The Latest Breaking News from Mali

Defendant called key figure in al Qaeda-linked group that tormented Malians in closing arguments of war crimes trial.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday said a Malian Islamist rebel was a key figure in "blatant persecution" of the residents of Timbuktu and was an enthusiastic participant in war crimes.

French forces tried to use a journalist's visit to northern Mali to track a jihadist leader but failed to prevent the reporter from being kidnapped by the militants, a joint investigation by RFI, newspapers Le Monde and Liberation and broadcaster TV5Monde has found.

Vladimir Putin promised African nations that he would write off their debts and provide free grain in an attempt to bolster alliances across the continent at a two-day summit in St Petersburg last month.

In tonight's edition: The French army has been accused of trying to piggy-back onto former hostage Olivier Dubois's arrangements to interview a jihadist commander in Mali, but doing little to stop the reporter's eventual abduction. Also, a scientifically-backed report finds that big oil extraction in Nigeria's Bayelsa State has come…

The record number of African films at the 76th Cannes Film Festival has fuelled talk of a moviemaking revival on the continent, powered by a new generation of female directors. Fittingly, this year’s Carrosse d’Or award, part of the Directors Fortnight strand, went to Mali’s Souleymane Cissé, the veteran director…

Africa's Sahel has become a hotbed of violence following the failure of a joint force to fight terrorist groups – with instability now at risk of spreading to West Africa, a UN official has warned.

Africa’s Sahel region has become a hot spot for violent extremism, but the joint force set up in 2014 to combat groups linked to the Islamic State, al-Qaida and others has failed to stop their inroads, and a senior UN official warned Tuesday that without greater international support and regional…

The United States on Monday urged Mali's transition government to pursue an "independent, impartial, efficient, exhaustive, and transparent investigation" to hold accountable those responsible for the likely execution of hundreds of people in one village.