters in Iran. By Thursday morning, Iran shut down its commercial airspace for several hours. A senior Iranian official said that Iran had warned its neighbors in the region that it would hit American bases in the event of U.S. airstrikes. This comes as Iran postponed the execution of Erfan Soltani, the 26-year-old protester who was sentenced to death just days after his arrest. More than 2,500 people, including 147 security officials, have been killed since protests began on December 28, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Iranian authorities have imposed an internet shutdown across the country, but videos of the deadly crackdown on protesters have been trickling out of Iran via smuggled Starlink terminals. In one video, at least 100 bodies held in bags await identification at a morgue in Tehran. We’ll hear from the world-renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi after headlines.
State Department to Halt Processing Visas for Immigrants from 75 Countries
Jan 15, 2026
The State Department said Wednesday it will indefinitely halt processing visas for immigrants from 75 countries, after claiming without evidence that people from those nations often receive public benefits after arriving in the U.S. Immigrants from over a third of the world’s 193 countries will be affected by the sweeping restrictions, which are set to begin on January 21. Among the targets are Afghanistan, Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. This comes on top of total or partial travel bans on visitors from 39 countries.
ICE Shoots Man in Minneapolis After Gov. Walz Decries Federal “Campaign of Organized Brutality”
Jan 15, 2026
In Minnesota, federal agents fired tear gas, pepper balls and stun grenades at protesters who gathered late Wednesday near the scene where a federal agent shot and injured a man in north Minneapolis. Mayor Jacob Frey said after the shooting that details remain unclear, even as he once again condemned ICE’s surge of agents into the Twin Cities. Witnesses told the Star Tribune that a series of gunshots followed a car chase and foot chase involving federal agents, who reportedly ordered residents to come out of their homes with their hands up. Several people, including children, then walked out into the freezing cold. According to the Trump administration, the gunshot victim was shot in the leg after he began to resist arrest and “violently assault” an officer. Minneapolis has recorded three shootings since New Year’s Day. Two of them were by federal agents. In a video statement released shortly before the latest shooting, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz condemned what he called a “campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Gov. Tim Walz: “Armed, masked, undertrained ICE agents are going door to door, ordering people to point out where their neighbors of color live. They’re pulling over people indiscriminately, including U.S. citizens, and demanding to see their papers. And at grocery stores, at bus stops, even at our schools, they’re breaking windows, dragging pregnant women down the street, just plain grabbing Minnesotans and shoving them into unmarked vans, kidnapping innocent people with no warning and no due process.”
ICE Jails Oglala Sioux Members at Fort Snelling, Site of 19th-Century Concentration Camp
Jan 15, 2026
Image Credit: via Social Media
Among nonimmigrants who’ve been swept up by ICE’s campaign of racial profiling are four members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, three of whom remain jailed at an ICE facility at Fort Snelling south of the Twin Cities. It’s the same site where, in 1862, U.S. forces imprisoned about 1,700 Indigenous men, women, children and elders following the U.S.-Dakota War, where many died of torture, starvation and disease; survivors were exiled to reservations in what’s now South Dakota.
Protester in Santa Ana Is Left Permanently Blind by “Less Lethal” Round Fired by Federal Agent
Jan 15, 2026
Image Credit: Instagram/@lidiaterrazasnews
In California, 21-year-old Kaden Rummler says he was left permanently blind in one eye and narrowly avoided death, after a federal agent fired a crowd control weapon into his face during an anti-ICE protest in Santa Ana last week. Rummler had joined protests against the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, when a federal agent fired a “less lethal” round at close range that struck his left eye. He was then dragged by an agent across a plaza, his face covered in blood, as he complained, “I can’t breathe.” He says he pleaded for agents to call an ambulance as they mocked him about his injured eye. He ultimately underwent six hours of surgery to remove plastic, glass and metal from his face and skull, with one piece narrowly missing his carotid artery. Rummler says doctors told him it was a “miracle” he survived.
ProPublica: ICE Agents Used Potentially Fatal Chokeholds in 40+ Cases
Jan 15, 2026
An investigation by ProPublica has documented over 40 cases in which federal immigration agents used potentially fatal chokeholds and other moves that can cut off breathing against immigrants, citizens and protesters. Former police and immigration officials who reviewed the footage called the agents “out of control,” with one calling it “the kind of action which should get you fired.”
Maine Officials Warn ICE Is Preparing Surge into Lewiston and Portland
Jan 15, 2026
Top officials in Maine are warning ICE agents are preparing to surge into the cities of Lewiston and Portland, where, according to MS NOW, they’re set to target Somali refugees in the coming weeks. On Tuesday, the Trump administration ended temporary protected status for Somali immigrants, ordering them to leave the U.S. by March 17.
Danish Foreign Minister: “Fundamental Disagreement” with Trump over Greenland
Jan 15, 2026
Image Credit: Facebook/Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen said that there was a “fundamental disagreement” with President Trump over Greenland, the semiautonomous territory controlled by Denmark. The comments came after the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio Wednesday at the White House, as President Trump has repeatedly called for the U.S. to militarily take over Greenland. Here’s Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Rasmussen.
bq. Lars Løkke Rasmussen: “For us, ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable, and we therefore still have a fundamental disagreement. But we also agree to disagree, and, therefore, we will, however, continue to talk.”
Trump’s Middle East Envoy Witkoff Says Gaza Truce Has Entered Its Second Phase
Jan 15, 2026
President Trump’s Middle East envoy says a U.S.-brokered plan to end Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip has entered its second phase. Steve Witkoff made the announcement in a social media post, writing that Gaza was “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.” Witkoff added that “the U.S. expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences.” Witkoff made no mention of Israel’s frequent ceasefire violations. Gaza officials say Israel has broken the truce about 1,200 times since it took effect on October 10, killing over 440 Palestinians.
On Tuesday, yet another winter storm swept over Gaza, flooding hundreds of tents and collapsing homes sheltering families displaced by more than two years of Israeli assault. At least six people have died from the latest storm, including two women and a girl killed when homes collapsed near Gaza City’s beach and a 1-year-old boy who died of hypothermia in a tent in Deir al-Balah. This is Nagham al-Fayoumi, a 12-year-old Palestinian displaced with nine family members in Gaza City.
Nagham al-Fayoumi: “Last night, I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen anything like this on ordinary days. I’ve never seen anything like it. We were drowning. Our clothes that we had became wet. We have nothing to wear. We are children. We want. Our two mattresses were soaked. Our covers were soaked. Our pillows that we sleep on were soaked. Our tent is filled with water.”
Senate Republicans Kill War Powers Resolution to Limit Trump on Venezuela
Jan 15, 2026
A Senate war powers resolution aimed at limiting President Trump’s authority to take further military action in Venezuela failed Wednesday, after two Republican senators — Senators Josh Hawley and Todd Young — withdrew their support.
Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to dismiss the measure. Meanwhile, the U.S. completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, valued at about $500 million. Semafor reports that the revenue from the oil sales is currently being held in bank accounts controlled by the U.S. government and that the main account is being held in Qatar.
On Wednesday, President Trump told reporters that he held a “very good call” with Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, calling her “terrific.” He’s also expected to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado today at the White House. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, pro-government protesters have been gathering daily, calling for the release of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from U.S. custody.
Jose Guerrero: “The empire can do whatever it wants, but we are here to tell them that we are free, sovereign and independent. They can meet with whoever they want, but they have to meet with those who represent the government today. They have to free Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, our president.”
FBI Agents Raid Home of Washington Post Reporter Hannah Natanson
Jan 15, 2026
Image Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
FBI agents raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson Wednesday. Authorities seized her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. Natanson has spent the past year covering the Trump administration’s efforts to fire the federal workforce. Matt Murray, the executive editor of The Washington Post, said in a staff message, “this extraordinary, aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work.” According to the Post, investigators reportedly told Natanson she wasn’t the target of the probe. A warrant obtained by the paper cited an investigation into a government contractor with a top-secret security clearance who has been accused of taking home classified intelligence reports. In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the warrant was executed at the request of the Pentagon and that Perez-Lugones had been arrested. We’ll have more on this story later in the broadcast.
Democratic Lawmakers Say DOJ Is Investigating Them over Video to U.S. Service Members
Jan 15, 2026
Image Credit: Facebook/Senator Elissa Slotkin
Several Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday they’re under investigation by the Justice Department over a social media post in which they reminded U.S. service members they have a duty to disobey illegal orders. Congressmembers Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chrissy Houlahan and Senator Elissa Slotkin received inquiries from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro requesting interviews about their participation in this video posted last November.
bq. Sen. Mark Kelly: “You can refuse illegal orders.”
bq. Sen. Elissa Slotkin: “You can refuse illegal orders.”
bq. Rep. Chris Deluzio: “You must refuse illegal orders.”
bq. Sen. Elissa Slotkin: “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law” …
bq. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan: … “or our Constitution.”
Senator Slotkin said Wednesday she also received an inquiry from the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division late last year. That followed President Trump’s call for the lawmakers to be tried for treason and put to death.
bq. Sen. Elissa Slotkin: “To be clear, this is the president’s playbook. Truth doesn’t matter. Facts don’t matter. And anyone who disagrees with him becomes an enemy, and he then weaponizes the federal government against them. It’s legal intimidation and physical intimidation meant to get you to shut up.”
Trump Flips Middle Finger to Autoworker Who Called Him a “Pedophile Protector”
Jan 15, 2026
Image Credit: via Social Media
Donald Trump toured a Ford auto plant in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday, where an autoworker was caught on camera calling the president a “pedophile protector.” President Trump then gave the autoworker the middle finger and mouthed “f— you” twice. Ford suspended the autoworker, TJ Sabula, without pay after his exchange with President Trump. Since then, GoFundMe campaigns have raised over $700,000 for Sabula. On Wednesday, Laura Dickerson, the United Auto Workers’ vice president and director of the Ford department, said in a statement, “The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union — the UAW. He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.” Meanwhile, the Justice Department has released less than 1% of the Epstein files.