Cubans begin debate on draft constitution

The Biden administration has announced the easing of curbs imposed by Donald Trump on travel to Cuba and on remittances that immigrants can send to people on the island.

Hundreds demonstrated in Tunis on Sunday (June 19) in a second day of protest against a constitutional referendum called by President Kais Saied that his opponents say would cement his hold on power. The demonstration was organized by the Salvation Front, a coalition including the moderate Islamist Ennahda, the largest party in a parliament that Saied dissolved in March.

Tunisians have started voting in a plebiscite on a draft constitution that critics say would hand the country's president wide powers. With major parties boycotting the vote, analysts are expecting a low turnout.

A September referendum could see Cuba become the ninth Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage, but the vote's outcome is anything but clear.

A deadly fire at Cuba's main oil terminal Matanzas is still burning days after one of its gas tanks was struck by lightning. Mexico and Venezuela have deployed teams to help contain the blaze.

For the first time since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, Cuba plans to allow some foreign investment in local wholesale and retail trade.

Cubans are increasingly feeling the pinch of the country's worst economic crisis in 30 years. In the capital Havana, people wait for hours in long queues to find something to eat for the day. The pandemic has played a major role in the food shortages, which are compounded by rising inflation and a 60-year-old US embargo. Our France 2 colleagues report, with FRANCE 24's Clémence Waller and Lauren Bain.

Tunisians have voted on a new constitution that would grant the President expanded powers. Activists say the changes would put the country on a path to dictatorship - a decade after Tunisia emerged from the Arab Spring as the region's only democracy.

In Cuba, the socialist project begun by revolutionary hero and former president Fidel Castro is teetering on the verge of failure.

The Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida has been shut indefinitely as authorities struggled with migrants arriving in boats. There has been a rise in migrants arriving from Cuba due to the economic turmoil there.

The embassy will offer legal pathways for Cubans to visit the US as Washington deals with a massive wave of illegal immigrants from the island nation.

The new policy represents a major change to US immigration rules, with President Joe Biden telling migrants: "Do not just show up at the border."