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 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 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 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 [...]

By Claire Ngozo
 
LILONGWE, Feb 3 (IPS) – The black market for foreign exchange and fuel is booming in the midst of an acute scarcity in Malawi. The shortage is so severe that even the Consumer Association of Malawi, an influential consumer rights body, has come out in support of the black market.

The queue outside a [...]

By Koffigan E. Adigbli

Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade' has been validated by the country's Constitutional Court to run for a third term, sparking protests. / Paul Morse/Wikicommons

DAKAR, Feb 1 (IPS) – It was stones against tear gas in the Senegalese capital this morning as students protested the killing of one of their own on Tuesday [...]

By Andrew Green*

During the Lord's Resistance Army's insurgency in northern Uganda, John Lacambel hosted a programme on Mega FM encouraging soldiers to return home. / Will Boase/IPS

GULU, Uganda, Feb 1 (IPS) – Radio Mega FM’s transmission tower rises from the centre of Gulu town, transmitting talk shows and the latest Ugandan radio hits to listeners [...]

By Ignatius Banda

In 2008, bread cost 35 million Zimbabwean dollars and the country began printing large bills like this 100 billion dollar one. / Wikicommons

BULAWAYO, Jan 26 (IPS) – From downtown shops that stock cheap clothing and shoes that fall apart after one wear, to mining concessions in platinum, gold and diamonds – the [...]

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

The reunification monument in Yaounde. Anglophone Cameroonians say they do not feel like equal partners with their Francophone counterparts. / Ngala Killian Chimtom

YAOUNDE, Jan 26 (IPS) – When Cameroon’s President Paul Biya announced that the 50th anniversary of the reunification of French and British Cameroon will take place later this year, [...]

By Cam McGrath

Egypt's military has prolonged the transition to civilian rule. / Cam McGrath/IPS.

CAIRO, Jan 25 (IPS) – When Egypt’s dictator was ousted during a popular uprising last February, the military leaders who assumed control of the country pledged to "protect the revolution" and ensure a swift transition to civilian rule within six months. [...]

By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (IPS) – The U.S. State Department Tuesday "strongly" condemned recent lethal attacks carried out by the Islamist group Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, but also warned against an excessive reaction by the government's security forces.

The attacks against government and other facilities in Kano, the north's economic capital, and Bauchi state [...]

By Peter Kahare

Victor Muruga (r) and his three-year-old brother Ian Kimani (l) prepare lunch from their camp at 
Mumoi farm. / Peter Kahare/IPS

RIFT VALLEY, Kenya, Jan 24 (IPS) – Six-year-old Victor Muruga points to a hole in the bush that he calls his "bedroom". "I sleep there, under that tree and my mother sleeps [...]