Mass killings? Mutual bloodletting? Genocide? The hundreds of thousands of dead have been silent for a century, but generations on, Armenians are still battling to get the World War I slaying of their ancestors recognized as a genocide.

As Armenians around the world gear up to mark 100 years since the start of the slaughter on April 24, the struggle to get the world -- and above all Turkey -- to use the term "genocide" remains deeply divisive.  

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will arrive on Sunday evening in Beirut to oversee the long-awaited delivery of weapons to the Lebanese army under a Saudi financed deal.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Friday, the delivery of the first shipment of $3 billion worth of weapons to the army will be held later on Monday during a ceremony at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport's air base.

The elderly founder of France's far-right National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was hospitalized on Thursday for what he said was a "small heart problem", just days after a bitter spat with his daughter.

"Everything is fine, I am in my bed. It gives me an opportunity to rest. It is a small heart problem, nothing serious," he told AFP.

France saw a sixfold rise in anti-Muslim acts in the first quarter of the year, fueled by the Paris jihadist attacks, the National Observatory against Islamophobia said Thursday.

Using interior ministry figures, the body counted 222 Islamophobic acts compared to 37 in the first quarter of 2014.

Hackers bypassed insufficient safeguards to make off with data on 100,000 contacts held on French state TV computers, broadcasters said Wednesday.

The attack occurred Tuesday and involved the theft of "a limited amount of personal data (names, postal and e-mail addresses and/or telephone numbers)," France Televisions said in a statement.

French President Francois Hollande said Wednesday a drawn-out tax evasion row with Switzerland "is behind us" as he started a state visit aimed at mending fences.

The two-day trip is the first state visit to Switzerland by a French president since Jacques Chirac's stopover 17 years ago.

France said Wednesday it stood by its choice to send a gay diplomat to the Vatican despite three months of silence from the Holy See over the appointment.

Paris has had no news on whether Laurent Stefanini, an openly gay Catholic, has been accepted to serve as its ambassador to the papal state. 

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will reportedly meet on Thursday the ambassadors to Lebanon of western powers, Gabriele Caccia, the papal ambassador to Lebanon and U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag to urge them to facilitate the election of a new head of state.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, Bkirki's move comes in light of its continued efforts to resolve the presidential deadlock.

Operations were suspended at Yemen's only gas export terminal Tuesday after armed tribesmen drove out soldiers guarding the site, accusing them of links to rebel forces.

The tribesmen pledged not to interfere in operations at the Balhaf plant, operated by Yemen LNG, in which France's Total has a stake of almost 40 percent.

Marion Marechal-Le Pen was just two when she made her political debut, pictured in the arms of her grandfather Jean-Marie in an election poster for his far-right National Front (FN) party.

Fast-forward 23 years and the blonde, telegenic mother is France's youngest lawmaker and a rising star of the FN, with ultra-conservative views that often position her to the right even of her aunt, party chief Marine Le Pen.