France | Pakistan

Forty people have drowned in France over recent days as they sought to cool down to escape record heat, the prime minister said on Tuesday, ​as a heatwave swept across much of Europe. Britain, Italy, Switzerland and Spain were also sweltering in extreme heat, with record temperatures in some regions disrupting schools and transport ‌networks. Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, according to the World Meteorological Organisation, making such prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely. Children cool off in the Trocadero Fountain next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris as temperatures rise during a heatwave affecting a large part of France, June 22. — Reuters Heat alert across France Much of France is under severe heat alert and set to experience temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, Meteo France said, with temperatures of up to 43°C expected in some parts of western France. The country has just recorded its hottest afternoon and night since records began in ...

A punishing heatwave sweeping across much of Europe prompted a partial alcohol ban in France, nationwide warnings in Germany and the closure of a soccer fan zone in Spain, as temperatures climbed towards record levels. France was expecting 35 of its 96 departments or regions to declare red heatwave alerts on Sunday, with temperatures of 39 to 40 degrees Celsius expected from the southwest through the Paris region into Burgundy, with some areas possibly reaching 41°C. After a crisis meeting, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu pre-emptively banned alcohol consumption on Sunday at the annual Fete de la Musique festivals and other public events to be held in those 35 regions on Sunday. Authorities in Paris ordered parks to remain open around the clock, however. A woman protects herself from the sun under an umbrella on the Trocadero square near the Eiffel Tower as temperatures rise in Paris during a second heatwave affecting a large part of France, June 20, 2026. — Reuters Heat alerts were declared in most of Germa...

Half of capital will go to SoftBank data centres; Macron aims to make France AI leader

PM says 'unthinkable for a country like France not to respond using the tools of the rule of law'

Temperatures hit record highs for May in the United Kingdom and France on Monday, as forecasters warned of a prolonged period of extreme heat across Europe throughout the week. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Temperatures in Spain were expected to peak later this week at 38°C, while parts of Italy imposed restrictions on working outdoors. In the UK, the Met Office weather agency said it was the hottest May day on record, with temperatures hitting 34.8°C at Kew Gardens, southwest London – a full two degrees above the previous high. “This heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid-summer, let alone May,” it said on X. “The weather here, it’s like a mini version of hell. It’s boiling. It’s like really hot,” said 10-year-old Liza Nizari on a visit to London, where temperatures normally average about 17°C or 18C at this time of year. Lindy Brand-Daloze, a 66-yea...

France announced on Saturday it had banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from entry for a video mocking bound activists seized by Israeli soldiers on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. “From today, Itamar Ben Gvir is banned from entering French territory” after “his reprehensible actions towards French and European citizens” who were part of the humanitarian flotilla, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X. He added that, along with Italy, he was also calling for European Union-level sanctions against the far-right Israeli minister. Ben Gvir’s actions follow a long list of hatred and violence against Palestinians, Barrot wrote. The ban follows a global outcry after Ben Gvir published a video on Wednesday showing the heavy-handed treatment of foreign activists from the flotilla. In the video, dozens of activists are seen forced to kneel with their foreheads to the ground and their hands tied. The clip, which was captioned “Welcome to Israel”, also showed Ben-Gvir heckling the activists...

France’s health minister said Thursday that 26 people in France identified as close contacts of hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship had tested negative for the illness. Dutch authorities also confirmed that all people who arrived in the Netherlands on evacuation flights from the ship this week have tested negative. Twenty-six people are in hospital isolation in France, including 22 identified as close contacts of a Dutch woman on the MV Hondius that was at the centre of an international alert for the rare disease typically transmitted by rodents. French doctors are monitoring four others who were on the ship, while a fifth French passenger tested positive for hantavirus and is in serious condition in a French hospital. “As of today, all close contacts of a person who tested positive for hantavirus, present in France, have tested negative, without exception,” said Health Minister Stephanie Rist on X. Twenty-two of the individuals in France were on a flight from the Atlantic island of Saint He...

President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France would increase the number of its nuclear warheads and cooperate with eight European countries to help protect the continent as the clock ticks on his presidency. His speech at France’s Ile Longue nuclear submarine base came after US and Israeli attacks against Iran in a campaign that risks destabilising the Middle East. Macron updated France’s nuclear doctrine as Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds into a fifth year and Nato allies worry about Washington’s wavering commitment to Europe. “We must strengthen our nuclear deterrent in the face of multiple threats, and we must consider our deterrence strategy deep within the European continent, with full respect for our sovereignty,” Macron said. He announced “the gradual implementation of what I would call advanced deterrence”. Macron announced a series of concrete measures in a bid to bolster Europe’s security as France’s allies are concerned that a possible win by the eurosceptic far-right National Rally part...

France and India are entering a new era of defence cooperation with plans to jointly produce Rafale fighter jets as well as helicopters, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, adding France also hopes to sell more submarines to India. India’s expected order for another 114 Rafales is a “new step forward” in defence ties between the two countries and France hopes to see this replicated with submarines as well, Macron told reporters at the end of a three-day visit to India. “On Rafale, what we want to do is expand. India confirmed a few days ago its willingness to command a new bunch of Rafales … 114 … and to co-produce in India,” Macron said. The Defence Acquisition Council of India’s defence ministry last week gave initial clearance to acquire 114 more Rafale jets for the air force, besides other planes and missiles, months after the worst fighting in decades between India and Pakistan. So far, India has purchased 36 Rafales for its air force and ordered another 26 marine versions of the jet for t...

French President Emmanuel Macron begins a three-day visit to India on Tuesday, with talks focused on artificial intelligence cooperation and a potential multibillion-dollar Dassault Rafale fighter jet deal. France is seeking to expand its military partnership with New Delhi, with discussions expected on a potential contract for 114 additional French fighter jets. Macron and his wife Brigitte arrived around midnight on Monday in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, for his fourth visit to India since taking office in 2017. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Tuesday. Macron will then travel to New Delhi for an artificial intelligence summit on Wednesday and Thursday. The visit follows New Delhi’s confirmation last week that it intends to place a major order for Rafale jets, as well as the signing of a landmark free trade agreement between India and the European Union in January. ‘Contract of the century’ New Delhi has sought over the past decade to reduce its dependence on Russia, its t...

Indonesia has received three Rafale fighter jets from France in the first deliveries from a multi-billion dollar defence deal between the two countries, a defence ministry official told Reuters on Monday, marking a major upgrade to the country’s ageing military hardware. Jakarta, France’s main arms client in Southeast Asia, has placed orders for as many as 42 Rafales, built by Dassault Aviation, as well as French frigates and submarines, as the archipelago steps up defence spending under President Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces commander. “The aircraft have been handed over and are ready for use by the Indonesian Air Force, Defence Ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait said in a message in response to a Reuters query — the first confirmation that Indonesia has possession of the advanced military aircraft after striking an $8 billion deal with France in 2022 and expanding it last year. Sirait said the three aircraft arrived on Friday and were stationed at Roesmin Nurjadin Air Base in Pekanbaru, ...

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 militant Islamic State (IS) group to store weapons. “Royal Air Force aircraft have completed successful strikes against Daesh in a joint operation with France,” the ministry said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for IS. “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,” 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’s vast desert. 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.

Fourteen countries including Britain, Canada, France and others have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, prompting strong criticism from Tel Aviv. On Sunday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state. “On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state,” said Smotrich, a vocal proponent of settlement expansion and a settler himself. Subsequently, fourteen countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Canada, issued a statement late on Wednesday urging Israel to reverse its decision. “We call on Israel to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements,” said a joint statement released by Britain, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Such unilateral actions, they said, “...

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 organisation and financing a terrorist enterprise, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said. The suspect, who was arrested in Lyon last week, was placed in pre-trial detention. “He is suspected of having been in contact with IS-K (Islamic State in Khorasan),” the anti-terrorism unit said. The man is suspected of “sending funds” and helping translate and relay “the propaganda of this terrorist organisation”, PNAT added. The IS-K, the militant group’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 Parisi...

France’s President Emmanuel Macron faced growing pressure on Tuesday to resign or hold a snap parliamentary election to end political chaos that has forced the resignation of five prime ministers in less than two years. The 47-year-old centrist president has repeatedly said he will see out his second term, which ends in 2027. But resignation calls, long confined to the fringes, have entered the mainstream during one of the worst political crises since the 1958 creation of the Fifth Republic, France’s current system of government. On Tuesday, as Macron’s outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu held last-ditch talks to form a new government, his first premier in 2017, Edouard Philippe, said it was time for a new president to break the deadlock. Speaking to RTL radio, Philippe said Macron should be “leaving in an orderly manner” to allow a way out of the crisis. ‘It’s a mess’ Political turmoil in the euro zone’s second largest economy was front page news across Europe at a time when US President Donald Trump i...

France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned on Monday, barely 14 hours after appointing his new cabinet, after allies and foes alike threatened to topple his government, driving French stocks and the euro sharply lower. His swift resignation was unexpected and unprecedented, and marked another major deepening of France’s political crisis. The far-right National Rally immediately urged President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap parliamentary election. After weeks of consultations with political parties across the board, Lecornu, a close ally of Macron, had appointed his ministers on Sunday and they had been set to hold their first meeting on Monday afternoon. But the new cabinet line-up had angered opponents and allies alike, who either found it too right-wing or not sufficiently so, raising questions on how long it could last, at a time when France is already mired deep in political crisis, with no group holding a majority in a fragmented parliament. Lecornu handed his resignation to Macron on Monday...

ISLAMABAD - France on Tuesday pledged €500,000 in financial support to help flood-affected communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, funding a new ‘Acted’-led project that will restore livelihoods, shelters, water systems, and education in Buner and Swat.

• PA President Abbas calls on all states to follow suit • Dar attends, but doesn’t address high-level moot • PM due to meet Trump alongside Muslim leaders • Palestine flag unfurled at London mission NEW YORK: France and Monaco extended formal recognition to the State of Palestine at a high-level conference on Monday. “We must do everything within our power to preserve the very possibility of a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,” French President Emmanuel Macron said before announcing the diplomatic move, drawing lengthy applause from the audience. Macron outlined a framework for a “renewed Palestinian Authority” under which France would open an embassy subject to factors such as reforms, a ceasefire and the release of all remaining prisoners held in Gaza. Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg and San Marino were also expected to recognise a Palestinian state ahead of this week’s UN General Assembly, after Australia, Britain, Canada, Portugal and Malta did so over the we...

Strikes in France delay tapestry transfer

France will deploy three Rafale fighter jets to help Poland protect its airspace after this week’s drone incursions into its airspace, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday on X. “The security of the European continent is our top priority. We will not give in to Russia’s increasing intimidation,” he said. A French military official said the warplanes had already been deployed to Poland prior to Tuesday’s incursions. On Tuesday, Poland said it had scrambled aircraft alongside allies to shoot down “hostile objects” violating its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, a first for a NATO country during the war. The incursion came as Russia unleashed a barrage of strikes across Ukraine, including in the western city of Lviv, around 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the Polish border. Responding to the accusation, Russia’s foreign ministry claimed that its drones had carried out a major attack on military facilities in western Ukraine but stressed that there were no plans to hit any targe...