International News Briefs for Thursday, June 26, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – Here are some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Thursday, June 26, 2025.
Trump Pushes Back Over Leaked Report Finding US Bombs Failed to Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program
Jun 26, 2025
President Trump and senior administration officials are pushing back on a leaked U.S. intelligence report that suggested the U.S. strikes on Iran only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months. On Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard both insisted the strikes severely damaged Iran’s nuclear program. In response to the leak, the White House has announced plans to limit sharing classified information with Congress.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Claims Victory over Israel in First Public Remarks Since Ceasefire
Jun 26, 2025
Earlier today, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a new video statement claiming victory over Israel and the U.S. while vowing Iran would never surrender.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: “First, I would like to congratulate them for victory over the fake Zionist regime. With all those claims that the Zionist regime were making, they almost were crushed under the blows of the Islamic government.”
They were Khamenei’s first public comments in over a week. Meanwhile, Iran’s Parliament has unanimously agreed to suspend all cooperation with the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, following the U.S. and Israeli attacks that killed at least 950 Iranians, according to one count. This is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf: “Despite the recent attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency has not condemned them, not even superficially. It has undermined the agency’s international credibility, and for this reason, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is suspending its cooperation with the IAEA until the security of its nuclear facilities is guaranteed, and Iran’s peaceful nuclear program will proceed at a faster pace.”
In other developments on Iran, Iranian state media reports authorities have arrested more than 700 people accused of having ties with Israel. At least three people were executed on Wednesday for allegedly collaborating with Israel.
Israeli Continues Deadly Attacks on Palestinians Seeking Food at Aid Sites
Jun 26, 2025
Officials in Gaza say Israeli forces have killed another 90 Palestinians over the past 24 hours, including dozens waiting near new food distribution centers. Israeli forces have killed over 550 people trying to access food aid over the past four weeks. Palestinians have described the aid sites as death traps.
Muhammad Abu Nada: “We trusted the occupation soldiers after they told us to take the package. I walked past the tank and picked up the package, and suddenly they started shooting directly at us. The young men were ambushed and fell to the ground. Some were shot in the head, some in the feet.”
In other news from Gaza, seven Israeli troops were killed Wednesday when an explosive device was planted on their armored vehicle. It was the deadliest attack on Israeli forces in Gaza in months.
Meanwhile Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is calling on Israel to halt all humanitarian aid into Gaza despite warnings from the U.N. that the entire population of Gaza is at risk of famine.
Israeli Soldiers Kill 3 Palestinians as Dozens of Israeli Settlers Attack West Bank Village
Jun 26, 2025
In the occupied West Bank, dozens of Israeli settlers attacked the town of Kafr Malek Wednesday, setting homes and vehicles on fire in an attack that culminated in Israeli soldiers killing three Palestinians. Officials in the West Bank said the settlers were acting “under the protection of the Israeli army.” Meanwhile, Israeli forces fatally shot a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid on al-Yamoun.
Meanwhile, President Trump has called for the immediate cancellation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial in Israel, which is set to resume on Monday. In a rambling social media post, Trump condemned the case as a “witch-hunt” and said Netanyahu should be pardoned.
Some Republican Senators Balk at Medicaid Cuts in Trump’s Budget Reconciliation Bill
Jun 26, 2025
On Capitol Hill, some Republican senators are continuing to hold up president Trump’s budget reconciliation bill over its proposed deep cuts to Medicaid. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” would slash Medicaid spending by nearly $800 billion dollars over a decade, eliminating health insurance for some 10 million people. On Wednesday, Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins rejected a proposal to create a $15 billion dollar relief fund for rural hospitals, saying it failed to make up for far greater cuts. GOP Senators Lisa Murkowski and Josh Hawley have also expressed skepticism. Senate Democrats continue to condemn the budget bill. This is Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy.
Sen. Chris Murphy “What this bill represents is the biggest transfer of wealth from the poor and the middle class to the rich in the history of the country. Who’s asking for that besides the billionaires and the corporations?”
“Forced to Choose Between Rent and Food”: Protesters Decry Cuts to Social Programs in GOP Bill
Jun 26, 2025
Image Credit: Youtube/ Popular Democracy
Grassroots groups representing poor and working families rallied on Capitol Hill Wednesday to demand no cuts to essential social programs like Medicaid and SNAP. This is Serita Russell of the North Carolina activist group Action NC, whose family recently saw monthly food assistance benefits slashed from $440 dollars to just $54 dollars per month.
Serita Russell: “Our churches, which already struggle to keep their food pantries stocked, will be overwhelmed as more families turn to them for help. Our schools will see more children coming to class hungry, unable to focus on learning. Our homeless population will grow more, as families are forced to choose between rent and food. That ain’t right.”
Trump Moves Housing Department Offices to Virginia, Displacing National Science Foundation
Jun 26, 2025
Image Credit: Youtube/HUDchannel
The Trump administration said Wednesday it would relocate the Department of Housing and Urban Development outside of Washington, D.C., and into the headquarters of the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia. The move will force some 1,800 NSF workers to relocate to new offices. The American Federation of Government Employees condemned the move, writing, ”NSF employees are being displaced with no plan, no communication and no respect.”
CDC Workers Hold Protest in Atlanta as RFK Jr. Pulls Funding from Global Vaccine Group
Jun 26, 2025
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has withdrawn a U.S. pledge to fund the world’s preeminent international vaccine organization, as the Trump administration takes its campaign against vaccinations global. RFK Jr. claimed without evidence the organization — known as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — has “ignored the science” of vaccinating children. Gavi says it has helped vaccinate more than 1.1 billion children in dozens of lower-income countries, preventing nearly 19 million future deaths.
On Wednesday, scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rallied outside the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta to protest the Trump administration’s newly reconstituted vaccine advisory panel, which RFK Jr. stacked with unqualified appointees, many of them holding anti-vaccine views. This is Dr. Jodie Guest, a professor of epidemiology at Emory University.
Dr. Jodie Guest: “Science should serve the public, not politics. Public health is a right, not a luxury. And the people inside the agency must be allowed to do their work freely, transparently and without fear. The stakes have never been higher. We all know vaccines save lives. Science protects communities, and public health is worth fighting for.”
Later in the broadcast, we’ll speak with Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and author of numerous books, including Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All.
CNN: Trump Plans to Reject Hundreds of Thousands of Asylum Claims to Speed Deportations
Jun 26, 2025
In immigration news, the Trump administration is planning to reject refugee status for potentially hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in the United States — making them immediately deportable as part of Trump’s sweeping mass deportation efforts. That’s according to CNN, which reports Trump’s plan to fast-track deportations is aimed at immigrants who entered the U.S. outside an official port of entry and later applied for asylum.
“All About Political Intimidation”: Rep. LaMonica McIver Pleads Not Guilty to Assault at ICE Jail
Jun 26, 2025
New Jersey Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges she assaulted an immigration officer during an official visit to a Newark ICE jail last month. The charges stem from a May 9 incident in which McIver and two other Democratic congressmembers sought to tour Delaney Hall, a private prison run by GEO Corporation under contract to ICE. A criminal complaint brought by President Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba — who’s now serving as an interim federal attorney in New Jersey — accuses Congresswoman McIver of slamming a federal agent with her forearm, “forcibly” grabbing him and striking another agent. McIver insists she was the one roughed up by federal officers. She spoke to supporters following her arraignment Wednesday at a federal courthouse in Newark.
Rep. LaMonica McIver: “This is all about political intimidation. The Trump administration and his, you know, him and his colleagues or cronies, whatever you want to call them, have weaponized the federal government. … The facts are on our side. No matter what headline they tweet about, no matter what they do on their Twitter, we know that the facts are on my side.”
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark was also arrested on May 9, but the charges against him have since been dropped. The three congressmembers were trying to protect Baraka.
Whistleblower Alleges Trump Judicial Nominee Emil Bove Sought to Ignore Court Orders
Jun 26, 2025
A former Justice Department lawyer has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove conspired with other top officials on how to mislead courts about mass deportations and to potentially ignore judges’ rulings outright. The complaint was filed by lawyer Erez Reuveni, who was fired in April after he admitted to a judge that the Trump administration had mistakenly transferred Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador’s mega-prison due to an “administrative error.” Reuveni filed the complaint ahead of Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday for Bove to serve as a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This is Bove under questioning from California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff.
Sen. Adam Schiff: “Did you suggest, as Mr. [Erez] Reuveni wrote, that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’ and ignore any such court order?”
Emil Bove: “I did not suggest that there would be any need to consider ignoring court orders. At the point of that meeting, there were no court orders to discuss.”
Sen. Adam Schiff: “Well, did you suggest telling the courts ‘fuck you’ in any manner?”
Emil Bove: “I don’t recall.”
Sen. Adam Schiff: “You just don’t remember that.”
Protests Erupt as Billionaire Jeff Bezos Takes Over Venice for Lavish Wedding Celebration
Jun 26, 2025
One of the world’s richest men faces a wave of wedding crashers as activists in the canal city of Venice seek to disrupt Jeff Bezos’s nuptials this week to protest what they called Bezos’ “takeover” of the famed city. Guests at the multimillion-dollar wedding between Bezos and former TV news anchor Lauren Sánchez include the Clintons, Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. On Monday, activists unfurled a giant banner on Venice’s San Marco Square reading, “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax.” This is Simona Abbate, a campaigner with Greenpeace Italy.
Simona Abbate: “The problem is not the wedding. The problem is the system. We think that one big billionaire can’t rent a city for his pleasure. … We think that we need to tax the people that have a big, a huge number of money, and use this money to reduce the impact of climate change, to increase the healthcare system, to increase the welfare state.”