International News Briefs for Tuesday, August 19, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Tuesday, August 19, 2025.
As European Leaders Gather at White House, Trump Says He’ll Arrange Zelensky-Putin Meeting
Aug 19, 2025
President Trump says he’s arranging trilateral talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump made the claim after wrapping up a hastily arranged summit at the White House Monday with European and NATO leaders joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump promised the U.S. would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any future peace deal with Russia, but said European countries would lead the efforts. Trump didn’t clarify whether he’d send U.S. forces to Ukrainian soil. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin remained open to participating in a peacekeeping mission; he also said the next round of negotiations should only come after Russia and Ukraine agree to a ceasefire.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz: “Let’s try to put pressure on Russia, because the credibility of these efforts, these efforts we are undertaking today, are depending on at least a ceasefire from the beginning of the serious negotiations, from next step on.”
Trump countered that he hopes to move more directly toward a peace deal with Russia, adding, “I don’t think you need a ceasefire.” Trump then went on to pause the summit to call Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin later confirmed the roughly 40-minute call, calling it “frank” and “very constructive,” without stating if Putin had agreed to meet Zelensky.
Throughout the day, Trump was friendly and cordial with Zelensky, unlike in February, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian president before White House aides asked him to leave White House. Trump is pressing Ukraine to exchange territory for an end to the war, something Zelensky has rejected. Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the prospect of NATO forces in Ukraine “categorically unacceptable.” We’ll host a debate on Monday’s White House summit and Russia’s war on Ukraine after headlines.
Tens of Thousands Flee Gaza City as Israel Steps Up Bombings Ahead of Planned Invasion
Aug 19, 2025
Tens of thousands of Palestinians are fleeing Gaza City as Israel intensifies its attacks on the Gaza Strip’s largest population center ahead of a full-scale military invasion. Al Jazeera reports Israeli attacks today have killed at least 26 people — among them, eight Palestinians killed in a strike on tents housing displaced families in Khan Younis, and another four killed in an attack on tents in Deir al-Balah. Two people were reportedly shot and killed seeking aid at a distribution site run by the notorious Israel- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Meanwhile, an airdrop of humanitarian aid over Deir al-Balah on Monday set off a scramble among desperately hungry people hoping for a meal. Displaced Palestinian Amin Abu Mughsib came away empty-handed.
Amin Abu Mughsib: “This is aerial humiliation, not airdropping. The package is filled with about 12 boxes. More than a thousand people gather on the package. People crush each other, and it’s not enough for a single family. People are fighting. There are like 10 fights on each package, and people are dying. Here, you hear gunfire. There, you find someone dead under the package. We can’t take it anymore.”
Hamas Agrees to 60-Day Ceasefire Plan That’s “Almost Identical” to U.S. Proposal
Aug 19, 2025
Hamas says it has agreed to a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that would see it release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 deceased hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The proposal is almost identical to an earlier ceasefire plan advanced by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. Israeli media report Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the offer and signaled he still plans to invade Gaza City and forcefully displace its entire population to the southern Gaza Strip — this after, on Sunday, close to a million Israelis demanded that Netanyahu not invade Gaza City and agree to a ceasefire and a release of the hostages.
ISIL-Backed Rebels Kill 52 in Eastern Congo; M23 Suspends Peace Talks with DRC
Aug 19, 2025
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Islamic State-backed fighters armed with machetes killed at least 52 civilians, including women and children, in the eastern regions of Beni and Lubero. That’s according to the U.N., which reports that in recent days ISIL-backed rebels with the Allied Democratic Forces set homes on fire, tied up residents and attacked them with machetes and hoes. ADF is among several militia groups clashing over land and resources in the mineral-rich eastern DRC. This is a local official from Beni.
Elie Mbafumoja: “This is a genocide happening in silence. Even the international community says nothing. For 11 years already, the population has been victim of these massacres. We must speak to the authorities — international authorities, national authorities, provincial and local authorities — to restore peace. We are tired of massacres of all kinds. We are tired of burying our brothers. We are tired of this carnage.”
The latest massacre comes amid ongoing tensions between the DRC’s military and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, with both sides missing a Monday deadline to reach a final peace agreement during talks brokered by Qatar.
Texas Democrat Locked in House Chamber for Refusing Round-the-Clock Surveillance by State Troopers
Aug 19, 2025
Democratic state lawmakers returned to Texas on Monday, ending a two-week walkout that broke quorum in the state Legislature and temporarily blocked Republicans from ramming through a new, gerrymandered congressional map for Texas at the behest of President Trump. Republican leaders had threatened to arrest or remove from office over 50 Democratic lawmakers who fled Texas earlier this month for Illinois and other states. On Monday, Texas’s Republican Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows said Democratic lawmakers would only be allowed to leave the House chambers if they agreed to be released into the custody of Texas law enforcement. Democratic state Representative Nicole Collier of Fort Worth was forced to sleep on the floor of Texas’s state Capitol overnight after she refused the order, rather than accepting around-the-clock monitoring by state troopers.
Rep. Nicole Collier: “These officers have been assigned to our Democratic state representatives only to ensure that they get back to the Capitol to pass the racist maps and all the other legislation that they want that can harm and disenfranchise marginalized communities.”
Trump Says He’ll Ban Mail-In Ballots and Voting Machines, Citing Advice from Vladimir Putin
Aug 19, 2025
President Trump said Monday he will soon sign an executive order to ban voting by mail, calling the long-standing practice a “fraud.” Writing on social media, Trump also said he planned to target “Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES.” Trump’s pledge came just days after he made these comments to Fox News, following talks in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Donald Trump: “You know, Vladimir Putin said something, one of the most interesting things. He said, ‘Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting.’”
Constitutional scholars have rejected Trump’s plans to ban mail-in ballots and voting machines by executive order as a nonstarter, as state and local governments are in charge of administering elections.
Newsmax Will Pay Dominion Voting Systems $67 Million to Settle Lawsuit over 2020 Election Lies
Aug 19, 2025
Image Credit: Milo Hess/ZUMA Press Wire
Newsmax has agreed to pay $67 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over the far-right TV channel’s repeated lies about the 2020 election. Following Joe Biden’s victory, Newsmax personalities and guests spread the baseless conspiracy theory that the election results were fraudulent and that Dominion’s voting hardware and software were to blame. The settlement comes more than two years after Fox News agreed to pay Dominion more than $787 million to settle a similar case.
More National Guard Troops Deploy to D.C. as White House Social Media Teams Join FBI Raids
Aug 19, 2025
More Republican governors have announced they’re dispatching National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to assist President Trump’s federal takeover of law enforcement in the nation’s capital. The additional forces from Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee bring the total number of National Guard troops deployed to D.C. to over 1,800. Vermont’s Republican Governor Phil Scott has declined a federal request to send his state’s National Guard soldiers.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports the White House has dispatched social media teams alongside FBI agents executing arrest warrants to generate videos promoting Trump’s crackdown on D.C. The practice violates long-standing Justice Department norms against politicizing criminal investigations. The social media teams filmed and edited a video showing the arrest of Sean Charles Dunn, a Justice Department employee who was fired and charged with assault after he shouted “fascists!” at federal agents and hurled a Subway sandwich at one of them. A video of Dunn’s arrest posted on X has garnered 2.4 million views. Trump’s hand-picked interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., former Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro, celebrated Dunn’s arrest.
Jeanine Pirro: “And then he took a Subway sandwich about this big and took it and threw it at the officer. He thought it was funny. Well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today, because we charged him with a felony: assault on a police officer. And we’re going to back the police to the hilt.”
Mourners in Monrovia, California, Honor Guatemalan Immigrant Killed While Fleeing ICE Raid
Aug 19, 2025
In California, hundreds of people gathered for a vigil Friday demanding justice for 52-year-old Carlos Roberto Montoya, an immigrant from Guatemala who was struck and killed on the freeway as he tried to escape federal immigration agents during a raid at a Home Depot in Monrovia. Montoya had lived in the United States for three years and was a day laborer. He had four daughters and grandchildren. His death comes as federal immigration raids have increasingly targeted immigrant workers, with activists condemning companies like Home Depot over their complicity.
10,000 Unionized Flight Attendants End Strike After Reaching Tentative Deal with Air Canada
Aug 19, 2025
The union representing thousands of striking Air Canada flight attendants announced early Tuesday morning it had reached a tentative contract deal with the airline, ending a dayslong walkout. The agreement must still be approved by the 10,000 flight attendants, who walked off the job Saturday demanding higher wages. The workers defied government-issued orders deeming their strike illegal, risking fines and even possible jail time. This is Mark Hancock, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, speaking Monday in Ontario.
Mark Hancock: “We’re going to stay strong. We’re going to stay committed to making sure that those workers can do the job that they love doing and actually be able to afford a roof over their heads, to afford caring for their families. And if it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it.”
The tentative deal comes after about eight months of negotiations. Air Canada is Canada’s largest airline.