French President Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday, defended the two-state solution for the Palestinians and Israelis from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly, deeming it unacceptable to “watch idly by this scene that shames us all” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The French President asked: “Where is our credibility if we remain idly in the face of Gaza?” He pointed out that the establishment of the two-state solution is a guarantee of “security today and tomorrow for Israel, the state and its people,” according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Macron also criticized the escalation of settler violence in the West Bank, saying that it robs the Palestinian people of their legitimate right to exist.
The trial of the Sharm El Sheikh plane crash disaster in Egypt will begin before the French judiciary on April 26, according to what a judicial source said on Tuesday, 23 years after the accident that killed 148 people, including 135 French nationals, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Mohamed Nour, the 72-year-old Egyptian and former chairman of the board of directors of the low-cost airline Flash Airlines, which was later liquidated, was referred in March 2025 to the Paris Misdemeanor Court on charges of manslaughter.
His trial is scheduled to be held between April 26 and June 11, 2027, before the department responsible for mass accidents and public health.
According to the referral decision issued by the investigating judges, which was seen by Agence France-Presse, Nour will be tried in particular on suspicion that, in his capacity as president of Flash Airlines, he “created or contributed to the creation” of the circumstances that allowed the accident to occur, and/or did not take the necessary measures to avoid it.
On January 3, 2004, a Flash Airlines plane crashed into the Red Sea three minutes after taking off from the coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh, killing its 135 French passengers and 13 crew members, in one of the bloodiest aviation disasters in which French people were killed.
After a decision to dismiss the case in 2017, the Paris Court of Appeal in 2019, at the request of the victims’ families, ordered the resumption of the investigation by judges specialized in mass incidents, considering that the attempts made during the investigation to obtain statements from the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Flash Airlines were “insufficient.”
Nour was officially charged with manslaughter in mid-December 2021.
The investigating judges blame him for deficiencies in training the pilots, granting the pilot the status of captain at excessive speed, and failing to ensure that the pilots receive sufficient rest periods between flights.
The Egyptian businessman faces a penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine of 450,000 euros.
US President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Denmark and Greenland aimed at enhancing the security of the Arctic and the North Atlantic Ocean, to ease tensions over his repeated calls for Greenland to become part of the United States. In addition to Trump, the agreement was signed by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Fridrik Nielsen. “This is huge for Europe, for the United States, and for everyone,” Trump said, just before signing the agreement. “For Greenland, it would be amazing.”
The signing of the agreement on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, comes days after Trump announced the agreement that aims to strengthen the American military presence on the vast icy island, while keeping it under Danish control. The governments provided few details about the agreement before signing.
In his speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday morning, Trump provided limited details about the agreement. “We will immediately begin the process of developing a significant military presence in appropriate locations,” he said, including “building two very large military bases.” Trump had previously insisted that the United States needed to “grab Greenland” to prevent Russia or China from doing the same. Although Trump said he would prefer to “make a deal” on the island, he added: “One way or another, we will get Greenland,” which is semi-autonomous.
The agreement was reached last week, and it is a territory belonging to Denmark, a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
When Trump refused to rule out the use of military or economic force to seize the island, this led to a diplomatic crisis erupting within NATO in January, and forced Denmark and the island’s government to enter into intense negotiations.
On Tuesday, European Council President Antonio Costa welcomed the security agreement, describing it as “a positive step for trans-Atlantic cooperation and security in the Arctic.” He wrote on the “X” platform: “The European Union is ready to continue working closely with Greenland, Denmark, and our transatlantic partners for a peaceful, safe and prosperous Arctic region,” saying that the agreement “is based on respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the right of the people of Greenland to self-determination.”
US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, described the agreement as a guarantee against Chinese influence on the strategically important Antarctic island in the Arctic. On Tuesday, Fox News quoted Rubio as describing the agreement as “wonderful” and “with no expiration date.” He added: “It allows us to build the necessary number of military bases.” The agreement allows the United States and Denmark to jointly screen future foreign investments.
Rubio said the goal is to avoid waking up one day and realizing, “Well, yes, the Chinese military is not here, but their companies own all the ports, and their companies own the land.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to arrive in Washington on Wednesday for a visit that will last several days, during which he will meet with Trump. The Greenland agreement could cast a shadow over the meeting. The Kremlin said, on Tuesday, that the agreement between the United States, Denmark, and Greenland is a matter for the parties concerned, adding that cooperation between Russia and Washington in the Arctic region is not currently on the agenda.
In response to a question about whether cooperation in the Arctic is up for discussion between Moscow and Washington? “At the moment, the issue of cooperation in the Arctic is not on the agenda,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The Americans and other countries in the Arctic refuse to cooperate with Russia.”
Three informed sources told Reuters that the United States intends to reopen a former military base dating back to the Cold War era in southern Greenland, in addition to a military presence at a base on the east coast, currently used by Danish sled patrols, according to the agreement that was signed between the three parties. United States, Denmark and Greenland.
Two sources said the two sites were Narsarsuaq, whose population has shrunk to a few dozen since the United States closed the Ploy West One military base in the 1950s, and Meistersvig, a remote military outpost currently used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit.
The text of the agreement was not published publicly, and the sources, who requested to remain anonymous, said that its details would not become final before it was signed. The governments of Denmark and Greenland and the White House have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Denmark says that the agreement places the security of the Arctic region under the supervision of NATO instead of remaining confined to the United States and Denmark alone.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that the agreement would keep Greenland under Danish sovereignty, describing it as a “good agreement” that is in the interest of all parties, according to what Bloomberg News Agency reported.
Frederiksen told local media: “We will not give up sovereignty, and I can guarantee that I will never do that as Prime Minister of Denmark.” Frederiksen added that "it is entirely possible to maintain sovereignty while enhancing cooperation in the fields of security and defense."
Greenland is located between the Arctic and North America, and contains vast energy resources. It was previously a colony before it became a semi-independent territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark.
