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.

What did the planet learn from six hours without Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram? The glitch triggered by an update on servers went on long enough to remind us how much we put our lives in the hands of a single social media behemoth. It was a chance to realise that we depend on Facebook for everything from private messages to real-time business communications and even payments. Livelihoods depend on it.

It's the biggest tax whistleblowing bombshell yet. Kings, presidents, prime ministers and former prime ministers are among those outed so far in the Pandora Papers. It's the same sophisticated shell game exposed by LuxLeaks, the Panama Papers and other data dumps that name and shame the high and mighty who stash their cash far from prying eyes. So what's new since last time? Will the Pandora Papers change the conversation?

What can you get away with if you've been a French president? This Thursday saw the second conviction for former leader Nicolas Sarkozy, who's been found guilty of spending nearly twice the legal limit on his failed 2012 re-election bid. With two other cases pending, questions abound surrounding the one-term conservative president and the strength of France's justice system.

After the Covid-19 pandemic turned the world on its head, France faces crucial choices over its future. With less than seven months to go before presidential elections, why do identity politics seem to rule the airwaves? For French politics junkies, it's an unsettling start to the campaign. We ask our panel about the government's latest announcements on visa restrictions for North Africans and the unfiltered anti-Islam speech of potential candidates vying for a slice of the far right's electorate.

The UK is facing fuel shortages and in spite of placatory words and excuses from the authorities, tensions are rising. Confrontations, sometimes violent, have taken place on the forecourts of petrol stations. BP (British Petroleum) says a third of its pumps have run dry of popular grades. The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps blames the shortage on HGV drivers: the fuel cannot be delivered to the pumps quickly enough. There is a shortage of some 100,000 drivers across the UK.

Who will govern Germany? After a narrow but inconclusive win in Sunday's elections, can Olaf Scholz's centre-left SPD cobble together a three-way coalition? What next for the conservative CDU-CSU bloc after its worst ever election result? We chalk up the winners and losers in a special edition of the FRANCE 24 Debate from Berlin, in partnership with Deutsche Welle.

It's the homestretch of Germany's federal election campaign and Angela Merkel is exactly where she did not want to be: back on the campaign trail. The outgoing chancellor of 16 years, who was in her home constituency on the Baltic Sea on Tuesday, is stumping for her struggling would-be successor as head of the Christian Democrats, Armin Laschet. Other potential heirs have stumbled before him.

How serious are the superpowers in tackling the planet's climate emergency? In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Xi Jinping followed the lead of Japan and South Korea and pledged an end to China's financing of coal plants overseas. The United States put aside escalating tensions to hail the promise, but critics dismiss the announcement as low-hanging fruit coming from the nation that's home by far to the most domestic coal-fired power plants.

In his first speech as US president before the United Nations General Assembly, Joe Biden made no mention of scuttled submarine deals or French ambassadors recalled to Washington and Canberra. Instead, he talked up the ties that bind. So how artful a dodge was it? How high were the stakes in a speech where Biden also pledged he was not seeking a new Cold War? The US president called out many authoritarian regimes, but never mentioned China by name.