Germany and France decided to jointly develop key weapons systems, but several have been abandoned. And now, the MGCS battle tank prestige project is meeting a lot of resistance.

The EU has approved changes to its asylum policy but a late amendment is now on the table. The German foreign minister warned Berlin won't back plans to allow more flexibility during periods of large-scale migration.

The Cook Islands and Niue have been recognized by the United States as "sovereign and independent states." The move appeared to be aimed at curbing further Chinese inroads into the Pacific region.

House Republicans will try to advance four party-line funding bills this week, though they would not avert a looming government shutdown.

Metal theft by criminal gangs in Germany is alarming the public and businesses. The disruptions they cause are increasingly felt in everyday life. These will worsen as copper prices rise.

The French diplomat left the capital Niamey for Chad early Wednesday, Paris said. The military junta had ordered his expulsion some weeks ago.

Joe Biden makes history by becoming the first sitting US president to join a picket line, making the UAW autoworkers' strike a major battleground for the 2024 presidential race. Also, French papers take a look at what to expect as the government prepares to unveil a plan to tackle school bullying. We then take a look at reactions to the burgeoning refugee crisis in Armenia, and finish with an Economist special on the new science behind reversing ageing.

Britain's Home Secretary Suella Braverman called for governments to rewrite global refugee rules to make them "fit for the modern age." She said "simply being gay, or a woman" should not in itself entitle refuge.

Niger has hailed France's withdrawal as a "step towards sovereignty." But experts argue that the move has broad implications for the country, the Sahel region and beyond.

In 2021, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko began letting migrants cross his country's border into Poland to retaliate against EU sanctions. Poland strengthened its border controls, but the number of illegal migrant crossings into Germany has been surging in recent months. The Brandenburg region in eastern Germany now finds itself at the crossroads between the Belarus and Balkans migrant routes.

To mark International Safe Abortion Day, we're taking stock of women's abortion rights in the United States. Terminations are now illegal in 14 states following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year. Some women in those states are now forced to travel elsewhere in the US for the procedure, costing them hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

France's ambassador to Niger has left the country amid a deterioration of relations between the West African country's new military rulers and the former colonial power.