HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
Trump Denies U.S. Responsibility for Bombing of Girls’ School That Killed 175 in Iran
Mar 10, 2026
As financial markets were tanking, President Trump told CBS News on Monday that the Iran war is “very complete, pretty much,” just before U.S. markets closed. But later in the day, Trump continued to send mixed messages about the war. In a speech to Republican lawmakers in Doral, Florida, President Trump vowed to keep striking Iran’s leadership.
President Donald Trump: “We had leaders, and they’re gone. Then we had new leaders, and they’re gone. And now nobody has any idea who the people are that are going to be the head of the country. And we’ll not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.”
Even later at a news conference, President Trump was asked about the U.S. strike on a girls’ school that killed 175 people, most of them children.
Shawn McCreesh: “Mr. President, you just suggested that Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war, but you’re the only person in your government saying this. Even your defense secretary wouldn’t say that when he was asked standing over your shoulder on your plane on Saturday. Why are you the only person saying this?”
President Donald Trump: “Because I just don’t know enough about it. I think it’s something that I was told is under investigation. But Tomahawks are used by others, as you know. Numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us. But I will certainly — whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report.”
On Saturday, President Trump said he told Kurdish forces not to enter the Iran war. That’s despite reports that the CIA had been working to arm Kurdish forces to instigate an uprising within Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said his country was prepared to continue missile attacks across the region for as long as necessary, and he ruled out talks with the U.S. to end the war.
Meanwhile, residents of Tehran report toxic air, soot covering streets and cars, and balconies filled with black gunk, after Israeli strikes hit the city’s oil depots on Sunday. In interviews with The Guardian and NBC News, sources from inside Iran report they woke up with pain in their throats and burning eyes due to the environmental disaster. The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Damage to petroleum facilities in Iran risks contaminating food, water and air — hazards that can have severe health impacts especially on children, older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions.”
Huge Crowds Rally in Tehran to Support New Supreme Leader and Oppose U.S.-Israeli Assault
Mar 10, 2026
In Tehran, hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied in support of the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated by U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28. Iran says the war has killed more than 1,255 people and injured about 10,000. CCTV footage captured a U.S.-Israeli strike near a boys’ school on Sunday. According to Iranian state media, a boy, Mahyar Zanganeh, was killed in the strike. On Monday, mourners gathered in Tehran for the funerals for the victims of Israeli and U.S. strikes.
Mourner: “If a ceasefire happens, the blood of our martyrs is wasted. And in my view, a ceasefire means disrespect to all these martyrs. And honestly, it must be continued until the end.”
In Australia, five Iranian women soccer players were granted humanitarian visas after they had sought asylum. Iranian state television had branded the women as “wartime traitors” for refusing to sing Iran’s national anthem.
State Department Orders U.S. Diplomats to Leave Saudi Arabia as Iran Strikes Gulf Neighbors
Mar 10, 2026
Iran fired drones toward Saudi Arabia and Kuwait early Tuesday. The Saudi Defense Ministry said it has destroyed drones over the country’s oil-rich eastern region, while in Kuwait the National Guard said it shot some drones down in the county’s northern and southern areas. This is Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah: “Our country has been subjected to a brutal attack by a neighboring Muslim country that we consider a friend, even though we have not permitted the use of our land, airspace or coasts for any military action against it. We’ve repeatedly informed them of this through our diplomatic channels.”
It comes as the U.S. State Department ordered American employees of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia to leave the country. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham questioned whether the United States should continue honoring its defense agreement with Saudi Arabia, because the kingdom has so far refused to join U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran. In Bahrain, an air defense interceptor fell into a residential neighborhood, injuring 32 civilians, including four who are in critical condition. In Turkey, NATO air defenses shot down a second Iranian ballistic missile that entered the country’s airspace.
U.N. Warns Israel’s Assault on Lebanon Has Displaced 700,000 People
Mar 10, 2026
In Lebanon, the United Nations warns nearly 700,000 people, including 200,000 children, have been forced to flee their homes over the past week as Israel continues to bombard Lebanon. Lebanese authorities say nearly 500 people have been killed, with the death toll rising by around 100 a day. On Monday, Israeli airstrikes hit five branches of a financial institution run by Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Oil Prices Fall After Soaring to Nearly $120 a Barrel as Trump Sends Mixed Messages on Iran War
Mar 10, 2026
Oil prices fell Monday from near-record highs of roughly $120 a barrel, after President Trump suggested in an interview with CBS News that the war in Iran could end very soon. Trump also called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss the war; soon after the call, Trump said that the U.S. would ease some oil sanctions. This comes after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would temporarily allow Russian oil sales to India — just weeks after India agreed to stop buying Russian fuel in exchange for a U.S. trade deal. Putin has said that Russia is ready to supply oil and gas to Europe, as the war on Iran has halted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz while seeing major damage to oil fields and refineries across the Middle East. Europe had largely stopped purchasing oil from Russia to stop funding its war on Ukraine.
Ukraine Sends Drone Experts to Counter Iranian Attacks Across Mideast
Mar 10, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country has sent drone experts to help protect U.S. bases in Jordan, with 11 countries asking Ukraine for assistance in countering Iranian strikes. Since September 2024, Ukraine has faced near-daily attacks from Shahed drones originally designed in Iran; the technology was later transferred to Russia. Writing on X, Zelensky also accused Russia of turning Iran’s strikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East into “a second front of Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
FBI Requests Arizona Voting Records Related to Joe Biden’s 2020 Election Victory
Mar 10, 2026
The FBI has subpoenaed records from a partisan review of more than 2 million ballots cast in the 2020 election in Arizona’s Maricopa County, expanding President Trump’s wide-ranging investigations into his election loss to Joe Biden. The request for records is related to a 2021 audit of the 2020 election carried out by the Republican-dominated Arizona state Senate, which, despite the partisan nature of the review, confirmed Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona. This follows the FBI’s raid of the election office in Georgia’s Fulton County in January, when federal agents seized 700 boxes of ballots. Meanwhile, President Trump said on Sunday he will not sign any more legislation until Congress passes the Republican-backed SAVE America Act, which would require voters to show passports or birth certificates to register to vote or update their voter registration information. The bill also effectively eliminates online and mail voter registration.
New Mexico Investigators Search Epstein’s Former Ranch After Reopening Probe Closed in 2019
Mar 10, 2026
In New Mexico, state investigators on Monday descended on a ranch formerly owned by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein where survivors say they were abused and trafficked. The search of Epstein’s Zorro Ranch came after New Mexico’s attorney general last month reopened an investigation into the property, which was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors.
FBI Releases Previously Withheld Documents from Epstein Files Alleging Sexual Assault by Trump
Mar 10, 2026
The Justice Department has released three FBI interview summaries relating to Donald Trump that it previously withheld from public release in another apparent violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Justice Department officials said the documents missing from the initial release were mistakenly coded as duplicates, but did not explain why only the three interviews that named Trump were excluded. The summaries describe interviews with a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump in the 1980s when she was between 13 and 15 years old, after she was introduced to Trump by Jeffrey Epstein.
Video Refutes ICE Claim That Ruben Ray Martinez “Ran Over” Federal Agent Before Fatal Shooting
Mar 10, 2026
In Texas, newly released body-camera and surveillance footage casts doubt on an ICE official’s claims about the killing of Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who was fatally shot by a federal agent in South Padre Island as he was driving his car. The video released Friday by the Texas Department of Public Safety appears to contradict the ICE spokesperson’s claims that Martinez “intentionally ran over” a federal officer before another agent fired three times. The video shows Martinez was given conflicting instructions by officers from multiple agencies as he drove his car — very slowly — near the scene of a previous car accident. The footage does not show Martinez rapidly accelerating or appearing to run over a federal agent. The officer who killed Martinez has been identified as Homeland Security Investigations agent Jack Stevens. Last week, a Texas grand jury declined to indict Stevens in the killing of Martinez.
Teen Mariachi Musicians Released wIth Family from ICE Jail After Lawmakers Intervene
Mar 10, 2026
In more immigration news, a family from McAllen, Texas, that includes two teenage brothers who’ve won awards for their mariachi music, has been freed from immigration detention, after a delegation of Texas Democratic lawmakers pressed for their release. Eighteen-year-old Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar walked free from the El Valle Detention Center in Raymondville on Monday, and later in the day, his brothers, 14-year-old Caleb and 12-year-old Joshua, were released along with their parents from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. The family was detained on February 25 following a routine check-in with immigration officials. They entered the U.S. in May 2023 and had followed the Biden-era process of applying for asylum. Among the lawmakers who pressed for their release was Texas Democratic Congressmember Joaquin Castro.
Rep. Joaquin Castro: “These were upstanding folks who were following the law. They were — again, at the invitation of their congresswoman, those young men performed their mariachi music at the U.S. Capitol. And now they’ve been sitting here in this trailer prison, and we’re waiting for them to be released so that we can help them get home.”
Two Men Charged with Terrorism for Allegedly Throwing Bombs Outside NYC Mayor Mamdani’s Residence
Mar 10, 2026
Here in New York, federal prosecutors have charged two men with terrorism after they allegedly threw two homemade bombs during a protest outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s residence on Saturday. Neither device detonated, and no one was injured. According to a criminal complaint, 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi made statements in which they said that ISIS had motivated their actions and that they sought to cause more damage than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Their arrests came as counterprotesters outside Gracie Mansion clashed with supporters of white supremacist Jake Lang, a January 6 rioter pardoned by Trump infamous for organizing anti-Islam demonstrations across the U.S. In a statement, Mayor Mamdani wrote, “Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are. What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable.”
Judge Rules Kari Lake Unlawfully Led U.S. Agency for Global Media, Voids Cuts and Layoffs
Mar 10, 2026
A federal judge has ruled that Kari Lake unlawfully served as head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media for several months last year, ordering the federal agency to reverse cuts to programs and over 1,000 layoffs carried out under her direction. Lake was appointed by President Trump without Senate confirmation in early 2025 to lead the independent federal agency, which oversees the Voice of America and helps fund Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other state-sponsored U.S. news agencies. Under her watch, the agency fired all contractors, laid off most full-time staffers and replaced original reporting with the far-right TV network One America News Network. She also attempted to fire Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz, though a federal judge last August ordered his reinstatement.
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