Lagos to scrap pension for past political office holders, Border Closure: Dangote debunks report of sole cement exporter

The European Commission has recommended candidate status for Ukraine. Just over three months after being invaded by Russia, Kyiv has cleared the first hurdle on the road to membership.

Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief has called for Russia to end its blockade of Ukrainian ports. His comments come ahead of a meeting of the bloc's 27 foreign ministers.

French prosecutors said on Wednesday they were investigating a junior minister in President Emmanuel Macron's government after two allegations of rape were brought against her.

UK's Johnson says he would defend Rwanda policy to Prince Charles

Germany is looking to lower gas demand to ward off long-term shortages as Russia throttles the gas flow. Gas prices for consumers could rise even more as a consequence.

German pharmaceutical company BioNTech has begun construction of an COVID-19 vaccine plant in Rwanda. When completed, it will be the first mRNA vaccine plant in Africa.

Strong inflation headwinds could deny Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro a second term, with the incumbent also facing a new corruption scandal. Lula says citizens want to "get rid" of the current government.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine four months ago, the cost of living crisis has become a global issue. Prices have gone up around the world. In Europe, the countries that use the euro saw an average of 8.1 percent inflation in May. Pressure on prices, combined with stuttering economic growth, has sparked fears of a recession. These concerns could still come into play regarding the EU's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In this programme, we're joined by two MEPs to discuss how the EU should balance sanctions against Russia with the risk of recession.

This week on Talking Europe we take a look at some of the other countries, aside from Ukraine, that are knocking on the EU's door to join the bloc. EU leaders held a summit on Thursday with the Western Balkan states to discuss their accession process. For Albania, that started back in 2008 and still hasn't advanced to the negotiations stage. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama spoke to FRANCE 24’s Luke Brown on the sidelines of the EU-Western Balkans leaders' meeting in Brussels.

Although EU candidacy for Ukraine and Moldova has been hailed as historic, frustrations among other candidates years into their own membership bids should serve as a reminder that the path ahead won't be easy.

Baghdad is hoping to revive talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia following the deadly confrontation in Yemen. Diplomatic ties between Tehran and Riyadh have been non-existent for years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to transfer the Iskander-M missile systems in their conventional and nuclear versions to Belarus.