BABA AHMED

Donkeys pull a cart to collect household waste at the Badalabougou garbage dump site in Bamako, Mali, on July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Moustapha Diallo)
The trash in Mali’s capital is piling up. Donkey carts are coming to help
Hauling garbage in Mali’s capital, Bamako, can be grim. The city more than doubled its population in recent years and struggles to manage its waste. Piles of garbage dominate some streets. Residents are turning to donkey carts for garbage pickup.
 
Mali ousts Swedish ambassador amid strained relations with the West
Mali’s government says Sweden’s ambassador was ordered to leave the country within 72 hours following what it said was a hostile statement by a Swedish minister.
 
Mali cuts diplomatic ties with Ukraine, accusing it of aiding a rebel attack in the African country
Mali’s government says it has diplomatic ties with Ukraine accusing Kyiv of aiding a rebel attack that killed dozens of Wagner mercenaries and Malian soldiers in July.
 
Two men who say they’re Russian appear in hostage video from Niger released by al-Qaida-linked group
Two men claiming to be Russian nationals and saying they were taken captive in Niger by militants linked to al-Qaida have appeared in a video published on a media platform affiliated to the extremist group.
 
A man sells oranges and apples on the street in Niamey, Niger, Wednesday, July. 24, 2024. One year has passed since a dramatic coup in Niger. (AP Photo/Omar Hama)
A year has passed since Niger’s dramatic coup. Life has become more dangerous and desperate
One year has passed since a dramatic coup in Niger. Coup leaders said they deposed the West African nation’s elected government for two key reasons: its security and economic crises. But those challenges have persisted, even worsened.
 
At least 26 villagers killed in latest violent attack in central Mali
An armed group has killed at least 26 villagers in central Mali near the border with Burkina Faso. A local official said Monday that the attack happened on Sunday as most of the victims were working on their farmlands.
 
Extremists attack a wedding ceremony in Mali and kill at least 21
Residents say an armed group attacked a wedding ceremony in central Mali and killed at least 21 people. The West African nation’s military rulers are struggling to combat growing violence by extremists.
 
Kadidia Bocoum shows a picture of her brother Yeri Bocoum, a Malian journalist who was kidnapped by what is suspected to be state security forces after covering a march against Mali's electricity crisis, in Bamako, Mali, Bamako, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Opposition politicians who were arrested in a crackdown in Mali were sent to prisons across the country this week, their families said, in a move rights groups decried as another step back for the country where the ruling junta has suspended all political activities. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)
Opposition activists arrested in a crackdown in Mali were moved to prisons, families say
Opposition politicians who were arrested in a crackdown in Mali were sent to prisons across the country this week.
 
An extremist group and ethnic militias committed atrocities in Mali, Human Rights Watch says
Human Rights Watch says an extremist group linked to al-Qaida carried out mass killings in two villages in central Mali in January.
 
In this 2018 photograph released by Mouvement pour le Salut de l'Azawad, Islamic State group commander Abu Huzeifa, known by the alias Higgo, poses in uniform. Mali's army said in a statement late Monday, April 29, 2024, that Huzeifa was killed by Malian state forces. The United States had announced a reward of up to $5 million reward for anyone providing information about him. Huzeifa was believed to have helped carry out an attack in 2017 on U.S. and Nigerien forces in Tongo Tongo, Niger, which led to the deaths of four Americans and four Nigerien soldiers. (AP Photo)
Armed groups besieging towns in northeastern Mali driving residents, many children, to hunger
A humanitarian crisis is worsening in northeastern Mali where armed groups linked to Islamic State have besieged towns leaving residents including some 80,000 children vulnerable to disease and malnutrition.
 
In this 2018 photograph released by Mouvement pour le Salut de l'Azawad, Islamic State group commander Abu Huzeifa, known by the alias Higgo, poses in uniform. Mali's army said in a statement late Monday, April 29, 2024, that Huzeifa was killed by Malian state forces. The United States had announced a reward of up to $5 million reward for anyone providing information about him. Huzeifa was believed to have helped carry out an attack in 2017 on U.S. and Nigerien forces in Tongo Tongo, Niger, which led to the deaths of four Americans and four Nigerien soldiers. (AP Photo)
Mali says it killed extremist commander who took part in one of worst attacks on US forces in Africa
Mali’s army says a senior Islamic State group commander wanted in connection with one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. forces in Africa has been killed. Abu Huzeifa was a commander in the group known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
 
Soumaila Traoré, a 30-years-old welder, and his workers, work under a blazing sun. in Bamako, Mali, Thursday, April, 18, 2024. On Thursday, temperatures in Bamako reached 44 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit) and weather forecasts say it's not letting up anytime soon. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)
Laborers and street vendors in Mali find no respite as deadly heat wave surges through West Africa
Street vendors in Mali’s capital of Bamako peddle water sachets, ubiquitous for this part of West Africa during the hottest months.
 
FILE - Mali Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. According to a notice posted on social media, Thursday, April 11, 2024, Mali’s ruling junta has banned the media from reporting on the activities of political parties and associations in the country. The ban followed a decision the previous day that banned all political party activities until further notice. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
Mali’s junta bans the media from reporting on political activities in a deepening crackdown
Mali’s ruling junta has banned the media from reporting on activities of political parties and associations, a day after barring political parties and groups. That’s according to a copy of the notice distributed on social media on Thursday.
 
Mali’s junta suspends all political activities until further notice
Mali’s ruling junta has issued a decree suspending all political activities until further notice, citing a need to preserve public order. The a move follows last year’s decision to call off elections indefinitely.
 
FILE - People take to the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Jan. 25, 2022 to rally in support of the new military junta that ousted democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and seized control of the country. The military juntas ruling Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger say they have agreed to create a joint force to fight extremist violence in their nations. No details of how the force will operate have been released, even though the countries are experiencing financial difficulties with overstretched militaries. (AP Photo/Sophie Garcia, File)
Juntas ruling Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso agree to create a joint force to fight worsening violence
The military juntas ruling Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger say they have agreed to create a joint force to fight extremist violence in their nations.
 
Gueva Ba sells used cell phones in Dakar's Colobane market Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Ba, who tried to reach Europe via Morocco eleven times, flew legally to Nicaragua and made the rest of the journey illegally by land to Mexico's northern border, before being repatriated from the United States to Senegal in September 2023. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)
In Senegal’s capital, Nicaragua is a hot ticket among travel agents as migrants try to reach US
In Senegal’s capital, Nicaragua is a hot ticket among travel agents serving people who want to live in the United States.
 
A bus accident in southern Mali has left at least 31 people dead, the government says
Mali’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure says at least 31 people were killed and 10 others injured when a driver lost control of a passenger bus in southern Mali.
 
More than 70 are dead after an unregulated gold mine collapsed in Mali, an official says
An official in Mali says that more than 70 people have been killed after an unregulated gold mine collapsed late last week. A search continues amid fears the toll could rise.
 
Chad appoints a former opposition leader as prime minister of transitional government
Chad’s transitional government has appointed a former opposition leader who recently returned from exile as its new prime minister.
 
France to close its embassy in Niger for an ‘indefinite period,’ according to letter to staff
A letter sent to embassy staff and seen by The Associated Press says that France will close its diplomatic mission in Niger following this summer’s coup d’etat in the West African nation and a souring of relations between the two countries.
 
U.N. MINUSMA troops from Bangladesh hoist down the U.N flag for the last time at a departure ceremony held in Bamako, Mali, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. The United Nations has ended its 10-year peacekeeping mission in Mali following the government's request that alleged the force was inadequate to respond to growing violent extremism in the West African nation. ( Serge Ouedraogo/MINUSMA via AP)
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali ends after 10 years, following the junta’s pressure to go
The United Nations has ended its 10-year peacekeeping mission in Mali following the government’s request that alleged the force was inadequate to respond to growing violent extremism in the West African nation.
 
FILE - A Culex tarsalis mosquito is shown at the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District on Aug. 28, 2023, in Salt Lake City. Mosquitoes can carry viruses including dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika. Dengue fever is on the rise in Mali, where officials are reporting new infections and deaths from the virus this week. Mali’s director general of health and public hygiene, Dr. Cheick Amadou Tidiane Traore, told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday Dec. 6, 2023 that his department had counted 21 deaths and 600 cases of the virus as of Monday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Dengue fever is on the rise in Mali with more than 20 deaths, health director says
Authorities say dengue fever is on the rise in Mali, posing a new threat to the West African nation struggling with extremist attacks and political turbulence.
 
An abducted German priest is freed in Mali, a year after being seized in the country’s capital
A German priest who was abducted by al-Qaida-linked rebels in Mali’s capital in November 2022 has been released by his captors. A former colleague says church members in the African country’s capital of Bamako learned of the release of Rev.
 
Mali’s leader says military has seized control of a rebel stronghold in the country’s north
Mali’s leader says the military has seized control of a Tuareg rebel stronghold in the country’s north. State broadcaster ORTM reported on Tuesday that the army took control of the town of Kidal, which it hasn’t held for nearly a decade.
 
Suspected Islamic extremists holding about 30 ethnic Dogon men hostage after bus raid, leader says
A community leader in central Mali says that suspected Islamic extremists are holding about 30 men hostage after an attack on several buses earlier this week.
 
Kidal mayor says 14 people dead in northern Mali after series of drone strikes near rebel stronghold
The mayor of Kidal says at least 14 people are dead after a series of drone strikes around the town in northern Mali.
 
UN peacekeepers have departed a rebel stronghold in northern Mali early as violence increases
United Nations peacekeepers have withdrawn from a rebel stronghold in northern Mali weeks earlier than planned because of growing insecurity. That leaves the town in the hands of ethnic Tuareg separatists.
 
FILE - United Nations peacekeepers stand guard at the entrance to a polling station covered in separatist flags and graffiti supporting the creation of the independent state of Azawad, in Kidal, Mali on July, 27, 2013. United Nations peacekeepers started departing from two bases in northern Mali Monday Oct. 16, 2023 as part of a forced withdrawal from the country amid increasing insecurity and a rise in attacks by Islamic extremists. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
U.N. peacekeepers in Mali withdraw from two bases in the north as fighting intensifies
The United Nations says its peacekeepers have started departing from two bases in northern Mali as part of a forced withdrawal from the country and amid increasing insecurity.
 
New clashes erupt between the Malian military and separatist rebels as a security crisis deepens
New clashes have broken out in northern Mali between military soldiers and separatist rebels. Both sides claimed late Friday to control the town of Anefis which is located south of the town of Kidal.
 
Rebels in Mali say they’ve captured another military base in the north as violence intensifies
Tuareg rebels in Mali say they have captured another military base from the army in the country’s north, as fighting intensifies.
 
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