Tag Archives: Macron

Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan asked his compatriots to stop buying French goods on Monday in the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over images being displayed in France of the Prophet Mohammad, which some Muslims consider blasphemous. In Bangladesh on Monday, protesters held placards with a caricature of …

Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam, on Tuesday condemned cartoons offending the Prophet Mohammad and any attempts to link Islam with terrorism but did not echo calls by other Muslim states for action against images being displayed in France of the Prophet. A foreign ministry official also said in a statement …

Pakistan summoned the French ambassador in Islamabad on Monday in the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over France displaying images of the Prophet Mohammad that Muslims consider blasphemous. In Bangladesh on Monday, protesters unfurled placards with a caricature of French President Emmanuel Macron and the words: “Macron …

Pakistan’s prime minister has appealed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to ban Islamophobic content on the site, warning of an increase in radicalisation amongst Muslims, the government said on Sunday. In a letter, which the Pakistani government posted on Twitter, Imran Khan said that “growing Islamophobia” was encouraging extremism and …

Kuwait’s retail co-ops have pulled French products in boycott over the use of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a French school class on freedom of expression whose teacher was then beheaded by a Chechen teenager. In Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, a hashtag calling for the boycott …

Lebanon’s former premier Saad al-Hariri appeared on course to be nominated for a fourth term as prime minister on Thursday and try to form a new government to tackle the country’s deepest crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. Hariri needs to win the most support from parliamentarians who were holding …

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday he would fulfill his duty in designating a prime minister but put the onus on the new premier to launch moves to pull the country from financial crisis. Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri is poised to be named prime minister at formal consultations on …

U..S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced deep concern about Northern Cyprus’ reopening part of a beachfront resort abandoned since Turkey invaded the island in 1974, calling it provocative and seeking its reversal, the State Department said on Friday. Pompeo made the comments in a call with Cypriot Foreign Minister …

Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician, former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, called for the restoration of a French plan to lift the nation out of its worst financial crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. Former colonial power France, which has led foreign aid efforts, has tried to rally Lebanese leaders to …

Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician, former premier Saad al-Hariri, called for the restoration of a French plan to lift the nation out of its worst financial crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. Former colonial power France, which has led foreign aid efforts, has tried to rally have Lebanese leaders to …

Hezbollah’s leader said on Tuesday his Shi’ite movement welcomed French efforts to help Lebanon out of crisis but that did not mean French President Emmanuel Macron could act like the country’s ruler. In a televised address, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah remained ready for dialogue under …

The EU on Monday criticized Lebanese politicians for their failure to form a government, after the country’s prime minister-designate quit at the weekend due to pressure from Hezbollah and its allies over key ministerial jobs. Lebanon has experienced almost a year of intense turmoil, which has been exacerbated by the …

Lebanon’s prime minister-designate quit on Saturday after trying for almost a month to line up a non-partisan cabinet, dealing a blow to a French bid aimed at rallying sectarian leaders to tackle the worst crisis since the nation’s 1975-1990 civil war. Mustapha Adib, former ambassador to Berlin, was picked on …

France backed on Wednesday a proposal made by Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician to end a deadlock preventing the formation of a cabinet to lead the nation out of its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Paris has been pressing Lebanese politicians to form a government quickly but the …

France’s foreign ministry on Friday said there was no evidence to suggest the armed wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah was storing chemicals to make explosives in France after a senior U.S. official said the group had set up caches in Europe since 2012. Speaking on Thursday, Nathan Sales, the U.S. State …

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement attempted on Thursday to see off a French initiative to form a Lebanese government of non-political technocrats not associated with the parties in power and which rotates the ministries among the country’s sects. The Hezbollah parliamentary bloc held “the extremely negative American role” responsible for …

Leading Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt said on Wednesday it seemed some people did not understand that French-led efforts to lift Lebanon out of crisis were the last chance to save the country. Lebanon is in the throes of a crippling economic and financial meltdown that marks the biggest threat to …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday warned France that its efforts to resolve the crisis in Lebanon would be in vain without immediately tackling the issue of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s weaponry. President Emmanuel Macron has spearheaded international efforts to set Lebanon on a new course after decades of corrupt …

Lebanon’s top Christian cleric said on Sunday a new government must deliver urgent economic and other reforms in the national interest, rather than returning to past corrupt ways that have plunged the Middle Eastern nation into an economic crisis. Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, leader of the Maronite church, has an …

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Muslim World League (MWL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday. The MoU aims to achieve common goals in a number of areas, most notably combating radicalism, extremism and Islamophobia; supporting the values of dialogue and tolerance; and introducing the right …

France’s intelligence chief has joined efforts to push Lebanon to deliver a new government and reforms, Lebanese sources said on Thursday, buttressing President Emmanuel Macron’s bid to pull the country out of a devastating economic crisis. Macron is center stage in international efforts to press fractious Lebanese politicians to address …

President Tayyip Erdogan spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about developments in the eastern Mediterranean and told him Turkey will continue to protect its rights and interests everywhere, Erdogan’s office said on Friday. Earlier, the EU’s top diplomat said the European Union is preparing sanctions against Turkey that could be …

France’s foreign minister said on Thursday that Lebanon risked disappearing due to the inaction of its political elite who needed to quickly implement a new government to implement crucial reforms for the country. “The international community will not sign a blank cheque if the they (Lebanese authorities) don’t put in …

The United States lost a bid on Friday to extend a U.N. arms embargo on Iran as Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a summit of world leaders to avoid “confrontation” over a U.S. threat to trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Tehran. In a U.N. Security Council vote, …

Seismological data suggests that six blasts preceded the Beirut port explosion, the last of them a combustion of fireworks that apparently set off a warehouse full of ammonium nitrate, an Israeli analyst said on Thursday. The six blasts were at 11-second intervals during the Aug. 4 incident, with the main …

France will increase its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, calling on Turkey to halt oil and gas exploration in disputed waters that has heightened tensions with Greece. The French leader voiced concern over “unilateral” exploration by Turkey in a call with Greek Prime …

The United Nations has not received any requests to investigate the deadly explosion in Beirut’s port, a U.N. spokesman said on Friday after French President Emmanuel Macron called for an international inquiry. Dozens are still missing after Tuesday’s blast in the Lebanese capital that killed at least 154 people, injured …

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is appealing for $15 million to cover emergency health needs in Lebanon following the Beirut port explosion that hit amid an economic crisis and rising coronavirus cases. The blast, which killed more than 150 and injured more than 5,000, also destroyed 17 containers holding WHO …

Lebanon’s leading Druze politician Walid Jumblatt called on Thursday for an international investigation into the Beirut port explosion and said he had “no trust” in the government to find out the truth about it. “We have no trust at all in this ruling gang,” said Jumblatt, whose party has lawmakers …

The United States on Tuesday condemned all foreign military involvement in Libya, including the use of mercenaries and private military contractors, and said Libyans themselves must rebuild a unified country. U.S. President Donald Trump had spoken with several world leaders about Libya in past weeks, and it was clear there …

France told Lebanon on Thursday that it had no option but to accept an IMF deal to help it out of a dire financial crisis and that Beirut must enact reforms urgently if it is to win foreign aid. Lebanon desperately needs such aid as it wrestles with a financial …

The leaders of France, Germany and Italy on Saturday threatened for the first time to use sanctions against countries that continued to violate a United Nations arms embargo on Libya. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte urged “all foreign actors to end …

France’s president on Monday accused Turkey of massively importing jihadists into Libya, labeling Ankara’s intervention “criminal” and he lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambivalence towards his country’s mercenaries operating in the North African state. Ties between NATO allies France and Turkey have soured in recent weeks over Libya, Northern Syria …

Khalifa Haftar, Libya’s eastern military commander, told France’s president that he would sign a ceasefire and keep to it if militias backed by the internationally-recognized government respected it, a French presidency source said on Monday. “Marshal Haftar assured (us) that he was committed to signing the ceasefire but this commitment …

By Sarah Safa*   During the latest visit of President Trump to the French Capital on November the 13th, two days after the commemoration ceremonies of the 1918 armistice, a controversy was raised over a Tweet that was posted by his French counterpart, Mr. Macron, in which he revealed that the …

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to put pressure on oil producers to bring down prices. Oil prices have risen 45 percent since Macron took office in mid 2017 and his government is facing pressure on high prices from a grassroots …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed in a phone call on Thursday to foster trade ties, a Turkish presidential source said, after the lira’s dramatic fall in the wake of escalating tensions with the US. “Both leaders emphasised the importance of fostering economic and …

Alexandre Benalla, an assistant to President Emmanuel Macron’s chief of staff, was filmed targeting a woman and a man during May Day protests. He was caught on video by a student activist and left the scene once challenged on camera. He was identified from the video by French newspaper Le …

France’s weapons sales to the Middle East doubled in 2017, a government report showed, as President Emmanuel Macron defied pressure from lawmakers and rights groups to curb arms flows to a region mired in conflict. France is among the world’s leading arms exporters, its sales surging in recent years on the back of …

A missile attack targeting government outposts in Syria’s northern region killed 26 pro-government fighters, mostly Iranians, a Syria war monitoring group said Monday, amid soaring Mideast tensions between regional archenemies Israel and Iran. Iranian media gave conflicting reports about the overnight incident amid speculation that it was carried out by …

The clock is ticking towards the May 12 deadline when US President Donald Trump will decide whether the US will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal or sign up to extending it. Trump reiterated Tuesday that he regards the pact, agreed by his predecessor in 2015, as “insane” and “ridiculous.” Standing …

A false alarm set off Syrian air defense systems early on Tuesday, the military said, denying earlier reports of an “outside aggression” and incoming airstrikes and underscoring the chaotic nature of the multiple actors in Syria’s theater of war. Syrian state media reported hours earlier that the country confronted yet …

Western powers have no plans for further missile strikes on Syria but will assess their options if Damascus uses chemical weapons again, Britain’s foreign minister said on Sunday as debate raged over the legality and effectiveness of the raids. U.S., French and British missile attacks struck at the heart of …

Both the US and France denied the air strikes on Syrian military targets, which had reportedly killed Iranians. Several US officials said on Sunday there was no truth to reports that the US military had launched air strikes against a Syrian government air base. The US denial followed a report …