UK PM Johnson’s tax on workers ‘unfair’, says opposition

French President Emmanuel Macron is facing difficult negotiations after his centrist bloc lost its absolute majority in parliament. The conservatives have already ruled out forming a coalition.

Britain's biggest rail strike in decades has brought parts of the country to a standstill. Workers are walking out in protest at below-inflation pay rises as the cost-of-living spirals upwards.

Much of the UK has been crippled by the largest rail strike in decades. Some 40,000 workers participated in Tuesday's walkout, calling for higher wages to deal with the spiraling cost of living. Experts say the disruptions will weigh on economic growth. Also in the show: EasyJet is on the frontline of the aviation industry's staff shortages, and businesses in Las Vegas will continue performing Elvis-themed weddings, after reaching a deal with the late singer's estate.

Noise rang out across Senegal's capital Dakar on Wednesday evening as people honked car horns and banged on pots and pans in an unusual form of protest organised by the political opposition ahead of legislative elections next month. Senegal's main opposition coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi, asked its supporters to come to their windows, balconies and doorways and clang lids together at 8pm to signal their anger over the disqualification of their candidates list in the upcoming poll.

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

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.

In tonight's edition: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defends his controversial deal to expel migrants to Rwanda, telling critics to "keep an open mind". Whilst most members of the bloc are former British colonies, Gabon and Togo are expected to join Mozambique and Rwanda as the latest nations to join the Commonwealth despite few historic links to the UK. Plus we take a closer look at some the major shifts needed to finance Africa's essential transition to reliable energy.

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.

Every year, some 10,000 low-paid migrant labourers return home to southeast Asia from the Gulf in body bags. Half of these deaths are unexplained, and with no labour laws in place — nor any will from home nations to investigate — the cycle of exploitation continues unabated. These figures are estimates published in a report from the NGO FairSquare. As summer begins, more and more of these vulnerable workers are succumbing to heat-related illnesses. For more, we speak to Nicholas McGeehan, Director of FairSquare Research and Projects.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.⁣

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has written an opinion piece with her Irish counterpart in a British paper, saying the UK was "not engaging in good faith" with its plans to change the Northern Ireland protocol.

It's been one year since Myanmar's military toppled the democratically elected government and launched a brutal crackdown on popular protest. DW spoke with Dr. Sasa, a spokesman for Myanmar's government-in-exile, about how the opposition plans to restore democratic rule.