Paris

A major meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and other top diplomats, including Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoğlu, has been held in Paris to press efforts for a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. 

A major meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and other top diplomats, including Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoğlu, has kicked off in Paris to press efforts for a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

A 12-hour humanitarian truce between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group entered into effect on July 26, as top diplomats pressed efforts to secure a longer-term ceasefire.

The fragile ceasefire came into force at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) after Hamas and the Israeli military announced their consent in the early hours of Saturday morning.

French police have banned a protest against Israel's Gaza offensive that was due to take place in Paris on Saturday, following several similar rallies that turned violent.
      

The wreckage of the Air Algerie airliner carrying 116 people that disappeared early on Thursday has been found in a semidesert area in Mali near the border with Burkina Faso.

A statement from the Elysée Palace in Paris said the aircraft had been “clearly identified in a state of disintegration” and there were no survivors among the 110 passengers and six crew members.

Romania is to open a legal case against Italian energy holding Enel at the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration for breaching privatization terms concerning the sale of the local company, Electrica Muntenia Sud.

Taiwan's TransAsia Airways said July 24 that 48 people were killed and 10 survived when one of its turboprop passenger planes crashed after an aborted landing during stormy weather.        

The Turkish stocks have started off the week strongly at a 14-month-high despite rising geopolitical tension from Israel’s blistering assault on Gaza, as well as a plane crash rift in Ukraine and ongoing turmoil in Iraq.

The Borsa Istanbul (BIST) 100 index has opened the day at 82,992 points with a 378-point rise, touching the highest point it has seen since May 31, 2013.

 In the wake of the recent attack on Nikos Marantzidis, the University of Macedonia professor talks about history, myth and failed dialogue

By Katerina Baoyannis *

BELGRADE - The French Embassy in Belgrade voiced satisfaction over the great success of the Donors' Conference organized to help repair the damage caused by the May floods in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which raised a total of EUR 1.846 billion for the two countries, adding that France will pay an additional EUR 1 million in emergency financial aid to Serbia.