John Irish

The UAE is consulting with the United States on sanctions targeting Russian individuals, but does not want to "lump together" all Russians into one category as some seek safe havens amid the Ukraine war, an Emirati official said on Friday.

French officials head to Niger on Friday to redefine the country's strategy to fight Islamist militants in the Sahel as thousands of troops complete a withdrawal from Mali and concerns mount over the growing threat to coastal West African states.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared to bury the hatchet on Sunday on the sidelines of the G7 summit a year after the two clashed over Brexit and in particular Northern Ireland.

After clashing last year over sausages and submarines, France's Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Boris Johnson were all smiles at a G7 summit on Sunday, with disputes over Brexit not even coming up at bilateral talks focused mainly on Ukraine.

France's far-right scored a historic success in legislative elections on Sunday increasing its number of lawmakers almost tenfold and cementing the party's rise from fringe status to the mainstream opposition.

France's president said on Friday he saw little chance of an agreement with Russia for now to get grain out the Ukrainian port of Odesa, but said there were talks to regenerate rail routes linking Odesa to the Danube in Romania as an alternative.

A decision to give Ukraine candidate status to the European Union has to be done without weakening the bloc and to ensure Kyiv is not left in limbo for years, a French presidential official said on Friday.

French diplomats went on strike on Thursday for the first time in 20 years in protest at staff cuts and reforms by President Emmanuel Macron that they say could hurt France's global standing.

French diplomats went on strike on Thursday for the first time in 20 years in protest at a perceived lack of recognition, fewer means, and reforms pushed by President Emmanuel Macron that they say could hurt France's global standing.

French diplomats will go on strike for the first time in 20 years on Thursday in protest against a perceived lack of recognition and reforms pushed by the president that they say could damage France's global standing.

Ukraine will eventually be part of the European Union, France's Europe minister said on Tuesday, reassuring Kyiv that an initiative to forge closer ties between the bloc and aspiring members would not replace their bids to join.

There are internal elements in Moldova's pro-Russian separatist region which are trying to destabilise the area and stoke tensions, Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said on Friday, as his country presses ahead with efforts to join the European Union.

There is little chance of the United States agreeing to remove Iran's elite security force from its list of foreign terrorist organisations any time soon, a French diplomatic source said on Thursday, casting a further pall over nuclear negotiations.

France summoned a senior Iranian diplomat on Thursday after two of its citizens were detained in Tehran in what Paris said was a baseless arrest, an incident likely to complicate ties between the countries as wider talks on reviving a nuclear deal stall.

Protests were expected around France on Saturday as opponents of far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen seek to form a united front to prevent her from winning an election runoff against incumbent Emmanuel Macron on April 24.

In a rural town south of Paris, far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen delivered a simple message to local farmers: Russia's war in Ukraine means the price of feed, fertiliser and staple goods will keep rising unless the French government acts.

It was going to be bad. It turned out to be worse.

It was going to be bad. It turned out to be worse.

Ukraine still controls two key nuclear power plants in the south of the country, including Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest, but Russian forces are closing in, the acting head of Ukraine's state-run nuclear company Energoatom said on Thursday.

France on Wednesday said a decision on salvaging Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers was just days away and that it was now up to Tehran to make the political choice while Tehran called on Western powers to be "realistic."

The conditions are no longer in place to continue the fight against Islamist militants in Mali and President Emmanuel Macron has asked to re-organise French troops in the region, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday described what he said was a secret atomic warehouse in Tehran and accused Europe of appeasing Iran as he sought to rally support for U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

U.S. President Donald Trump decided in May to abandon the pact and to restore economic sanctions on Iran, including those that seek to force the OPEC member's major oil customers to stop buying Iranian crude.