HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Thursday, February 26, 2026.
U.S. and Iran Hold Indirect Talks Over Iran’s Nuclear Program Amid Trump’s Threats to Attack
Feb 26, 2026
U.S. and Iranian negotiators have begun indirect negotiations in Geneva over Iran’s nuclear program after President Trump ordered the largest deployment of U.S. forces to the Middle East since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Ahead of the talks, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on 30 individuals accused of enabling Iran’s oil sales and weapons production. This comes as Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, is claiming that Iran has enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb within days, but several nuclear experts say that Iran’s nuclear program hasn’t advanced since U.S. and Israeli military strikes last June. This is Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Abbas Araghchi: “We were negotiating last June, when Israel attacked us, and then the U.S. joined that attack. So that memory is still fresh for us. The wounds of that aggression is still alive in our minds. So we cannot forget that once we were negotiating with the U.S., and then they decided to attack us.”
Meanwhile, independent journalist Aida Chavez is reporting that Democratic lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are trying to prevent a vote on an Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Congressmembers Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie. The bill would require every member of Congress to go on the record about a potential U.S. war with Iran.
Cuba Says Border Guards Fired on Heavily Armed Exiles in US-Registered Speedboat, Killing 4
Feb 26, 2026
Four Cuban exiles were killed Wednesday in a shootout between Cuban border guards and a U.S. speedboat carrying 10 Cuban exiles. According to the Cuban government, the men on the Florida-registered speedboat opened fire when Cuban forces approached the boat for an inspection off the northeast coast of Cuba. The Cuban guards then fired back, killing four of the men. Six others were injured and are now being held in Cuba. The Cuban government says the men were attempting to carry out “an infiltration with terrorist ends.” Cuban media report the men were carrying weapons, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof jackets and camouflage gear.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would investigate what happened. Rubio was speaking at a gathering of Caribbean leaders, who expressed alarm over the growing humanitarian crisis in Cuba due to a U.S. oil blockade that has cut off the island from desperately needed fuel. On Wednesday, two Mexican navy ships departed from Veracruz with over 1,000 tons of humanitarian aid for Cuba. Russian officials say they’re discussing the possibility of providing fuel to Cuba, and on Wednesday Canada became the latest country to pledge food aid to Cuba. We’ll have more on this story after headlines with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, who’s helping organize a humanitarian solidarity mission Cuba next month; she’s just back from the island.
Aid Groups Appeal to Israeli Supreme Court to Overturn Ban on Humanitarian Operations
Feb 26, 2026
Dozens of international aid organizations have made a final appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court to prevent a de facto ban on their operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, set to take effect in early March. The 37 international groups — including Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders — collectively provide more than half of all food assistance in Gaza; operate the majority of field hospitals; and run all inpatient treatment for children suffering severe acute malnutrition.
This comes amid a surge of violence by Israeli soldiers and settlers targeting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. On Tuesday night, settlers set fire to vehicles and tents in the Palestinian village of Susya. This is resident Ahmed al-Nawajeh.
Ahmed al-Nawajeh: “We were shocked when around 30 settlers arrived. They were carrying incendiary materials and burned this tent and that one. They burned the chicken coop. They burned all the furniture; they left nothing.”
State Department Offers Consular Services in Illegal Israeli West Bank Settlements
Feb 26, 2026
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem says it will offer passport and consular services to U.S. citizens in two Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. It’s the first time the State Department has offered such services, a move the Palestinian Authority condemned as a “clear violation of international law and a blatant favoring of the occupation authorities.”
NYT: Documents Related to Trump Accuser are Missing from DOJ’s Release of Epstein Files
Feb 26, 2026
Image Credit: Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
A New York Times review finds key documents related to a woman who accused Donald Trump of assaulting her when she was a minor are missing from the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files. The missing documents are comprised of FBI memos summarizing interviews the agency conducted with the woman in 2019. She spoke to the FBI after Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and claimed that she had been sexually assaulted by both Trump and Epstein in the 1980s when she was just 13 years old. The Times notes that, according to the index of the Epstein files, the FBI conducted four interviews with the woman and provided summaries of each interview, but only one of the summaries, which details her accusation against Epstein, was released by the Justice Department.
Larry Summers to Resign as Harvard Professor Over Epstein Ties
Feb 26, 2026
On Wednesday, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said he will resign as a professor at Harvard University at the end of the semester over his ties to Epstein. Summers had previously served as president of Harvard. He had been on leave since last November after the Harvard Crimson student newspaper detailed how Summers had asked Epstein for relationship advice — how to have an affair with a person he was mentoring.
Meanwhile, Bob Kerrey, the former Democratic senator from Nebraska, resigned from his role as chairman of the company Monolith over his ties to Epstein.
Nobel laureate Richard Axel also announced his resignation as co-director of Columbia University’s neuroscience institute over his association with Epstein.
The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Børge Brende, said he was resigning after the forum launched an independent investigation into his relationship with Epstein.
Meanwhile, Bill Gates has apologized to staff of the Gates Foundation over his ties to Epstein. Gates also acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered. According to a recording obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Gates admitted that he first met with Epstein in 2011, years after Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Federal Judge Rules Trump Admin’s Policy of Deporting Immigrants to “Third Countries” Unlawful
Feb 26, 2026
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s policy of deporting immigrants to “third countries” to which they have no ties is unlawful. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said that immigrants challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s policy have the right to “meaningful notice” and can object before they are deported to a third country.
Blind Rohingya Refugee Found Dead After Being Abandoned by Border Patrol
Feb 26, 2026
In Buffalo, New York, a disabled Rohingya refugee from Burma has been found dead after he was abandoned by Border Patrol agents about five miles from his home. Fifty-six-year-old Nurul Amin Shah Alam was mostly blind and spoke no English; his family told reporters no one at the Department of Homeland Security warned them — or his lawyers — that he’d been released from jail and dropped off alone outside a coffee shop on a cold winter night.
Congressmember Omar Demands Probe Into the Arrest of Her Guest Aliya Rahman at the State of the Union
Feb 26, 2026
Minnesota Congressmember Ilhan Omar is demanding an investigation into the arrest of her guest at the State of the Union Tuesday night. Aliya Rahman was removed from the House chamber and jailed — all for standing silently during President Trump’s speech. She described what happened on Democracy Now!
Aliya Rahman: “I was not just removed and arrested. I was arrested so physically that two other attendees upstairs attempted to intervene in officers pulling on my shoulders after I told them I have a torn rotator cuff tendon and multiple cartilage tears in both of my shoulders.”
In a statement, Minneapolis Congressmember Ilhan Omar wrote, “The heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy.” Rahman is a U.S. citizen. Last month, federal immigration agents smashed her car window and dragged her out of her car in Minneapolis. She is autistic and reportedly told them that she was disabled. She was detained at the Whipple Federal Building and later released without char
Trump Administration Freezes Medicaid Reimbursements to Minnesota
Feb 26, 2026
The Trump administration announced Wednesday it’s freezing more than a quarter‑billion dollars in Medicaid reimbursements to the state of Minnesota. In announcing the move, Vice President J.D. Vance cited a fraud scandal that’s been linked to a handful of Somali‑Americans in Minneapolis. Nearly 1.3 million people in Minnesota receive some form of Medicaid coverage — about a quarter of all state residents. In a statement, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz condemned the Trump administration’s actions, writing, “The agents Trump allegedly sent to investigate fraud are shooting protesters and arresting children. His DOJ is gutting the U.S. attorney’s office and crippling their ability to prosecute fraud. And every week Trump pardons another fraudster.”
Senate Democrats Grill Trump’s Nominee for Surgeon General Over Her Position on Vaccines
Feb 26, 2026
President Trump’s nominee to become the next U.S. surgeon general appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday, where she declined to encourage parents to have their kids vaccinated against measles and influenza. Casey Means is a wellness influencer, author and entrepreneur. She and her brother, Calley Means, are key figures in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement and were advisers to Health Secretary RFK Jr. during his 2024 presidential campaign. Casey Means has a medical degree from Stanford University but did not complete her surgical residency and allowed her medical license to expire in 2024. Under questioning from Sen. Tim Kaine, Means repeatedly refused to state whether she agreed with RFK Jr. that there is “no evidence” flu vaccines prevent serious disease.
bq. Sen. Tim Kaine: “There is a mountain of evidence about this. Do you believe that there’s no evidence that there’s – the flu vaccine has efficacy in reducing serious injury or hospitalization?”
bq. Casey Means: “I– I– I wanna be careful with–”
bq. Sen. Tim Kaine: “This is an easy one, doctor. This is an easy one.”
bq. Casey Means: “I support the CDC’s guidance on the flu vaccine, and I will always be working with the CDC ACIP and the–”
bq. Sen. Tim Kaine: “So you believe it it is an efficacious vaccine to reduce hospitalization and–”
bq. Casey Means: “Is or is not?”
bq. Sen. Tim Kaine: “Is. You believe it is?”
bq. Casey Means: “As I said I support the CDC’s guidance on the flu vaccine.”
Anthropic Drops Safety Pledge as Hegseth Demands Pentagon Access to AI Models
Feb 26, 2026
The artificial intelligence company Anthropic is dropping its core safety pledge in scaling its AI models. The company’s reversal comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an ultimatum to Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, to grant the Pentagon full access to the company’s AI models by Friday. Hegseth reportedly threatened to cancel a $200 million Pentagon contract and to declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk” — and even said he might invoke the Defense Production Act to force the company to tailor its AI models for military use. Amodei had previously warned against the use of artificial intelligence to help the U.S. government conduct mass surveillance and develop autonomous weapons. This comes as NBC News reports that in December, Anthropic agreed to allow the U.S. government to use its AI systems for missile and cyber defense purposes.
Brazil’s Supreme Court Sentences Five Men to Prison for Marielle Franco Murder
Feb 26, 2026
Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced five men to prison terms after convicting them of plotting the 2018 assassination of Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes. Among those found guilty were former Congressmember Chiquinho Brazao and his brother, Domingos. Marielle Franco was a Black lesbian known for her fierce criticism of police killings in Brazil’s impoverished favela neighborhoods. On Wednesday, her widow, Monica Benicio, celebrated the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling.
Monica Benicio: “Marielle becomes a symbol, but because society has made her so. Because it believes this country can be much better than it is now. Justice for Marielle is not a slogan; it’s a life task. It’s the fight for building a society where people like Marielle and Anderson can live, flourish, and never be murdered for being who they are. And that’s the message we leave here today, written in the history of Brazilian democracy.”
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