The Latest Breaking News from Mali

WASHINGTON: The US suspects Russian mercenary firm Wagner Group is trying to ship weapons to fighters in Ukraine through the West African nation of Mali, according to State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller.

The U.S. State Department on Monday said Russia's Wagner Group is trying to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, adding that Washington has been informed the mercenary force is seeking to move those acquisitions through Mali to aid Russia in its war.

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.

Mali's interim military government has rejected a United Nations human rights office report on the alleged execution of at least 500 people by Malian soldiers and unidentified foreign fighters during an operation last year.

Souleymane Cissé is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest African film-makers of all time – and the world’s most prestigious film festival, Cannes, agrees. The Mali-born director has been announced as this year’s recipient of the Carrosse d’Or (the Golden Coach) award. David Murphy, a critic and scholar of…