Reuters World News Summary

Cuba's prime minister has proposed sweeping reforms to its socialist model, including privatization of key sectors, in an effort to survive US sanctions and economic pressure.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Cuba proposes sweeping reforms to socialist model amid US pressure

Cuba`s prime minister on Thursday presented lawmakers with sweeping measures backed by the Communist Party and former leader Raul Castro that would privatize a vast swath of its socialist economy in a bid to survive punishing U.S. sanctions. The measures - which still await a vote of approval by the National Assembly - would open the door to private ​real estate development on the Caribbean island, transform state-owned businesses into private commercial ventures with shares and equity stakes and allow private banks to enter Cuba`s once state-dominated finance sector.

Exclusive-US diplomats depart Latin America-focused mission amid clashes with Trump ally

Several senior U.S. diplomats posted to the Organization of American States ​have quit or been fired amid clashes with a Trump-appointed ambassador, according to six sources familiar with the matter, changes that have cut the institutional expertise available to the historically important U.S. mission. Founded ‌in 1948, the OAS ​is the Western Hemisphere's main multilateral forum and focuses on regional security, human rights, democracy and economic development. The Washington-based body has played a central role in settling contested elections in Latin America in recent years and has often brought together U.S. allies in condemning human rights violations in authoritarian states like Cuba and Nicaragua.

Guyana UN candidate calls maintaining UN 'collective responsibility'

Guyana's candidate to be United Nations secretary-general said on Thursday there is a collective responsibility to ensure the world body can continue to act as a force for good, while stressing the need to make it more agile and effective. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, a former schoolteacher who currently serves as her country's U.N. ambassador and was previously its foreign minister, is among six candidates to succeed Antonio Guterres as U.N. chief after his term expires at the end of the year.

Cuba proposes sweeping reforms to socialist model amid US pressure

Cuba's prime minister on Thursday presented lawmakers with sweeping reforms backed by the Communist Party and former ‌leader Raul Castro that would privatize a vast swath of its socialist economy in a bid to survive punishing U.S. sanctions. The measures, if approved by lawmakers and implemented, would represent the single largest change to Cuba's socialist model since former leader Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution and a major shift towards a market economy.

Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro pitches crime crackdown to boost presidential bid

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro is banking on a hard-line crackdown on crime to win over independent voters and shore up his base, as he looks to close the gap with incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of October's election. The senator launched a public safety plan on Thursday, centered on 12 priority measures, including treating Brazil's criminal factions as terrorist organizations, a move that found a receptive audience in Washington last month.

High-wire diplomacy delivered US-Iran deal but hardest stage lies ahead, sources say

Pakistani mediators spent weeks juggling late-night calls and competing drafts before a Qatari push helped secure this week's preliminary U.S.-Iran deal, but turning it into a permanent agreement will prove harder, sources said. The two sides now have 60 days of negotiations to reach a final settlement that covers complex subjects including Iran's nuclear programme. Four Pakistani sources familiar with the talks said that just to get to the interim deal, they hit countless roadblocks that often shifted within days, ranging from proposed tolls in the Strait of Hormuz ‌to the war in Lebanon.

Al Qaeda-linked militants claim attack on Niger airport that killed 13

West Africa's al Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility on Thursday for an attack on the airport and military airbase in Niger's capital that the government said killed 11 members of the security forces, highlighting persistent insecurity in the Sahel region. Thursday's attack in Niamey, which witnesses said began at around 6 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and lasted for over two hours, was the second on the airport complex this year, after the region's Islamic State affiliate, known as Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), targeted the site in January.

Republicans blast Trump's Iran agreement as details ‌emerge

U.S. President Donald Trump's interim deal to end the Iran war met scorching public criticism from some of his fellow Republicans as copies of the signed agreement circulated on Capitol Hill on Thursday. One Republican senator called the framework pact announced this week the "worst foreign policy blunder in decades," another said some reported provisions seemed "ill-advised," and some pro-Republican commentators also broke with Trump over the agreement.

President of Wisconsin's largest mosque released from ICE detention

Islamic Society of Milwaukee President Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian American detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March, was released from detention on Thursday after an order by a federal judge. "Mr. Sarsour has raised a 'substantial' First Amendment (free speech) retaliation claim, which could render his detention unlawful," U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon said in the ruling on Thursday. The judge was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term.

Fujimori edges toward Peruvian presidency as Sanchez calls for protests

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori was on track on Thursday to win Peru's presidency by a narrow but growing margin, with only 0.6% of votes left to be reviewed, while leftist rival Roberto Sanchez called for protests after alleging irregularities at the electoral authority. Fujimori, making her fourth bid for the presidency, held a lead of 39,115 votes in a count that has kept Peru on edge since the June 7 runoff.

Traffic flows through Hormuz as U.S.-Iran deal takes effect, questions remain

Oil tankers sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and the United States said it lifted its blockade on Iran on Thursday as an interim deal to end the war took effect, though key issues are still unresolved between the two countries. Oil prices dropped to their lowest ⁠level since the war began on ​February 28, as analysts said exports through the strait, which handles about one-fifth of global oil supply, could return to normal in the coming months.

Zelenskiy: Best way to guarantee Europe's future ⁠would be fast-track EU membership for Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressing an EU summit on Thursday, said the future of Europe was being shaped by the defence of Ukraine and the best guarantee for the future would be to grant Kyiv fast-track EU membership. Zelenskiy, whose comments were posted in a video on X, told the summit that every democratic nation in Europe deserved to be in the EU and "Ukraine merits this because it has paid more than any other country for its right to be free, independent and...European".

EU leaders agree to renew Russia sanctions for 12 months

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to renew sanctions against Russia over its war against Ukraine for another 12 months, a spokesperson for the chair of the meeting said. Thursday's decision at a summit in Brussels marked ⁠the first time such sanctions - which target certain sectors of the Russian economy - have been renewed for a year. They had previously been rolled over every six months.

Slovak government wins confidence vote after debt breach

Slovakia's parliament backed the government on Thursday in a confidence vote triggered by a breach of the country's legal debt limits, but the move sharpened debate over fiscal policy. Prime Minister Robert Fico's three-party coalition won support with 78 votes in the 150-seat chamber.

Ukraine hits Moscow refinery in major drone attack on Russian capital

Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Moscow on Thursday, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the second time this week in what Kyiv cast as a response to an attack that damaged a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery ​in the city. "We don't want this war, we never did, and everyone knows it, and our partners know it," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a voice message sent to reporters on a WhatsApp group. "But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn."

Hegseth announces review of US troops in Europe, scorns some allies

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new review of America's troop deployments in Europe on Thursday and threatened to withhold some U.S. dues to NATO if "free riding" allies did not meet their defense spending commitments. Hegseth, addressing defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, said ⁠the U.S. review would last for up to six months and include consultations with the U.S. Congress, which has legislated a minimum number of U.S. forces in Europe.

Brazil police target top Lula ally in widening Banco Master lender probe

A snowballing graft scandal crept closer to Brazil's president on Thursday with a federal police raid targeting his top ally in Congress, adding to the spotlight on political corruption ahead of an October election. A Supreme Court decision published on Thursday authorized search warrants against Senator Jaques Wagner — the leader of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's governing coalition in the Senate — and others linked to defunct lender Banco Master.

Explainer-How Trump's deal with Iran compares to Obama's

President Donald Trump has insisted that the deal he has reached with Iran is superior to the one that President Barack Obama sealed in 2015, while Trump's critics say ⁠at this ​point he has gotten much less and given up much more to Tehran. Here is how the two agreements compare:

Vance warns Israeli critics over Iran deal: Trump is your only ally

U.S. Vice President JD Vance lashed out at Israeli critics of the Iran deal on Thursday, saying President Donald Trump is Israel's only ally, in a sharp rebuke that referenced the billions in U.S. defense aid the country receives. Vance was defending the deal reached this week to end the war with Iran that critics in the U.S. and Israel have slammed for failing to curb Iran's missile program and providing no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities, while constraining Israel in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Macron's Versailles diplomacy wins mixed results over decade in power

When Donald Trump, flanked by the French president, signed the Iran memorandum in the opulent Palace of Versailles, the optics were vintage Emmanuel Macron: the full weight of French history, glamour and pomp deployed to win over a difficult counterpart. The invitation to a grand dinner at the gilded residence of Louis XIV had been designed to persuade Trump to stay till the end of a three-day G7 summit - rather than leave early as he did in Canada last year — and to encourage the mercurial U.S. president to adopt a more conciliatory position towards fellow leaders ⁠whom he has often chided over trade and Ukraine.

Some EU leaders caution against talks with Russia

Several EU leaders said on Thursday there was no point in rushing into talks with Russia after an EU official said on Wednesday the office of European Council President Antonio Costa had made "brief contacts at diplomatic level" with the Kremlin. European leaders have recently stepped up discussions about the possibility of direct talks with Russia over the war in Ukraine after isolating Moscow diplomatically since it attacked Ukraine in February 2022. But there is no joint view.

Ukraine brings the war to Moscow as huge blasts shake refinery

The ⁠blast was so powerful that the huge disc-shaped lid of an oil storage tank was launched into the sky over Moscow like a frisbee. Evading Russian air defences, Ukrainian drones struck an oil ⁠refinery in southeast Moscow on Thursday for the second time in three days, igniting a fierce blaze that spewed out clouds of black smoke.

ICC sets July 24 vote on whether to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan, WSJ reports

The International Criminal Court has scheduled a vote for July 24 on whether to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan from office, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing diplomats and documents. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The ICC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

US ICE says detainees at 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center are relocated

Detainees at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" migrant detention center have been relocated to other facilities, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said on Thursday, citing the arrival of the hurricane season. Here are some details:

Analysis-US-Iran deal redraws the Middle East: Iran gains, rivals alarmed

The U.S.-Iran agreement — the first signed by an American and an Iranian president since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution — is being hailed by its backers as the deal ‌of the century. But for Tehran's adversaries across the Middle East — from Israel to Gulf states and factions in Lebanon — ‌it looks more like the curse of the century: an accord that could leave Iran more secure, more legitimate and ultimately more influential.

In Lebanon, first responders salvage memories from debris of destroyed HQ

Rescue workers in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh said they believed their headquarters, clearly identified as a civil defence centre, would be ​safe from Israeli bombardment - until it was destroyed by an airstrike last month. Picking through the debris, they were salvaging whatever they could when Reuters visited this week.