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.

Europe

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.

One in three French Muslims suffer discrimination: report

BEIJING:&nbsp;French President Emmanuel Macron told Xi Jinping that France and China must overcome their &ldquo;differences&rdquo;, as the two leaders met in Beijing on Thursday. &ldquo;Sometimes there are differences, but it is our responsibility to overcome them for the greater good,&rdquo; Macron told Xi during the meeting. The Chinese leader echoed Macron, calling for &ldquo;more stable&rdquo; ties with France during their talks at the Great Hall of the People. &lsquo;More stable&rsquo;Xi said China was willing to work with France &ldquo;to exclude any interference&rdquo; and &ldquo;make the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and France more stable&rdquo;. Macron and his wife Brigitte were given a grand welcome by Xi and First Lady Peng Liyuan to the Great Hall of the People, where the ceremony was moved indoors due to cold weather. Macron blew kisses to children who held flowers, while a band played the national anthems of both countries. Top of Macron&#39;s agenda during his three-day visit to China is the issue of Ukraine and the role Beijing could play in securing a ceasefire. Rebalancing trade ties&nbsp;&quot;We must continue to work towards peace and stability in the world, and in Ukraine and other regions affected by war,&quot; Macron told Xi, adding: &quot;Our capacity to work together is decisive.&quot; The French president also called for rebalancing trade ties, and urged Xi to work with G7 countries for rules-based economic governance.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-3" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-3&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1996188658487922937&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=92a695e3547cf2463211d3633b6c821060f9ae9c&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 897px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="1996188658487922937">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div><h2 style="line-height: 2;">Pressure on Ukraine&nbsp;</h2>Macron, visiting China for the fourth time since taking office in 2017, is also expected to meet with Premier Li Qiang before travelling to Chengdu, where two giant pandas loaned to France were recently returned. Macron has sought to pressure Xi to help secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, as the war with Russia drags into a fourth winter. Macron&#39;s three-day visit to Beijing follows a trip to Paris by Ukraine&#39;s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged Europe to stand by Kyiv as US President Donald Trump pushes a plan to end the war. &quot;We share the view that the war must be brought to a fair end,&quot; Zelensky wrote on social media after Monday&#39;s talks with Macron, which also included phone calls with other European leaders.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-4" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-4&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1995507343648235773&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=92a695e3547cf2463211d3633b6c821060f9ae9c&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 344px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="1995507343648235773"></iframe></div></div><h2 style="line-height: 2;">Over $350B trade deficit &nbsp;</h2>Macron is also due to discuss trade with his Chinese hosts, with the European Union facing a massive trade deficit of $357 billion with the Asian powerhouse. &quot;It is necessary for China to consume more and export less... and for Europeans to save less and produce more,&quot; an adviser to Macron said. Macron has previously called for the European Union to reduce its dependence on China and for a &ldquo;European preference&rdquo; in the tech sector. Last month, he told a European summit of tech leaders and ministers from across the continent that the bloc does not want to be a &ldquo;vassal&rdquo; to US and Chinese tech companies. The French president will stay in China until Friday, with a final stop in Chengdu in the southwestern province of Sichuan. &lsquo;Quite exceptional&rsquo;Last week, two giant pandas loaned to France by China were flown to their ancestral home to retire at an animal sanctuary in the city. The Chinese embassy promised new bears would soon be dispatched to make up for the popular pair leaving. The Chengdu visit is &ldquo;quite exceptional in Chinese protocol&rdquo;, the French presidency said, adding it was &ldquo;appreciated as such&rdquo; by Macron. During his last trip to China, the French president was given a rock star welcome at a university in the southern city of Guangzhou, with students chanting his name and scrambling for selfies and high-fives.

China

French President Macron met Xi Jinping in Beijing, urging France and China to overcome differences, strengthen strategic partnership, rebalance trade, and work toward peace in Ukraine, while Xi emphasized stable ties and cooperation against interference.

China and France must overcome ‘differences’, Macron tells Xi

PARIS: A 20-year-old man from Afghanistan suspected of having links to an offshoot of the Islamic State group has been arrested in France, anti-terrorism prosecutors said on Saturday. The man was charged with participating in a criminal terrorist organization and financing a terrorist enterprise, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor&#39;s Office (PNAT) said. The suspect, who was arrested in Lyon last week, was placed in pre-trial detention. &quot;Clearly adhering to jihadist ideology, he is suspected of having been in contact with IS-K (Islamic State in Khorasan),&quot; the anti-terrorism unit said. Suspect accused of &#39;sending funds&#39; to IS-KThe man is suspected of &quot;sending funds&quot; and helping translate and relay &quot;the propaganda of this terrorist organization,&quot; PNAT added. The Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), the jihadist group&#39;s branch in Afghanistan, also operates in Pakistan and former Soviet countries in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan. The group has been responsible for deadly attacks in Afghanistan and Russia, including an attack on a Moscow concert hall in March 2024 that killed 150 people. According to French daily Le Parisien, the Afghan, who arrived in France several years ago, was arrested by officers from the DGSI domestic intelligence agency when he was already in an administrative detention center in Lyon. Under investigationLe Parisien said that the suspect, already under investigation for glorifying terrorism, was editing and disseminating jihadist propaganda on TikTok and Snapchat social networks. France has been repeatedly targeted by Islamist attackers over the past decade, often by individuals inspired by Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group.

A 20-year-old man from Afghanistan suspected of having links to an offshoot of the Islamic State group has been arrested in France

France arrests Afghan with suspected links to Islamic State offshoot

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Just a day after the high-profile jewel heist at Mus&eacute;e du Louvre in Paris, another French cultural institution was robbed. On Monday morning, officials at the Maison des Lumi&egrave;res &ndash; House of Enlightenment in Langres (Haute-Marne) discovered that part of the museum&rsquo;s coins treasure had vanished, Franceinfo reported. The museum staff entering the institution in the morning found the entrance door open and a display case housing gold and silver coins shattered.&nbsp; &ldquo;The sliding entrance door had been forced open, and a display case containing gold and silver coins had been broken,&rdquo; the municipal statement said.&nbsp; According to local officials, the thieves selected only a limited number of items from the collection, leaving the rest untouched, authorities consider this a sign of a targeted and prepared robbery. The stolen pieces came from a trove of nearly 2,000 coins, 1,633 silver and 319 gold, previously valued at around &euro;90,000.&nbsp; The museum said the missing items were part of &ldquo;the &lsquo;museum treasure&rsquo;, a collection of silver and gold coins discovered during renovation.&rdquo; The timing could not be more alarm-raising. The Louvre robbery, which made global headlines with its daylight raid on priceless royal jewels valued at &euro;88 million, triggered national alarms about museum security. The Langres incident arrived like a copy-cat in the making, raising concerns that once-targeted-vulnerable institutions are now under renewed threat. Police are investigating the Langres heist as &ldquo;targeted and planned,&rdquo; with the city already contracting a private security firm to guard the site overnight while the museum upgrades its surveillance.&nbsp; In a public statement the City of Langres vowed to &ldquo;strongly condemn this act of vandalism and theft, which damages the community&rsquo;s heritage.&rdquo; For now, Langres remains closed to visitors until further notice. The coins are gone, the display case lies broken, and French heritage watchers wonder: How many more?

A day after the Louvre jewel heist, France’s Maison des Lumières museum in Langres was robbed of select gold and silver coins worth €90,000. Authorities call it a targeted theft amid growing concern over museum security

New day, new robbery: another French museum hit after Louvre

PARIS: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at a prison in Paris on Tuesday to begin serving a 5-year sentence for a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya. He is the first ex-leader of modern France to be imprisoned. Sarkozy, hand-in-hand with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, left home before getting into a police car and traveling to prison. On his way to prison, Sarkozy said in a statement released on social media that &ldquo;an innocent man&rdquo; was being locked up. Sarkozy&rsquo;s lawyers said a request for release has been immediately filed. He was convicted last month for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya. Sarkozy contests both the conviction and a judge&rsquo;s unusual decision to incarcerate him pending appeal. His journey from the presidential Elys&eacute;e Palace to the notorious La Sant&eacute; prison in Paris has captivated France. Minutes before entering prison, Sarkozy and his wife walked slowly to join his children and grandchildren outside his home. He waved at a crowd of supporters gathered in the high-end Paris neighborhood where he lives, then got into his car. Hundreds of supporters applauded and chanted &ldquo;Nicolas, Nicolas&rdquo; and sang the French anthem. Two French flags were hung on a nearby fence, with the inscriptions: &ldquo;Courage Nicolas, return soon&rdquo; and &quot;true France with Nicolas.&quot; Sarkozy&rsquo;s sons and daughter &mdash; Jean, Pierre, Louis and Giulia &mdash; and his grandchildren showed up at the gathering. Parisian resident Michelle Peri&eacute;, 67, said she came in support &ldquo;because there is anger, injustice.&quot; &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not like any other defendants, he&rsquo;s someone who holds state secrets, he&rsquo;s someone who has always done his job with his head held high. We don&rsquo;t understand,&rdquo; she said. Embattled centrist President Emmanuel Macron hosted the conservative Sarkozy at the presidential palace last week. &lsquo;&rsquo;I have always been very clear in my public statements about the independence of the judiciary in my role, but it was normal on a human level to receive one of my predecessors in this context,&#39;&#39; Macron said Monday. Sarkozy&#39;s lawyers said the former president will be held in solitary confinement, where he will be kept away from all other prisoners for security reasons. Sarkozy&rsquo;s lawyer Christophe Ingrain said on BFM TV that incarceration &ldquo;strengthens his determination, it strengthens his rage to prove that he is innocent.&rdquo; Ingrain said Sarkozy is planning to write a book about his prison experience. Jean-Michel Darrois, another of Sarkozy&#39;s lawyers, said on Tuesday that the former president got himself &ldquo;mentally prepared&rdquo; to be held in solitary confinement, where he would be kept away from all other prisoners for security reasons. &ldquo;First, he packed a bag with a few sweaters because it&rsquo;s cold in prison, and earplugs because it&rsquo;s very noisy,&rdquo; Darrois said on France Info news broadcaster. &ldquo;Isolation like what he&rsquo;s going to go through is painful, but he got himself prepared.&rdquo; &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not afraid of prison. I&rsquo;ll hold my head high, including in front of the doors of La Sant&eacute;,&rdquo; Sarkozy told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll fight till the end.&rdquo; The paper said Sarkozy has his prison bag ready with clothes and the 10 family photos he is allowed to bring. Sarkozy also told Le Figaro newspaper that he would bring three books &mdash; the maximum allowed &mdash; including Alexandre Dumas&#39; &ldquo;The Count of Monte Cristo,&#39;&#39; in which the hero escapes from an island prison before seeking revenge. The Paris judge ruled that Sarkozy would start to serve prison time without waiting for his appeal to be heard, due to &ldquo;the seriousness of the disruption to public order caused by the offense.&rdquo; Under the ruling, the 70-year-old Sarkozy will only be able to file a request for release to the appeals court once he is behind bars, and judges will then have up to two months to process it.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began a 5-year prison sentence for financing his 2007 campaign with Libyan funds, becoming France’s first jailed ex-leader. He denies wrongdoing and plans to appeal while in solitary confinement.

France’s ex-president Sarkozy jailed for 5 years in campaign finance conspiracy

PARIS: A theft occurred at the Louvre on Sunday, France&rsquo;s culture minister said, as the museum closed for the day while authorities investigate. &ldquo;A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum,&rdquo; Rachida Dati wrote on X. The Louvre said it would close &ldquo;for exceptional reasons,&rdquo; offering no further details on the heist. No injuries were reported. Dati said she was on site and that an investigation was underway. French daily Le Parisien reported that the criminals entered the world&rsquo;s most visited museum and former palace via the Seine-facing facade, where construction is underway. The report said they used a freight elevator to gain direct access to the targeted room in the Apollo Gallery. After breaking windows, they reportedly stole &ldquo;nine pieces from the jewellery collection of Napoleon and the Empress,&rdquo; Le Parisien said. The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. The most famous was in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former worker who hid inside the museum and walked out with the painting under his coat. It was recovered two years later in Florence &mdash; an episode that helped make Leonardo da Vinci&rsquo;s portrait the world&rsquo;s best-known artwork. In 1983, two Renaissance-era pieces of armor were stolen from the Louvre and only recovered nearly four decades later. The museum&rsquo;s collection also bears the legacy of Napoleonic-era looting that continues to spark restitution debates today. The Louvre is home to more than 33,000 works spanning antiquities, sculpture and painting &mdash; from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to European masters. Its star attractions include the Mona Lisa, as well as the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. The Galerie d&rsquo;Apollon, where Sunday&rsquo;s theft reportedly took place, displays a selection of the French Crown Jewels. The museum can draw up to 30,000 visitors a day.

France’s culture minister announced that the Louvre Museum in Paris has been closed following a reported robbery. Authorities are investigating the incident, and details about what was stolen or suspects involved have not yet been released.


Louvre closed after robbery, French culture minister reports

Reuters

PARIS/UNITED NATIONS: France and Britain, in coordination with the United States, are working to finalise a UN Security Council resolution in the coming days that would lay the foundation for a future international force in Gaza, France said on Thursday. With a shaky US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holding, planning has begun for an international force to stabilize security in the Palestinian enclave, two senior US advisers said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters in Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said such a force needed a UN mandate to provide a strong foundation in international law and ease the process of getting potential contributions from countries. &quot;France is working closely with its partners on the establishment of such an international mission, which must be formalised through the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution,&quot; he said. &quot;Discussions, notably with the Americans and British, are ongoing to propose this resolution in the coming days.&quot; US President Donald Trump&#39;s administration is speaking with many countries interested in contributing to the force, a White House official said on Thursday. &quot;We are also in conversations about a potential UN Security Council resolution to support this effort,&quot; the White House official said. STABILISATION FORCE &#39;WILL TAKE SOME TIME&#39;, SAYS BRITAIN Paris hosted talks with other European and Arab powers on October 10 to flesh out ideas for Gaza&#39;s post-war transition, including how an international force could take shape. Diplomats said the stabilisation force would not be a formal United Nations peacekeeping force paid for by the world body. Instead, a Security Council resolution could mirror action taken by the 15-member body to back the deployment of an international force to combat armed gangs in Haiti. That resolution spells out and authorizes the mission and states contributing to the force to &quot;take all necessary measures&quot; &ndash; code for the use of force &ndash; to carry out the mandate. &quot;The stabilisation force will take some time,&quot; British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told parliament on Tuesday. &quot;The terms of reference are still being drawn up. There is a United Nations Security Council resolution on the establishment of the force, or I hope there will be, but the wider terms of reference are not yet agreed.&quot; INDONESIA PREVIOUSLY OFFERED 20,000 TROOPS Among the countries the US is speaking to about contributing to the force are Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, and Azerbaijan, the advisers said on condition of anonymity. There are also currently up to two dozen US troops in the region to help set up the operation, serving in a &quot;coordination, oversight&quot; role, they said. Italy has publicly said it was willing to take part. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto told the United Nations General Assembly on September 23 that if there was a UN resolution, Indonesia was prepared to deploy 20,000 or more troops in Gaza to help secure peace. The 193-member UN General Assembly last month overwhelmingly voted to endorse a declaration that aimed to advance a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, which supports the deployment of a temporary international stabilization mission mandated by the UN Security Council.

 Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, October 16, 2025.

United Kingdom

Middle East

France and Britain, in coordination with the United States, are working to finalise a UN Security Council resolution in the coming days that would lay the foundation for a future international force in Gaza, France said on Thursday.

France and Britain refine plans at UN for Gaza force resolution

PARIS: Embattled French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu will give a high-stakes speech on Tuesday to a deeply divided parliament, a day after President Emmanuel Macron blamed opponents for plunging the country into &quot;chaos.&quot; France, the eurozone&#39;s second-largest economy, is in a deep political crisis that has spooked markets and raised concern about its minority government&#39;s ability to govern and ease the country&#39;s debt burden. After an extraordinary week of political drama, which saw Lecornu resign on October 6 only to be re-appointed by Macron on Friday, the 39-year-old prime minister urged his new cabinet on Monday to do everything to help France overcome the deadlock. &quot;I am counting on you to show the utmost restraint and humility,&quot; Lecornu, the seventh prime minister of Macron&#39;s mandate, told his new cabinet. &quot;Service is something that requires putting egos aside,&quot; said Lecornu, on the eve of a key policy speech to parliament, where he faces threats of censure. Lecornu addressed the cabinet following a low-key handover ceremony, which took place without journalists. Macron&#39;s perceived refusal to bring in new faces has enraged the opposition, with the hard-left France Unbowed party and far-right National Rally threatening to topple Lecornu&#39;s new cabinet, which was unveiled late on Sunday. Lecornu&#39;s two immediate predecessors were ousted in a standoff over an austerity budget, and his immediate task is to put together a 2026 budget plan. &#39;Everyone&#39;s duty&#39;The new cabinet is expected to present a draft budget on Tuesday that aims for a deficit below 5% of GDP, according to new government spokesperson Maud Bregeon. The cabinet must give parliament the constitutionally required 70 days to scrutinize the plan before the end of the year. In recent days, Macron has come under unprecedented pressure. Some opposition leaders are urging him to call snap elections or resign, and even key allies such as former prime minister Edouard Philippe have distanced themselves from the 47-year-old president. Macron sought to shift all responsibility for the turmoil to political rivals as he travelled to Egypt to attend a summit on ending the Gaza war and highlight his diplomatic credentials. &quot;The political forces that have instigated the destabilization of Sebastien Lecornu are solely responsible for this chaos,&quot; Macron told reporters upon arrival in Egypt, where he rubbed shoulders with US President Donald Trump and other world leaders. &quot;It is everyone&#39;s duty to work towards stability,&quot; Macron said. He added before boarding his plane home: &quot;I have confidence everyone will show a spirit of responsibility to get this done.&quot; Political jockeying in France has been intensifying ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Macron, who is enduring his worst-ever popularity levels, has vowed to serve out his second and final term. Pension reform under attack&nbsp;Many opponents and political analysts blame the French president for the current gridlock. In mid-2024, he called snap elections to stave off the march of the far right, but his gamble backfired. Macron&#39;s centrist camp lost its majority, while parliament&#39;s lower house, the National Assembly, is now divided into three distinct blocs. French daily Le Monde said in an editorial that Macron was on dangerous ground. &quot;The head of state is taking the risk of turning this major political crisis into a lasting institutional deadlock, and thus into a crisis of the regime,&quot; the newspaper said. The leftist Socialists, a swing group, warn they may also vote against the government unless Lecornu backs off from a controversial 2023 pension reform that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64. Socialist leader Olivier Faure said his party demanded an &quot;immediate, complete&quot; suspension of the pension reform. The right-wing Republicans, once a key political ally of Macron, have meanwhile said they would only cooperate with the government on a &quot;bill-by-bill&quot; basis. Macron declined on Monday to speculate on a possible dissolution of parliament in case of another government failure. &quot;I&#39;m not making any bets,&quot; he said. &quot;I want the country to move forward.&quot;

Macron shifts all responsibility for the turmoil to political rivals as he travels to Egypt to attend a summit on ending the Gaza war; says it is everyone's duty to work towards stability

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