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Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the Trump administration<\/strong>\u2019s push for major reforms in Cuba<\/strong>, Russia<\/strong>\u2019s heaviest bombardment of Kyiv<\/strong> this year, and South Africa<\/strong>\u2019s resurfaced \u201cFarmgate\u201d scandal.<\/p>\n U.S. CIA director John Ratcliffe traveled<\/a> to Havana on Thursday to personally deliver a message from President Donald Trump. \u201cThe United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes,\u201d a CIA official told Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the Trump administration<\/strong>\u2019s push for major reforms in Cuba<\/strong>, Russia<\/strong>\u2019s heaviest bombardment of Kyiv<\/strong> this year, and South Africa<\/strong>\u2019s resurfaced \u201cFarmgate\u201d scandal.<\/p>\n U.S. CIA director John Ratcliffe traveled<\/a> to Havana on Thursday to personally deliver a message from President Donald Trump. \u201cThe United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes,\u201d a CIA official told Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n For months, the Trump administration has pushed for regime change<\/a> in Cuba as part of the White House\u2019s larger \u201cDonroe Doctrine.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge in that regime,\u201d U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Washington has long designated Havana as a state sponsor of terrorism. In January, Trump accused<\/a> Russia and China of operating intelligence posts out of Cuba, though both countries denied the claim. Meanwhile, the United States has increased its own military and intelligence reconnaissance flights around the island to prepare for a larger U.S. military buildup<\/a> in the region. \u201cWhat is happening in Cuba is unacceptable, and it is a threat to the U.S. to have a failed state 90 miles from our coast,\u201d Rubio said<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n Ratcliffe\u2019s trip to Havana signaled<\/a> growing U.S. interest to ramp up Trump\u2019s regime-change ambitions. Its timing was also noteworthy, as it came just hours after Havana announced that it had run out of fuel due to the United States\u2019 ongoing energy blockade of the island.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have absolutely no fuel oil, absolutely no diesel,\u201d Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said<\/a>. \u201cIn Havana, blackouts now exceed 20-22 hours.\u201d Locals have reported using charcoal or wood for cooking, and the resulting blackouts<\/a> have sparked protests in the capital.<\/p>\n For more than two years, Cuba has grappled with a severe energy crisis<\/a>, though the situation has worsened following recent U.S. intervention in Latin America. In January, U.S. forces seized Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and took control of Caracas\u2019s oil industry. This operation completely stopped the flow of Venezuelan crude into Cuba. Later that month, Trump imposed<\/a> a blockade barring all foreign oil<\/a> from reaching Havana.<\/p>\n \u201cThis dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country, threatening irrational tariffs against any nation that supplies us with fuel,\u201d Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel wrote<\/a> on X on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The United States offered<\/a> Cuba $100 million in humanitarian aid on Wednesday on the condition that Havana agrees to \u201cmeaningful reforms.\u201d Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodr\u00edguez Parrilla accused Washington of lying about the assistance, prompting<\/a> Rubio to blame the Cuban regime for not distributing the aid. But D\u00edaz-Canel has since rejected these accusations, writing<\/a> on Thursday that any U.S. aid \u201cwill encounter no obstacles or ingratitude from Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, U.S. federal prosecutors in Miami are reportedly working to secure an indictment<\/a> of former Cuban President Ra\u00fal Castro, who remains an influential figure in Havana. The scope of the charges is unclear, but officials suggest that they could include drug-trafficking allegations as well as accusations tied to Cuba\u2019s downing of U.S. humanitarian planes in 1996.<\/p>\n Ratcliffe, as the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Cuba, met with Castro\u2019s grandson, Ra\u00fal Rodr\u00edguez Castro<\/a>, while in Havana on Thursday. Ratcliffe also met with Interior Minister L\u00e1zaro \u00c1lvarez Casas and the head of Cuba\u2019s intelligence services.<\/p>\n Kyiv seeks revenge. <\/strong>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed retribution on Friday for a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Kyiv that killed at least 24 people, including three children. \u201cUkraine will not allow any of the aggressor\u2019s strikes that take the lives of our people to \u200bgo unpunished,\u201d Zelensky wrote<\/a> on X after holding a meeting to discuss retaliatory long-range attacks. \u201cWe are entirely justified in \u2060our responses against Russia\u2019s oil industry, military production, and those directly responsible for committing war crimes against Ukraine and Ukrainians.\u201d<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s strike occurred during Russia\u2019s heaviest bombardment<\/a> of Ukraine\u2019s capital this year, and it came just hours after a three-day, U.S.-mediated cease-fire expired, though both sides have accused each other of violating that truce. The timing of Russia\u2019s attack \u201cdemonstrates again that they are \u2060definitely not interested in any kind of peace discussions right now,\u201d said Ga\u00ebl Veyssi\u00e8re<\/a>, the French ambassador to Ukraine.<\/p>\n Moscow has denied deliberately targeting civilians. However, throughout the Russia-Ukraine war, Russian strikes have hit civilian population centers and critical energy infrastructure<\/a>. Zelensky declared a day of national mourning on Friday for the 24 killed civilians; Thursday\u2019s attack was one of the deadliest<\/a> on Kyiv since the war began in February 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cFarmgate\u201d resurfaces. <\/strong>South Africa\u2019s ruling African National Congress gave<\/a> its \u201cfull and continued support\u201d for President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday in the wake of revived impeachment proceedings against him. Having his party\u2019s backing bolsters<\/a> Ramaphosa\u2019s chances of surviving renewed efforts to remove him from office over the 2020 \u201cFarmgate\u201d scandal.<\/p>\n Ramaphosa was elected in 2018 on an anti-corruption platform. However, in early 2020, he became the subject of his own corruption scandal<\/a> after at least $580,000 in foreign cash was stolen from his personal game ranch. The large sum, hidden in a sofa, appeared to not have been declared for taxes. Ramaphosa has denied any wrongdoing; however, critics have questioned how the funds were acquired, why they were stuffed inside furniture instead of held in a bank, and why Ramaphosa did not report the theft<\/a> to police until a political rival accused him of concealing the incident.<\/p>\n In 2022, Parliament blocked impeachment proceedings against Ramaphosa. But last Friday, South Africa\u2019s Constitutional Court ruled<\/a> that lawmakers were wrong to do so. And on Monday, the lower house said that its speaker plans to establish a body to investigate the scandal\u2014exposing Ramaphosa once again to an impeachment trial. That day, Ramaphosa said he will not resign<\/a>, and he pledged to challenge an independent panel\u2019s report that cited preliminary evidence of alleged misconduct.<\/p>\n Canceled U.S. deployment. <\/strong>U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly canceled<\/a> the deployment of 4,000 U.S. troops to Poland on Thursday, without citing a reason. Acting Defense Department press secretary Joel Valdez said the move was \u201cnot an unexpected, last-minute decision,\u201d and Polish Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Zalewski told local media<\/a> on Thursday that Warsaw had received assurances that \u201cthe Americans do not plan to systematically reduce the U.S. presence in Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the announcement has left Poland\u2014and the rest of Europe\u2014reeling. Two weeks ago, the Pentagon said it will withdraw<\/a> 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Iran had \u201chumiliated\u201d the United States. The move was part of what appears to be a larger realignment of U.S. forces in Europe, as Trump stresses that the continent needs to take on greater responsibility for its own security amid the White House\u2019s growing ire<\/a> toward NATO allies over their perceived lack of support for U.S. actions against Iran.<\/p>\n There are currently around 7,400 U.S. personnel in Poland and roughly 68,000 active-duty troops<\/a> in Europe overall. The Polish-U.S. alliance remains \u201cdurable and lasting,\u201d Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland\u2019s defense minister and deputy prime minister, said<\/a> on Friday. \u201cPoland continues to be the most stable American ally in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a state visit. Who was the first sitting U.S. president to visit China?<\/p>\n A. Lyndon B. Johnson Paris\u2019s Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay unveiled<\/a> a permanent gallery last week that features 13 iconic works by some of the world\u2019s most renowned artists, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Auguste Rodin. But unlike the museum\u2019s other exhibits, the purpose of this space is not just for viewing. The museum is asking visitors to help determine who are the rightful owners of these pieces, all of which were stolen or sold under duress in France during World War II. The display is a direct response to criticism that French authorities have been too slow to return looted artwork to their original owners.<\/p>\n B. Richard Nixon<\/p>\n Nixon\u2019s 1972 trip was transformative, but official visits between the two countries\u2019 leaders tend to be fairly routine\u2014although Taiwan remains a reliable flash point, FP\u2019s James Palmer reports<\/a> in China Brief.<\/p>\n To take the rest of FP\u2019s weekly international news quiz, click here<\/a>, or sign up<\/a> to be alerted when a new one is published.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\u2018Fundamental Changes\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u2018Fundamental Changes\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Today\u2019s Most Read<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What We\u2019re Following<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What in the World?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
B. Richard Nixon
C. Gerald Ford
D. Jimmy Carter<\/p>\nOdds and Ends<\/strong><\/h3>\n
And the Answer Is\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n