FRANCE: A minister accused the US embassy today of interfering in the operations of French companies by sending them a letter reportedly telling them that US President Donald Trump’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives could also apply outside the United States.

Aurore Berge, minister for equality between women and men and combating discrimination, said that the letter was “a form, obviously, of interference. That’s to say it’s an attempt to impose a diktat on our businesses.”

The embassy did not immediately comment.

UKRAINE: Russian drones reportedly hit a military hospital, shopping centre, blocks of flats and other buildings in Kharkiv on Saturday night, killing two people and wounding 35 others, Ukrainian officials said.

The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia had fired 111 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks. It said 65 of them had been intercepted and another 35 lost, probably through electronic jamming.

PAKISTAN: The military has admitted killing 10 civilians during an anti-militant operation in the north-west and promised to investigate the circumstances.

Authorities said on Saturday the the deaths had occurred in the early hours of that day in a remote hilltop area of Katlang in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

SYRIA: The new transitional government was sworn in Saturday, nearly four months after president Bashir al-Assad was ousted by a jihadist-led group.

The 23-member cabinet does not have a prime minister since, according to the temporary constitution signed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa earlier this month, the government will have a secretary-general.