Mali

Mali said Sunday it was withdrawing from a west African force fighting jihadists to protest it being rejected as head of the G5 regional group, which also includes Mauritania, Chad, Burkina, and Niger.

Germany on Wednesday said it had agreed to raise its contingent in the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in Mali to a maximum of 1,400 troops from around 1,100. The German government has also decided to reduce its training mission as part of the EU's deployment EUTM, halving its upper limit from 600 to 300. Most of the redeployed forces will be moved to neighboring Niger.

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Guterres said the force would need to be African, and "from the African Union, but with a Chapter Seven Security Council mandate and obligatory financing" – referring to a UN charter that permits the use of armed force in the event of a "threat to peace”.

Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe has agreed to act as a mediator in Mali’s political crisis as the West African country’s military government faces pressure to re-establish civilian rule, their foreign ministers have said.

Germany will end its participation in the European Union training mission in Mali but is ready to continue with a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country under certain conditions, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Wednesday.

In a long-expected decision, Mali's ruling junta has pulled the plug on a number of military accords with France. French soldiers and European partners are on track to leave the West African country by the end of summer.

Mali’s ban on two major international broadcasters operating inside the country is a worrying development in itself but it also reflects growing regional intolerance towards freedom of expression, the UN rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday.

Mali’s military government has accused France of spying after the French military released drone video of what it said were Russian mercenaries staging a mass grave near a military base the French handed back to Mali.

France has accused Russia of mounting a disinformation campaign to discredit its almost decade-long military operation in Mali.