PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is to reaffirm France’s full commitment to the ceasefire in Lebanon and support for the country’s territorial integrity at a meeting Tuesday in Paris with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Macron’s office said.
Pakistan is preparing for a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran as the ceasefire is set to expire Wednesday, while Lebanon and Israel are set to hold a new meeting in Washington later this week.
Macron and Salam "will also address humanitarian support for displaced populations and the continuation of the economic and financial reforms essential to strengthening Lebanon’s sovereignty, its reconstruction and the restoration of its prosperity,” Macron's office said.
The meeting at the Elysee presidential palace comes after the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, came under attack from small arms fire Saturday, leaving one French peacekeeper dead and three others wounded, two of them seriously.
Both Macron and the UNIFIL force blamed Hezbollah, but the Lebanese militant group denied involvement.
Macron has called on Lebanese authorities to “shed full light on the incident” and to “identify and prosecute those responsible without delay.” UNIFIL soldiers “must under no circumstances be targeted,” Macron’s office said.
Earlier Tuesday, Salam made a stop in Luxembourg for a meeting of EU foreign ministers that was to address the situation in the Middle East.
On March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran, Hezbollah entered the fray by firing missiles across the border. Israel responded with an intense bombing campaign and ground invasion.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun offered direct negotiations with Israel — the first in decades — in exchange for a cessation of hostilities, an offer that was initially rebuffed.
That changed after the announcement of a truce between Iran and the United States and talks between the two brokered by Pakistan.
Lebanon and Israel held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades last week in Washington following more than a month of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Meanwhile, Iran continued to insist that its own ceasefire agreement must extend to Lebanon and said it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz otherwise.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was announced by the U.S. on Thursday. The U.S. portrayed the deal as the result of the Israel-Lebanon talks.
Hezbollah, which was opposed to Lebanon holding direct talks with Israel and was not part of those negotiations, insisted that the ceasefire was a result of Iranian pressure and not of the Israel-Lebanon meeting.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
BRIDPORT, Vt. (AP) — An abrupt swing from hot weather to cold across the Northeast is frustrating some flower and fruit farmers who have had to either harvest blooms extra early or fear they could lose some crops altogether.
Frosty nights aren't unusual this time of year. Across the region, the average date of the last frost ranges from mid-April to early June, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. But the first half of April was unusually warm for much of the region, and that, coupled with the quick drop in temperature, could cause some problems.
Some parts of New England saw temperatures climb into the 80s (around 27 Celsius) last week followed by snow a few days later. And the cold continued into this week: The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning for Monday night and Tuesday morning for parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.
In Ohio, the warm weather pushed peach and apple trees to start budding early at Apple Hill Orchards, which includes about 80 acres (32 hectares) in Mansfield and 110 acres (45 hectares) in Fredericktown. But the temperature then dropped into the low 20s (around minus 5 Celsius), ruining one variety of peach, said owner Anne Joudrey.
“Farming is farming, and you never know what you’re gonna get, but we had a pretty good bloom, so we were expecting a pretty good crop,” she said Monday.
The apples were doing OK, she said, and it helps that the trees are planted on high ground so cold air drains away.
“We should fare pretty well, hopefully,” she said. “But you never know.”
In Vermont, the temperature swing affected operations at Understory Farm in Bridport, which grows cut flowers. Tulips that were supposed to be ready for Mother's Day in mid-May have already bloomed in the farm's greenhouses, said owner Gregory Witscher.
“That just means that we have to harvest them all at the same time,” he said. “We have to harvest them and store them with the bulbs on in crates in a walk-in cooler for longer.”
Witscher grows about 50 varieties of flowers for wholesale markets. Weather fluctuations require flexibility, he said, and it's become more common for small vegetable and flower farms to have row covers or heaters to protect plants from cold or shade cloth for extreme heat.
“With the hot weather and then the cold weather, I think its intense, and it makes things challenging,” he said. “The longer I do this, the more I want to have as many options as possible and have a lot of tools and resources available to be extremely nimble.”
Gregory Witscher, owner of Understory Farm, harvests tulips, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
A tulip is pictured at Understory Farm, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
Farmhand Samantha Martin harvests tulips at Understory Farm, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
Tulips are pictured at Understory Farm, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
Gregory Witscher, owner of Understory Farm, harvests tulips, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
