Two days of battles between Malian army forces and Tuareg rebels left 45 rebels and two soldiers dead, the defence ministry said Thursday. Tuaregs want independence for their vast desert region, stretching from the west to the north of Mali.
First, violence rocks Mali, Uganda and South Sudan as rebels, mobs and tribes clash. Next, as candidates in Senegal compete to keep the President from a controversial third term, we look back at Abdoulaye Wade's 11 years in power. Finally, football fever once again hits the continent with the Africa Cup of Nations.
A Tuareg rebel spokesperson reported Wednesday that, "Our aim is to flush out the Malian army in several northern towns", as fighting erupted in the north. The Tuareg are a nomadic community with tribes scattered across northern Africa.
Human rights groups warn that Niger risks sparking a new Tuareg rebellion in its desert north if it mishandles the expected arrival of Muammar Gaddafi's fugitive son Saif al-Islam, who is thought to be on the run in Libya's southern border areas.
Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, the influential former leader of a Tuareg rebellion in Mali, has been killed, Malian officials say. Bahanga was thought to have been involved in arms smuggling across the border with Libya.
In Morocco, although it's technically illegal for children to work, many families take on so-called little maids to help out in the home. Some sixty thousand of them are thought to live like this, often suffering from maltreatment and without legal rights.
Any money earned usually goes to the girls' fathers, and cases of torture have been reported, with the employers getting away scott free. The authorities have decided to act with a plan to give the little maids proper rights.
