International News Briefs for Wednesday April 2, 2025
HAVANA TIMES – Here are some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
Gaza’s Residents Go Hungry as U.N. Condemns “Ridiculous” Israeli Claims of Enough Food
Apr 02, 2025
In Gaza, Israeli attacks killed at least 41 Palestinians over the past 24 hours as Israel’s military announced a major new ground offensive. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his forces will seize large areas of Gaza for so-called security zones. The announcement came as Palestinians face widespread food insecurity with Israel’s total blockade of the Gaza Strip continuing for a 31st day. On Tuesday, Gaza’s residents were unable to find bread after all of the territory’s bakeries, including 25 run by the World Food Programme, shut down operations.
Halima Al-Kafarna: “I came here before dawn and went to all the bakeries in the area, but they were all closed. So I came back here in front of this bakery, hoping that God will bless us with bread. What can we do? Let them bring us flour and fuel! Why are they preventing us from getting them?”
Hamas said in a statement that Gaza has reached a “famine phase,” calling it “one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history.” An Israeli military agency that coordinates aid deliveries to Gaza wrote on social media Tuesday, “There is enough food for a long period of time, if Hamas lets the civilians have it.” A U.N. spokesperson was asked about that claim.
Edith Lederer: “Israel says there’s still enough food that was delivered to Gaza during the ceasefire. What is the U.N.’s response to that?”
Stéphane Dujarric: “I’m sorry, but as far as the U.N. is concerned, that’s ridiculous. I mean, we are at the tail end of our supplies, of the supplies that came in through the humanitarian — through the humanitarian route. You know, WFP doesn’t close its bakeries for fun. If there’s no flour, if there’s no cooking oil, the bakeries cannot open.”
Elsewhere in Gaza, The Guardian reports some of the bodies of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers killed by Israeli forces and buried in a mass grave last month in Gaza were found with their hands or legs tied and had gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
U.S. Attacks on Yemen Kill 4 as Pentagon Deploys Second Aircraft Carrier to Middle East
Apr 02, 2025
The Trump administration says it will deploy a second aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, to the Middle East amid U.S. airstrikes on Yemen that have killed over 60 people since March 15. Overnight U.S. attacks reportedly killed at least four people in Yemen’s Hodeidah region.
White House Won’t Punish Mike Waltz over Disclosure of Yemen War Plans
Apr 02, 2025
The White House says it is moving on from the scandal in which national security adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly shared plans to attack Yemen over the commercial messaging app Signal with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: “As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team. And this case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned. There have been steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again, and we’re moving forward.”
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports members of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, including Mike Waltz, have conducted government business over personal Gmail accounts, in another apparent violation of security protocols and federal records laws.
Federal Judge Rules Mahmoud Khalil’s Immigration Case Must Continue in New Jersey
Apr 02, 2025
A federal judge has ruled in favor of Mahmoud Khalil, allowing the Palestinian Columbia University student protest leader to challenge his detention and deportation in a New Jersey court. The order is seen as a victory for Khalil, as this is the second time a federal judge has denied the Trump administration’s request to transfer the case to the state of Louisiana, where Khalil has been held at an ICE jail for nearly one month. His legal team continues to fight for his release. In a statement, Khalil’s wife Noor Abdalla said, “This is an important step towards securing Mahmoud’s freedom, but there is still a lot more to be done. As the countdown to our son’s birth begins and I inch closer and closer to my due date, I will continue to strongly advocate for Mahmoud’s freedom and for his safe return home so he can be by my side to welcome our first child.”
Unions Rally in Defense of Immigrants Snatched by Plainclothes ICE Agents
Apr 02, 2025
Image Credit: SEIU local 509
Unions from across the U.S. gathered for peaceful actions Tuesday outside more than 10 ICE jails nationwide, protesting the Trump administration’s targeting of immigrant university students and faculty. The Service Employees International Union condemned the abduction of two of its members, including Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk by masked federal agents in broad daylight earlier this month. Ozturk is a lawful visa holder from Turkey. This is SEIU President April Verrett.
April Verrett: “What we know about Rumeysa, she holds a valid student visa. She also wrote an op-ed for her student newspaper not long ago in support of the Palestinian people, utilizing her First Amendment rights in this country to express her opinion — totally in keeping with the values that this country purports that it stands on, yet being taken away in handcuffs by men in masks and in hoodies. She’s not the only SEIU member, either. We know about our sister Lewelyn, 64 years old, a lab tech in Washington state and member of Local 925. After living in this country 50 years, she’s being detained by ICE.”
Germany to Deport 4 Foreign Residents over Gaza Solidarity Protests
Apr 02, 2025
In Germany, immigration authorities in Berlin are moving forward with the deportation of four young foreign residents over their involvement in Gaza solidarity protests. In a joint investigation, The Intercept and +972 Magazine report the orders are set to take effect in less than a month. Three of the protesters are citizens of the European Union, while none have been convicted of any crimes. Their cases are drawing comparisons to the Trump administration’s use of deportation to target Palestinian rights protesters.
Republicans Win Two Open Florida House Seats, But Democrats Make Gains
Apr 02, 2025
Republicans will hold on to their narrow majority in the House of Representatives after winning a pair of special elections in Florida on Tuesday. In Florida’s 6th Congressional District, Republican state Senator Randy Fine has defeated Democrat and public school teacher Josh Weil to claim the seat vacated when Trump appointed Michael Waltz as national security adviser. Weil dramatically increased Democrats’ share of the vote in a district Trump won by over 30 points last November.
Meanwhile, Republican Jimmy Patronis has defeated Democrat Gay Valimont to win an open seat for Florida’s 1st Congressional District in the Florida Panhandle. Valimont’s share of the vote increased by 10 percentage points over the November election, when she lost to far-right Republican Matt Gaetz, who would later be nominated by Trump as attorney general, only to resign from Congress over a sex trafficking and drugs scandal. Patronis is Florida’s chief financial officer; he previously called for public funds to be used to pay for Trump’s legal defenses in his four criminal cases.
Liberal Judge Susan Crawford Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Election After Record Spending Led by Elon Musk
Apr 02, 2025
Image Credit: Judge Crawford for Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, liberal Judge Susan Crawford defeated Trump-backed candidate Brad Schimel on Tuesday to claim a pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, capping the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history. Crawford’s election will have far-reaching impacts on issues including abortion; voting rights; and congressional redistricting, which could change the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority. Crawford overcame at least $25 million in spending by Elon Musk, who told supporters at a town hall in Green Bay Sunday night that “the entire destiny of humanity” rested on electing Brad Schimel. Crawford spoke to reporters after casting her ballot at a Madison polling station.
Judge Susan Crawford: “The involvement of Elon Musk specifically is something I did feel that I had to comment on, particularly when he started, you know, engaging in shenanigans like paying voters to sign petitions and giving away a million dollars to, you know, obviously preselected people supporting my opponent. I don’t think that’s democratic to — for a billionaire to use his wealth in that way.”
Health and Human Services Department Begins Mass Firing of 10,000 Workers
Apr 02, 2025
The Trump administration fired about 10,000 federal health workers across the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, gutting agencies tasked with protecting the nation’s food and drug supplies and safeguarding public health. The cuts will affect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and several other health agencies. Overnight, entire research divisions and offices were eliminated.
Trump to Announce New Tariffs on Self-Declared “Liberation Day”
Apr 02, 2025
The White House says President Trump will unveil new tariffs on imported goods from a broad range of countries today — a date Trump has called “Liberation Day.” Ahead of Trump’s announcement, Chinese state media reported leaders of Japan and South Korea had agreed to coordinate their response to any new tariffs with Beijing. Trump’s trade war continues to rattle stock markets around the world. Over the weekend, the Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs raised its projected chance of a recession over the next year to 35%, up from its previous estimate of just 20%.
Sen. Cory Booker Sets Record in 25-Hour Speech to Protest Trump’s Policies
Apr 02, 2025
New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker has broken the record for the longest speech ever delivered in the U.S. Senate. Booker’s 25-hour protest of President Trump and his policies surpassed Strom Thurmond’s 1957 filibuster in defense of Jim Crow. Beginning Monday evening and stretching until late Tuesday, Booker repeatedly warned of Trump’s attacks on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; his economic policies; mass deportations; the power of billionaires like Elon Musk; and more.
Sen. Cory Booker: “John Lewis, so many heroes before us would say that this is the time to stand up, to speak up. This is the time to get in some ‘good trouble,’ to get into necessary trouble. I can’t allow this body to continue without doing something different. Speaking out the threats to American people and American democracy are grave and urgent. And we all must do more.”
Trump Admin Freezes Millions of Dollars in Funding to Planned Parenthood Affiliates
Apr 02, 2025
The Trump administration is withholding tens of millions of dollars from nine Planned Parenthood state affiliates that provide contraceptives and other vital reproductive healthcare, predominantly to low-income and people of color. The providers received notices this week stating their Title X funding was being temporarily retained due to “possible violations” of Trump’s policies against diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, efforts. The Department of Health and Human Services has given the providers, which operate dozens of clinics nationwide, including in Indiana and Kentucky, 10 days to comply with Trump’s demands to eliminate DEI initiatives. In a letter, HHS pointed to mission statements and other public documents that highlight the clinics’ “commitment to Black communities” as supposed evidence of their noncompliance.
Federal Judge Blocks Alabama Law Criminalizing Those Who Aid Abortion Access
Apr 02, 2025
Image Credit: Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates East
In a victory for reproductive rights, a federal judge has ruled Alabama cannot criminally prosecute individuals or healthcare providers who help pregnant people to travel out of state to obtain abortions. Alabama has a total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Supreme Court to Hear Case on South Carolina’s Efforts to Defund Planned Parenthood
Apr 02, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments today in a case brought by South Carolina that seeks to expel Planned Parenthood clinics from its state Medicaid program — though states are largely already prohibited from using Medicaid funds to provide abortions. Planned Parenthood says the move violates the Medicaid Act’s “free choice of provider” provision.
In more related news, the Trump administration is gutting U.S. aid for reproductive health and family planning programs in dozens of Global South nations. The move is expected to impact some 50 million women, who will be cut off from contraceptive access.
Feds Seek Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione over Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO
Apr 02, 2025
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi made the announcement Tuesday, describing Thompson’s killing as “an act of political violence.” Mangione’s lawyer said in a statement, “The Justice Department has moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric.” Upon his return to office, President Trump vowed to resume federal executions after they were halted by the Biden administration.