The United States and Cuba are moving to announce a historic thaw in relations between the two countries more than 50 years after they were severed, US media report.

• US President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro are due to make major statements at 5pm GMT (6pm Paris time).
• Senior US officials say the United States and Cuba will move to open embassies in each other's capitals.
• The historic thaw in US-Cuban relations is part of a deal that saw Cuba free American Alan Gross and Washington release three Cubans jailed in Florida for spying.
• Washington broke off diplomatic relations with Havana and imposed a trade embargo in 1960, following Fidel Castro’s move to nationalise US businesses in Cuba.

France24