International News Briefs for Tuesday, July 15, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – Here are some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.
SCOTUS Greenlights Dismantling of Education Department, “Unleashing Untold Harm”
Jul 15, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Trump to dismantle the Education Department without congressional approval. The unsigned ruling paves the way for Trump to lay off 1,400 workers at the agency. The court’s three liberal judges dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision will “unleash untold harm, delaying or denying educational opportunities and leaving students to suffer from discrimination, sexual assault, and other civil rights violations without the federal resources Congress intended.” She went on to write, “The majority is either willfully blind to the implications of its ruling or naive, but either way the threat to our Constitution’s separation of powers is grave.”
24 States and D.C. Sue Trump Admin over $7 Billion in Frozen Education Funds
Jul 15, 2025
In other education news, 24 states and the District of Columbia have sued the Trump administration for freezing nearly $7 billion in previously approved education grants. Part of the funding would have helped schools offer free or low-cost after-school programs and help train and retain teachers.
WaPo: Trump Admin Denies Bond Hearings to Immigrants Who Entered Without Approval
Jul 15, 2025
The Washington Post is reporting the Trump administration is revoking access to bond hearings for people who entered the U.S. through non-approved channels, ordering officers to detain them for the length of their removal proceedings — a process which can take months or even years. The rule will apply to people who’ve recently entered the U.S., as well as those who have been here already for decades. Immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick asserted the policy is based on faulty interpretation of existing law, warning, “If immigration judges begin to adopt this interpretation nationwide … it will mean even less due process. It will mean more people flown around the country and jailed far from lawyers, loved ones, and hope. And that’s the goal.” Trump’s massive tax and spending package allocates $45 billion to expand immigrant prisons and is set to nearly double ICE’s current detention capacity, locking up some 100,000 people a day.
Trump Admin to Ramp Up Transfer of Immigrants to Third Countries Without Due Process
Jul 15, 2025
In more immigration news, an ICE memo confirms the Trump administration plans to deport more immigrants to third countries where they have no ties. The plan could see people forcibly transferred with as little as six hours’ notice to countries that have not provided assurances that they will be safe from persecution or torture. People being sent to countries where diplomats have offered assurances of safety could be removed with no advance notice.
Court Delays Termination of TPS for 12,000 Afghan as Both Sides Asked to Submit Arguments
Jul 15, 2025
In other immigration news, an appeals court on Monday briefly extended temporary protected status, or TPS, for some 12,000 Afghan nationals living in the U.S., just hours before it was set to expire. Both the Trump administration and plaintiffs have been asked to submit briefs this week.
U.N. Warns “Lifelines Will Vanish” for Entire Gaza Population Without Immediate Access to Fuel
Jul 15, 2025
The United Nations Development Programme has issued a dire plea for Israel to allow more fuel into Gaza. In a statement, the agency said, “Without fuel, the lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency UNRWA said today one in 10 children in Gaza seen at U.N. clinics since 2024 have been malnourished and that malnutrition rates are growing amid Israel’s siege.
This all comes as Israel continues to launch attacks across Gaza, including targeting a tent housing a displaced family in Khan Younis. Belal Al-Adlouny described how the attack killed much of his brother’s family.
Belal Al-Adlouny: “They were martyred inside their tent. Hossam was staying there with his wife and children. They targeted the tent. No one survived, except his eldest son Mohammad, who was outside filling water near the tent. The rest were martyred. Hossam was martyred, as well as his eight-month-pregnant wife Soaad, his 14-year-old son Abdel Rahman and his daughters Fayrouz and Shahd.”
“Like a Video Game”: Israeli Forces Targeting Forcibly Evacuated Palestinians with Drones
Jul 15, 2025
In other news from Gaza, the news outlet +972 has revealed Israel is increasingly using grenade-firing drones to enforce evacuation orders. Israeli soldiers admitted to +972 that they deliberately targeted civilians so others will “learn” not to return to their homes. One soldier said using drones to target Palestinians was “like a video game.”
Israel Strikes Syria as Ceasefire Is Announced in Suwayda Province
Jul 15, 2025
In news from Syria, a ceasefire has been declared in the southern province of Suwayda, where fighting between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed groups killed as many as 100. On Monday, Israel launched airstrikes on Syrian forces being sent into the region. Under the pretext of protecting the Druze, Israel has repeatedly bombed Syria in recent months.
Topics:
Israel Bombs Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley in Ongoing Ceasefire Violation
Jul 15, 2025
On Monday, Israel bombed areas of the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. Israel targeted what it claimed to be Hezbollah training camps.
Trump Announces Plan to Send Arms to Ukraine via NATO Amid Growing Ire with Putin
Jul 15, 2025
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, President Trump formally announced plans to send billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Ukraine, including Patriot missiles. Trump said the U.S. would sell the missiles and weapons to NATO members, which would then send them to Ukraine.
Trump also threatened new sanctions and tariffs against Russia if it did not agree to a peace deal.
President Donald Trump: “But we’re very, very unhappy with them, and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100%. You’d call them secondary tariffs. You know what that means. But today we’re going to talk about something else. And as you know, we’ve spent $350 billion approximately on this war with Russia and Ukraine, and we’d like to see it end.”
Sudan’s RSF Accused of Killing 300 People, Burning Villages Amid Ongoing Civil War
Jul 15, 2025
In Sudan, a human rights group is accusing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of killing some 300 people, including children and pregnant women, when they raided and burned villages in the state of North Kordofan over the weekend. The devastating conflict in Sudan has displaced 13 million people and killed at least 40,000 people, though some estimates put that number at more than 150,000. Earlier this year, the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate said over half a million infants have died in Sudan due to malnutrition since the war broke out in April 2023.
Pam Bondi Fires DOJ’s Top Ethics Lawyer and 20 Staffers in Political Purge
Jul 15, 2025
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday fired the Justice Department’s top ethics lawyer, as well as at least 20 other Justice Department staffers that were linked to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump. Joseph Tirrell had been at the Department for 16 years and oversaw the ethics staff. He said he was not given a reason for his removal. Tirrell was tasked with advising Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and other top officials on conflicts of interest, disclosures and gifts.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports 69 lawyers, or roughly two-thirds of the Justice Department unit charged with defending Trump administration policies in court, have quit. Some lawyers told Reuters they could not go ahead with defending policies that were not “legally justifiable.”
Elon Musk’s xAI Gets $200M Contract with Pentagon
Jul 15, 2025
The Pentagon has announced multimillion-dollar contracts with a number of AI companies, including a $200 million contract with Elon Musk’s xAI. The deal comes just days after Musk’s chatbot Grok unleashed antisemitic rants praising Hitler.
Activists in NY, CA, CO and WA Protest Palantir’s Role in Fueling ICE, Gaza Genocide
Jul 15, 2025
On Monday, activists gathered to protest in front of Palantir offices in multiple cities, including Seattle, Palo Alto, Denver and here in New York. NYPD arrested six people as demonstrators called out the tech giant for “turbocharging ICE deportations, complicity in the genocide of Palestinians, and expanding surveillance of every U.S. resident.” In Denver, former Palantir employee Juan Sebastián Pinto addressed a crowd in front of the company’s Colorado headquarters.
Juan Sebastián Pinto: “Francesca Albanese, an incredible representative for human rights at the U.N., an independent observer, who recently released a report accusing multiple American companies of participating in the prolongation of genocide in Palestine for profit. Now they are turning inwards. These are companies like — not only like Palantir, but IBM and Google, Meta” —
Audience member: “Cisco.”
Juan Sebastián Pinto: “Cisco.”
Audience member: “Amazon.”
Juan Sebastián Pinto: “Amazon, all of them contributing to creating these enormous dragnets that allow people to be targeted for their personal data, for their family connections, for their beliefs, in ways they don’t even understand. And they’re bringing these same kinds of targeting technologies here to America.”
We’ll hear voices from the New York City Palantir protest later in the broadcast.
“Largest Transfer of Wealth Since Slavery”: Faith Leaders, Community Members Protest Trump Budget
Jul 15, 2025
Image Credit: X/@RevDrBarber
On Monday, faith leaders including Bishop William Barber led demonstrations in 11 southern states to protest President Trump’s so-called big, beautiful budget. Protesters carried caskets to the local offices of Republican lawmakers to represent the tens of thousands of people who could die as a result of the bill’s cuts to Medicaid and other programs. Bishop Barber spoke in Memphis.
bq. Bishop William Barber II: “This is the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich since chattel slavery. … This slashing of services is going to cause economic insecurity and preventable deaths.”
NYT: UnitedHealth Systematically Silencing Critics After CEO Killing
Jul 15, 2025
Image Credit: Steven Garcia via Reuters Connect
The New York Times has revealed that UnitedHealth has launched an aggressive campaign to silence critics following the assassination of its chief executive, Brian Thompson, last year. In recent months, the health insurance company has targeted news outlets, journalists, a filmmaker, a doctor and others. In one instance, Amazon and Vimeo removed a documentary critical of the health insurance industry. UnitedHealth also reportedly threatened legal action against a Texas doctor who posted a TikTok video describing how she had to interrupt a surgery to take a call from the company about the patient’s insurance coverage.
Cuomo Announces Third-Party Run for NYC Mayor After Crushing Primary Defeat by Zohran Mamdani
Jul 15, 2025
Disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has formally announced he will run for mayor on a third-party ticket after losing to Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary. Mamdani, who is a Democratic Socialist, shocked the political establishment by receiving more votes than any other mayoral candidate in New York City primary election history. On Monday, Zohran Mamdani posted a link seeking donations under Cuomo’s announcement on X. Mamdani’s post quickly outpaced the number of likes and reshares on Cuomo’s original post. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams is also running in November as an independent in what could be a five-way race.