The Jewish supermarket in Paris attacked by a jihadist gunman linked to the shootings at Charlie Hebdo magazine in January re-opened Sunday, with the French interior minister buying two bottles of wine to demonstrate his support.

"We were stunned by the attack, but there was never any question that we would re-open," said one of the managers of the Hyper Cacher store, Laurent Mimoun.

As the drive to reach an accord with Iran on its nuclear program heads towards a March 31 deadline, France is digging into its role as chief hawk -- a position inclined to annoy U.S. allies, but not likely to scuttle an eventual accord, diplomats say.

The French hard-line among its U.S., British, Chinese, Russian and German partners to hammer out a nuclear agreement with Tehran is rooted in ideological, historical, and even personal concerns that tend to stiffen as Paris recognizes Washington's increasing pragmatism in seeking to conclude a deal swiftly.

The French embassy in Beirut denied Saturday that Paris has decided to end the service of its ambassador to Lebanon Patrice Paoli, stressing that the envoy “enjoys the full confidence of the French authorities.”

“Contrary to the claims of al-Akhbar newspaper, the ambassador is performing his mission in a non-partisan approach,” the embassy said in a statement.

A child who appears to execute an Arab Israeli in a video released this week by the Islamic State group is said to have been recognized by classmates in France, an official said Friday.

The schools inspector in the Haute-Garonne district in southern France said students in the city of Toulouse believe they recognized the boy, who appears to be no more than 12.

France and Japan agreed Friday to work together on researching military equipment, as Tokyo looks to broaden its defense ties and bolster its international profile.

In the latest in a spate of so-called "2+2" meetings, involving defense and foreign ministers, the fellow G7 members signaled a closer working relationship.

Two friends of Amedy Coulibaly, one of the jihadists behind January's attacks in Paris, were charged on Friday with involvement in a terrorist conspiracy, the prosecutor said.

One of the two men, identified as "Amar R.", 33, was frequently in contact with Coulibaly, who killed a policewoman in Paris on January 8 and attacked a Jewish supermarket the following day, killing four. 

Nearly a decade after three weeks of nightly rioting raged across disaffected French housing projects, two police officers are standing trial for the deaths of two youths that detonated the explosion of violence.

Officers Sebastien Gaillemin and Stephanie Klein are facing trial in Rennes on charges they failed to prevent the electrocution deaths of Bouna Traore, 15, and Zyed Benna, 17, after the pair hid from police in a high-voltage electricity transformer near their Clichy-sous-Bois housing project northeast of Paris.

Police in Brazil arrested Thursday the Italian extremist and writer Cesare Battisti, who was convicted of murder in his home country and has been on the run for decades.

Battisti, who faces deportation, was detained in Embu das Artes, a city in the state of Sao Paulo. 

French officials Thursday launched a formal investigation into a video released by the Islamic State group purporting to show the execution of an Arab Israeli, which featured a French-speaking man.

According to sources close to the investigation, the man is probably Sabri Essid, who has close links to French jihadist gunman Mohamed Merah, the killer of three soldiers, three students and a teacher in southern France in 2012.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said he would visit Beirut mid-April to attend a ceremony on the first shipment of $3 billion worth of weapons paid for by Saudi Arabia.

However, Le Drian told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published on Thursday that the delivery of helicopters, missiles, warships, telecommunications equipment and other defense material will take three years to complete.