By Kristin Palitza
 
NOUAKCHOTT, Feb 10 (IPS) – Mariem Mint Ahmedou sits cross-legged on a worn-out carpet in a basic tent built with mud bricks and layers of sewn-together fabric. Her eight-month-old twins, Hussein and Hassan, lie weakly against her body. Both of them have been malnourished since birth, because Beydar, undernourished herself, cannot produce enough [...]

By Soumaila T. Diarra

Across the country, MNLA rebels have circulated images like these via cellphone. / MNLA

BAMAKO, Feb 10 (IPS) – Mali's political parties have jointly called on the government to hold a forum for peace and reconciliation as a way to end a Tuareg rebellion launched several weeks ago. The uprising has forced [...]

By Abderrahim El Ouali

Demonstrators outside the court in Taza. / Abderrahim El Ouali/IPS.

CASABLANCA, Feb 10 (IPS) – Deadly clashes between police and youth in the Northeastern town of Taza last week suggest that, far from bringing change and stability, Morocco’s new government is simply repeating mistakes of the past, stoking tensions and fuelling a [...]

By Thalif Deen

Young children are pictured at a tent camp in Shangil Tobaya, North Darfur. / UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 9 (IPS) – Russia and China, two veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council described as key arms suppliers to the embattled regime in Syria, are now accused of supplying weapons and [...]

By Kanya D’Almeida
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (IPS) – They called themselves the “cut hands commandos” because they lopped off their victims’ hands with machetes; the “burn house unit”, for the thousands of families who were locked into their homes and roasted alive; the “born naked squad”, in reference to the hapless hundreds who were stripped naked [...]

By Claire Ngozo

Sewage from the latrines has contaminated water sources in Nsjane, including boreholes and dug-out wells thereby escalating the cholera incidents. / Claire Ngozo/IPS

NSANJE, Malawi, Feb 9 (IPS) – They survived floods and witnessed the horrific scenes of their houses, livestock, household items and gardens being swept away at the end of January. [...]

By Tamba Tengbeh and Damon van der Linde

Participants at the Sierra Leone Conference on Development and Transformation outlining recommendations on how to develop of the country. / Damon van der Linde/IPS

FREETOWN, Feb 8 (IPS) – Fifty years ago when Sierra Leone gained independence after 150 years of colonial rule, with it came a feeling [...]

By Ignatius Banda

The Zambezi River Authority told villagers living downstream on the Zambezi (pictured) to evacuate their homes because of possible flooding. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

BULAWAYO, Feb 8 (IPS) – Sibongile Dube knows the devastation heavy rain can leave in its wake. A villager in the lowveld area of Mberengwa in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province, Dube’s [...]

By Mantoe Phakathi

Many Swazi’s prefer to put their hard-earn money into cooperatives rather than banks. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

MBABANE, Feb 8 (IPS) – Nomsa Tsabedze is one of the many people at the Bunye Betfu, Buhle Betfu Credit and Savings Cooperatives waiting to apply for a loan to pay for her children’s school fees.

"Unlike [...]

By Mustapha Muhammad

An injured man awaits treatment at the Murtala Muhammed General Hospital in Kano after the Jan. 20 bombings. / Mustapha Muhammad/IPS

KANO, Nigeria, Feb 8 (IPS) – "I can no longer stay here in Kano as it rains bombs. The gun battles rattle us… Kano is no longer safe," said pregnant Funke [...]

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

A farmer in Cameroon. The closure of Nigeria's border with northern Cameroon has had a negative economic impact on this region. / Fanny Pigeaud/IRIN

YAOUNDE, Feb 7 (IPS) – Ahmadou Lamine has been forced to close his business selling fuel imported from Nigeria, known locally as "zoa-zoa", because of the Islamic [...]

By Davison Mudzingwa*

Radio Zibonele began broadcasting under the bed of a shipping container truck in 1995. / Davison Mudzingwa/IPS

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb 7 (IPS) – When a financial crisis threatened the existence of Africa’s oldest community station, Bush Radio, an outpouring of sympathy and appeals went viral on social networking sites like Twitter and [...]

By Jedi Ramalapa

Since the start of the Jan. 27 demonstrations, protesting against President Abdoulaye Wade’s bid for a third term of office, four people were killed. / Jedi Ramalapa/IPS

DAKAR, Feb 6 (IPS) – The friends of slain Senegalese student protester, Mamadou Diop, say that the 32-year-old master’s student was against injustice and that is [...]

By Karlos Zurutuza
BENGHAZI, Feb 5 (IPS) – It's been almost a year since Benghazi launched its uprising against former Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi and three months since he was killed, but there is a growing sense of frustration in eastern Libya with the National Transitional Council. Two weeks ago, a group of protesters attacked the [...]

By Cam McGrath
CAIRO, Feb 4 (IPS) – The illegal trade in ivory continues in Egypt, with ivory products sold openly in local tourist markets by traders who operate with impunity, a new study by the conservation group Traffic has found.

The report, published in the group’s journal, suggests that while the volume of elephant ivory seen [...]