Headlines October 3, 2025 from Democracy Now!

In California, a massive explosion tore through a Chevron oil refinery in the Los Angeles suburb of El Segundo Thursday evening, sparking a fire that burned through the night and could be seen from miles away. The explosion occurred around 9:30 p.m. and prompted shelter-in-place orders until 2 a.m. No injuries have been reported. This comes as the Trump administration has moved to shut down the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an independent federal agency tasked with uncovering the causes of industrial disasters.

The Trump administration is asking nine public and private universities to sign a deal to help promote conservative ideas on campus in exchange for federal funding. The administration is calling it a 10-point “compact” and promised “substantial and meaningful federal grants” if universities take action against academic departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”

The Trump administration is also demanding that the universities ban the use of race or sex in hiring or admissions and cap foreign students to 15% of undergraduates. Walt Heinecke, a faculty member at the University of Virginia, one of the universities targeted by the Trump administration, warned that the memo threatens academic freedom.

Walt Heinecke: “It’s a threat. And it’s a threat that should be taken seriously and should be reacted to in a way in which I think all colleges and universities who this is — this is meant to actually be applied later to all universities and colleges, not just to the nine or 10 that have received the letter. So, that means that we should all be thinking about how to resist this particular form of intrusion.”

On Thursday California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned administrators against signing trump’s 10-point “compact.” Newsom wrote on social media, “If any California university signs this radical agreement, they’ll lose billions in state funding—including Cal Grants—instantly. California will not bankroll schools that sell out their students, professors, researchers, and surrender academic freedom.”

In Baltimore, a federal immigration judge has denied a bid for asylum by Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia — though Abrego Garcia has 30 days to appeal the ruling. The judge dismissed Abrego Garcia’s argument that he faced “imminent removal to Uganda,” even though the Trump administration has repeatedly, publicly threatened to send him to Uganda or Eswatini, countries he has no ties to. Abrego Garcia first made international headlines when he was wrongfully deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador, where he was held in the notorious CECOT mega-prison.

An ICE official later admitted his deportation was an “administrative error.” He’s since faced relentless attacks on his character by President Trump and top administration officials, who’ve accused him of being a human smuggler and a member of the MS-13 gang, even though he’s not been convicted of any crimes.

A federal court in Georgia has denied an emergency request by the award-winning Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara to remain in the United States, paving the way for his deportation to El Salvador today. According to the ACLU, Guevara was not allowed to say goodbye to his wife and three children. Guevara has lived in the United States for some 20 years and has built a large following for his reporting on anti-ICE protests. He was jailed by ICE for more than 100 days, even though an immigration judge granted him bond. He was arrested in June while live-streaming a “No Kings” demonstration, even though he clearly identified himself as a journalist. We’ll have more on his case after headlines.

President Trump is declaring that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, following recent strikes on boats in the Caribbean — that’s according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press. The memo also states, “The United States has now reached a critical point where we must use force in self-defense and defense of others against the ongoing attacks by these designated terrorist organizations.” It comes after the U.S. attacked three boats in the Caribbean last month, reportedly killing 17 people. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino blasted the U.S. Thursday after detecting five F-35 fighter jets close to the Venezuelan coast.

Vladimir Padrino López: “The presence of these aircraft flying near our area of influence, nearby the Caribbean Sea and off the Venezuelan coast, is a vulgarity and a threat to national security. It is a serious threat. So I denounce before the world the military harassment and the military threat from the United States government against the people of Venezuela, who only want peace, work and happiness.”

The United Nations is calling for urgent action to prevent large-scale, ethnically driven atrocities in El Fasher, the besieged capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state. On Thursday, the U.N.’s top human rights official warned at least 91 civilians were killed in El Fasher last month, as the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, carried out artillery shelling, drone strikes and ground incursions. The U.N. also warned the RSF against starving civilians in El Fasher as a method of warfare, amid credible reports of civilians being tortured and killed by RSF fighters for bringing food and essential supplies into the city.

British police have identified the suspect who drove a car at members of the public outside a Manchester synagogue on Thursday before attacking people with a knife. Thirty-five-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie was a British citizen of Syrian descent. He was shot dead by firearms officers just minutes after the rampage began. Manchester police report one of the two victims killed in the attack was hit by police gunfire, and one of the three people hospitalized was struck by a bullet fired by police.

The Church of England has announced Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury. The 63-year-old former nurse served as the bishop of London and is the fourth woman to be ordained in the church’s history. The Anglican Church has more than 85 million members across 165 countries.

The FDA has approved a new generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone. Three American companies are now allowed to manufacture the drug. Nearly two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. are conducted by medication.