Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Argentina's Fernandez duo close to winning key ally in election race: sources

Argentina's political pairing of moderate Peronist Alberto Fernandez and firebrand ex-president Cristina Fernandez are closing in on sealing an important ally to help beat incumbent President Mauricio Macri in elections later this year, three sources told Reuters on Friday. The Fernandez-Fernandez ticket, seen as the major challenger to center-right Macri in October's vote, are in late stage talks with rival centrist Peronist Sergio Massa, who could help give the pairing wider appeal with voters. Protesters set fire to U.S. Embassy in Honduras in second day of demonstrations

Protesters torched the access gate to the U.S. Embassy in the Honduran capital on Friday during a second day of major protests against President Juan Orlando Hernandez. The protesters set fire to the entrance of the building in downtown ​​Tegucigalpa with about a dozen tires after dousing them with fuel, Reuters witnesses and fire services officials said. A fire department official said there were no damage to the embassy apart from the access gate. Palestinians say U.S. 'deal of the century' will finish off their state

The U.S. blueprint to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, still in draft form after almost two years, is seen by Palestinians, and by some Arab officials and politicians, as a plan to finish off the Palestinian cause. The initiative, driven by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and White House adviser, was billed by the U.S. president as the "deal of the century". UK's Javid says would order 'no-deal budget' if prime minister

British interior minister Sajid Javid said he would order the preparation of a "no-deal budget" to convince the European Union that Britain was serious about leaving on Oct. 31 if he succeeds Theresa May as prime minister. "This would also show the EU we are ready - so when we turn up to negotiate, they know we are not afraid of walking out," he wrote in a column for Saturday's Daily Mail newspaper. North Korea executes envoy to failed U.S. summit -media; White House monitoring

North Korea executed its nuclear envoy to the United States as part of a purge of officials who steered negotiations for a failed summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, a South Korean newspaper said on Friday. Kim Hyok Chol was executed in March at Mirim Airport in Pyongyang, along with four foreign ministry officials after they were charged with spying for the United States, the Chosun Ilbo reported, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the situation. Trump says Boris Johnson would be 'very good' as next UK prime minister

U.S. President Donald Trump threw his weight behind Boris Johnson's campaign to be Britain's next prime minister and urged all candidates to pledge to boost defense spending, in a striking intervention ahead of his state visit next week. "I think Boris would do a very good job. I think he would be excellent," Trump told the Sun newspaper about the former foreign secretary and leading Brexit campaigner, who is a front runner to succeed Theresa May as head of the Conservative Party. Lebanon's Hezbollah vows to confront U.S. Middle East plan

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah pledged on Friday to confront the U.S. Middle East plan that President Donald Trump has touted as "the deal of the century." Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the heavily armed Shi'ite movement, said it was unlikely Washington and its allies would launch a war against Tehran as they would pay a heavy price. Saudi King Salman says will resolutely confront aggressive threats

Saudi Arabia's King Salman said that a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca on Friday would seek to confront threats and work for the future of Arab and Islamic states. "We will resolutely confront aggressive threats and subversive activities," King Salman said on Twitter as the summit began. Trump urges Mexico to 'finally do what must be done' on immigration

President Donald Trump on Friday pressured Mexico to stop people from crossing into the United States, one day after threatening to impose new tariffs on Mexican imports in a bid to get the country to crack down on illegal immigration. Trump said on Thursday he would ratchet up tariffs unless Mexico stopped people from illegally crossing the border it shares with the United States. The plan would impose a 5% tariff on Mexican imports starting on June 10 and increase monthly, up to 25% on Oct. 1. Russia says U.S. military curbs on space cooperation are unfair competition

Russia accused the United States of trying to unfairly grab market share in the space services industry on Friday after the U.S. military imposed restrictions on space launch cooperation with Moscow. The U.S. Department of Defense on Friday banned contracts for Russian commercial satellite services if they were deemed to pose an unacceptable cyber security risk, a document on the U.S. government's Federal Register showed.