Brexit: European Central Bank’s Lagarde ‘hopes’ for ‘positive outcome’

With Poland and Bulgaria cut off from Russian gas, major European energy firms are reportedly considering compliance with Moscow's demand to be paid in roubles. Over in the US, Archegos Capital's Bill Hwang pleads not guilty to fraud. Finally, amid a shortage of sunflower oil due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the French government has authorised food companies to change their recipes without altering their packaging.

UEFA has banned Russia from the Women's European Championship in July and from participating in qualifying for next year's World Cup following the country's invasion of Ukraine, European soccer's governing body said on Monday.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, says he has not taken the decision to run for the Office of President of Nigeria in the 2023 general elections.

Posts on social networks have propagated the theory, based on claims by French doctor Didier Raoult, that vaccination has increased Covid-19 infections. FRANCE 24’s Georgina Robertson and Sophie Samaille look at some of the statistics and investigate in this week's show.

Enter the twilight of the world's longest reign. The 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II missed what is arguably the highlight of any British monarch's calendar: the reading of the government's parliamentary program instead delivered by her son, the crown prince. The importance is mostly symbolic, since the Queen's Speech is written by the prime minister. However the optics of the exercise beget the question: what United Kingdom will Charles inherit?

Britain said it would "not shy away from taking action" over post-Brexit trade tensions in Northern Ireland as it rejected EU proposals to resolve the standoff.

Decision makers from politics, business and civil society have gathered in Berlin to discuss new ways for Europe and Africa to cooperate on issues from the COVID pandemic to the war in Ukraine.

Boris Johnson has again threatened to break post-Brexit agreements with the EU as victorious Sinn Fein accuses him of pandering to the DUP, which is blocking the formation of a government after recent elections.

Brussels has said a British proposal to effectively override parts of a Brexit deal with a new law is "not acceptable." The UK has proposed a new law to drop part of the Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland trade.

Last month, Giorgia Meloni, the president of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, strongly criticised EU defence policy, claiming that no country is meeting its defence spending commitments. FRANCE 24's Georgina Robertson and Sophie Samaille look at some defence spending figures to debunk this claim.

Human rights defenders won the case, and Turkey was asked to pay costs and damages for detaining the head of Amnesty International's chapter in the country.

Poland's spending plans for billions of euros in pandemic recovery funding has been cleared by the EU's executive. But Warsaw must still make changes to ensure judicial independence before any payments can be made.