Mali Bound

"Shisha-abana," exclaims Bilal, a grocer in Mali's capital Bamako, in the national language Bambara: "Shisha is finished." His is a common reaction. An unexpected ban on hookah smoking in this West African country has stirred surprise as well as division, leaving...

Mali's military junta has appointed a colonel, Abdoulaye Maiga, as interim replacement for the country's civilian prime minister, who has been admitted to hospital. Colonel Maiga is also government spokesman and minister of territorial administration and...

Senegal's army says it is standing by the country's commitments to the UN's peacekeeping mission in neighbouring Mali, after an opposition leader suggested it was withdrawing. The West African state is one of the biggest contributors to the MINUSMA force in Mali,...

France on Thursday condemned "increasing manipulation of information" about its military withdrawal from its former colony Mali, where the military junta this week accused it of backing jihadists. "We condemn the increasing manipulation of information, which must not...