[RFI] The French military on Wednesday said it had captured a top-ranking member of the Sahel affiliate of the Islamic State group.

[UN News] Long-term uncertainty related to the length of the transition period in Mali has made it even more difficult to achieve progress on implementing the 2015 peace agreement, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Monday.

[DW] Mali's northeast is seeing heavy fighting as Mali's army, together with pro-government militias, battle insurgents. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands are displaced.

[State Department] The United States acknowledges the announcement by Mali's transition government of a 24-month transition timetable starting in March 2022. We urge the Malian transition government to make sustained, tangible action toward holding elections, including detailed benchmarks and the early adoption of the electoral law. Transparent and inclusive processes that respect diverse perspectives and fundamental freedoms are critical to building a strong foundation for the future.

[RFI] Mali's military rulers have announced that they would delay until March 2024 a return to civilian rule following double coups that have been denounced by countries in the region and foreign powers.

[GhanaToday] The Economic Community of West African States last Saturday upheld the sanctions imposed on the three junta-ruled nations-- Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

[VOA] Bamako -- Mali's military junta will take 24 months from March 2022 to restore civilian rule after an August 2020 coup, its spokesman said on Monday, the latest move in negotiations with regional bloc ECOWAS to lift sanctions crippling the economy

[DW] Civilian rule will return to Mail in 2024 at the earliest, according to a transition timeline proposed by the ruling military.

[RFI] West African leaders meeting in Accra have decided to uphold sanctions against Mali, along with the suspension of Burkina Faso and Guinea from the bloc. The measures could be lifted if the military rulers in all three countries speed up plans for a return to civilian rule.

[DW] The UN says it is the sixth time a peacekeeping convoy has been targeted in less than a month. The West African country has been gripped by a jihadist insurgency for the past decade.

[ICRC] Bamako/Nairobi/Geneva, 2 June 2022--The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is shocked and saddened by the violent deaths of two Red Cross aid workers who were killed yesterday, during an attack by armed men in the Kayes region of Mali.

[UN News] Two Egyptian peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, were killed on Friday - the second fatal attack this week on a peacekeeping convoy in the West African country.

[New Times] Nigeria's female basketball team, D'Tigress, has been replaced with Mali for the upcoming FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 that will take place in Belgrade, Serbia.

[This Day] The world basketball governing body, FIBA, yesterday replaced Nigeria's senior women's basketball team, D'Tigress, with Mali in the rooster for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup scheduled to hold in Sydney, Australia in September.

[UN News] Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned a deadly attack on Wednesday against a UN Peacekeeping logistics convoy near the town of Kidal in northern Mali.

[RFI] A United Nations report out on Monday noted a fourfold rise in civilian deaths and human rights abuses in late 2021 by all actors in the conflict, including jihadists, militias, self-defence groups, foreign military and Malian soldiers.

[Daily Trust] The Oyo State Police Command has arrested three people in connection with alleged human trafficking from Nigeria to Mali, Burkina Faso and other African countries.

[New Frame] The Malian superstar's new album Timbuktu is a thrilling fusion of folk music from West Africa and the United States.

[The Conversation Africa] The threat of violent extremism across West Africa has been on the rise in recent times.

[New Frame] The fractious relationship between the two countries has reached a new low with France being ordered to leave immediately. This has many implications for the strife-torn region.

[The New Humanitarian] Sévaré, Mali -- 'I knew the conflict would affect me again if I did nothing.'

[DW] An alleged coup attempt in Mali sheds light on the tensions facing the interim government of Colonel Assimi Goita. Yet, despite sanctions and isolation, Malians still back the military.

[DW] Germany's parliament decided how it will engage militarily with the West African country, which witnessed another coup last year.

[Ghanaian Times] The government has cautioned against all travels to Gao and its surrounding areas in North Eastern Mali in view of recent abductions and executions of travellers, especially Christians, including Ghanaians, in the area.

[VOA] Johannesburg, South Africa -- A cursory Google search for "rosewood furniture China" brings up plenty of sites selling the luxury item, but most buyers are likely unaware that their treasured table or chair could be the product of a rampant illegal trade in the protected tree species -- one which is decimating forests in West Africa, facilitating elephant poaching, and even aiding jihadi groups.

[allAfrica] Cape Town -- Africa Confidential revealed in today's electronic edition that a dozen officers involved in an attempted coup against the military junta in power in Mali have been arrested.

[allAfrica] COMMUNIQUE N°031 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TRANSITION

[RFI] Mali's military junta has announced that it will quit the West African G5 Sahel anti-jihadist force after it was blocked from assuming the presidency of the regional group.

[RFI] French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has been summoned by a court in Bamako as part of an investigation into an alleged "attack on public property and other offences" dating back to 2015, concerning the manufacture of Malian biometric passports. This comes at a time of tense relations between France and Mali.

[allAfrica] The French minister of foreign affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian is expected at a courthouse in Bamako on June 20 over charges of awarding a public contract for the production of Malian passports. The case that dates back to 2015.

[DW] Germany is set to draw down its EU deployment in Mali and increase its UN deployment. France is withdrawing from Mali amid friction with the military junta there.

[New Times] Major General Oumar Diarra, the Chief of Defence Staff of Mali, is in Rwanda for a three-day official visit to acquire expertise in the reconstruction of a country and capacity building of security forces.

[allAfrica] After nine years with the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM), Germany has announced its withdrawal. Some 300 German soldiers have so far been involved in training the Malian army, particularly in civil engineering and mine clearance.

[RFI] The birth of Mali's nonuplets - nine babies born at the same time - was such an unusual event that some believed it was a hoax. But as they marked their first birthday this week they're all in good health and the family hopes to head back home to Timbuktu soon.

[This Day] The Mali Football Federation (FEMAFOOT) has picked former international Eric Sekou Chelle ahead of erstwhile Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, and Winifred Schafer to lead the Malian national team, the Eagles.

[RFI] UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has told RFI Mali could collapse if the UN withdraws its peacekeeping mission there, but suggested an option could be to replace it with an African Union force backed by a tougher operating mandate.

[The New Humanitarian] SÉVARÉ, Mali -- Aly Ongoiba* keeps meticulous notes on the conflict that consumed his commune - a maze of clay buildings and artfully thatched granaries spread across the top of a sandstone escarpment that cuts through central Mali.

[RFI] The President of Togo has agreed to mediate in Mali, where the military junta is under international pressure to re-establish civilian rule after taking power in 2020.

[DW] In places such as Cameroon, Guinea Bissau, Rwanda or post-coup Mali, the media's vigilance extends well beyond issues that matter to the public. Journalists are forced to watch their own backs -- and data, too.

[RFI] Mali's ruling junta has announced it is breaking off its defence accords with France and other European partners that were put in place nearly a decade ago to help the Malian military stop a jihadist offensive.

[RSF] A release prepared by Reporters sans Frontières to accompany its annual World Press Freedom Index for 2022:

[UN News] 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.

[VOA] Bamako -- Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has put the websites of two major French broadcasters back online in Mali, after the country's military government pulled the broadcasters off the air in March and officially banned them from the Malian airwaves this week.

[VOA] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warns that Mali's new media restrictions reflect a growing intolerance toward freedom of the press in the region.

[RFI] Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has announced the creation of "mirror" websites that allow RFI and France 24 to remain available online in Mali despite a ruling junta ban on the French broadcasters.

[RFI] The French army on Thursday rejected accusations by Mali of espionage and violation of the West African nation's airspace.

[CPJ] New York -- Malian authorities should reverse the suspensions of French broadcasters Radio France Internationale and France 24, and allow the foreign press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

[RFI] Mali has reprimanded France for "spying" after the French military released a video of what it alleged were Russian mercenaries burying bodies at a mass grave.

[VOA] Bamako -- Six soldiers are dead and 20 wounded after Malian Army bases in the central cities of Sévaré, Niono, and Bapho were simultaneously attacked this morning by suspected terrorists.

[DW] The French military says it has filmed Russian mercenaries burying bodies near an army base in northern Mali. France says it suspects the operation was part of a disinformation campaign against its troops.