JEAN-YVES LE DRIAN

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a new Cabinet.

In what appeared to be a coordinated action to tackle Russian espionage, at least four European allies say they are expelling dozens of Russian diplomats.

Most of the world is shunning President Vladimir Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Foreign ministers from Indo-Pacific nations have attended a Paris conference aimed at bringing the region squarely into Europe’s focus in a rapidly changing world with rising security challenges.

New Zealand’s government summoned Russian Ambassador Georgii Zuev to meet Wednesday with top diplomatic officials who are urging Russia to return to diplomatic negotiations over Ukraine.

Spiking tensions in eastern Ukraine are heightening Western fears of a Russian invasion and a new war in Europe.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron was meeting with with African and European leaders in Paris ahead of an expected announcement Thursday that he is withdrawing French troops from Mali.

The European Union is imposing sanctions on five senior members of Mali’s transitional government, including Prime Minister Choguel Maiga.

France is facing its toughest challenge in Africa in years: What to do about thousands of French troops stationed in junta-led Mali, the core of a major international anti-terrorism operation in the increasingly restive Sahel region.

Mali’s ruling junta has told the French ambassador to Mali to leave the country, accusing France of undermining its legitimacy amid mounting tensions between Mali and international partners.

Denmark's foreign minister says the country will pull its small military force out of northern Mali after the West African country’s transitional government said no permission had been given for them to deploy there.

French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for dialogue with Russia, despite signs pointing to a potential war amid escalating tensions surrounding Ukraine.

U_S_ Secretary of State Antony Blinken says talks with Iran over its nuclear program are at a “decisive moment.”.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief is insisting that the 27-nation bloc must have a bigger role to play alongside Washington and Moscow to defuse the West’s standoff with Russia over Ukraine.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has attacked the credibility of French President Emmanuel Macron as a newspaper quoted a text message that suggested France anticipated “bad news” about a now-scuttled submarine deal.

Libya is hosting an international conference aimed at resolving the country’s thorniest issues ahead of general elections in December.

Paris recalled its envoy last month after Australia cancelled a submarine deal to join a US-UK pact.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has welcomed France’s decision to return its ambassador to Australia and says the bilateral relationship is bigger than the canceled submarine contract.

France and the United States are edging closer toward rapprochement after the Biden administration's exclusion of Washington's oldest ally from a new Indo-Pacific security initiative ignited French anger.

Dubai’s Expo 2020 has acknowledged for the first time that three workers had died from the coronavirus over the course of building the world’s fair during the pandemic, as the prestigious event draws scrutiny of labor conditions in the United Arab Emirates.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit France as the Biden administration tries to smooth over hurt feelings and other damage caused by excluding America's oldest ally from a new Indo-Pacific security initiative.

Liberty and Fraternity, sure, Equality, not so much.

This week's phone call between President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron may have soothed some the incandescent rage with which France erupted over its exclusion from a new Indo-Pacific defense initiative, but the anger and resentment remain clear.

The United Nations chief is warning global leaders at the opening of the U_N_'s foremost gathering that the world has never been more threatened and divided and “we face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetime.”.

President Joe Biden has used his first address before the U.N. General Assembly to summon allies to quickly address the festering issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights abuses.

President Joe Biden plans to use his first address before the U.N. General Assembly to reassure the international community of American leadership on the global stage.

A European Parliament trade official says Australia’s cancellation of a French submarine contract will complicate and delay negotiations on an Australian-European Union free trade deal.

France’s top diplomat says there is a “crisis of trust” in the United States after a Pacific defense deal stung France and left Europe wondering about its longtime ally across the Atlantic.

France recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia in fury after Australia canceled a lucrative submarine contract with French firm Naval Group.

President Joe Biden begins his first visit to the U.N. General Assembly ready to make the case to world leaders that after closing the chapter on 20 years of war, the U.S. aims to rally allies and adversaries to work together on a slew of crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and trade and economics.

Despite the still raging COVID-19 pandemic, more than 100 world leaders are heading to New York for the annual high-level U.N. gathering.

France's government spokesman says President Emmanuel Macron will speak in the coming days with President Joe Biden in their first contact since a major crisis erupted between France and the United States over a submarine deal with Australia.

President Joe Biden goes before the United Nations this week to address the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and human rights abuses.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says France would have known Australia had “deep and grave concerns” that a submarine fleet the French were building would not meet Australia's needs.

France’s foreign minister has denounced what he called the “duplicity, disdain and lies” surrounding the sudden rupture of France’s lucrative contract to make submarines for Australia in favor of a U.S. deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron recalled his country’s ambassador to the United States in a sharp rebuke of President Joe Biden’s unexpected decision to strike a nuclear submarine agreement with Australia that scuttled a preexisting French contract.

France was outraged after Australia announced it would cancel a deal to buy submarines from France and instead purchase nuclear submarines from the U.S.

France said it will immediately recall its ambassadors to the United States and Australia, in protest of a submarine deal unveiled earlier this week.

The French foreign minister said it was "unacceptable" for Australia to drop a big contract to buy French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear-powered subs built with U.S. technology.

France has recalled its ambassador to the United States in an unprecedented show of anger that dwarfs decades of previous rifts.

President Joe Biden’s decision to form a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and Britain has angered France and the European Union with a go-it-alone move they see as a return to the Trump era.

President Joe Biden’s decision to form a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and Britain has angered France and the European Union with a go-it-alone move they see as a return to the Trump era.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to defend the deal, which is seen as part of Biden's strategy to counter China's influence in the Pacific.

The U.S., Britain and Australia have announced they’re forming a new security alliance that will help equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

France has described Australia's decision to abruptly end a submarine contract as a "stab in the back."

French officials said Thursday that France killed the leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara because the group attacked French aid workers, African civilians and U.S. troops.

Australia's prime minister says it has canceled a contract with France for conventional submarines and instead will build nuclear-powered submarines using U.S. technology because of changing strategic conditions in the Asia-Pacific region.

The U.N. humanitarian chief says $1.2 billion has been promised to help Afghans facing a growing humanitarian crisis in the country and millions in the region, calling the pledges “an important step” toward helping the needy.

French President Emmanuel Macron has held an emergency cybersecurity meeting to weigh government responses after reports that his cell phone may have been targeted by spyware.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has stepped down, nine months after he was named to the post by the parliament.

Biden and Blinken toured Europe to restore alliances damaged by Trump, but did they make progress on a united front against China?

France and Mexico have signed an agreement pledging to cooperate to fight trafficking of cultural artifacts.

European leaders may have breathed audible sighs of relief when U.S. President Joe Biden visited them last week, but Biden's top diplomat is getting even more effusive welcomes on the continent.

The motion passed Wednesday by the Dail, the lower house of Ireland’s parliament, condemned the “recent and ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian communities in the occupied Palestinian territory.” Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the motion conveys Ireland's concern that Israel’s actions are undermining prospects for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected what it described as Ireland’s “outrageous and baseless” position on Israeli settlements.

Puerto Rico has ended a nightly pandemic curfew after more than a year in force and will allow vaccinated visitors to enter the island without a negative coronavirus test result.

France may impose tougher restrictions on British travellers as part of an effort to curb the spread of the more contagious Covid-19 Indian variant. Jean Yves-Le Drian, the country’s foreign affairs minister, told French radio station RTL on Sunday that the government would not rule out “slightly stricter” measures for visitors coming from the United Kingdom. “We worry about the Indian variant and we remain on high alert regarding that matter, in cooperation with British authorities,” Mr Le Drian said. While no official announcement has been made, Mr Le Drian said it may mean the UK would be classified as a medium-risk country, referring to the colour-coded traffic light system used to determine which quarantine measures and other restrictions travellers fall into. Mr Le Drian stopped short of saying the UK would be classified as a ‘red’ country, but suggested it could be considered ‘yellow.’ The news comes just one day after Germany’s Health Ministry announced that the UK was an “area of variant concern.” Starting Sunday at midnight, only German citizens and residents travelling from the UK are allowed to enter the country. Others will be turned away unless they have an essential reason for travel. More than 3,850 cases of the Indian variant have been detected in the UK, with a 160 percent increase in new cases over the last seven days. A paper presented to the UK government earlier this month said the Indian variant could be up to 50 percent more transmissible than the original strain. “At this point in the vaccine rollout, there are still too few adults vaccinated to prevent a significant resurgence that ultimately could put unsustainable pressure on the NHS,” the paper said. Even with the potential increased risk of transmissibility, some health experts said travel restrictions would do little to prevent the spread of new variants. “Closing the border will have no effect whatsoever,” said Catherine Hill, an epidemiologist at Gustave Roussy Hospital in Paris. She said people who are determined to travel will find ways to circumvent restrictions, such as flying to nearby countries, then hopping on a train or bus. “It’s just meaningless. If travellers really want to go see their old parents or if they really want to meet a friend, they will find a way,” Hill said, adding that for now there was “no cause for serious alarm” regarding the Indian variant. Preliminary evidence suggests vaccines are still effective against the Indian variant. There are very few confirmed cases of the Indian variant in France so far, but health experts worry it is spreading. France’s public health agency recorded 38 new outbreaks in the last seven days, a 60 percent increase from the week before. Three of the outbreaks were from family clusters with no known link to India, meaning it is unclear if it was spread on French soil. For now, the French public health agency concluded, there was still “no evidence of significant community spread” in France.

British health officials are expressing optimism that the coronavirus restrictions remaining in England can be lifted in June after an official study found that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines offer effective protection against the variant first identified in India.

France says it may introduce stricter coronavirus restrictions for British visitors when tourism reopens this summer.

President Joe Biden says there has been no shift in his commitment to Israel’s security, but insisted a two-state solution that includes a state for Palestinians remains “the only answer” to that conflict.

EU foreign ministers are calling for a cease-fire to end fighting between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants amid concern that the conflict might spread.

European Union foreign ministers called Tuesday for a cease-fire to end days of heavy fighting between the Israeli armed forces and Palestinian militants, but said that a longer-term political solution must be found to end decades of conflict between them. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed in heavy airstrikes so far, including dozens of children, and over 1,400 people wounded. At least 12 people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy, have been killed in rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip toward civilian areas in Israel.

France's foreign minister began a visit to Lebanon Thursday with a message of “great firmness” to its political leaders, threatening to take additional measures against officials obstructing the formation of a government in the crisis-hit country. Tweeting ahead of his arrival, Jean-Yves Le Drian said French travel restrictions on Lebanese officials suspected of corruption or hindering the formation of a new Cabinet were “just the start.” France has been trying to force change on Lebanon's ruling class, whose corruption and mismanagement has driven the tiny country into the ground and pushed it to the verge of bankruptcy.

French President Emmanuel Macron says he foresees at least some tourists returning to Paris this summer if they have gotten vaccinated or have proof of testing negative for the coronavirus.

A man calls on people to raid the building as Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they try to storm the Capital Building in Washington D.C on January 6, 2021. Trump returned to the White House after his speech and later told supporters in a tweeted video "you have to go home now." In a series of tweets Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the storming of the U.S. Capitol "unacceptable." "Let us swiftly bring justice to the criminals who engaged in this rioting," Pompeo wrote, adding "America is better than what we saw today." The scenes of crowds storming into the U.S. Capitol shocked foreign powers around the world.