Briefly

FRANCE

UAE agrees to buy warplanes as Macron visits Gulf

France announced the signing on Friday of a 16 billion euro ($18 billion) armaments mega-contract for the sale of 80 of its upgraded Rafale warplanes to the United Arab Emirates. The French Defense Ministry said the deal was France's largest weapons contract for export in history. It came as French President Emmanuel Macron is in the Emirates on the first stop of a two-day visit to the Persian Gulf. There was no immediate confirmation of the signing from Emirati officials.

UNITED STATES

Armed man outside UN arrested after lockdown

The United Nations headquarters in New York was locked down for several hours on Thursday after a man was seen pacing outside one of its main gates with a loaded shotgun, holding it under his chin at times. The man was taken into custody without incident about three hours after police said he was first spotted outside a UN security checkpoint, NYPD Chief of Special Operations Harry Wedin said. The man also had a bag with him and gave police documents, including medical papers, that he said he wanted to deliver to the UN, Wedin said, adding that the man never pointed the gun at officers.

Agencies Via Xinhua