With President-elect Emmanuel Macron poised to take power on Sunday in Paris, French Ambassador to the US Gérard Araud, who served as a diplomatic advisor to the candidate, sat down with FRANCE 24’s Philip Crowther in Washington.

French President Emmanuel Macron says the French ambassador to Afghanistan will continue his mission but from Paris.

Bamako has summoned the former colonial power's ambassador after Emmanuel Macron again blasted the junta for deflecting from what he sees as its own lack of governance. From the second coup in one year to Paris's decision to draw down part of the 5,000 troops it has stationed in the fight against a jihadist insurgency, the escalating war of words went into overdrive two weeks ago when Mali's prime minister accused France of abandoning his country.

France says it is sending its ambassador back to Australia to help "redefine the terms'' of the bilateral relationship after Canberra ditched a multibillion-dollar submarine contract.

The two countries have feuded intensely over fishing rights since the UK's decision to leave the EU. The move comes after France seized a British boat in French waters.

Relations between France and Mali take a dramatic turn for the worse as Bamako gives the French ambassador to the country just 72 hours to leave. Also, after a three-year freeze, Rwanda finally opens its border with Uganda. And we end in South Africa, where Kommetdieding or the "people's horse" is winning Cape Town's prestigious races.

Warsaw requested an explanation from the French ambassador over comments made by the French president. The French president strongly criticized Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in a newspaper interview.

The West’s domination of the world is "over" and we need to arm ourselves, not just with weapons, but also diplomatically to face the new age. That's the view of Gérard Araud, a former French ambassador to Israel, the US and the UN.