Mali election underway despite coronavirus fears

In a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD party, voters backed the conservatives, CDU, in an election Germany's most populous state. The Greens meanwhile more than doubled the number of votes they received.

Since North Korea reported its first official coronavirus case last week, the WHO has warned it might spread rapidly in the unvaccinated country. Ruler Kim Jong Un wants the military to turn the tide.

Australia is counting down to its next federal election on May 21. The environmental crisis is high on voters' minds and smaller parties and independents are gaining momentum by riding a wave of disillusionment over the conservative coalition's lack of climate action. With a hung parliament looking likely, these minor players could force the traditional parties to do more to tackle global warming. Climate change is an increasingly hot-button issue since the country's devastating bushfires of 2019-20. Our correspondents Richelle Harrison Plesse and Gregory Plesse report.

Japan's GDP fell at an annualised rate of 1 percent in the first three months of this year as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus hampered consumer spending. Rising commodity prices also weighed on businesses in the world's third-largest economy. Plus, as unemployment remains stable in France at 7.3 percent, a steelworks factory in the northern city of Dunkirk is offering a cash bonus to employees to encourage them to recruit family members.

The Coordinating Secretary of the National Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS), Tony Nnadi, was in The Guardian, where he spoke on the 2023 election and why it should not hold without changing the 1999 Constitution to reflect the aspirations of different nationalities that make up the federation.

An alleged coup attempt in the West African nation sheds light on the tensions facing the interim government of Colonel Assimi Goita. Yet, despite sanctions and isolation, Malians still back the military.

Germany's parliament decided how it will engage militarily with the West African country, which witnessed another coup last year.

The UN says it is the sixth time a peacekeeping convoy has been targeted in less than a month. The West African country has been gripped by a jihadist insurgency for the past decade.

Nigeria's ruling All Progressives Congress has picked former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu - described by some as a 'Godfather' figure - as its candidate for presidential elections in 2023.

The American and Brazilian presidents spoke on the sidelines of the Americas Summit, with Jair Bolsonaro trying to breathe life into his re-election campaign and Joe Biden keen to have something to show for his event.

Mali's northeast is seeing heavy fighting as Mali's army, together with pro-government militias, battle insurgents. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands are displaced.

US authorities determined COVID-19 vaccines should be given to children under 5, the only age group that is still ineligible for the jabs in the country.