The Ivorian Gold Rush

Since the discovery of gold in the Bagoué riverbed, the Ivory Coast’s Kapolo mine has become a magnet for West Africa’s poorest. Tens of thousands of men, women & children work the land and themselves to the point of exhaustion. Gold fever has emptied the schools and left the crops abandoned. The stability of this impoverished farming region now hangs by a thread.

REPORTERS

By Richard Binet

COLOMBIA

District 13 at the mercy of Medellin's gangs

Beset by daily settlings of scores between rival drug traffickers, Colombia's second city Medellin is a theatre of violence which hinders its attempt to project the image of a rehabilitated city.

NIGER

Tandja's referendum: people's choice or coup d'état?

President Mamadou Tandja has ruled Niger for ten years, and to make sure he stays in power, he organised and won a referendum on a new constitution that allows him to continue to run for the presidency.

GEORGIA

In Gori, the war is over but not the fear

One year after Georgia and Russia went to war over the breakaway province of South Ossetia, the wounds of the conflict are still wide open in the Georgian city of Gori – and the fear of a new outbreak of violence is palpable.

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AFGHANISTAN

Violence and scepticism loom over critical poll

Afghanistan is bracing itself for a presidential election set to take place against a backdrop of surging violence and the fear of large-scale abstention. Yet for Afghans and foreign observers alike, the electoral test could hardly be more critical.

ICELAND

Whaling stands between Iceland and the EU

In the wake of the global credit crisis, Iceland has reconsidered its position regarding the EU and is now actively pursuing membership. However, to become part of the club, the island would have to give up its whaling tradition.

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