International News Briefs for Tuesday, August 12, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Tuesday, August 12, 2025.
Five More Palestinians Starve to Death in Gaza as Israeli Attacks Kill 89 in a Day
Aug 12, 2025
Palestinian health officials say Israeli attacks have killed at least 89 people across Gaza over the past day, including 31 people killed while seeking food. Among the dead are five Palestinians bombed in a tent sheltering displaced civilians in al-Mawasi, which Israel has designated a “safe zone” despite consistently attacking the area. More than 500 others have been wounded by Israel’s latest attacks. Meanwhile, Israel’s blockade of Gaza has led to five more deaths from famine and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, including two children. Palestinian health officials say at least 227 people have starved to death due to the siege.
World Leaders Condemn Israel’s Assassination of Journalists in Gaza
Aug 12, 2025
Global condemnation is mounting over the assassination of one of the most prominent journalists in Gaza, Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, along with four of his colleagues at the network. U.N. Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres is calling for an independent investigation after the five journalists were killed in a targeted Israeli strike outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. European Union officials and international press freedom groups have also denounced the assassinations. A sixth journalist, freelance reporter Mohammed Al-Khalidi, was also killed in the same strike. On Monday, large crowds of mourners gathered for a funeral procession for al-Sharif and his colleagues, marching from Al-Shifa to Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in central Gaza. This is Palestinian journalist Mohammed Al-Siqli.
Mohammed Al-Siqli: “Through this crime, the occupation is trying to silence words, distort the facts, conceal the truth and conceal its crimes in the Gaza Strip. However, we, the Palestinian journalists, say it loud and clear: If 1,000 are killed from the journalistic family instead of one journalist, the occupation will eventually face someone who will report its aggression and document its crimes in the Gaza Strip.”
Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund Divests from Israeli Companies, Citing Gaza Humanitarian Crisis
Aug 12, 2025
The government of Norway said Monday it would divest its $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund from 11 Israeli companies, citing the “serious humanitarian crisis” in Gaza. The announcement came after the newspaper Aftenposten revealed the fund held shares of the firm Bet Shemesh Engines Limited, which provides services and fighter jet parts to Israel’s military.
Trump Takes Control of Washington, D.C., Police Force and Deploys National Guard
Aug 12, 2025
President Trump announced Monday he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and federalizing the city’s police force for 30 days. Speaking to reporters alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump claimed that crime is “out of control” in D.C. — despite the fact that violent crime is at a 30-year low.
President Donald Trump: “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people.”
Trump also said he would clear encampments of unhoused people from D.C., without providing plans of where they’ll be relocated. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called Trump’s proposals “unsettling and unprecedented,” but conceded Washington, D.C., would observe his orders.
Mayor Muriel Bowser: “We don’t — and I think I speak for all Americans — we don’t believe or believe it’s legal to use the American military against American citizens on American soil.”
Meanwhile, demonstrators took to the streets to voice their dissent against Trump’s call for troops in the Washington, D.C., area. Here’s Keya Chatterjee, the executive director of the group Free DC.
Keya Chatterjee: “If Trump cared about safety, he would stop kidnapping immigrant neighbors, because terrorizing people, terrorizing families, is not safety. If Trump cared about our safety, he would fund Medicaid. He would fund schools. He would fund SNAP, because people being sick, out of school and hungry is not safety.”
Federal Court Hears Arguments Trump Violated Posse Comitatus Act by Deploying Troops to L.A.
Aug 12, 2025
In California, a federal judge is hearing arguments about whether President Trump violated federal law when he deployed the National Guard and active-duty Marines to suppress the protests in Los Angeles against his mass deportation campaign. Governor Gavin Newsom is arguing that Trump’s order violated an 1878 law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the president from using the military as a police force against civilians. According to the Pentagon, 250 National Guard members remain deployed in California. Click here to see our interview with the California attorney general.
Advocates Call for Closure of Pennsylvania ICE Jail After Death of Immigrant
Aug 12, 2025
Image Credit: Reuters/Quinn Glabicki
In Pennsylvania, immigration rights advocates are calling for the Moshannon Valley Processing Center to shut down after another death in ICE custody. Chaofeng Ge, a 32-year-old immigrant from China, was pronounced dead last week after he was found hanging by the neck in the jail’s shower. Ge had been held at the center for five days. Moshannon is operated by the private prison company GEO Group and is the largest ICE jail in the northeastern U.S. This comes as the number of people detained at immigration jails has surpassed 60,000 — a record high.
Advocates in El Paso Demand ICE Release DACA Recipient Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago
Aug 12, 2025
In Texas, protests and vigils continue in El Paso demanding the release of Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago, a longtime community organizer and recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA. Santiago was taken by Border Patrol agents at the El Paso airport as she was about to board a domestic flight for work in early August. The agents detained her for questioning without a warrant or reason, despite Santiago having work authorization and deportation protection under DACA. She filmed a short video as the two border agents accosted her.
Border Patrol agent: “We’re going to question you in regards to your documents.”
Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago: “What’s the questioning for?”
Border Patrol agent: “Downstairs, we’ll talk about it.”
Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago: “What’s the questioning for?”
Border Patrol agent: “How you — how you got the employment authorization.”
Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago: “I need to have my lawyer here.”
Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago is being held at an ICE jail in El Paso.
CDC Workers Demand RFK Jr.’s Ouster Following Rampage by Gunman with Anti-Vaccine Views
Aug 12, 2025
Image Credit: Reuters/Megan Varner
In Atlanta, police say a gunman who harbored conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines fired 180 shots at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control during his rampage last Friday, killing a police officer and terrorizing public health workers, who scrambled for shelter as bullets riddled four office buildings. The suspect, Patrick Joseph White, was armed with five guns, including a rifle. Neighbors said he strongly believed that vaccines had hurt him and were hurting other people.
On Monday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. toured the CDC after tweeting that he was “deeply saddened” by the shooting. This comes after Kennedy froze hundreds of millions of dollars of funding for vaccine research and oversaw the layoffs of more than 2,000 CDC workers, including public health experts studying gun violence.
On Sunday, current and former CDC workers who gathered for a protest in Atlanta called for RFK Jr. to be replaced. This is infectious disease doctor Elizabeth Soda.
Dr. Elizabeth Soda: “And I am enraged at Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary. As health secretary, his lies are costing people their lives. His dangerous rhetoric is making — making Americans sicker, as science-driven decision-making is destroyed. But it is not too late. If other Americans join me in my anger to demand RFK Jr.’s resignation, all is not lost.”
Journal Rejects RFK Jr.’s Call to Retract Study Showing No Health Risk of Aluminum in Vaccines
Aug 12, 2025
An influential U.S. medical journal has rejected RFK Jr.’s efforts to retract a large study that found aluminum ingredients in vaccines pose no health risks for children. That’s according to Reuters, which reports that despite the findings, Kennedy continues to promote doubts about vaccine safety and is considering whether to initiate a review of shots that contain aluminum, which Kennedy blames for autoimmune diseases and allergies.
Federal Judge Denies Government’s Request to Unseal Ghislaine Maxwell Grand Jury Transcripts
Aug 12, 2025
Image Credit: Getty Images
A federal judge in Manhattan has denied the government’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the sex trafficking case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. President Trump had been pushing for the release of the transcripts to deflect from the scrutiny of his own personal relationship with Epstein.
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in Monday’s ruling, “A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at an illusion of such.” The grand jury testimony is a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of pages in the Epstein files, which Trump can decide to release at any time.
Meanwhile, NBC News is reporting that the minimum-security prison camp in Texas where Maxwell was recently transferred has stepped up security, since it’s not designed to house convicted sex offenders.
Middle East and Europe Swelter Under Record Heat
Aug 12, 2025
Iraq’s Energy Ministry says it’s restoring power after a power outage hit central and southern Iraq amid record heat fueled by the climate crisis. Temperatures in the capital Baghdad reached 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meanwhile, southern Europe is experiencing a deadly heat wave with temperatures in some areas topping 110 degrees Fahrenheit. In Italy, a 4-year-old boy died of a heatstroke. In Spain, at least one person has died from burns, while thousands more have been forced to flee fast-moving wildfires.
Evangelina Peral Delgado: “We are completely helpless and abandoned. Someone, do something for us, because we are burning. We might not be a national park, but we are people! No one does anything. No one.”
Trump Delays Plans to Raise Tariffs on China
Aug 12, 2025
President Trump has delayed plans to impose sweeping tariffs on China — just hours before they were set to take effect. An executive order signed by Trump Monday locks in place until November 10 a 30% U.S. tariff on Chinese imports, with Beijing putting a 10% tariff on U.S. imports. Trump previously threatened tariffs on China as high as 245%.
Congressional Budget Office: “Big Beautiful Bill” Will Further Widen Wealth Gap
Aug 12, 2025
Congress’s budget arm reported Monday that Republicans’ massive tax-and-spending legislation dubbed the “One Beautiful Bill” will further widen the gap between rich and poor. The Congressional Budget Office found the wealthiest 10% of households are set to take home an additional $13,600 a year, while the poorest 10% will lose some $1,200 in annual income and benefits. Some 4 million people — including a million children — will lose significant amounts of food aid.
Trump Names New BLS Commissioner Who Questioned Agency’s Data and Methods
Aug 12, 2025
Image Credit: The Heritage Foundation
President Trump has named a new commissioner to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, replacing the commissioner Trump fired earlier this month after the BLS released a weaker-than-expected jobs report. Trump’s nominee, E.J. Antoni, is chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank behind Project 2025. Antoni has frequently questioned the bureau’s jobs data and methods. After Trump was elected, Antoni posted on X, ”DOGE needs to take a chainsaw to the BLS.”
Two Dead, 10 Injured in Pennsylvania Steel Plant Explosion
Aug 12, 2025
In Pennsylvania, at least two people were killed and 10 others injured Monday as a U.S. Steel plant outside Pittsburgh exploded. Witnesses described a massive shock wave that sheared away part of a building, while billowing black smoke forced nearby residents to shelter in place for several hours due to fears over air quality. It’s not the first industrial accident at the plant. In 2009, a worker was killed in an explosion; one year later, 14 others were injured in yet another blast.