Features

After French and Malian military chased insurgents out of some of the main cities and towns they had conquered, the insurgents withdrew into the rice fields. Or they fused with the population in the surrounding villages. They have become invisible.

Islamic radicals and a movement which wants indepence for the coast both exploit anger about marginalisation and youth employment. The Kenyan coast is boiling.

In March 2012, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki gave the go-ahead for a second port in Kenya. The new harbour, calculated to cost over twenty billion Euros, will be constructed in Magogoni on the mainland, just opposite of the archipelago Lamu and some hundred kilometres south of Somalia. Lamu views the arrival of the harbor with trepidation.

The war in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan continues unabated. A rare eywitness account

The story was published 12 years ago. Many Sudanese today would not notice a difference. A old postcard from Antonov

Kisumu is a Macho city, situated more than 350 Kilometers from Nairobi on the shores of Lake Victoria, it’s an area known for braggers who wine and dine big or small time flossing about their property and women, how do gays fair against this population?

Mali finds itself in a political paralysis. A rebellion, an islamist uprising, a coup-d'etat: within mere months a seemingly stable country collapses under unresolved issues. A way out can't yet be seen. But Mali can't survive for long without peace. Singer Oumou Sangare: "We need peace to sing and dance."

Times on Kenyan TV have surely changed: Soap Opera shocks in a country where just 25 years ago a President banned American TV programmes for showing bikini-clad ladies performing some mildly sensual dances. A new century, a new president. A new TV.

Bonoko looks young and innocent, but he is hardened and shrewd. He gained his life experience on the streets of the Kenyan capital Nairobi,...