International News Briefs for Tuesday, January 28, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – Here are the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Tuesday January 28, 2025.
DOJ Fires Slew of Officials Involved in Special Counsel’s Probes into Trump
Jan 28, 2025
The Justice Department on Monday fired over a dozen officials who worked with special counsel Jack Smith on now-dismissed criminal investigations into Donald Trump. Acting Attorney General James McHenry said they could not be trusted to “faithfully implement” Trump’s agenda.
D.C.’s Acting AG to Investigate Prosecutors Who Charged Jan. 6 Rioters with Obstruction
Jan 28, 2025
Ed Martin, the interim, Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., launched an investigation into prosecutors who brought obstruction charges against some 250 January 6 Capitol rioters. Those charges ended up being tossed after a Supreme Court ruling last year. Martin helped lead the “Stop the Steal” effort four years ago.
In related news, the Justice Department has removed a database from its website which detailed crimes and convictions from the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
CDC Orders Employees to Immediately Cease Collaboration with WHO
Jan 28, 2025
Workers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been ordered to stop working with the World Health Organization immediately. The hasty directive came as a surprise to CDC employees, many of whom are working on crucial public health projects aimed at preventing major outbreaks of Marburg virus, mpox and bird flu. Trump’s day one executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO requires a one-year notice, the approval of Congress, and for the U.S. to still fulfill its financial commitment for the fiscal year.
Trump’s Pentagon EOs Take Aim at DEI, Trans Military Members; Order “Iron Dome”-Like Defense System
Jan 28, 2025
On Monday, Trump signed four executive orders aimed at reshaping the military, including reinstating 8,000 military members who were relieved of duty for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. He also issued an order banning DEI — that’s diversity, equity and inclusion — from the military; an order to build a missile defense system modeled on Israel’s Iron Dome; and an order to review the Pentagon’s policy on transgender military members, in what’s believed to be the first step toward a ban on transgender military members.
“This Will Have Devastating Consequences”: OMB Orders Workers to Pause Most Federal Aid
Jan 28, 2025
The acting head of the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, issued an agency memo ordering a pause to federal aid, including grants and loans, but exempting Medicaid and Social Security benefits. According to the leaked memo, the pause includes “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” Senator Patty Murray and Congressmember Rosa DeLauro, top Democratic members of their respective Appropriations Committees, said in a letter to the OMB, “The scope of what you are ordering is breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have devastating consequences across the country.”
Navajo Nation Says Immigration Agents Targeting Indigenous People Amid Crackdown
Jan 28, 2025
The Navajo Nation reports at least 15 Native Americans in Arizona and New Mexico have been stopped by immigration officers at their homes and workplaces over the past week and asked to produce proof of citizenship. The stops came as President Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan said he plans to continue immigration raids “without apology.”
ICE says it arrested 1,179 people on Sunday — the largest number ever on a single day by either Trump administration. Over the weekend, Homan and other administration officials visited Chicago to personally oversee ICE raids that have terrorized immigrant communities. His visit came after Chicago Public Schools said it would not cooperate with ICE’s plans to conduct raids at schools. At least seven other major public school districts across the U.S. have issued similar statements.
Mexico Confirms It Has Received Non-Mexican Deportees from the U.S.
Jan 28, 2025
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says Mexico has received 4,000 deportees from the U.S. since Trump took office and that non-Mexican citizens were among those deported. That’s a reversal from Sheinbaum’s position last Friday, when her administration refused to allow a U.S. deportation flight to land in Mexico. On Monday, President Sheinbaum said Central American nations could soon reach similar agreements with the U.S. to accept deportees from other countries.
President Claudia Sheinbaum: “We’re in a permanent dialogue, as they are with Central American countries. So it’s not that we already have a fully defined coordination, but we’re in dialogue, which is fundamental and very important.”
DHS Halts Temporary Resettlement Programs Affecting Refugees from Ukraine, Haiti, Venezuela
Jan 28, 2025
The New York Times reports Department of Homeland Security officials have halted a range of programs that allowed immigrants to settle in the United States temporarily, including asylum seekers from Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela. The Trump administration has also paused Uniting for Ukraine, a Biden-era program allowing Ukrainians with financial sponsors to enter the United States temporarily.
Residents Flee Goma as M23 Rebel Assault Deepens Humanitarian Crisis in DRC
Jan 28, 2025
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, intense fighting is continuing between M23 soldiers and government forces after the rebel group captured parts of the key city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. The Congolese government said bombs are being dropped on hospitals and camps for displaced people with the goal of “terrorizing” local populations. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and residents are fleeing Goma in their thousands.
France is pushing for a U.N. Security Council resolution explicitly naming Rwanda as the backer of the M23 forces — an assessment backed by the U.N. and many countries, including the U.S.
Protests have erupted across the DRC, including in the capital Kinshasa, where demonstrations took place on college campuses and in front of the U.S., French, Ugandan, Kenyan and Rwandan embassies — nations accused of complicity in the protracted and devastating conflict in the DRC.
A coalition of civil society groups gathered Monday in Bukavu in eastern Congo, decrying the U.N. Security Council’s failure to issue a binding resolution a day earlier.
Maitrise Nene Binty: “Despite calls for a ceasefire and the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese soil, the troops continue to advance. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic and concerning, as thousands of displaced people fleeing the conflict are facing an unprecedented crisis.”
Israel Violates Gaza Ceasefire, Killing 2 Palestinians, Including 5-Year-Old Girl
Jan 28, 2025
Israel’s military has carried out fresh airstrikes on Gaza, killing two Palestinians, including a child, despite the ceasefire agreement signed with Hamas earlier this month. Five-year-old Nadia Mohammed al-Amoudi was killed and three others wounded Monday when the Israeli army shelled a horse cart near the Nuseirat refugee camp. Separately, a Palestinian man was killed and several others wounded when Israeli forces bombed a bulldozer in Nuseirat.
Israel’s violations of the ceasefire came as tens of thousands of Palestinians continued to march north along Gaza’s coastline to return to the ruins of their former neighborhoods, left devastated by Israel’s 15-month assault. Gaza officials say more than 300,000 people crossed into northern Gaza in the nine days since the ceasefire took effect. Amid the devastated landscape were scenes of overwhelming emotion as family members reunited, many of them after being separated for over a year. This is Mohammed Audi, who reunited with his parents and brother in Gaza City Monday.
Mohammed Audi: “Better than the whole world, it is a great victory to see my mother, father and brother. Praise to God. I have been away from them for one year and four months. I was alone in the north here. They were all in the south.”
Audi’s father: “Praise to God, he brought us back safe and sound. Our Lord gave us victory. May God reassure us about all the Muslims in the world. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.”
Mexican Journalist Alejandro Gallegos Found Murdered in Tabasco
Jan 28, 2025
Press freedom groups are demanding an investigation and full accountability following the murder of Mexican journalist Alejandro Gallegos, whose body was found in Tabasco state this weekend. Gallegos ran the news site La Voz del Pueblo, or “The Voice of the People.” His loved ones and colleagues gathered for his funeral on Sunday.
Edison Mateospayro: “It’s hard not to mix politics with day-to-day life, especially in a state such as Tabasco, where we breathe politics. We need our government to get involved in taking actions that provide safety. They should do their work. We really need to get from words to actions.”
Target Faces Boycott After Becoming Latest U.S. Company to Ban DEI Initiatives
Jan 28, 2025
Image Credit: CREDIT — X / @StrikeForAll
Civil rights groups have announced a boycott of Target stores across the U.S. beginning on February 1, after the retail giant said it would end diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives aimed at promoting and hiring more women and people from protected minority groups. Target is also ending its goal of sourcing products from businesses owned by people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, veterans and people with disabilities. Target follows other major U.S. corporations, like Walmart and McDonald’s, that have recently shut down DEI initiatives that are under attack from President Trump and his allies.
Costco Won’t End DEI Initiatives, Faces Friday Strike Deadline by 18,000 Union Workers
Jan 28, 2025
Shareholders at Costco have voted down a proposal to end DEI programs at the big-box retail giant. The move drew praise from some civil rights activists, including the Reverend Al Sharpton, who led a “buy-in” at a Costco in Harlem, New York, over the weekend. This comes as 18,000 unionized Costco workers in five states have authorized a strike at midnight on Friday unless management agrees to a contract providing better wages, paid family leave, sick time and limits to workplace surveillance.
Philadelphia Grocery Workers Vote to Form First Union at Amazon-Owned Whole Foods
Jan 28, 2025
Image Credit: Instagram / UFCW Local 1776
In more labor news, workers at a Philadelphia Whole Foods just voted to become the Amazon-owned grocery chain’s first unionized store. The major worker victory came despite Whole Foods management launching a union-busting campaign, threatening and intimidating pro-union employees in violation of U.S. labor law.
U.S. Tech and Energy Stocks Plummet as Chinese Startup Launches “DeepSeek” AI Model
Jan 28, 2025
In business news, share prices of U.S. high-tech companies plummeted on Monday, wiping out $1.2 trillion in market capitalization after the Chinese startup DeepSeek launched its newest artificial intelligence model, rapidly overtaking ChatGPT as the top free download on Apple’s app store. DeepSeek says its model is far cheaper and efficient to operate than leading AI models from U.S. companies. Shares of chip maker Nvidia plummeted by a combined $593 billion Monday — by far the largest-ever one-day stock market loss for any company in history. U.S. power, utility and natural gas companies also saw steep losses Monday as DeepSeek’s successes cast doubt on a projected surge in demand for energy-guzzling data centers.
“My ‘Crime’? Being a Journalist Who Speaks Up for Palestine”: Ali Abunimah Speaks Out After Swiss Arrest
Jan 28, 2025
The Palestinian American journalist Ali Abunimah was freed from detention Monday evening and deported from Switzerland after a three-day ordeal that rights groups and U.N. experts blasted as a major attack on free speech. Abunimah is founder of the online news site Electronic Intifada. He was arrested and jailed ahead of a speaking event in Zurich. He wrote in a social media post after leaving Switzerland, “My ‘crime’? Being a journalist who speaks up for Palestine and against Israel’s genocide and settler-colonial savagery and those who aid and abet it.”