Group of 7 meetings once embodied the effort to sustain the global diplomatic order. This year’s gathering, starting on Monday, symbolizes its fragmentation.
The measures aim to “disrupt the flows of finance” supporting attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, said the British government, which coordinated them with France and other nations.
Berlin pulled out of the Future Combat Air System, a project with Spain and France that had been seen as central to European efforts to face down Russia and reduce reliance on the United States.
Activists who were detained with a flotilla trying to reach the Gaza Strip have said they were abused while in Israel’s custody. Israeli authorities have denied mistreating them.
An Air France plane was sent to Montreal because a passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo was on board. The U.S. has closed its borders to recent visitors to the African country.
European politicians risk angering their voters if they join America’s war. Yet they could also face domestic upheaval if they take no action to reopen shipping routes that Iran has blocked and ease an energy crisis.
France’s far right hoped for major gains in Sunday’s municipal elections, a key bellwether moment before a presidential election next year. Its results were mixed.
Pierre-Édouard Stérin is financing projects to make France less Muslim, more Catholic and more capitalist. He says his program has trained thousands running for municipal office on Sunday.
While some European countries said they were discussing ways to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, several rejected President Trump’s calls to send warships.
President Trump has urged China, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea to send warships to help reopen the waterway, even though they were not involved in the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.
To defend allies from Iran, the continent’s powers have mounted a rare show of force. But those efforts have diverted limited resources from other hot spots.
Voters across France choose mayors this week. The far right is performing strongly in the country’s second city, making the contest there a test of national shifts.
Soon the country’s armed forces budget could exceed those of Britain and France combined. In Paris, there are concerns that European “strategic autonomy” will have a German accent.