Opening a new front in the drone wars against Al Qaeda and its affiliates, President Obama announced on Friday that about 100 American troops had been sent to Niger in West Africa to help set up a new base from which unarmed Predator aircraft would conduct
France’s claim of combating terrorism in Mali does not add up. Re-conquest of this former French colony and control of rich natural resources in West Africa are some of the more plausible reasons for this criminal offensive that began on
Africa’s classic depiction in the mainstream media, as a giant basketcase full of endless war, famine and helpless children creates an illusion of a continent utterly dependent on Western handouts. In fact, the precise opposite is true – it is
A former US ambassador to Mali, has claimed Nicolas Sarkozy’s government paid $17m (£11m) to free French hostages seized from a uranium mine in its former colony, Niger, in 2010. Vicki Huddleston, who has now retired, said under Mr Sarkozy,
The Mozambique-born supermodel-turned-humanitarian Tasha de Vasconcelos has hit out at the adoption of African children by celebrities like Madonna and Angelina Jolie. By taking children away, Ms De Vasconcelos said, they are “ripping the heart out of Africa”. As she
At least 35 small pyramids, along with graves, have been discovered clustered closely together at a site called Sedeinga in Sudan. Discovered between 2009 and 2012, researchers are surprised at how densely the pyramids are concentrated. In one field season
Zimbabwe’s finance minister made a startling admission to reporters in Harare on Tuesday, according to multiple reports. “Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 in government coffers,” Finance Minister Tendai Biti said, according to The Telegraph. “The government
A father has described the moment a French attack helicopter bombed his town in Mali, killing his wife and at least three children from another family. Amadou Jallo, 57, lost his wife Aminata in the attack on Konna in which
Canada is today investigating an allegation by the Algerian Prime Minister that one of its citizens co-ordinated the terror raid at the Saharan gas plant in which dozens of hostages were killed. Westerners, including a man with blond hair and
France has reportedly imposed a media blackout on its invasion of Mali amid a growing war that rages on in the West African nation. On January 11, France launched the war under the pretext of halting the advance of fighters
David Cameron said the fight against terrorism in north Africa would go on for years or “even decades” as he announced that a total of six Britons were thought to have died in the Algerian hostage crisis. Three British nationals are known to have
David Cameron has warned that a diplomatic response would not be enough to tackle the growing terrorist threat in North Africa and that a “robust security response” must be deployed. About 30 foreign hostages – including 12 Britons – were
Odd, isn’t it, how our “collateral damage” is different from their “collateral damage”. Speaking yesterday to an old Algerian friend in the aviation business, I asked him what he thought of his country’s raid on the In Amenas gas plant. “Brilliant
The French government has stated that: “it would send 2,500 troops to support Malian government soldiers in the conflict against Islamist rebels. France has already deployed around 750 troops to Mali, and French carriers arrived in Bamako on Tuesday morning…..
The U.S. today pledged to aid France’s widening aerial assault on al Qaeda-linked rebels in Northern Mali, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. would provide the French with intelligence and airlift support and the State Department said it
Defence chiefs have warned against Britain becoming enmeshed in the mission against Islamists in Mali, pointing out that any action could be drawn-out and require significantly greater resources than have so far been deployed. The most senior commanders are due
France kept up its air strikes against Islamist rebels in Mali as plans to deploy African troops gathered pace on Tuesday amid concerns that delays could endanger a wider mission to dislodge al Qaeda and its allies. France has already
French fighter jets bombed rebel targets in a major city in Mali’s north Sunday, pounding the airport as well as training camps, warehouses and buildings used by the Al Qaeda-linked Islamists controlling the area, officials and residents said. The three-day-old
By mid-December, poachers had killed 633 rhinos in South Africa, according to environment ministry figures. That marks a new annual peak in the country that is home to most of the continent’s rhino, and a sharp rise from the record
The Sudanese government is blaming Israel for an explosion at a munitions plant in Khartoum early yesterday morning that Israeli media say was owned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and made arms for Hamas. The Sudan Tribune reports that Ahmad Bilal
France will move surveillance drones to West Africa and is holding secretive talks with U.S. officials in Paris this week as it seeks to steer international military action to help Mali’s feeble government win back the northern part of the country from al-Qaida-linked rebels,
Small teams of special operations forces arrived at American embassies throughout North Africa in the months before militants launched the fiery attack that killed the U.S. ambassador in Libya. The soldiers’ mission: Set up a network that could quickly strike
Following in the footsteps of nations like France and Russia, South Africa may soon be the latest nation to enact a ban on Monsanto’s GMO corn that was recently linked to tumor development and organ damage in rats. South Africa’s African Centre for Biosafety (ACB), a watchdog
