A hostage situation unfolded on Saturday in a restaurant in Issy-les-Moulineaux, according to French firefighters, French news website BFMTV reported.The restaurant’s owner is barricaded inside and holding several employees, the Paris Fire Brigade (BSPP) confirmed. Firefighters have dispatched three engines to the scene. According to police sources cited by BFMTV, at least four individuals are being held.Authorities have not disclosed the perpetrator's motives or confirmed whether the individual is armed.This is a developing story.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken congratulated Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on his appointment and discussed the wars in Gaza and Lebanon in a phone call, the State Department announced in a statement on Friday. Blinken reaffirmed the United State's "ironclad commitment" to Israel's security and urged Israel to take more steps to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. According to the announcement, Blinken stressed the importance of "ending the war in Gaza, bringing all of the hostages home, and establishing lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike."Blinken and Sa'ar also discussed the need for a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that permits Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return to their respective homes.

A government crisis in the Netherlands was avoided in a tense emergency meeting on Friday, as a cabinet member resigned over the government's handling of violence targeting fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam last week.Nora Achahbar unexpectedly quit on Friday as junior finance minister, triggering an emergency meeting in which other cabinet members of her centrist NSC party also threatened to quit.Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof late on Friday said his cabinet had reached an agreement, resulting in only the resignation of Achahbar but not of others.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Friday that a spate of offensive text messages sent out in the wake of Donald Trump's presidential election win and apparently aimed at Black Americans had expanded to target Hispanic and LGBTQ people.In a statement, the bureau said it was aware of the messages, many of which used ethnic slurs and instructed the recipients to pick cotton, a reference to past enslavement of Black people in the United States.The FBI said on Friday that a new wave of messages were sent to Hispanics and LGBTQ people, with "some recipients reported being told they were selected for deportation or to report to a re-education camp."The texts, some of which referred to Trump's election win, drew widespread revulsion after several recipients shared them on social media last week.Both federal and state authorities have said they are investigating. They have not said anything about who might be behind the messages or how many people have received them.The Trump campaign has said it has nothing to do with the messages.

Following the rocket sirens which blared across Eilat at 5:59 am on Saturday morning, the IDF confirmed that it intercepted a missile off the coast of the city. The missile was intercepted before it entered Israeli territory and sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol.

China is willing to be partners and friends with the United States, China's ambassador to Washington said, seeking to strengthen dialog between the world's two largest economies.China has no plan to surpass or replace the United States, Xie Feng said in a speech in Hong Kong on Friday, addressing Chinese officials and the US ambassador to China.The Sino-US partnership is never a zero-sum game, Xie said, adding that the two nations have great potential to work together on areas including trade, agriculture, energy, artificial intelligence and public health."China and the United States have concerns for each side," Xie said. "It is entirely possible to bring issues to the table to communicate frankly, seek solutions on an equal footing."