Mali

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Most French Speakers Don't Live in France

60% of those who use the language are in Africa

(Newser) - The New York Times has a story detailing how the French language is evolving in a relatively fast manner, with the twist being that most of this evolution isn't actually happening in France. The story has some surprising stats on the subject, starting with this one: Most speakers of...

6 African Nations Now Form a Continent-Wide 'Coup Belt'

From Sudan in the east to Guinea in the west

(Newser) - Take a map of Africa, shade in the nations that have had military coups over the last few years, and you'll see the pattern: It's what Declan Walsh in the New York Times calls a "coup belt" stretching across the entire continent. It goes from Guinea on...

'Typo Leak' Could Be Big Problem for US Military

Messages supposed go to military email addresses are being sent to Mali

(Newser) - A Dutch internet entrepreneur says he has repeatedly warned the US government over the last decade that emails intended for the American military are being sent to Mali because of a common typo. Johannes Zuurbier tells the Financial Times that instead of the suffix .mil used for American military email...

Cardinal's 'Bombshell' Reveal Involves Pope, a Nun, and $1M

Angelo Becciu testifies that Francis OK'd paying that to free kidnapped Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez

(Newser) - Pope Francis authorized spending up to around $1 million to free a Colombian nun kidnapped by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mali, a cardinal testified Thursday, revealing previously secret papal approval to hire a British security firm to find the nun and secure her freedom. Cardinal Angelo Becciu's bombshell testimony could...

France: Mali Junta Is Making 'Victory Against Terror' Impossible

Country is shifting its forces elsewhere

(Newser) - France says it is pulling out of Mali after almost a decade—not because the threat from Islamic extremists in the West African country has receded, but because it can no longer work with the country's ruling military junta. "Victory against terror is not possible if it’s...

France Says It Killed Regional ISIS Leader

Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi was killed weeks ago, French defense officials say

(Newser) - France killed the leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara because the group attacked French aid workers, African civilians, and US troops, French officials said Thursday, calling him "enemy No. 1" in protracted anti-terrorism efforts in the Sahel. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the death of Adnan Abu...

Woman Gives Birth to 9 Babies. At One Time

Malian woman gives birth to nonuplets in Morocco

(Newser) - If all goes well, Halima Cisse should be able to field an entire baseball team with all nine children she gave birth to on Tuesday. The 25-year-old Malian woman had expected to deliver seven babies, based on an ultrasound. In a surprise, she instead gave birth to nonuplets in Morocco,...

Mali President Is Out After Armed Mutiny

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned, effective immediately

(Newser) - Mali’s president announced his resignation late Tuesday, just hours after armed soldiers seized him from his home in a dramatic power grab following months of protests demanding his ouster, the AP reports. The news of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s departure was met with jubilation by anti-government demonstrators and...

Troop Mutiny Has 'Morphed Into a Coup'

Soldiers seize Mali's president, PM

(Newser) - Mutinous troops have seized Mali's president and prime minister and are now moving freely through the country's capital city after an apparent coup, officials say. The unrest began in the garrison town of Kati, the same place where another coup began in 2012, the AP reports. After taking...

French Military Suffers Worst Loss of Life in Decades

Helicopter collision killed 13 troops in Mali

(Newser) - A midair collision between two helicopters has killed 13 French soldiers fighting against Islamic extremists in Mali, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday. Macron expressed "deep sadness" at the news of the Monday evening crash, which took place during a combat operation, the AP reports. In a written statement,...

A Month Ago, 41 Soldiers Were Killed. Now, Dozens More

More than 50 are dead after extremist attack on Mali's army

(Newser) - Jihadis attacked the Malian military near the border with Niger, leaving at least 53 soldiers and one civilian dead, in the second major assault against the country's armed forces in a month, the government said Saturday. The latest violence to target Mali's armed forces took place Friday in...

UN Team Sent to Investigate 'Horrific' Mali Massacre

At least 154 villagers were killed

(Newser) - The United Nations is deploying crime-scene investigators, human rights officers, and a child protection expert to central Mali to investigate intercommunal violence over the weekend that killed more than 150 people, one-third of them children. Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani of the UN human rights office says the massacre in Ogossagou , in...

Massacre Leaves 134 Dead
Massacre Leaves 134 Dead
Mar 24, 2019 1:06 PM CDT

Massacre Leaves 134 Dead

Ethnic Dogon militia descends on village in Mali

(Newser) - The death toll from a massacre in a central Malian village rose to 134 dead, the UN said, as new video emerged Sunday showing victims strewn on the ground amid the burning remains of their homes. An ethnic Dogon militia already blamed for scores of attacks in central Mali over...

Prosecutor: As Son Hung From Balcony, Dad Was Playing Pokemon Go

Meanwhile, Mamoudou Gassama gets praise all around after saving 4-year-old in Paris

(Newser) - The family of a French boy who was saved as he dangled from a fourth-floor balcony by a man dubbed "Spider-Man" is now calling Mamoudou Gassama's actions "incredible"—and shaking their heads at the child's father for leaving him unattended. Gassama is "truly a...

Jihadist Attack Kills 3 UN Peacekeepers

Malian soldier was also killed

(Newser) - Suspected jihadists attacked UN peacekeepers carrying out an operation with Malian defense forces Friday killing at least three peacekeepers from Niger and one Malian soldier, and injuring 14 soldiers and one civilian, UN authorities and the Security Council said. The UN mission reported that at least three assailants were killed...

Report: Green Beret Killed After Spotting SEALs' Scheme
Report: Green Beret Killed
After Spotting SEALs' Scheme
in case you missed it
Nov 18, 2017 3:15 PM CST

Report: Green Beret Killed After Spotting SEALs' Scheme

Logan Melgar found cash that was supposed to go to informants, reports Daily Beast

(Newser) - A jarring story emerged last month about US special operations forces: Two Navy SEALs are under investigation in the death of an Army Green Beret in the African nation of Mali. Details on a potential motive have been scant, but the Daily Beast has talked to five special-ops sources to...

Mali Extremists Release Video of 6 Western Hostages

One of them has been held since 2011

(Newser) - An al-Qaeda-linked group in Mali has released a proof-of-life video showing six foreign hostages, a group that monitors jihadist communications says, shortly before the French president arrived in the West African country for an anti-terror summit. The recently formed Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen issued the video Saturday on Telegram, the...

Tourist Kidnapped by al-Qaeda Freed 6 Years Later

Swede Johan Gustafsson had been held in Mali

(Newser) - A Swedish man kidnapped by Islamic militants in northern Mali nearly six years ago has been released from captivity, the Swedish government confirmed Monday. There was no immediate word on the fate of a second hostage, from South Africa, who was also seized in Timbuktu. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom...

France Kills 20 Insurgents in Remote African Region

French forces strike forest near Mali border

(Newser) - French forces fighting extremism in Africa's Sahel region say they have killed at least 20 jihadists in a forest on the border between Mali and Burkina Faso. A statement Sunday from Operation Barkhane says soldiers also discovered large amounts of arms, ammunition, rocket launchers, and explosives in the area....

Suspect in Timbuktu Shrines' Destruction: 'I Am Really Sorry'

Ahmad al-Mahdi, charged with war crimes, pleads guilty at the Hague

(Newser) - When Islamic rebels backed by al-Qaeda infiltrated Timbuktu in 2012, they wreaked havoc in the Malian city and destroyed Muslim shrines, including nine mausoleums and the door of a mosque that had remained shut for hundreds of years, per the Guardian . Now Ahmad al-Mahdi, a former employee with Mali's...

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