Mali’s path to democracy is looking increasingly rocky, after its interim President, Dioncounda Traoré, was assaulted in his Bamako headquarters by supporters of the former putsch leader, Captain Sanogo. In the country’s North, Islamists are also trying to lay down the law. Next, weary of being a poster-child for an African war, Sierra Leone is working hard to bring back tourists. Finally, an exhibit here in Paris pays tribute to an often forgotten episode of Madagascar's history.
Egyptians go to the polls tomorrow to vote for a new president for the first time since Hosni Mubarak was ousted during the revolution last year. Two of the front-runners in the presidential race with a realistic chance of winning are devout Islamists, which is troubling for Egypt's Coptic Christians. They are Egypt's largest religious minority and many of them don't think any of the candidates are capable of protecting them from the religious violence that has been steadily increasing.
Ask Algerians about their parliamentary elections and they’ll talk about "le pouvoir", the murky military-backed clans that pull the strings of power. François Picard’s panel weighs in on why elections may not matter just yet in an oil and gas-rich nation wary of Arab Spring protests against inequality.
Ask Algerians about their parliamentary elections and they’ll talk about "le pouvoir", the murky military-backed clans that pull the strings of power. François Picard’s panel weighs in on why elections may not matter just yet in an oil and gas-rich nation wary of Arab Spring protests against inequality.
In Chad, one in five children die before their fifth birthday. The famine this year is so bad that one aid worker we talked to called it a catastrophe. Meanwhile, it was the first reported attack on a shrine in Timbuktu. Some people in Mali now think this could be the beginning of an-all out war against the culture that is the city's hallmark. Finally, we take a listen to Ivory Coast’s new musical craze. Bella Mondo is the country’s first all-girl band.
Egypt's electoral commission confirmed on Tuesday that 10 candidates have been barred from running for president, including Hosni Mubarak's ex-spy chief, Omar Suleiman, and two Islamists, adding drama to the country’s first free presidential poll.
The Arab Spring was not initiated by Islamists. And yet, in almost all those countries, with the Islamists’ rise to power, it is clear that they have profited from it. Mathieu Guidère, Professor of Islamic Studies at Toulouse-Le Mirail University, tells us why.
The body overseeing Egypt’s presidential election on Saturday disqualified 10 candidates from the upcoming race, including former spy chief Omar Suleiman. The disqualified candidates have 48 hours to appeal the decision.
Thousands bid goodbye to the “father of Algeria”, former President Ahmed Ben Bella, who died aged 95. Next, Tunisia's President makes a symbolic gesture to the Jewish community, paying homage for the first time to victims of a terrorist attack on a synagogue 10 years ago. In Mali, those escaping instability find harsh conditions in drought-stricken neighbouring countries. Finally, some feel Morocco's new Islamic leaders are infringing on artists' creative expression.
Clashes between government security forces and al Qaeda militants have now killed hundreds in Yemen. Violence has flared around the town of Lawder, which lies along a highway linking al Qaeda strongholds in the Abyan province. Islamists have exploited the political crisis in the country after President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to hand over power to his deputy Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in November 2011.
