PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi to “immediately end” Tehran’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which involves supplying Moscow with attack drones, the Elysee said.
Macron in a telephone call underlined the serious “security and humanitarian consequences” of Iran’s drone deliveries “and urged Tehran to immediately end the support it thus gives to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” said a statement.

CAIRO: Several social media posts have surfaced expressing concern over the health of Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros after he showed signs of tiredness during the last Easter sermon at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the New Administrative Capital in Cairo.

He is the 118th pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark, succeeding the late Pope Shenouda III as leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

AL-MUKALLA: The Iran-backed Houthis have rebuffed demands from local rights groups in Yemen to release 17 members of the Bahai sect.

The group have upped their verbal assault against the religious minority, accusing them of being “infidels and Western stooges.”

On May 25, armed Houthis raided a Bahai gathering in Sanaa and seized 17 people, including five women.

They have denied requests from relatives and sect members to meet them or at least reveal their whereabouts.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s southern border area near the town of Kfarchouba was tense on Friday as residents protested against Israeli bulldozers operating close to the so-called “Blue Line” that separates liberated and occupied areas.
It prompted the Lebanese army to send patrols to the area in coordination with the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL.
Residents of Kfarchouba, Chebaa, Kfarhamam and villages around the mostly Sunni town of Aarqoub performed Friday prayers in Kfarchouba to protest against the Israeli operation.

RIYADH: The warring parties in Sudan have agreed to a 24-hour nationwide ceasefire beginning June 10, a statement from Saudi Arabia and US said on Friday.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America announce that representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 24-hour countrywide ceasefire beginning on June 10 at 6:00 a.m. Khartoum time,” Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on their social media account.