International
Trump’s proposal for Gaza is “steroid imperialism,” according to UN rapporteur
The UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, condemned on Wednesday as “steroid imperialism” President Donald Trump’s proposal to expel the Palestinians from Gaza and called it “illegal and immoral madness” that will make the situation “even more draconian” and “coverturn” the system of international law.
In a meeting with a group of journalists in the Dutch city of The Hague, including EFE, Albanese warned that Trump’s proposal is “grotesque and insulting.”
And he does, he added, that “suddenly, something that the Palestinians have experienced for decades, is no longer just an Israeli policy that has led to catastrophic results and international crimes.”
Trump proposes that the US take and rebuild Gaza as a real estate project under the name of the “Middle East River”, expelling Gazans to neighboring states such as Jordan and Egypt.
“What authority does the United States have for this? Let’s go back to what’s really happening: this is steroid imperialism (…) It’s not new, but it’s now completely exposed. It’s crazy, but it’s also illegal, it’s immoral. And it arrives in the middle of genocide. It is irresponsible, and will not bring stability to the region,” he warned.
The Italian lawyer said she was “very concerned about the legal implications of what Trump is saying” because “what he has said includes deportation, forced displacement, aggression” which, according to her, “will become the foreign policy of the United States from now on.”
Trump announced his plan for Gaza, Albanese said, while he was with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is “seeked and arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity” for the war in Gaza.
“When the president of the United States, instead of condemning him, moving away, embraces him… So, what do we have left? The implications in Gaza for the Palestinians will continue to be tragic,” he lamented.
Gaza is “part of the territory occupied” by Israel and is “part of the territorial unity of the State where there is international consensus that the Palestinians have an exclusive right over their land,” he said.
In this sense, he assured that the two-state solution for Palestine and Israel has been an “opportunity” for the latter to “distract attention from the continuous annexation of Palestinian lands (…) by taking land, displacing people to its extreme consequences.”
“What is happening to the Palestinians is not only an announced tragedy, but it is the result of impunity. And it will continue to be. The system is collapsing in our hands, and living in a world without laws, where force makes law, is not going to protect any of us,” he warned.
Albanese is visiting the Netherlands this week, where he is giving speeches and participating in round tables. However, both the government and the country’s parliament rejected a formal meeting with her because of their criticisms of Israel, but several deputies will receive it informally.
In this sense, he regretted that representatives of the Netherlands “do not want to listen to a lawyer, an expert in international law, who has been appointed by the UN, while listening to pro-Israeli organizations that are financed by who knows who.”
Albanese explained that “there are a small number of States that have broken the chains of control,” while other countries are “waiting to see where the wind blows” and others “are becoming even more accomplices of this lack of legality.”
“I think that, ultimately, this is also an opportunity for us in the West to do better. To take the opportunity to demonstrate that we can be fairer without giving lessons to others about human rights,” he said.
And he concluded: “The genocide is not only the concentration camps: it is the lack of food and medical care, health conditions, induced famine.”
International
Trump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
President Donald Trump issued an executive order this Monday for the immediate construction of two new warships that will bear his name. These vessels will be the pioneers of what he described as the “Golden Fleet,” a future generation of “Trump-class” battleships that he claimed would be “100 times more powerful” than those currently in service.
The announcement took place at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The President indicated that following the initial two ships, the administration aims to commission up to 25 additional vessels. He is scheduled to meet with Florida-based contractors next week to expedite production, criticizing existing defense firms for failing to deliver results efficiently.
This naval expansion is a cornerstone of Trump’s goal to revitalized the American shipbuilding industry and address the strategic gap between the U.S. and competitors like China.
The move comes amid heightened geopolitical tension. Just last week, Trump ordered the seizure of all sanctioned tankers involved with Venezuela’s “ghost fleet” to cripple the country’s crude oil industry. Since December 10, the U.S. military—deployed in the Caribbean under the guise of counter-narcotics operations—has already detained two tankers linked to Venezuelan oil transport.
International
U.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Re-detaining Salvadoran Erroneously Deported Under Trump Administration
A U.S. federal judge ruled this Monday, December 22, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is prohibited from re-detaining Salvadoran national Kilmar Ábrego García, who was erroneously deported to El Salvador earlier this year during the administration of President Donald Trump.
During a hearing in Maryland, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Ábrego García must remain free on bail through the Christmas holidays, concluding that his initial detention lacked a legal basis. The ruling follows a request from his legal team for a temporary restraining order to prevent ICE from carrying out a new arrest.
Earlier this month, on December 11, Judge Xinis ordered his release from a Pennsylvania migrant detention center after determining that the government had detained him without a formal deportation order. In 2019, an immigration judge had already ruled that Ábrego could not be returned to El Salvador because his life was in danger.
Despite that protection, Ábrego García was deported in March 2025 following a raid by the Trump administration. Officials argued at the time that he was a gang member, and he was sent directly to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) in El Salvador. In June, he was returned to the United States to face a new trial for alleged human smuggling—a charge he denies.
On Monday, Judge Xinis also temporarily invalidated a new deportation order issued by an immigration judge following Ábrego’s recent release, granting him legal protection through the coming weeks. His trial is scheduled to begin in Tennessee in January 2026.
International
Fire at substation triggers major blackout in San Francisco
The U.S. city of San Francisco was plunged into darkness Saturday night after a power outage left about 130,000 customers without electricity, although the utility company said service was restored to most users within hours.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) said in a statement posted on X that nearly 90,000 homes had their power restored by 9:00 p.m. local time (05:00 GMT on Sunday), while the remaining 40,000 customers were expected to have service restored overnight.
Large areas of the city, a major technology hub with a population of around 800,000, were affected by the blackout, which disrupted public transportation and left traffic lights out of service during the busy weekend before Christmas, a crucial period for retail businesses.
“I know it’s been a difficult day,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a video posted on social media from the city’s emergency operations center. “There has been progress, but for those still without power, we want to make sure they are safe and checking in on their neighbors,” he added.
Lurie said police officers and firefighters advised residents to stay home as much as possible. He also noted that officers and traffic inspectors were deployed to manage intersections where traffic lights were not functioning.
The mayor confirmed that the outage was caused by a fire at an electrical substation. Parts of the city were also covered in fog, further complicating conditions during the incident.
As a result of the blackout, many businesses were forced to close despite it being the weekend before Christmas. The sudden drop in shopper traffic ahead of the holiday is “devastating” for retailers, the manager of home goods store Black & Gold told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Trump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
U.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Re-detaining Salvadoran Erroneously Deported Under Trump Administration
Fire at substation triggers major blackout in San Francisco
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