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France Sides with Cyprus amid Tensions with Turkey over Gas Search

France's Defense Minister Florence Parly talks to the media after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, Feb. 18, 2020. (AP)
France's Defense Minister Florence Parly talks to the media after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, Feb. 18, 2020. (AP)
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France Sides with Cyprus amid Tensions with Turkey over Gas Search

France's Defense Minister Florence Parly talks to the media after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, Feb. 18, 2020. (AP)
France's Defense Minister Florence Parly talks to the media after talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, Feb. 18, 2020. (AP)

France's defense minister said Tuesday that her country stands in solidarity with Cyprus amid tensions over a Turkish search for natural gas inside Cypriot waters.

Florence Parly said France supports Cyprus, which finds itself under “strong pressure.”

“France is a friend of Cyprus," Parly told The Associated Press after talks with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades. “And we also express our solidarity regarding, for instance, what's going on in the EEZ" — Cyprus' exclusive economic zone.

Turkey has sent warship-escorted vessels to drill for gas in waters where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights, including areas where the Cypriot government has licensed energy companies Total of France and Italy's Eni to carry out exploratory drilling.

European Union member Cyprus has denounced Turkey's actions as a flagrant violation of its sovereign rights and of international law. The EU has also rebuked Turkey over the drilling.

Turkey, which does not recognize Cyprus as a state, says its acting to protect its rights and those of breakaway Turkish Cypriots.

Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence that came after a 1974 Turkish invasion of the island following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 but only the south — where the internationally recognized government is seated — enjoys full membership benefits.

Parly said France is grateful for Cyprus' assistance in French naval operations in the region by allowing French ships to resupply at Cypriot ports.

The French defense minister said she would visit the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle that's sailing off Cyprus to conduct air strikes against ISIS group targets in the region.

Cypriot deputy government spokesman Panayiotis Sentonas said Parly discussed with the Cypriot president ways of bolstering bilateral cooperation, especially in the defense sector.

Cyprus said earlier this month that it has signed 240 million euros' ($260 million) worth of contracts with French companies to upgrade weapons systems.

A Cypriot official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss military matters, said France is looking to station warplanes at an airbase on Cyprus' southwestern coast.

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World

US Warships Transit Strait of Hormuz in Mine Clearance Op

A boat is off the coast of Musandam governorate, overlooking the strait of Hormuz, in Musandam governance, in Oman, April 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A boat is off the coast of Musandam governorate, overlooking the strait of Hormuz, in Musandam governance, in Oman, April 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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US Warships Transit Strait of Hormuz in Mine Clearance Op

A boat is off the coast of Musandam governorate, overlooking the strait of Hormuz, in Musandam governance, in Oman, April 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A boat is off the coast of Musandam governorate, overlooking the strait of Hormuz, in Musandam governance, in Oman, April 8, 2026. (Reuters)

Two US Navy warships have transited the Strait of Hormuz at the start of an operation to clear the strategic waterway of mines laid by Iran, US Central Command said Saturday.

The announcement -- which marks the first such transit since the US-Israeli war with Iran began -- came shortly after President Donald Trump said Washington had started "clearing out" the strait, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil passes.

"Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce," said CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper.

The USS Frank E. Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy are the guided-missile destroyers involved in the operation, but CENTCOM said that "additional US forces including underwater drones" could join the effort in coming days.

Earlier, US media outlet Axios reported that the operation was not coordinated with authorities in Tehran.

"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, calling it "a favor" to countries such as China, Japan and France that "don't have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves."

He insisted that Iran is "LOSING BIG!" in the conflict, while acknowledging that Iranian mines in the strategic strait still pose a threat.

"The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may 'bunk' into one of their sea mines," Trump wrote.

The key shipping lane off the coast of Iran has been virtually blocked by Tehran since the United States and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28, though reopening the strait was ostensibly a condition of the shaky ceasefire put in place earlier this week.

Senior Iranian and American officials held face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday in a bid to bring an end to a conflict that has plunged the Middle East into violence and sent shockwaves through the world economy.

In an earlier post, Trump said that empty tankers were headed to the United States from around the world to purchase oil, without providing details.

World

In Fiery Speech, Pope Leo Says ‘Enough to War!’

Pope Leo XIV presides over a Prayer Vigil and Rosary for Peace, in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Pope Leo XIV presides over a Prayer Vigil and Rosary for Peace, in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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In Fiery Speech, Pope Leo Says ‘Enough to War!’

Pope Leo XIV presides over a Prayer Vigil and Rosary for Peace, in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Pope Leo XIV presides over a Prayer Vigil and Rosary for Peace, in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)

Pope Leo lashed out against warmongers on Saturday while calling on billions of people around the globe to embrace peace and "believe once again in love, moderation and good politics".

In one of his most passionate entreaties yet to end the raging conflict in the Middle East, the American pope said faith was needed "in order to face this dramatic hour in history together".

"Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life," Pope Leo implored in an address during a prayer vigil for peace at St Peter's Basilica.

Uttered in measured tones, as is customary for the soft-spoken head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, the comments by the 70-year-old Leo nevertheless marked some of the most pointed criticism yet of the wave of conflicts inflaming the globe.

"Dear brothers and sisters, there are certainly binding responsibilities that fall to the leaders of nations. To them we cry out: Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided!"

As he has done in the past, the Chicago native did not cite politicians by name, and did not call out specific countries.

World

UN Demands Accountability for Violations of Rules of War in Middle East

Smoke rises from the sites of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs on April 8, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the sites of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs on April 8, 2026. (AFP)
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UN Demands Accountability for Violations of Rules of War in Middle East

Smoke rises from the sites of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs on April 8, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the sites of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs on April 8, 2026. (AFP)

UN agency chiefs on Saturday demanded an end to impunity for widespread international law violations in the Middle East, as casualties pile up six weeks into the war unleashed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

In a joint statement, the heads of multiple United Nations agencies said they were "alarmed by the sustained violations of the rules of war and international humanitarian law" in the region.

"Even wars have rules, and these rules must be respected," the statement from the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee said.

The joint statement -- penned by UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher along with the heads of the UN agencies for human rights, health, food, refugees and children among others -- decried the soaring toll since the Middle East war erupted on February 28.

"In just the last month across the Middle East, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, many multiple times," it said.

"The numbers continue to rise and essential services are increasingly difficult to access.

"Health workers, hospitals and ambulances have been targeted. Schools have been struck. Civilian infrastructure - including bridges, residential buildings, houses, water facilities and power plants - has been destroyed," it said.

The agency chiefs voiced particular concern about the impact on "women and children and others with specific needs", as well as on global supply chains, "with food and fuel prices on the rise."

At the same time, they highlighted that "our humanitarian colleagues have been caught up in hostilities."

Just since the beginning of this year, they said, "14 aid workers have been killed or injured in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, eight in Iran and five in Lebanon."

"This is an alarming toll."

The agency chiefs said they "strongly condemn all attacks on civilians, including humanitarian and health workers, as well as civilian objects."

"We demand that all parties - whether Member States of the United Nations or armed groups - respect their legal obligation to protect civilians, including humanitarian personnel, and civilian infrastructure," they said.

"All violations must be met with accountability."