MARSEILLE: Some 20 French boats set sail from Marseille on Saturday to join up with an international flotilla making a renewed effort to break an Israeli blockade and deliver aid to Gaza, AFP reporters saw. &quot;Gaza, Marseille is with you&quot; shouted around a thousand people who had come to the docks to support the initiative. The ships, mostly sailboats, set off to a round of applause and songs shortly after 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) to join the &quot;Global Sumud Flotilla&quot;, named after a Gazan fisherman. The international flotilla of some 100 boats, mostly setting sail from Barcelona on April 12, will head towards Gaza around April 20, according to the organisers. A week-long stopover is planned in southern Italy for &quot;non-violence training.&quot; &quot;The goal is to give Palestine more visibility. We&#39;re not talking about it much right now, because of the international context,&quot; said Manon, a crew member who declined to give her full name. In late 2025, an initial flotilla of about 50 boats, composed of political figures and activists such as Sweden&#39;s Greta Thunberg, was boarded by the Israeli navy -- illegally according to the organisers and Amnesty International. The crew members were arrested and expelled by Israel. The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement accuse each other of violating a ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, 2025, after two years of war.

Europe

Middle East

Some 20 French boats set sail from Marseille to join up with an international flotilla making a renewed effort to break an Israeli blockade and deliver aid to Gaza, AFP reporters saw.

French boats set sail to join Gaza aid flotilla

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Federal Minister for Petroleum, Ali Pervaiz Malik, met with French Ambassador to Pakistan Nicolas Galey on Tuesday to discuss the evolving regional and energy situation, according to an official statement.&nbsp;&nbsp;During the meeting, Galey reaffirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s strong bilateral ties with France, noting that energy cooperation between the two countries had expanded in recent years.&nbsp;According to the statement, the ambassador said that French companies have expressed growing interest in Pakistan&rsquo;s mining sector.&nbsp;He&nbsp;said&nbsp;that French firms would actively participate in the upcoming Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum,&nbsp;scheduled for November.&nbsp;The French ambassador&nbsp;lauded Pakistan&rsquo;s effective handling of the petroleum supply challenges, remarking that there had not been even one hour of panic in Pakistan in contrast to other South Asian nations.&nbsp;Ali Pervaiz&nbsp;Malik&nbsp;said&nbsp;that the diplomatic efforts led by the military and civilian leadership helped secure petroleum supplies through alternate channels at critical moments.&nbsp;The government is&nbsp;working on measures to provide targeted subsidies to protect vulnerable segments of society, he added.&nbsp;Both sides reiterated their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in energy security, mineral development, and sustainable economic growth, the statement said.

Foreign Affairs

Ali Pervaiz Malik and Nicolas Galey discuss expanding Pakistan and France's energy and mining cooperation, with French firms showing interest in investment and both sides pledging deeper economic collaboration.

Pakistan, France deepen energy and mining cooperation

PARIS: A member of the French navy using an app to track his jogging performance broadcast the exact position of his country&#39;s flagship aircraft carrier, a newspaper has reported. France deployed the Charles de Gaulle and accompanying frigates to the Mediterranean in early March shortly after US-Israeli strikes on Iran sparked war in the Middle East. It has been in the eastern Mediterranean since March 9 as part of what Emmanuel Macron has called a &quot;purely defensive&quot; posture in support of France&#39;s allies in the conflict. Le Monde newspaper reported on Thursday that the runner jogged in circles on a ship in movement on March 13 in the middle of the sea northwest of Cyprus, according to his public profile on the Strava fitness tracking app, while satellite images showed the aircraft carrier was in the immediate vicinity at the time. The same person had also been running in Copenhagen, Denmark, in late February, across a bridge from Malmo, Sweden, where the Charles de Gaulle was anchored at the time, Strava data showed. The French armed forces told AFP appropriate measures would be taken if the report was true, as members of the navy were regularly reminded about the risk of security breaches using such apps. &quot;The reported case if confirmed does not comply with the current instructions,&quot; it said. Running app profiles have given away sensitive information before. In 2024, Le Monde reported that the bodyguards of Macron, the US president Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin were inadvertently giving away information about their whereabouts while accompanying them on trips. In 2018, Strava maps showed the locations of US and allied military personnel in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. While some bases were well known to groups that might want to attack them, the maps also showed what appear to be routes taken by forces moving outside of bases information that could have been used in planning bombings or ambushes.

French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle (File Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

A French navy sailor allegedly exposed the location of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean by sharing his jogging route on the Strava app, raising security concerns, Le Monde reported.

Running app reveals location of France aircraft carrier in Mediterranean: report 

PARIS: France moved on Monday to block US envoy Charles Kushner from having access to government ministers, after he failed to show up to explain comments about a killed far-right activist. The move is the latest instance of diplomatic friction between Paris and the United States under President Donald Trump, with Paris bristling at what it sees as repeated interference by Washington in domestic matters. Kushner, whose son Jared is married to Trump&#39;s daughter Ivanka, has already been summoned once before over his criticism of France&#39;s handling of antisemitism. He skipped that meeting as well, sending another official instead. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot summoned Kushner after the US embassy in Paris reposted comments by the Trump administration in Washington about slain far-right activist Quentin Deranque. Deranque, 23, died from head injuries following clashes between radical-left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a February 12 protest against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in Lyon. Barrot denounced on Sunday any attempts to exploit the killing &quot;for political ends&quot; and summoned Kushner for a meeting at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) the following day. But a diplomatic source told AFP the ambassador cited &quot;personal commitments&quot; and sent a senior embassy official instead. &ldquo;In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission and the honor of representing one&#39;s country, the minister (Barrot) has requested that he (Kushner) no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government,&rdquo; the foreign ministry said. Kushner would, however, be permitted to continue his diplomatic duties and have &quot;exchanges&quot; with officials, it added in a statement. Washington has not commented on this development. On edge<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/french-farright-leader-accuses-macron-allies-of-strengthening-hardleft-after-activist-killed" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deranque&#39;s death has put France on edge</a>, igniting tensions between the left and right ahead of a 2027 presidential vote. More than 3,000 people marched in Lyon on Saturday in tribute to Deranque, with authorities deploying heavy security for fear of further clashes. On Friday, Sarah Rogers, the State Department undersecretary for public diplomacy, said Deranque&#39;s killing showed &ldquo;why we treat political violence &mdash; terrorism &mdash; so harshly.&rdquo; &ldquo;Once you decide to kill people for their opinions instead of persuading them, you&#39;ve opted out of civilization,&rdquo; she wrote on X. The State Department&#39;s bureau of counter-terrorism separately posted: &ldquo;Violent radical leftism is on the rise, and its role in Quentin Deranque&#39;s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety.&rdquo; The US embassy shared a French translation of the post on its account. Italy&#39;s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also weighed in, triggering a war of words with French President Emmanuel Macron, who urged her to stop &ldquo;commenting on what happens in other countries.&rdquo; Kushner, who took up his post in Paris last year, was previously summoned to the foreign ministry at the end of August, after the French government took exception to his criticism that Macron was not tackling antisemitism. The US charge d&#39;affaires &mdash; the ambassador&#39;s de facto deputy &mdash; attended that meeting.

US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner delivers a speech for the official launch of America 250, to celebrate the 250th birthday of the US in 2026, at the US ambassy in Paris, on December 4, 2025.

The move is the latest instance of diplomatic friction between Paris and the United States under President Donald Trump, with Paris bristling at what it sees as repeated interference by Washington in domestic matters.

France to revoke US envoy's govt access after summons no-show

PAPEETE: French authorities said Saturday they had seized 2.4 tonnes of cocaine from a vessel in the Pacific during a joint operation with the United States, as officials step up interceptions in Polynesian waters. The seizure of 100 bales of the drug took place on Thursday, and the vessel was allowed to continue on to its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nigeria-arrests-22-indian-ship-crew-members-in-drug-bust" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">destination</a>, which officials did not specify. &quot;In accordance with practices applicable under international law... the vessel and its crew resumed their voyage,&quot; the High Commission in French&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-kills-14-in-strikes-on-alleged-pacific-drug-boats" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Polynesia</a>&nbsp;said in a statement. It added that the operation was carried out with &quot;the cooperation of US government agencies&quot;. The statement did not specify the ship&#39;s flag or point of origin. Over the past month, French authorities have seized nearly 12 tonnes of cocaine around Polynesia, including three that were between two and five tonnes each. The United Nations has said in recent years that organised criminal groups trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine have expanded their presence in the Pacific. Large amounts of drugs are transported from North and South America for Australian and New Zealand markets, according to the UN. In 2025, the French navy seized a record 87.6 tonnes of drugs worldwide, including 58 tonnes of cocaine.

Over the past month, French authorities have seized nearly 12 tonnes of cocaine around Polynesia, including three that were between two and five tonnes each.

French navy seizes 2.4 tonnes of cocaine in Pacific

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday a <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-takes-davos-stage-as-greenland-dispute-looms-over-transatlantic-ties" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">standoff with the United States </a>over Greenland was &quot;a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe&quot;, speaking alongside the leaders of Denmark and the Danish autonomous territory.&nbsp;European powers have <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/greenland-denmark-set-aside-troubled-history-to-face-down-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">sought to join forces </a>to show they can stand on their own feet after US President Donald Trump has roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize Greenland.&nbsp;Speaking alongside the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Macron said the &quot;awakening&quot; must focus &quot;on asserting our European sovereignty, on our contribution to Arctic security, on the fight against foreign interference and disinformation, and on the fight against global warming.&quot;&nbsp;He reaffirmed to Frederiksen and Nielsen France&#39;s solidarity and &quot;its commitment to your sovereignty and territorial integrity.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;France will continue to defend these principles in accordance with the United Nations Charter,&quot; he added, expressing his support for increased NATO engagement in the Arctic.&nbsp;Macron said some words in the Indigenous Greenlandic language, and then switching to the Danish language told the premier France would &quot;be side-by-side&quot; with the &quot;Kingdom of Denmark&quot;.&nbsp;After European pushback, Trump backed down on the threat to take Greenland by military force.&nbsp;Speaking in Paris earlier Wednesday, Frederiksen said that Europe needed to improve its defences &quot;now&quot; to become less reliant on the United States for military protection.&nbsp;On Monday, NATO chief Mark Rutte told EU lawmakers to &quot;keep on dreaming&quot; if they thought Europe could defend itself without the US.&nbsp;In response to Rutte&#39;s comments, Frederiksen conceded it would be &quot;extremely difficult&quot; for Europe to defend itself right now.&nbsp;&quot;Because when you look at intelligence, nuclear weapons, and so on, we depend on the US,&quot; she said at Sciences Po university.&nbsp;&quot;But I think we&#39;re able to do more than what is being said publicly right now.&quot;&nbsp;As for a 2035 target to ramp up spending on NATO, she said: &quot;I&#39;m sorry to say it would be too late.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;I think rearming ourselves now is the most important thing.&quot;&nbsp;NATO members committed to raising defence and security spending last year to five percent of their economic output, following on from an earlier target of two percent by 2024, after pressure from the US government.&nbsp;Fredriksen said Europe had made a &quot;big mistake&quot; by cutting military budgets in the past.

Americas

 French President Emmanuel Macron says the situation with the United States over Greenland is "a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe", speaking alongside the leaders of Denmark and the Danish autonomous territory.

Greenland dispute 'strategic wake-up call for all of Europe,' says Macron

PARIS: The United States would also suffer if President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-warns-against-trumps-tariffs-threat-over-greenland" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">impose tariffs</a> implements threats to impose tariffs on European countries opposing his plans to acquire Greenland, a French minister said on Sunday. &ldquo;In this escalation of tariffs, he has a lot to lose as well, as do his own farmers and industrialists,&rdquo; French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told broadcasters Europe 1 and CNews. Trump has threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff from Feb. 1 on all goods sent to the United States from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. All are part of the European Union, except the United Kingdom and Norway. That levy would then be increased to 25 percent on June 1 &ldquo;until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland,&rdquo; said Trump, who claims the United States needs the Arctic island, an autonomous Danish territory, for its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-us-needs-greenland-for-national-security" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">national security</a>. An extraordinary meeting of European Union ambassadors was called in Brussels for Sunday afternoon. &ldquo;The European Union has potential strike force&rdquo; from a commercial standpoint, Genevard said. &ldquo;This is a response that must be handled with caution, because this escalation could be deadly &mdash; but it could also be deadly for the United States.&rdquo; Any US takeover of Greenland would be &ldquo;unacceptable,&rdquo; the minister added. &ldquo;It is clear that the Europeans will not let the United States do as it pleases.&rdquo;

France's Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard answers journalists' questions after attending an inspection of imported foodstuffs at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris, on January 15, 2026 (AFP)

Trump threatens to impose sweeping tariffs on European imports, warning of a 10 percent levy from Feb. 1 that would rise to 25 percent by June unless a deal is reached over Greenland.

Trump also 'has a lot to lose' from threatened tariffs: French minister

LONDON: The British Ministry of Defence said it cooperated with France on Saturday night to strike an underground facility in Syria that had likely been used by the Islamic State group to store weapons. &quot;Royal Air Force aircraft have completed successful strikes against Daesh in a joint operation with France,&quot; the ministry said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for IS. &quot;This facility had been occupied by Daesh, most likely to store weapons and explosives. The area around the facility is devoid of any civilian habitation,&quot; the statement added. The ministry said there was no indication the bombing north of the ancient site of Palmyra had posed any risk to civilians. IS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 but still maintains a presence, particularly in the country&#39;s vast desert. Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, was once controlled by militants. Last month, Washington said a lone IS gunman in Palmyra attacked American personnel, killing two US soldiers and a US civilian. US forces said they struck dozens of IS targets in Syria in retaliation.

The British Ministry of Defence said it cooperated with France on Saturday night to strike an underground facility in Syria that had likely been used by the Islamic State group to store weapons.

UK says conducted joint strike with France on IS site near Palmyra

ABU DHABI: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he had given the official go-ahead to replace his country&#39;s flagship, the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.&nbsp;That vessel, the only nuclear-powered carrier outside the US Navy, entered service in 2001 following more than a decade of construction.&nbsp;&quot;In line with the last two military programming laws, and after a thorough and comprehensive review, I have decided to equip France with a new aircraft carrier,&quot; Macron said, speaking during a visit to French troops in the United Arab Emirates.&nbsp;The decision to give the final go-ahead was made this week, he added.&nbsp;&quot;In an age of predators, we must be strong in order to be feared,&quot; Macron said.&nbsp;France first launched studies into replacing the Charles de Gaulle in 2018, with preliminary work beginning two years later.&nbsp;The announcement of the official start of construction comes despite a budgetary deadlock gripping the European Union&#39;s second-largest economy.&nbsp;Criticism in France, including from military chief General Fabien Mandon, had focused on whether other more pressing areas should be prioritised amid fears of a European war with Russia.&nbsp;This official launch will make it possible to sign all of the contracts necessary for the project, Macron&#39;s office said.&nbsp;Also nuclear-powered, the new carrier will be far larger than the current flagship.&nbsp;It will displace nearly 80,000 tons and be around 310 metres long, compared with 42,000 tons and 261 metres for the Charles de Gaulle.&nbsp;With a crew of 2,000, it will be able to hold 30 fighter jets.&nbsp;While the future ship will still be dwarfed by the 11 vast supercarriers of the US Navy, which each displace more than 100,000 tons, only China and Britain&#39;s Royal Navy currently operate similarly sized carriers, all of which are conventionally powered.&nbsp;Focus on drug traffickingMacron was speaking during a visit to the UAE to celebrate Christmas with French troops and to discuss bilateral ties with the Gulf state, with Paris hoping for more cooperation in its fight against drug trafficking.&nbsp;Macron met Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday, with the French leader posting on X that they had discussed how to strengthen their strategic partnership, particularly for &quot;stability in the Middle East&quot;.&nbsp;The UAE is a major buyer of French military hardware and Paris is reportedly considering turning to Abu Dhabi to rescue its troubled future fighter jet programme with Germany on the brink of pulling out.&nbsp;The French president traditionally celebrates the end-of-year holidays with troops deployed abroad, of whom there are more than 900 in the UAE.&nbsp;Some of their work focuses on the war against drug trafficking, with France hoping for more Emirati cooperation.&nbsp;Major traffickers are believed to have found refuge in the UAE, in Dubai in particular, and some are thought to have built up substantial real estate portfolios there.&nbsp;The French delegation includes Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who last month called on the UAE to extradite some 15 suspected drug traffickers wanted by France.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron authorises a larger, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to replace the Charles de Gaulle, signalling defence priorities amid budget pressures during a UAE visit focused on security ties and anti-drug cooperation.

Macron, on UAE visit, announces new French aircraft carrier

PARIS: Discrimination based on religion has increased in France, a report by the country&#39;s rights ombudswoman found Thursday, with one in three Muslims surveyed saying they had suffered from it. France has a significant Muslim community through immigration from its former colonies, including in North Africa. French law bans collecting data on a person&#39;s race, ethnicity or religion, which makes it difficult to have broad statistics on discrimination. But the office of rights chief Claire Hedon cited a 2024 survey of 5,000 people representative of France&#39;s population. Seven percent of those interviewed said they had suffered discrimination based on religion during the past five years, compared to just 5% in 2016, it said. The rate was highest among people of Muslim heritage. Up to 34% of Muslims &mdash; or people perceived as Muslims &mdash; said they had been discriminated against, compared to 19% for other religions, including Judaism and Buddhism, and just 4% among Christians. The rate stood at 38% for Muslim women, compared to 31% for their male counterparts. Discrimination could lead to exclusion, especially for Muslim women wearing a headscarf, the report said. &quot;Stigmatised in public spaces, they face restrictions on their careers,&quot; it said. That could include being forced to give up jobs, accept positions for which they are overqualified, or turn to community businesses or self-employment when they cannot find a job, it said, noting they were also sometimes banned from playing sport. &#39;Incorrect interpretation&#39; of secularism French secularism stems from a 1905 law that protects &quot;freedom of conscience,&quot; separates church and state, and ensures the state&#39;s neutrality. But in recent years, it has been cited as a justification for bans on visible religious symbols such as the Muslim headscarf in some spheres, such as state schools. Some French Muslims say the country feels increasingly hostile, especially as the right and far right across mainstream media warn of what they describe as &quot;Islamist encroachment&quot; after the country&#39;s worst-ever &quot;jihadist&quot; attacks in Paris in 2015. The report noted that around a quarter of people surveyed in another study misunderstood French secularism to mean &quot;a ban on religious symbols in public spaces,&quot; which was an &quot;incorrect interpretation.&quot; It said this &quot;gap between social perception and the reality of the legal framework&quot; was likely linked to an increasingly secular society, but also repeated &quot;political and media discourses.&quot; It called for better education on French secularism, saying political measures often cited as fighting segregation along religious lines &mdash; like banning women from wearing headscarves in certain settings &mdash; instead &quot;contribute to fostering it.&quot; Rights groups and activists have argued that banning headscarves still amounts to telling a woman what to wear rather than allowing her to make her own choice.

Women visit a booth selling clothing during the 35th annual meeting of the French Muslim community on March 30, 2018, at Le Bourget, north of Paris. (Photo by Jacques Demarthon / AFP)

Discrimination based on religion has increased in France, a report by the country's rights ombudswoman found Thursday, with one in three Muslims surveyed saying they had suffered from it.

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