Topic: Timbuktu

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A fabled city of the Sahara: How much do you know about Timbuktu?

Timbuktu has a reputation in Western society as a distant, mysterious city. But it is a real place, and is back in the news after Tuareg rebels seized the city and implemented sharia. Can you separate Timbuktu's myth from reality?

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Mob assaults Mali's president, calling peace deal into question

Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore, has been taken to the hospital, unconscious, after pro-military junta protesters broke into the presidential palace. Will a ECOWAS peace deal hold?
Keep Calm
West African group mulls intervention in Mali

ECOWAS, a West African regional group, reimposes sanctions and considers military intervention after Mali's coup leaders renege on promise to cede power to civilian rulers. 
A fabled city of the Sahara: How much do you know about Timbuktu?

Timbuktu has a reputation in Western society as a distant, mysterious city. But it is a real place, and is back in the news after Tuareg rebels seized the city and implemented sharia. Can you separate Timbuktu's myth from reality?
Mali arrests kidnap suspects, Al Qaeda releases pictures of victims

While Al Qaeda is showing signs of waning in southern and western Asia, Al Qaeda-related groups continue to make their presence felt across the African Sahel region.
Global News Blog
Good Reads: Qaddafi's African mercenaries, Tripoli's water, and Mexican gangs

Today's must reads include an interview with a mercenary in Timbuktu; Qaddafi's control of water pipelines; and how a US government policy to arm Mexican gangs may have backfired.
Five myths about Africa

Matt Damon, listen up: After five years of covering Africa, our departing correspondent tells how his perceptions have changed about a complex continent, including why some Africans resent celebrity visits.
Change Agent
Five little-known vegetables that could help end hunger

Native vegetables such as guar, Dogon shallot, and celosia could play an important role in feeding Africa.
Africa Monitor
West Africa Rising: Libya war boosting Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb?

Despite US training and support, West African nations have been unable to stamp out the terrorist group and the upheaval in Libya may be bolstering the group's arsenal.
Africa Monitor
Five possible solutions for kidnappings in Africa's Sahel region

Kidnappings in Africa's Sahel region in recent years present policy makers with a tough question: what is the best way to deal with and prevent kidnappings by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb?
Africa Monitor
Is it better to pay a ransom for hostages, or stage a rescue?

The Sahel region of Africa has seen many hostage crises in recent years, staged by a local branch of Al Qaeda, and hostages' home countries have had to make difficult decisions.
Niger kidnappings show Al Qaeda group getting bolder

Niger kidnappings: The assailants made their way through streets patrolled by 350 soldiers, past the gate of a secure residential area and the security guards standing in front of the foreigners' homes.
Global News Blog
Timbuktu, the birthplace of blues

Don't argue with an African about the birthplace of blues. It's Timbuktu. Hear why.
Timbuktu tech

In remotest West Africa, an Internet cafe seamlessly blends with the desert lifestyle.
African music festival goes smoothly in Mali despite Al Qaeda threats

This weekend's Festival au Desert in Mali ended without incident, but risks remain high as Al Qaeda threatened Monday to kill a French hostage.
Mali moves music festival as tourism threatened by Al Qaeda threat

A string of attacks by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in and around Mali has hurt the tourism mecca of Timbuktu. The popular Mali Festival au Desert was moved closer to the city yesterday for safety.
Al Qaeda rises in West Africa

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – the terror suspect who allegedly tried to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day – hails from Nigeria in West Africa. The Monitor takes a look at how the fight against Al Qaeda is going in the region.
In Timbuktu, a race to preserve Africa's written history

Ancient manuscripts in Timbuktu, that prove a written history often overlooked by the rest of the world, are crumbling due to lack of funding for preservation
Sahara calling

On a trek across the desert, a Tuareg tribesman proves refreshingly resourceful.
Over the hedge

Beware of the globefish
In Timbuktu, a new move to save ancient manuscripts

The tomes provide a rare glimpse into a precolonial African history of intellectual endeavor and will be preserved thanks to an $8 million donation from South Africa.