Iran's disputed uranium enrichment drive is nearing a point of no return and European partners to a moribund 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran should consider reimposing sanctions if there is no progress with Tehran,

Peace in the Middle East is possible but requires Europe to engage with 'good faith Arab partners', says French President

African governments have criticized a speech by French President Emmanuel Macron in which he said that some leaders showed “ingratitude” for the deployment of his nation’s troops in the Sahel region in battling Islamist extremism.

Senegal and Chad have criticized French President Macron's remarks suggesting African countries are ungrateful for France's security role in the continent. ・Macron claimed African nations owe their sovereignty to the presence of French forces ・Senegal and Chad criticized French President Macron's remarks about Africa's gratitude for France's

French soldiers were deployed for a decade to fight an Islamist insurgency in its former colonial territory of the Sahel region. Read more at straitstimes.com.

African officials pushed back after French President Emmanuel Macron said that some of their nations owed their sovereignty to France after its troops intervened in their countries.

President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday faced an angry backlash from France's remaining allies in West Africa and accusations at home of showing a neo-colonialist attitude after lamenting that African countries "forgot to say thank you" for France's decade-long military deployment to fight an Islamist insurgency.

PARIS (AP) — A decade after gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in a deadly assault that shook France to its core and ignited a global outcry in defense of freedom of speech, the nation paused on Tuesday to honor the victims and renew its resolve to fight for liberty and democracy.

Two masked al Qaeda-linked gunmen with assault rifles stormed what were then the offices of Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people. The attackers sought to avenge the Prophet Mohammad

France on Tuesday marked 10 years since an Islamist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper that shocked the country and led to fierce debate about freedom of expression and religion.- Cartoons - The 10-year anniversary of the killings has led to fresh introspection in France about the nature of press freedom and the ability of publications such as Charlie Hebdo to blaspheme and ridicule religious figures,

French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, center, flanked by his daughter Marine Le Pen, and Bruno Gollnisch, arrives for a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of Joan of Arc, within the party's traditional May Day march Saturday May 1, 2010, in Paris. Credit: AP/Jacques Brinon

Controversy was Le Pen's constant companion: accusations of racism and antisemitism dogged the National Front from when he co-founded the party.