by AP -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday leveled a remarkable criticism of two Russian media outlets — with Russian President Vladimir Putin standing by his side. Macron, at a joint news conference with Putin in Paris, was asked by a reporter about his refusal to allow access at his campaign headquarters to some Russian outlets. Macron, whose campaign was the target of a massive cyberattack just before his election victory last month that cybersecurity firms have traced to Russian operatives, accused Russia Today and Sputnik of spreading misinformation.

"Russia Today and Sputnik have been influential outlets which at several times have spoken mistruths about me and my campaign," Macron said, according to an English translation. "And that's why they were not invited to my headquarters. All media outlets, including Russian ones, have had access to my campaign. Relationships are always the same." "So it was serious that foreign media outlets interfered by saying serious mistruths during a Democratic campaign. And I will not give into that in any way," he added. "But Russia Today and Sputnik have not behaved as media outlets and journalists, but behaved as organs of influence, propaganda, and false propaganda."

At the news conference, Putin said he and Macron had not discussed the topic of election meddling, but rejected allegations that Russia attempted to influence France's vote. He also defended his preelection meeting with Marine Le Pen, Macron's chief rival in France's campaign. Putin said it would have been strange not to hold a meeting with a candidate who had expressed warming relations with Russia.

 By Naharnet – The upcoming parliamentary elections will apparently be held under a new law based on proportional representation, media reports said …

by AFP

For star trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, famed for his award-winning film soundtracks and jazz-inspired mixing of eastern and western sounds, improvisation is "a way of life". "Improvisation is a discipline that people don't understand well," the Franco-Lebanese musician, who has played with Sting and Elvis Costello among others, told AFP. "For me it symbolises and sums up perfectly the best way to live, alongside each other," he said during a trip to Lebanon to prepare for a July concert at a festival in Baalbek. "To succeed in communicating with each other we must listen to each other and have empathy with others, despite the differences."

The 36-year-old, born in Lebanon, fled with his parents -- both musicians -- during the country's 15-year-civil war and settled in France. He plays a four-pistoned instrument invented by his trumpeter father in the 1960s, as well playing the piano, composing and teaching.He won French cinema's highest award, a Cesar, in February for the music to "In the Forests of Siberia". He also wrote the score for Japanese director Naomi Kawase's "Radiance" which was nominated for a Palme d'Or at this month's Cannes film festival. Composition aside, Maalouf has a passion for the spontaneous. He is the artistic director of m'IMPROvise, a June festival in Etampes near Paris, with Quincy Jones' protege, pianist Alfredo Rodriguez, topping the line-up. He has gathered hundreds of people for joint improvisations, including at the 2015 Fete de la Musique in Paris. "To improvise with others is to share a unique moment that will never happen twice," he said. Nephew of leading Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf, a member of the Academie Francaise, the trumpeter says he does not try to make his music popular.

by the daily star lebanon BEIRUT: The family of a Lebanese man detained in Iran since 2015 have held talks with several …