Topic: West Africa
Top galleries, list articles, quizzes
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10 best books of March, according to Amazon's editors
Amazon editorial director Sara Nelson talks about the 10 new releases she's calling the best books of March.
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5 invasive species now in retreat
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Looking deeper
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Currents
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Orange Prize for fiction 2011 shortlist
All Content
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Terrorism & Security Mali rebel fighters better prepared than first thought: French officials
Initial French estimates of a brief conflict may be revised as militants are not breaking quickly, French airstrikes continue, and more French troops are on the way.
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Refugees no more, Liberians ponder if they're ready to go home
Liberians who fled their home lost their refugee status last year. The UN has helped repatriate 155,000 people since 2004, but painful memories of two civil wars keep some from returning home.
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Terrorism & Security Mali Islamists threaten to retaliate 'at the heart of France' (+video)
France committed its forces to a military intervention in Mali to stop the Islamists' advance toward Bamako. Today, they threatened payback.
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France pushes back Mali rebels with airstrikes
The French intervention in former French colony Mali continued Friday. Airstrikes drove Al Qaeda-linked militants out of Konna, a city that had been captured by the rebels. France entered the conflict at the request of Mali's president.
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Change Agent SOCCKET energy-generating soccer ball powers up poor villages
Uncharted Play has designed a soccer ball called the SOCCKET, which generates electricity for an LED light. One minute of kicking produces around six minutes of light to read, do homework, or help illuminate a home.
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Hollande: France will help Mali after Islamists take town
The United Nations Security Council condemned the capture of Konna and called on U.N. member states to provide assistance to Mali 'in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups.'
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Latin America Monitor Four Nigerians arrested for drug trafficking in Venezuela
US officials say Colombian and Venezuelan drug traffickers are increasingly reliant on smuggling routes that move drug shipments to Europe via West Africa.
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The men who would save Mali's manuscripts
Islamist militants in Timbuktu destroyed graves and shrines associated with Sufism this year. Ancient manuscripts are not directly threatened, but some fear they are next.
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'Pilgrims' pour into Sandy Hook Village after massacre (+video)
As church bells pealed in Sandy Hook Village Sunday, people from across the region came to the site of the school shooting to offer teddy bears and roses as they tried to sort out a national tragedy.
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Mali's ex-rocket-scientist prime minister forced to quit by army (+video)
Cheikh Modibo Diarra's forced resignation at the hands of the military complicates African efforts to challenge Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists that hold the country's north.
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Why Africa's lions are rapidly disappearing
Africa's lion population has dwindled to 32,000, a nearly 70 percent decline in the past 50 years, according to a new survey by Duke University.
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Focus
Islamists silence the musicians who guide rural MaliFor centuries, griots have directed ceremonies, smoothed over disputes, and served as repositories of history and genealogy. Now in northern Mali they are out of a job.
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Focus
Will Mali be Africa's Afghanistan?Mali was hit by two successive shocks to its system this year – with the north seized by rebels and a coup in the capital – leaving its government fragile and the international community mulling intervention.
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Opinion: Mali security nightmare: Why foreign intervention alone won't stop the chaos
A divided Mali could become a haven for armed groups and a security nightmare for the whole of West Africa and far beyond. But foreign military intervention alone will be insufficient to address the turmoil. External troops will need the help of local and regional civil society organizations.
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In world's most religious country, humanists rally for secular space
A group of humanists is looking to find its niche in Ghana, recently ranked most religious in a survey of 57 nations.
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Presidential debate 101: In oil drilling spat, did Obama make his best case?
A tense exchange between Romney and Obama on oil drilling was perhaps the most contentious of the second presidential debate. Here's a look at what was said, and whether it was accurate.
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Change Agent Mobile technology boosts access to clean water for the poor
The widespread availability of mobile phones has enabled the development of low-cost solutions aimed at improving water security and reducing poverty.
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How much is Romney backed in Britain?
Most of the British public and political class – including many Tories – prefer President Obama to his Republican challenger, but Mitt Romney is not without fans among the British government.
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Change Agent Beyond big dams: turning to grass-roots solutions on water
Mega-dams and massive government-run irrigation projects are not the key to meeting world’s water needs, a growing number of experts say. For developing nations, the answer may lie in small-scale measures such as inexpensive water pumps.
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New French Muhammad cartoons inflame prophet film tensions (+video)
After worldwide protests, some of them deadly, over an amateur film mocking the Prophet Muhammad, a French magazine now seeks to make Muslims even more angry.
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How do you contribute to modern day slavery of human trafficking?
You may contribute to human trafficking in ways you're unaware of, suggests the US State Department in a run-down of how what Americans wear, use and consume in daily life can be affected by "modern day slavery."
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Africa Monitor Arms, drugs, and human trafficking: What does the future hold for northern Mali?
A new unity government was formed in Mali this week, though it remains unclear whether it will be successful in restoring constitutional rule in the Tuareg-held north.
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Briefing
Turmoil in Mali: Is it another Somalia?Islamists hijacked a long-running Tuareg rebellion in Mali and have turned the north into a strict Islamist state. Here are four key questions about where things might go from here.
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After death of Ghana's president, a calm transition
After the death of President John Evans Atta Mills, Ghana peacefully transferred power to its vice president – a reminder that not all political transitions in West Africa are violent.
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African Union gets a South African leader, lending the group heft
Observers hope that the long-deadlocked African Union will wield more influence with the economic and political power of South Africa behind it.
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