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G7 Meets in France to Narrow Transatlantic Iran Split

France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot acknowledges the world is going through a period of 'tension and rivalry'. Thomas SAMSON / AFP
France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot acknowledges the world is going through a period of 'tension and rivalry'. Thomas SAMSON / AFP
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G7 Meets in France to Narrow Transatlantic Iran Split

France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot acknowledges the world is going through a period of 'tension and rivalry'. Thomas SAMSON / AFP
France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot acknowledges the world is going through a period of 'tension and rivalry'. Thomas SAMSON / AFP

Foreign ministers from the G7 meet outside Paris from Thursday with European nations and allies seeking to narrow differences with the US on the Middle East war while keeping other crises like Ukraine and Gaza high on the agenda.

The two-day meeting of seven leading industrialized democracies at the Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey in the countryside outside Paris comes as the White House said President Donald Trump is ready to "unleash hell" if Iran does not accept a deal to end the US-Israeli war against the Iranian republic.

Making his first trip abroad since the war started, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will join fellow top diplomats from Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Japan and the UK, but only on the second day.

One of the objectives of France, which holds the rotating G7 presidency this year, is "to address the major global imbalances which explain in many respects the level of tension and rivalry we are witnessing with very concrete consequences for our fellow citizens," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told AFP on Tuesday.

With Lebanon pulled into the war as Iran-backed Shia militant group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel, Barrot also urged Israel to "refrain" from sending in forces to take control of a zone in south Lebanon.

In a bid to broaden the scope of the elite G7 club -- whose origins go back to the first G6 summit held in the nearby Chateau de Rambouillet in 1975 -- France has also invited foreign ministers from key emerging markets Brazil and India as well as Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

France will also on Monday host a separate G7 meeting bringing together finance ministers, energy ministers and central bank governors, Finance Minister Roland Lescure told RTL radio on Thursday.

The meeting, to be held via video call, will address what Lescure described as a "convergence of energy issues, economic issues and inflation issues".

-'Misguided policies'-

While all G7 nations are close US allies, none have unambiguously offered support for the assault on Iran, angering Trump.

German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil even complained Trump's "misguided policies" in the Middle East were hitting Germany's economy.

Trump has claimed the US is speaking to a "top person" within Iran's clerical system in talks to end the conflict. But Iranian state TV said on Wednesday Tehran had rejected a peace plan conveyed through Pakistan.

Trump's threat to hit Iranian energy facilities -- which he is now holding back on amid the purported talks -- troubled European allies who have all called for de-escalation and not engaged militarily in the conflict.

British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Tuesday voiced unease that the war had shifted focus away from the Gaza peace plan and violence in the occupied West Bank.

Over four years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Barrot told AFP that support "for the Ukrainian resistance" and pressure on Russia would continue

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World

22 Migrants Die Off Greece after Six Days at Sea

Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
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22 Migrants Die Off Greece after Six Days at Sea

Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS
Hellenic coast guard performs SAR operation, following migrant's boat collision with coast guard off the Aegean island of Chios, near Mersinidi, Greece, February 4, 2026. REUTERS

Twenty-two migrants hoping to reach Europe from North Africa have died off the coast of Greece after six days at sea in a rubber boat, survivors told the Greek coastguard Saturday.

The coastguard late Friday said 26 people, including a woman and a minor, were rescued by a European border agency vessel off the island of Crete.

The coastguard later told AFP that 21 Bangladeshis, four South Sudanese and a Chadian citizen had emerged from the ordeal alive.

Survivors said the bodies of those who had died were thrown into the Mediterranean Sea on the orders of one of the people smugglers aboard the ship.

Two survivors were taken to hospital in Heraklion on Crete, the coastguard said.

Based on survivor statements, the coastguard said the boat had left Tobruk, a port city in eastern Libya, on March 21, bound for Greece, the gateway for many migrants hoping for asylum in the European Union.

"During the journey, the passengers lost their bearings and remained at sea for six days without food or water," the coastguard stated.

The bodies of those who died "were thrown into the sea on the orders of one of the smugglers", it added.

The Greek authorities have arrested two South Sudanese men, aged 19 and 22, believed to be the smugglers.

They are now under investigation for "illegal entry into the country" and "negligent homicide".

The vessel carrying the group was 53 nautical miles south of Ierapetra, a town on southern Crete.

A coastguard spokesman told AFP that the craft had endured "unfavorable meteorological conditions" during their odyssey.

That, coupled with a shortage of food and water, had "led to the deaths through exhaustion of 22 people," the spokesman said.

"The bodies of these dead people were thrown into the sea on the orders of the two traffickers, who have been arrested, according to testimony by survivors," he added.

The number of migrants who have died trying to reach EU soil more than doubled in the first two months of 2026, compared with last year, the EU border agency Frontex said earlier this month.

"These tragedies highlight once more the urgency to intensify the work with partner countries along the migratory routes and redouble efforts in the fight against migrant smugglers, who are the ones responsible for these tragedies," an EU commission spokesperson said on Saturday.

According to data from the International Organization for Migration, 559 people died in the Mediterranean during January and February, compared with 287 for the same period last year.

In December, 17 migrants were found dead inside their boat, which was taking on water and had partially deflated, to the southwest of Crete.

Greek authorities found only two survivors, stating that a further 15 people had drowned.

Their bodies were never recovered.

In a bid to stem the crossings, the European Parliament on Thursday endorsed a major tightening of EU migration policy and approved the concept of "return hubs", designed to send migrants to non-EU third countries.

Those proposals have been criticized by rights groups as inhumane.

World

French Police Thwart a Suspected Bombing Outside a Bank of America Building in Paris

French police arrested suspected militants in Marseille. Credit Gerard Julien/Agence France-Presse/File Photo-Getty Images
French police arrested suspected militants in Marseille. Credit Gerard Julien/Agence France-Presse/File Photo-Getty Images
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French Police Thwart a Suspected Bombing Outside a Bank of America Building in Paris

French police arrested suspected militants in Marseille. Credit Gerard Julien/Agence France-Presse/File Photo-Getty Images
French police arrested suspected militants in Marseille. Credit Gerard Julien/Agence France-Presse/File Photo-Getty Images

French police have thwarted a suspected bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris, authorities said Saturday. One suspect was detained and another escaped.

The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office, or PNAT, told The Associated Press that it has opened an investigation into alleged terrorism-related offenses.

The suspected offenses include attempted damage by fire or by a dangerous means, the manufacture of an incendiary or explosive device, the possession and transport of such devices with the intent to prepare dangerous damage, and involvement in a terrorist criminal association.

A person was placed in police custody.

“Well done to the rapid intervention of a Paris police prefecture unit, which made it possible to thwart a violent act of a terrorist nature overnight in Paris,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.

“Vigilance remains at a very high level," Nuñez said. "I commend all security and intelligence forces, fully mobilized under my authority in the current international context."

RTL radio, citing police sources, reported that the incident took place early Saturday when police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the premises of the Bank of America in the 8th arrondissement of the French capital.

One of the suspects, holding a lighter, was attempting to ignite a device, RTL said, while the second suspect managed to escape.

World

Protesters March in London to Oppose the Rise of Political Right

A large crowd of protesters holding up signs and banners. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
A large crowd of protesters holding up signs and banners. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
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Protesters March in London to Oppose the Rise of Political Right

A large crowd of protesters holding up signs and banners. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
A large crowd of protesters holding up signs and banners. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of central London on Saturday for a "March to Stop the Far Right" with many demonstrators decrying the right-wing Reform UK party of Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, which is topping opinion polls.

Backed by trade unions and civil society groups, the Together Alliance demonstration looked set to be one of the biggest in the British capital in recent years with about 30,000 people expected to take part, according to a police official, Reuters reported.

As well as placards opposing Reform UK and its anti-immigration stance, some Iranian flags were held aloft along with pro-Palestinian flags and banners. The march was due to end close to the British parliament building.

Reform leads the Labour Party of Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as the other traditional British political parties, according to opinion polls. Zach Polanski, leader of the Green Party which is also challenging Labour, joined Saturday's march.