After its exit from the EU, the United Kingdom is seeking to be part of the Pacific free trade area. A formal request will be made early next week, the government said.

The resolution seeks to ensure freedoms for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer communities across the bloc. The move is seen as a swipe at conservative authorities in Poland and elsewhere.

Lawmakers from Germany's governing conservative party alliance face a Friday deadline to prove they didn't pocket profits from face mask sales. The scandal comes ahead of state elections on Sunday.

Another politician has resigned from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc because of non-political work. Tobias Zech of the Bavarian CSU told colleagues he wanted to "protect my family and my party."

West African leaders have said Mali must hold a presidential election in February 2022. They also called for the immediate appointment of a new civilian prime minister.

A petition calling for the ban of the consumption of dog meat in Nigeria has garnered thousands of signatures online. Titled “Stop Nigeria’s Barbaric Dog Meat Industry,” the petition seeks a ban and shutdown of the dog meat trade industry in Nigeria.

The ECOWAS bloc called on Guinea to return to "normal constitutional order" after President Alpha Conde was deposed in a coup by special forces.

Each year, the European Commission takes stock of the state of the EU, and the president delivers a speech to parliament. The main issues this year are the same as in 2020. Bernd Riegert has an overview from Brussels.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin calls on the Taliban to keep its word to normalise life for Afghans and prevent violence spilling over into neighbouring countries at the summit of a Moscow and Beijing-led bloc.

Military leaders in Mali and Guinea are under pressure to follow a roadmap for elections after coups in recent years. The sanctions consist of travel bans and asset freezes.

Every morning in the Rwandan capital Kigali, long queues appear outside milk bars, where people come to socialise and unwind over large pints of ikivuguto, a fermented milk mixed with honey. Milk drinking became engrained in the country's culture as the result of a government policy initiated after the 1994 genocide to revive the economy and fight malnutrition. In 2006, the government set up the Girinka programme, in a bid to ensure that even the poorest families were able to afford a cow.

West African bloc ECOWAS said they hoped to have an election plan from Mali by the end of this year, after a meeting with the interim leaders. Mali's authorities had previously said elections could be delayed.