International News Briefs for Thursday, March 27, 2025

HAVANA TIMES – Here are some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Thursday, March 27 2025.

Mar 27, 2025

Plainclothes immigration agents have detained another international student without warning, Turkish national and Tufts University Ph.D. student Rumeysa Ozturk. Surveillance video shows six masked agents approaching her on the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts, near her home Tuesday evening. She was with friends, making her way to a meal to break her Ramadan fast.

Tufts University’s president said the school had no prior notice of her arrest and that government officials said Ozturk’s student visa had been revoked. Last March, Ozturk co-wrote a piece in the student newspaper criticizing the Tufts administration’s response to Palestinian solidarity protests on campus which were calling for divestment from Israel. In a statement, Ozturk’s lawyer says she successfully filed a petition to block her client’s removal from Massachusetts, though ICE records indicate Ozturk was transferred to an immigration prison in Louisiana. Her lawyer, who as of yesterday evening had not spoken to her client, called the situation “incredibly bizarre and concerning.”

Over a thousand protesters poured into Powder House Square near the Tufts campus Wednesday. This is Lea Kayali of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

Lea Kayali: “We had hundreds of Bostonians coming out here today because they are angered about what happens when one of our community members was taken by armed agents of the state, who kidnapped her from outside of her home. People are here to stand up for the movement that she was punished for supporting, the movement for a free Palestine and to end the genocide in Gaza. And they’re also here to continue to support our immigrant neighbors, who have been getting picked up by ICE ever since, you know, not just Trump came into office, but Biden before him and every administration. So we are out here to continue to demand a free Palestine, to demand ICE out of our communities and to fight for collective liberation.”

Mar 27, 2025

The detention of Rumeysa Ozturk comes just weeks after the arrest of Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil in New York. Another international student was detained by ICE this week: Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian doctoral student at the University of Alabama — though it’s not yet clear why he was targeted.

Meanwhile, in Washington state, authorities arrested farmworker union leader and well-known local immigrant rights activist Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino. Protesters have gathered in front of Tacoma’s Northwest Detention Center, where he is being held, to demand his release.

Mar 27, 2025

Israel has killed another 25 people in Gaza as it continues its relentless attacks. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening to “seize territory” in Gaza if Hamas does not release the remaining hostages. Israel unilaterally shattered the Gaza ceasefire, ending discussions on the plan to release hostages.

Mar 27, 2025

Seventeen-year-old Palestinian Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmad has died in an Israeli prison. The group Defense for Children International says he is the first Palestinian child to die while detained by Israel. His family said he suffered from scabies and dysentery while locked up in Israel’s notorious Megiddo Prison, known for its abuse of Palestinian prisoners. Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmad, who was from the occupied West Bank town of Silwad, had been jailed since September 2024. He is at least the 63rd prisoner to die in Israeli custody since October 2023.

Mar 27, 2025

In South Sudan, opposition officials say the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar marks the end of a fragile 2018 peace deal between Machar and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, further tipping the country toward a new civil war. Machar is reportedly being held in his home after a convoy of heavily armed vehicles entered his Juba residence late Wednesday. An estimated 400,000 people were killed during fighting in South Sudan between 2013 and 2018. Tensions between the two rivals had been mounting, as have deadly clashes by armed groups, especially in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state.

Mar 27, 2025

In neighboring Sudan, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared “Khartoum is free” after his forces seized Khartoum airport from the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. RSF fighters have been fleeing the capital in droves after the Sudanese army recaptured key sites in Khartoum over recent days.

Mar 27, 2025

Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday former President Jair Bolsonaro will have to stand trial for his involvement in a 2022 coup attempt after losing the presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. A federal police report issued last November accuses Bolsonaro of overseeing a plan to poison his rival, then-President-elect Lula, as well as to annul election results, dissolve courts and install a military dictatorship. Bolsonaro will face five counts related to the sweeping coup plot, which could result in decades of prison time.

Mar 27, 2025

Back in the U.S., a federal appeals court has denied a request by the Trump administration to lift an order blocking the president from expelling immigrants out of the United States using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The court order came on the same day that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the supermax prison in El Salvador housing over 200 men — mostly Venezuelans — who were sent there by the Trump administration in violation of a judge’s order. Human rights groups have long decried the inhumane conditions inside the Salvadoran prison. Noem posted a video, speaking in front of a group of prisoners.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem: “First of all, do not come to our country illegally. You will be removed, and you will be prosecuted. But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.”

The Trump administration claims all of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador were gang members, but the Miami Herald reports at least one of the men had just been granted refugee status weeks before.

Mar 27, 2025

In other immigration news, CBS News reports the Trump administration has paused the processing of green card applications for immigrants who had been granted refugee or asylum status.

Meanwhile, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, has begun helping the Department of Homeland Security identify undocumented immigrants living in publicly subsidized housing.

Canada and several European countries have updated their travel advisories for the U.S. in recent days in response to Trump’s escalating crackdown on immigration and transgender rights.

Mar 27, 2025

Members of Trump’s circle have scaled down a planned trip to Greenland on Friday, restricting their visit to a U.S. military base, after major backlash from Greenland and Denmark. Vice President JD Vance announced on Tuesday he would join his wife Usha Vance on the trip. It is unclear if national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are still going. On Wednesday, Trump reiterated his desire to take control over Greenland while speaking to the press.

President Donald Trump: “We need Greenland for national security and international security. So, we’ll — I think we’ll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland, and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland.”

Mar 27, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court voted 7 to 2 to uphold a Biden-era regulation that requires ghost guns to have serial numbers, be sold by licensed vendors, and for buyers to undergo a background check. Ghost guns are assembled by users from DIY kits that are typically sold online and had previously been untrackable.

In other Supreme Court news, the Trump administration has filed an emergency application seeking to cancel $65 million in congressionally appropriated teacher-training grants it says will be used for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Mar 27, 2025

In news from Columbia University, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Julie Cohen has stepped down from the selection committee of the prestigious duPont-Columbia journalism awards. Cohen, who co-directed the documentary ”RBG,” said the decision came after Columbia “so readily caved to the Trump Administration.” Three other jurors joined Cohen in resigning Tuesday. Julie Cohen said in her resignation letter, “Any thoughtful analysis of how institutions respond to creeping authoritarianism makes it clear: capitulation is the wrong way to go.”

Mar 27, 2025

In California, UC Davis has suspended its Law Student Association and seized its funding in retaliation for the group’s vote backing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel amid its war on Gaza.

Mar 27, 2025

USAID is moving to end U.S. funding for Gavi, a global vaccine alliance that has procured lifesaving vaccines for millions of children in poor countries for decades. Other cuts planned by USAID in a newly shared document include anti-malaria initiatives. Less than 900 active employees are currently staffing the agency, down from 6,000 before the Trump administration. Over 5,000 USAID projects have been eliminated. The gutting of USAID programs is being challenged in the courts. Gavi estimates the withdrawal of U.S. funding could lead to more than 1.2 million child deaths from preventable diseases.

Mar 27, 2025

Calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to resign are increasing after The Atlantic magazine revealed both officials had discussed precise information about the U.S. bombing of Yemen on a group Signal chat that accidentally included Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg. Hegseth posted detailed information on the timing and weapons used in the March 15 bombing. Waltz revealed the U.S. killed one target by bombing the building where the target’s girlfriend lived.

The White House has downplayed the growing scandal, describing it as a hoax while claiming no classified information was shared — a claim widely disputed by former intelligence officials. Several Republican lawmakers are now calling for an investigation.

During a House hearing Wednesday, Democratic Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthi called for Hegseth to resign.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi: “This text message is clearly classified information. Secretary Hegseth has disclosed military plans, as well as classified information. He needs to resign immediately. He needs to resign immediately, and a full investigation needs to be undertaken with regard to whether other similar Signal chats are occurring in this administration.”

Mar 27, 2025

On Capitol Hill, far-right Republican Congressmember Marjorie Taylor Greene held a hearing Wednesday as part of a campaign to defund public media. She called NPR and PBS — whose heads were called in to testify — “radical left-wing echo chambers” with a “communist agenda,” as she attacked, among other things, LGBTQ+ programming.

Democrats on the panel highlighted Republicans’ hypocrisy and called to “Fire Elon, not Elmo,” in reference to the beloved children’s program “Sesame Street.” This is Texas Democrat Greg Casar.

Rep. Greg Casar: “My Republican colleagues don’t want to talk about the corporate waste, fraud and abuse, because those corporations fund the Republicans’ campaigns. So, instead, they want to shut down educational programming for kids and their families, and they want to shut down local radio stations. To borrow a phrase from ‘Sesame Street,’ the letter of the day is C, and it stands for ‘corruption.’”

Mar 27, 2025

Trump announced a new 25% tariff on imported cars and auto parts. It’s set to take effect April 2, which Trump’s been referring to as “liberation day.” The tariffs will also apply to U.S. brands that have been assembled outside the country. Consumers could see car prices shoot up by $4,000 to $12,000.

Mar 27, 2025

In a major upset for Pennsylvania Republicans, Democrat James Malone won a state Senate seat in a district that voted for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris by more than 15 points in November. Democrats also won a Pennsylvania House race Tuesday in possible early signs of widespread voter opposition to the Trump administration.

This comes ahead of two key special elections for the U.S. House in Florida next Tuesday, including a race to fill the congressional seat left empty by Matt Gaetz. Trump has endorsed the Republican candidates Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis. But despite the races taking place in deep red districts, Democrats Josh Weil and Gay Valimont have out-fundraised their opponents. There are currently 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the U.S. House.

Mar 27, 2025

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has fired at least five members of its social impact team, including its artistic director, the renowned artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph. The team aimed to expand the art center’s reach to diverse audiences and to commission new works by Black composers. The job terminations come weeks after President Trump took over the Kennedy Center, named himself chair and fired most of the board of trustees. Marc Bamuthi Joseph recorded this video from his office after learning of his firing.

Marc Bamuthi Joseph: “Well, I am sitting in my office at the Kennedy Center one last time. It’s funny. I’m taking things down, like this red, black and green American flag and this extraordinary piece of artwork that my man Greg made that honors Stevie Wonder and this poster from BAM and a commemorative album that was organized by Swizz Beatz. Basically, I’m taking down everything Black in my office. Just as the new leadership of the Kennedy Center is doing, it’s best to disavow much of the literal color that has made this place special.”

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, speaking after being fired as artistic director of social impact at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, after President Trump took over as chair of the board. This past weekend, Marc Bamuthi Joseph performed his piece “Carnival of the Animals,” an allegory to January 6 and the insurrection. He performed it Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center here in New York.

Read more news here on Havana Times.