#BREAKING France, allies say to continue 'joint action against terrorism' in Africa's Sahel
#UPDATE France and allies in Barkhane anti-jihadist operation in Mali announce "coordinated withdrawal" of their forces due to "obstructions" by ruling military junta.
France and allies vow to pursue "joint action against terrorism in the Sahel region, including in Niger"
#BREAKING Al-Qaeda, Islamic State targeting Sahel as 'priority for strategy of expansion': Macron
#UPDATE Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have made the Sahel region of West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea nations "a priority for their strategy of expansion," French President Emmanuel Macron says, explaining an ongoing French and EU military presence in the region
#BREAKING Macron denies French mission in Mali ending in failure
#UPDATE French President says attitudes of Mali's ruling junta has forced France to pull out and denies its almost decade-long deployment had ended in failure.
"We cannot remain militarily engaged alongside de-facto authorities whose strategy and hidden aims we do not share"
#BREAKING French pullout from Mali 'bound to impact' UN peacekeepers: UN
#UPDATE France's planned military withdrawal from Mali is "bound to impact" the UN's peacekeeping mission in the troubled Sahel state, the United Nations said on Thursday
#UPDATE France has announced it is withdrawing troops from Mali due to a breakdown in relations with the country's ruling junta, after nearly 10 years of fighting a jihadist insurgency u.afp.com/wMs5
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#UPDATE A referendum on Moldova joining the EU passed with a razor-thin majority on Monday as pro-Brussels President Maia Sandu blamed the outcome on foreign meddling in a veiled reference to Russia, which denied the accusations ➡️ u.afp.com/5zL7
BREAKING France's high-speed train system disrupted by vandalism: operator
#UPDATE Hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris #Olympics , France's high-speed rail network has been hit by "malicious acts" including arson attacks that have disrupted the transport system, train operator SNCF says.
"This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network," SNCF told @AFP, adding that many routes will have to be cancelled and the situation would last "at least all weekend while repairs are conducted"
BREAKING The arson attacks on France's high-speed rail network were coordinated acts of "sabotage", a source close to the investigation tells @AFP
#BREAKING 104 police, 30 journalists among injured in Bangladesh clashes: TV
#UPDATE Protesters in Bangladesh set fire to several government buildings during a day of deadly nationwide clashes between students and riot officers, a police statement said.
"The miscreants have already torched, vandalised and carried out destructive activities," on the offices of state broadcaster BTV and the national disaster management agency along with "various" police and government buildings, said the statement, issued after a nationwide internet shutdown
Bangladesh wakes to torched government buildings, internet blackout.
This week's unrest has killed at least 39 people including 32 on Thursday, with the toll expected to rise further after reports of clashes in nearly half of the country's 64 districts
#BREAKING Biden says still considers Xi a 'dictator'
#UPDATE US President Joe Biden said after a summit with Xi Jinping that he still considers the Chinese president a "dictator", after he sparked fury from Beijing by making the comparison earlier this year.
"Well look he is, I mean he's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who's running a country, a Communist country, that's based on a form of government totally different than ours," Biden said at the end of a news conference when a reporter asked if he would still use the term to describe Xi
#BREAKING China will not begin armed conflict with any nation, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday, after a high-stakes summit with US President Joe Biden.
"China does not seek spheres of influence, and will not fight a cold or hot war with any country," he told a gathering of business leaders in San Francisco
#BREAKING Any compromise with Russia will 'destroy' Ukrainian statehood: presidential aide to AFP
#BREAKING Putin says West used grain deal for 'political blackmail'
VIDEO: Ukrainian firefighters battle flames after a Russian strike on Odesa.
Ukraine's president accused Russia of deliberately targeting grain export infrastructure in the city after Moscow ended a landmark deal and lifted security guarantees in the Black Sea