Africa

CNN/Buzzfeed review the 7 things we can learn from the life of Nelson Mandela.

Goree, Senegal’s Notorious Slave Island (Video) (President Obama’s Itinerary)

Here is a UNESCO documentary on Gorée, the Slave Island off Senegal,: which President Obama and his family are visiting during their visit to that country. Although the island was itself a relatively minor point of departure for slaves, who were more often sent off from St. Louis to the north, it stands as a […]

Africa

Will Mali get back stolen Timbuktu Manuscripts?

Juan Cole

A trove of three boxes of rare manuscripts from Timbuktu has turned up near the Algerian border and seems likely to be returned to its original library. Timbuktu was a major intellectual center for the Muslim world during the past millennium, with its scholars producing loads of books on a whole range of subjects, from […]

Afghanistan

Obama: US will Continue its Targeted Killing with Drones (Woods)

Juan Cole

Chris Woods writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Barack Obama has made it clear that the US will continue with its controversial targeted killing programme. In a major speech the US president also announced that he has signed into force a new – and secret – rule book for lethal action that provides ‘clear […]

Africa

US Covert Drone War in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia – Jan. Update (Woods et al.)

Juan Cole

Chris Woods, Jack Serle and Alice K Ross write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Yemen was hit by the highest number of airstrikes in one month since June 2012, though none have been formally confirmed as US operations. No US operations were reported in Somalia. The United Nations also launched a major investigation into […]

Africa

Algeria’s Botched Rescue Leaves Dozens of Hostages Dead, Angers West

Juan Cole

Reuters reports that the Algerian government’s intervention against the hostage crisis at a BP natural gas plant in southern Algeria has left 30 of the hostages dead. British Prime Minister David Cameron seemed visibly upset with the hamfisted Algerian operation, and British foreign ministry officials complained about not having been warned the operation was coming. […]

Africa

Ansar Dine and How Climate Change Contributed to the Algeria-Mali Crisis

Juan Cole

The destabilization of Mali and southern Algeria is a complex political and social process that does not have only one cause. But a changing ecology forced by climate change is a major contributor to the region’s problems. This region is part of a Saharan and sub-Saharan band across Africa called the Sahel. I have traveled […]

Africa

“Investigative Journalism is Completely [Screwed]” (Daily Show’s John Oliver)

Juan Cole

John Oliver of Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” explains that CNN eliminated its entire investigative documentary unit and that the only place investigative reporters any longer have a job is as consultants for dramas about newscasts. The Daily Show with Jon StewartGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook For […]

Africa

France, ECOWAS intervene in Mali to Halt Advance of Radical Fundamentalists

Juan Cole

The Socialist government of France’s Francois Hollande intervened in Mali on Friday and Saturday to stop the advance of Muslim fundamentalists toward the capital, with operations continuing today (Sunday). The radicals had taken Konna, a few hundred kilometers north of the capital of Bamako, which Hollande’s government appears to have considered a red line. The […]