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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

France’s top diplomat urged Iran to be “constructive” and avoid further nuclear escalation ahead of talks next week aimed at trying to salvage a global accord curbing the Iranian nuclear program.

German foreign Minister Heiko Maas speaks in Tripoli, Libya, Thursday, March 25, 2021. The European foreign ministers also called on mercenaries and foreign fighters to leave the country immediately. Ad“This (withdrawal) is indispensable so that Libya can regain its sovereignty and security,” said France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. “We have talked about the tasks ahead and about how we can concretely support (Libya) where there is a wish for it,” said Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. EU top diplomats also stressed the need to reopen the country's Mediterranean coastal road linking the east and the west.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, left, talks to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas during a European Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Monday, March 22, 2021. (Aris Oikonomou/Pool Photo via AP)BRUSSELS – The European Union and the United States imposed sanctions Monday on a number of Myanmar officials accused of involvement in the country's military coup and the ensuing crackdown on protesters. The EU announced penalties on 11 officials, including 10 top military officers. Ten of the 11 targeted with asset freezes and travel bans by the EU are senior members of the Myanmar Armed Forces. AdMyanmar’s military junta prevented Parliament from convening on Feb. 1.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, center, attends a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb 22, 2021. European Union foreign ministers on Monday will look at options for imposing fresh sanctions against Russia over the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny as the 27-nation bloc considers the future of its troubled ties with the country. (Yves Herman, Pool via AP)BRUSSELS – The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on 19 more officials in Venezuela accused of undermining democracy or rights abuses in the crisis-torn South American country. EU foreign ministers targeted the 19 with asset freezes and travel bans “in view of the deteriorating situation in Venezuela following the December 2020 elections.” The main opposition parties boycotted those polls. It means that a total of 55 Venezuelan officials are now subject to EU sanctions.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)World leaders welcomed the United States' official return to the Paris climate accord Friday, but politically trickier steps lie just ahead for President Joe Biden, including setting a tough national target in coming months for cutting damaging fossil fuel emissions. Officially, the United States was only out of the worldwide global climate pact for 107 days. It’s the political symbolism that the largest economy refuses to see the opportunity of addressing climate change.” said Christiana Figueres, the former United Nations climate chief. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy panel, has criticized Biden for rejoining the Paris accord, tweeting: “Returning to the Paris climate agreement will raise Americans’ energy costs and won’t solve climate change. The Biden administration will set unworkable targets for the United States while China and Russia can continue with business as usual."

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani, left, speaks with Reem Ebrahim Al-Hashimi, Emirati Minister of State for International Cooperation during a meeting, in Athens, on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. Foreign ministers and senior officials from several Persian Gulf countries met in Athens, as Greece seeks to expand alliances to counter tension with regional rival Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)ATHENS – Foreign ministers and senior officials from several Persian Gulf countries were meeting in Athens on Thursday, as Greece seeks to expand alliances to counter tension with regional rival Turkey. The participating countries have broadly sided with Greece in the eastern Mediterranean dispute. But Greece has continued plans to modernize its military and in recent months has stepped up armed forces cooperation with France, Egypt, Israel and others.

LONDON – The top diplomats of Britain, France, Germany and the United States met Friday for the first time in almost three years as the European allies welcome America’s return to center stage in world affairs under President Joe Biden. Britain’s Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department said the foreign ministers of the three European nations and the U.S. secretary of state held virtual talks on topics that included Iran, China, Russia, Myanmar, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. The last time the top foreign affairs officials from the four countries met as a quartet was in April 2018. The meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian came a day after Biden told U.S. diplomats at the State Department: “America is back. One of Biden's first acts as president was reversing Trump's withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

A demonstrator clashes with a police officer during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Pushkin square in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021. “The Council considered it completely unacceptable, condemned the mass detentions, and the police brutality over the weekend,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after chairing the meeting in Brussels. More than 3,700 people were detained across Russia during Saturday's nationwide protests in support of Navalny, according to OVD-Info, a human rights group that monitors political arrests. Borrell said he would visit Moscow next week for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Steps being taken by Russian authorities are suppressing those rights.”The embassy also tweeted a State Department statement calling for Navalny’s release.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, walks to a motorcade vehicle after stepping off a plane at Paris Le Bourget Airport, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Le Bourget, France. Unusually, Le Drian met Pompeo at the Elysee Palace, rather than his own office. Before meeting Macron and Le Drian, Pompeo laid a bouquet of red, white and blue flowers at a memorial to victims of terrorism at a Paris landmark, the Hotel des Invalides. From Paris, Pompeo traveled on to Turkey, where he will meet religious leaders in Istanbul but not government officials. Senior State Department officials said the lack of official meetings in Turkey was due to scheduling issues during the brief stop.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center, and his wife Susan, right, embrace U.S. Ambassador to France Jamie McCourt, left, after stepping off a plane at Paris Le Bourget Airport, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Le Bourget, France. It will include visits to Israeli settlements in the West Bank that have been avoided by previous secretaries of state. In an arrival tweet Saturday in France, Pompeo laid out the standard diplomatic groundwork for his Paris talks, noting that France is the “oldest friend and Ally” of the United States. After France, Pompeo’s tour takes him to Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

A child holds a photograph of France's President Emmanuel Macron, stamped with a shoe mark, during a protest against France in Istanbul, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday challenged the United States to impose sanctions against his country while also launching a second attack on French President Emmanuel Macron. “In numerous countries of the Middle East, calls to boycott French products...and more generally, calls to demonstrate against France, in sometimes hateful terms, have been relayed on social media,” the French Foreign Ministry said. While eulogizing the teacher on Wednesday, Macron said France would not renounce its freedoms. “What is the problem of this person called Macron with Islam and Muslims?” Erdogan, a devout Muslim, asked rhetorically Saturday during his Justice and Development party meeting in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the mmbers of his ruling party at the parliament, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)ANKARA – France warned Turkey on Thursday that it could face European Union sanctions for its “provocations,” after Ankara redeployed its search vessel on a new energy exploration mission in the eastern Mediterranean. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he understood Greece’s unwillingness to engage in dialogue due to Turkey’s decision to again dispatch its ship. “And if there isn’t, then the European Union will have to face the question of how to deal with this and what consequences this will have,” Maas said. “It is one more provocation, in the continued provocations by the Turkish side,” Petsas said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian left, and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas attend the opening session of the French ambassadors to European countries in Paris, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. The 27-nation EU and the U.K. remain deadlocked in their talks on future trade ties after a transitional divorce period ends on Dec. 31. Negotiations are not advancing, because of the intransigent and unrealistic attitude of the United Kingdom," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told his nation's ambassadors in Paris Monday. And Le Drian insisted that the 27 won't buckle under pressure from London. That, he said, would result in countries such as Italy, Spain or Poland taking greater responsibility for shaping EU foreign policy.

BEIRUT The office of Lebanons president said Friday that binding consultations with members of Parliament to designate a new prime minister will begin early next week. Mondays consultations will coincide with a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Lebanon, a former French protectorate. The blast, the most destructive single incident in Lebanons history, killed more than 180 people, wounded nearly 6,000 and left nearly 300,000 people homeless. President Michel Aouns office released a schedule of the consultations that will begin Monday morning and end in the afternoon. The fighting briefly closed the main highway linking Beirut with southern Lebanon.

France has avoided echoing Trumps criticism of Beijings handling of the coronavirus, but legislators applauded Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian last week when he condemned abuses of minority Uighurs in Chinas northwest. That rancor has spread to include Hong Kong, Chinese Muslims, spying accusations and control of the South China Sea. Trump complains about the cost of stationing 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea to protect against North Korean threats. The U.S.-Chinese row has thrown a question to South Korea" about which side to choose, the newspaper Dong-A Ilbo said in an editorial Monday. We are making clear: Beijings claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a July 13 statement.

The US and its allies first issued a package of economic sanctions in 2014, intended to punish Russia for annexing Crimea and supporting separatist militias in eastern Ukraine. Despite friendly rhetoric between US President Donald Trump and Putin, tensions have continued to escalate as a new arms race heats up. Oil is by far the country's largest export and the bedrock of its war chest. The Kremlin plans to spend trillions of rubles on "national projects" to stimulate the economy, but it's unlikely they will significantly boost economic growth. But the Putin regime, while perhaps concerned about the long-term impacts, does not view it as an immediate crisis.