The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 23 pips to 7.1788 against the dollar on Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

European Union Defence Ministers are meeting in Toledo, Spain on Wednesday at a former weapons factory, now a university, to consider long-term financial support for Ukraine’s military.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said coups only make crises worse, emphasising the need for durable governance and the rule of law.

Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, said that his country has put forth a political solution to address the ongoing crisis in neighbouring Niger.

Without France’s military operations in the Sahel “there would probably no longer be a Mali … Burkina Faso, and I’m not sure there would still be Niger”, French President Emmanuel Macron told French publication Le Point.

EU defence ministers are considering their response to the military coup in Niger at a meeting in Toledo, Spain on Wednesday.

Gabonese military officers have canceled elections results and dissolved state institutions, claiming they have taken power, local media reported on Wednesday. The African country’s borders are closed until further notice, said the reports, adding gunfire was heard in the capital Libreville.

Participants of an International Symposium on the Niger Republic crisis and the future of African Integration has urged leaders in the continent to avoid constitutional amendments in favour of tenure elongation.