By John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau

PARIS, May 6 (Reuters) - France on Wednesday deployed its carrier strike group to the Red Sea as part of planning for a potential mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz, urging Washington and Tehran to consider the proposal given the global economic impact of their competing blockades.

Fresh exchanges of fire on Monday underscored the stakes as the U.S. and Iran struggle for control of the narrow waterway, a vital artery for global energy and trade, shaking a fragile four-week-old truce and reinforcing rival maritime blockades.

By Joshua McElwee

ROME, May 6 (Reuters) - A senior Vatican cardinal on Wednesday called U.S. President Donald Trump's disparaging attacks on Pope Leo over the Iran war "strange," a day before the U.S. Secretary of State is due to hold talks with the pope.

Asked how he evaluated the attacks by Trump of Leo, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin responded: "For me it seems a bit strange, to say the least."

"I wouldn't want to get into judgments or personal evaluations about this," the cardinal told journalists outside an event near the Vatican.

BEIRUT, May 6 (Reuters) - Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said it is premature to talk of any high-level meeting between Lebanon and Israel, comments underlining the dim chances of one being held soon as hoped for by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Salam, in comments reported by Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) on Wednesday, said shoring up a ceasefire would be the basis for any new round of negotiations that might be held by Lebanese and Israeli government envoys in Washington.

An Israeli court on Wednesday rejected an appeal contesting the detention of two foreign activists seized by Israeli forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, with the rights group representing them denouncing the ruling as "unlawful."

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard a flotilla intercepted in international waters off the coast of Greece on Thursday.

France's aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle was on Wednesday heading towards the southern Red Sea to pre‑position for a possible mission to restore navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, Paris said.

The move was intended to send "a signal that not only are we ready to secure the Strait of Hormuz but that we are also capable of doing so", an aide to President Emmanuel Macron told reporters.

Ukrainian tourist Ruslana Novak and her friend had Jordan's ancient city of Petra almost entirely to themselves as they marvelled at the massive edifice carved into pink sandstone.

Since the Middle East war erupted in late February, the famed Rose City has been all but abandoned by the usual crowds of tourists that flock to the site every year.

"Of course, we heard about the war... It is not a problem because I am from Ukraine, and we know about war," Novak, an insurance agent, told AFP under a blazing sun.

By Catherine Cartier and Emilie Madi

BEIRUT, May 6 (Reuters) - Mohammed's life as a gay man in conservative south Lebanon was already rife with challenges. But Israeli strikes on his hometown in March were the final straw, pushing him to flee to a rare shelter in Beirut hosting LGBT people.

Most of the more than one million people displaced by the war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah live with relatives or have rented apartments. Another 124,000 have sought refuge in government shelters, and the most vulnerable are eking out a living in the streets.

NICOSIA, May 6 (Reuters) - A record number of candidates submitted bids for Cyprus's May 24 parliamentary election on Wednesday in a race which could shape one of the most fragmented legislatures in the island's history and weaken the influence of three parties supporting incumbent president Nikos Christodoulides.

By Ted Hesson, Jana Winter and Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security identified the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran as a potential motive for the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump and senior members of his administration at a White House reporters' gala last month, according to an intelligence report sent to state and local law enforcement nationwide and other federal agencies.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believed a deal with Iran was "very possible" but threatened to again bomb the country if negotiations fell apart.

Despite Trump's optimism, Iran has yet to respond to a new US proposal, with its chief negotiator warning that Washington was seeking to force the Islamic republic's "surrender."

Positive signs that the foes could return to the table after weeks of deadlock grew after Trump halted a short-lived military operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, citing hopes for a deal.