The Lagos State Government has warned telecommunication operators against illegal land digging for fibre cable laying.
The state government has asked operators to rather key into the ongoing fibre laying project the state is handling across the 20 local government areas and all the local council development areas.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Hakeem Fahm, made this known during the 2021 ministerial press briefing to commemorate the second year of Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration.
Fahm said Lagos implemented a 3,000 km of Fibre Metro Network connection in 2020 and an additional 3,000km in 2021 across the state as part of the comprehensive Smart City Programme that seeks to provide a 24-hour driven economy.
He called on the private sector, especially the telecoms operators, to key into the project, plug into the ducts system “and avoid illegal land digging”.
He said “LASIMRA will monitor that and ensure that fibre projects are also done neatly across the state”.
Brazil’s central bank on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a row by another 75 basis points to 3.5 percent as it tries to curb inflation in an economy ravaged by the pandemic.
The unanimous decision was in line with analyst expectations, and had been signaled by the bank’s monetary policy committee in March, when they raised rates for the first time in six years.
The committee indicated Wednesday that another rate hike of the same size was likely at the next meeting, set for mid-June.
Latin America’s biggest economy initially weathered the coronavirus economic meltdown better than its neighbors, thanks to its historic low interest rate of 2 percent, but policymakers have been nervous about rising prices.
The central bank had said March’s rate increase was an effort to impose “partial normalization” and prevent inflation from spiraling out of control.
Following the interest rate hike, officials announced in April that Brazil’s annual inflation rate hit 6.1 percent in March, breaking through the 5.25 percent ceiling of the central bank’s target range.
The central bank now must find the balance to make sure that raising rates to curb inflation does not keep the economy from a much-needed recovery.
After Wednesday’s decision, the voting committee said it anticipated “another adjustment of the same magnitude” in June, warning the central bank may have to take additional steps to “ensure compliance with the inflation goal.”
The bank’s 2021 inflation target is 3.75 percent, but could tolerate up to 5.25 percent.
In January Brazil’s inflation forecast for 2021 was within that target at 3.34 percent, but the rat has since reached 5.04 percent, according to a central bank analysis.
Among the different activities of his business empire, the American owner of AS Roma Dan Friedkin is also a Hollywood movie producer and director. He is clearly a master of plot twists judging by the storm he caused with the announcement that Jose Mourinho will be the club’s new manager.
Who would have expected this development? Absolutely no-one.
Italian journalists have spent the past few weeks foreseeing Maurizio Sarri’s arrival in Rome. Which players would he request, which tactical formation would he impose? It all seemed like a done deal.
Then this.
From July, the Special One will be back in Italian football, while outgoing manager Paulo Fonseca will stay in place until the end of the season.
There was a neat coincidence in the announcement coming just two days after Inter Milan, the other club Mourinho has managed in Italy, finally won the Scudetto again.
The Nerazzurri had endured 11 barren years since Mourinho’s departure, having won back-to-back Serie A titles during his time as manager, including a league, Coppa Italia and Champions League treble in 2009-10.
Roma’s sporting director Tiago Pinto was at the heart of the pursuit of Mourinho. He got in touch with the former Tottenham manager after his recent dismissal, made Fonseca aware of negotiations and convinced the ownership to proceed with speed and silence.
The news is a huge boost for Roma the club and Rome the city, following the misery that descended after the astonishing 6-2 defeat by Manchester United in the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday.
That result was the latest blow to a proud club. A sequence of injuries and bad results saw the Giallorossi drop from third to seventh in the league and suffer the embarrassment of defeat in the Coppa Italia at the hands of minnows Spezia.
Something big was needed, but no-one expected this.
The front page of the Corriere dello Sport website carries an opinion that Jose Mourinho’s appointment brings Roma “back at the center (sic) of football”
Since the announcement, there is only one topic in Rome. Television and radio specials run endlessly; fans are euphoric and have forgotten all of their recent struggles.
Well, most of them anyway. English football is very popular in Italy and Mourinho’s recent ups and, more notably, downs with Spurs have not passed unnoticed. Does he still possess that special touch that so inspired Inter a decade ago? That is the question journalists and fans are asking across all platforms.
He will have time to prove himself because this is a different project to those he is used to. Mourinho normally stands for big money, big signings, spotlight 24/7 and the pressure to win at the first shot. None of this is waiting for him at Trigoria, Roma’s training centre.
Friedkin and Pinto have made this clear. The financial situation will not allow any massive investment. The club will have to sell players first before looking around for potential replacements. Edin Dzeko’s contract is expiring and he is leaving; Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s future is still unsure too.
Roma actually have a core group of interesting young players, such as defenders Gianluca Mancini and Marash Kumbulla, midfielders Jordan Veretout and Gonzalo Villar, captain Lorenzo Pellegrini and rising star Nicolo Zaniolo. Mourinho can build his team around them.
What will be demanded of him is to bring a “long-term and consistent winning culture”, as Friedkin himself said, to a club that has not won a trophy since 2008. In the two years under Fonseca, Roma failed to develop any kind of winning mentality, repeatedly showing a worrying lack of concentration in important moments.
The front page of the La Gazzetta dello Sport website highlights why Jose Mourinho has decided to take on the job
Roma’s chairman was struck by Mourinho’s enthusiasm and motivation to embrace a long-term project such as this. Mourinho will be under less pressure than usual and will not have to deliver any silverware, at least not in the short term. He will have to turn young prospects into players capable of winning titles.
Rome is a difficult but fantastic place for football. Fans’ radio debates run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, discussing the world of Roma in the smallest detail. Supporters can be a magnificent multiplier of enthusiasm and happiness, but they have caused many managers massive stomach aches and sleepless nights too.
The last manager to win a trophy in Rome was Luciano Spalletti, who took the club to two Coppa Italia triumphs and one Italian Supercup in 2007 and 2008. But those are not viewed in the same way as their equivalents – the FA Cup or the Community Shield – in England; they don’t have the same prestige and big clubs often only target them when they don’t succeed in the league.
In the long term, Mourinho will no doubt set his sights on repeating what Fabio Capello achieved on 17 June 2001 – bringing the Scudetto back to the capital. For that, he will also need massive help from the club itself – a manager cannot do it alone.
Roma executives know who they are hiring. “We are supremely confident that Jose will be the perfect coach for our project, for both our immediate and long-term future,” Pinto said.
Roma needed a manager of his charisma and size to make the next step, Mourinho a club to restart his stuttering career. Time will tell if they both got a perfect fit.
Rafael Nadal began his bid for a sixth Madrid Open title in simple fashion on Wednesday, easing past youngster Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 6-2 to reach the last 16.
Nadal, who returned to number two in the world last week after his thrilling win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Barcelona final, strolled past his 18-year-old opponent in the Spanish capital.
Ranked 120 in the world, Alcaraz walked out to fans singing ‘happy birthday’ — and later received a cake — as he celebrated his birthday playing against his childhood idol.
Alcaraz battled bravely and even broke his compatriot Nadal’s serve in the second set but was predictably overwhelmed by one of the game’s greats.
“The victory in Barcelona helped me a lot. Things have got better since,” said Nadal, reserving special praise for his vanquished opponent.
“He has a lot of potential. He’s young and a good guy. He already has a great level of tennis today, but I really believe that he’s going to be a fantastic player in the near future.”
“I wish him all the very best,” added Nadal. “(As a) Spanish player and Spanish (tennis) fan, I really believe that we need somebody like him, and it’s great to have him here.”
Nadal will take on Alexei Popyrin in the next round after the Australian knocked out rising star Jannik Sinner 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Tsitsipas, the 2019 runner-up, demolished Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-2 in less than an hour, with the Frenchman hampered by an abdominal injury.
The Greek fourth seed picked up his joint ATP-leading 27th win of the season and will meet Norway’s Casper Ruud for a quarter-final berth.
Earlier second seed Daniil Medvedev, returning to the circuit after testing positive for Covid-19 in mid-April, picked up his first win on clay for two years when he came back from a set down to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The Russian has always struggled on clay.
In four attempts, he has failed to get past the first round of the French Open. Nor has he won a match in Rome while this was his first win in Madrid in his third appearance.
“I love clay,” he said ironically into the camera at the end of the match.
In total, the 2021 Australian Open finalist has only 11 wins on the surface although he will have the chance to make that 12 when he takes on Cristian Garin in the last 16.
Fifth seed Alexander Zverev swept past Kei Nishikori in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
World number nine Diego Schwartzman was dumped out by Aslan Karatsev 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. In-form Russian Karatsev will take on Alexander Bublik in the next round.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday sent two Navy patrol vessels to Jersey over concerns that French fishermen could blockade its main port in an escalating post-Brexit row.
France warned Tuesday it was weighing its response after the UK imposed rules governing access for French fishing boats near the Channel Islands, and said it could involve the electricity supply via underwater cables.
French fishermen also plan to converge on the island’s main port St Helier on Thursday, although authorities have said they do not intend to block access.
But Johnson announced on Wednesday that he was sending two patrol vessels “as a precautionary measure”, adding that a blockade “would be completely unjustified.”
British MP Tobias Ellwood accused France of “shameful behaviour,” saying “it would be wise to dispatch” a Royal Navy vessel.
French maritime minister Annick Girardin accused Jersey, the largest Channel Island, of dragging its feet over the issuing of licences to French vessels under the terms of Britain’s post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels.
Jersey, a self-governing British Crown dependency off the coast of France, has said it will require boats to submit further details before the licences can be granted, and pleaded for patience.
Johnson spoke to Jersey Chief Minister John Le Fondre on Wednesday, when the pair “stressed the urgent need for a de-escalation in tensions,” according to a statement from Downing Street.
“The Prime Minister underlined his unwavering support for Jersey,” it added.
A spokesman for Johnson’s government earlier called threats over Jersey’s electricity supply “unacceptable and disproportionate.”
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will send its first crew to space on July 20 and is offering one of the seats to the winner of an online auction, the company said Wednesday.
The trip will last a total of ten minutes, four of which passengers will spend above the Karman line that marks the recognized boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.
“We’ve been perfecting our ability to launch, land and repeat,” a video accompanying the announcement said.
“Our next launch will be the first time astronauts will fly aboard New Shepard.”
The reusable suborbital rocket system was named after Alan Shepard, who sixty years ago on Wednesday became the first American in space.
New Shepard has successfully carried out 15 uncrewed test runs launching from its facility in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas.
After lift-off, the capsule, which carries up to six crew members, separates from its booster, then spends four minutes at an altitude exceeding 60 miles (100 kilometers), during which time those on board experience weightlessness and can observe the curvature of Earth from space.
The booster lands autonomously on a pad two miles from the launch site, and the capsule floats back to the surface with three large parachutes that slow it down to about a mile an hour when it lands.
Blue Origin said the bidding will be unsealed on May 19 before a final-stage live online auction on July 12 when the winner is announced.
The proceeds will go to the company’s foundation, Club for the Future, which aims to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM.
Blue Origin has not yet published its prices but its clientele is expected to mainly be wealthy individuals.
Virgin Galactic, the company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, is also developing a spacecraft capable of sending clients on suborbital flights. Some 600 people have booked flights, costing $200,000 to $250,000.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning orbital flights that would cost millions of dollars and send people much further into space.
South Africa’s governing ANC party has suspended its secretary general, Elias “Ace” Magashule, over graft charges in a move seen as a political victory for President Cyril Ramaphosa in the divided party.
But a defiant Magashule, who is the first top party official to be temporarily forced out under a new policy aimed at turning the page on a litany of graft scandals, said he was not going anywhere.
Instead, he said he was suspending Ramaphosa from his position as ANC president.
Magashule, 61, was given a 30-day ultimatum on March 30 to step aside after being charged with embezzling public funds while he was premier of the Free State province.
He ignored the deadline and refused to resign voluntarily, forcing the party to suspend him.
“You are hereby temporarily suspended with effect from 3 May 2021 until the final outcome of your court proceedings,” his deputy Jessie Duarte informed Magashule of his suspension in a letter.
The letter, dated Monday and leaked to the media on Wednesday, said the decision to suspend him would be “in the best interest of the organisation”.
But Magashule, countered in a letter Wednesday night sent to Ramaphosa and Duarte, saying he was “appealing this unconstitutional suspension” and that until the appeal was heard he would keep his job.
In a dramatic and strange outburst, he said he was invoking powers vested in him as the secretary general of the ANC, to “summarily” suspend Ramaphosa.
But the ANC immediately issued a statement saying its resolution stands and asked Magashule to “respect” the party’s decisions and “subject himself to the discipline of the organization”.
Magashule has been indicted on charges of corruption and fraud, or theft and money laundering, along with around a dozen other co-accused.
The African National Congress (ANC) of Nelson Mandela, which has been ruling the country since the end of white minority rule in 1994, has been at pains to clean up its image, marred by years of graft.
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology has commended the appointment of three new Deputy Directors-General (DDGs), saying it will ensure stability at senior management level in the department.
Committee chairperson, Philly Mapulane, said the committee had noted that the positions of the three DDGs had been vacant for a long time, and their filling will see the achievement of the commitments and the vision of the department.
The department appeared before the committee virtually recently to present its revised strategic plan for 2020-2024 and its annual performance plan for the 2021/22 financial year.
The committee said that due to the constrained fiscus and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s economy, the department had to make difficult choices in order to ensure that the commitments made by the government for the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector are realised.
Some of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) targets had to be adjusted down due to budget shortfall, mainly in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Community Education and Training (CET) programmes.
Head count enrolment for the TVET and CET colleges has been adjusted down and capped at 620 000 and 388 782, respectively.
Mapulane added that the committee was concerned that university enrolments will continue to grow, and the current inverted pyramid will not be changed.
He said reducing the budget of colleges in the midst of high youth unemployment and the three million youth that are not in education, employment and training is very concerning.
The committee in the meantime, commended the department for introducing skills that are fit for purpose in the TVET and CET colleges, saying these interventions will go a long way in addressing the local economic skills needs.
Mapulane said interventions to support the establishment of disability units at TVET colleges is very progressive as this will ensure access of students with disabilities to education and training.
The committee also commended the interventions made by the department to support the Presidential Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan by ensuring that the relevant skills to grow the economy are offered at PSET institutions.
The committee bemoaned the budget cuts within the department’s budget over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period.
The budget is projected to decrease by R20.8 billion over the MTEF. The department’s budget in the 2021/22 MTEF period, when inflation adjusted, will decrease.
Of great concern to the committee is the risk that student funding continues to grow at the expense of university subsidies, and if this trend is maintained, student funding will overtake the subsidies to universities.
Ghana Afropop musician, Stonebwoy, looks on during a recording session at his studio in his house in Accra, Ghana, on March 25, 2021. - In a music scene long ruled by giant neighbour Nigeria, Afrobeats from Ghana are now finding favour not only in Accra's clubs but in a thriving international market even beyond West Africa.
Afrobeats takes its name from the afrobeat, a musical genre of the 1970s popularized by the music icon Fela Kuti, was born and exploded in Nigeria.
Western audiences were discovering the afrobeats scene in 2016 thanks to the hit "One Dance", featuring Canadian superstar Drake and Nigerian Wizkid. It became the most played song of all time on Spotify, surpassing the billion streams. (Photo by CRISTINA ALDEHUELA / AFP)
On Saturday night at the Purple Pub in Ghana’s capital Accra even the pandemic and an official shutdown of bars and clubs can’t stop the music.
In the bustling Osu district, early revellers laze on plastic chairs emptying local beers as speakers cranked to full volume drown out their voices.
After midnight, the chairs empty, whether it is Sarkodie or Stonebwoy, the kings of Ghanaian Afrobeats soon have the whole street swinging.
In a music scene long ruled by giant neighbour Nigeria, Afrobeats from Ghana are now finding favour not only in Accra’s clubs but in a thriving international market beyond West Africa.
“Not only is Afrobeats hyper-popular here in Ghana, it’s now gaining real recognition on the international stage,” says Stonebwoy in his Accra recording studio, which is lined with international accolades.
“We are seeing Afrobeats festivals appear in Europe, I am happy to see West African music go so far. I even have hardened fans in India and Bangladesh,” says the singer who counts 3.6 million Instagram followers.
Afrobeats takes its name from the Afrobeat musical genre of the 1970s popularised by the music icon Fela Kuti and which exploded in Nigeria.
Western audiences were discovering the Afrobeats scene in 2016 thanks to the hit “One Dance”, featuring Canadian superstar Drake and Nigerian Wizkid.
The tune soared in popularity to secure a place as the most played song of all time on Spotify, surpassing one billion streams.
Members of a Ghanaian production company check the camera before starting filming a music video in Accra, Ghana, on April 10, 2021. – In a music scene long ruled by giant neighbour Nigeria, Afrobeats from Ghana are now finding favour not only in Accra’s clubs but in a thriving international market even beyond West Africa.
Afrobeats takes its name from the afrobeat, a musical genre of the 1970s popularized by the music icon Fela Kuti, was born and exploded in Nigeria.
Western audiences were discovering the afrobeats scene in 2016 thanks to the hit “One Dance”, featuring Canadian superstar Drake and Nigerian Wizkid. It became the most played song of all time on Spotify, surpassing the billion streams. (Photo by CRISTINA ALDEHUELA / AFP)
Nigeria’s shadow –
Now, alongside Nigerian stars with millions of social media followers — Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido — Ghanian musicians are emerging to take their turn.
Gyakie and Joey B boast hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers while KiDi has 1.6 million, Sarkodie 4.4 million and Shatta Wale 3.2 million.
Shatta Wale’s “Already” featuring Beyonce and Major Lazer was one of the hits of the summer of 2020, securing Ghana a place among the countries which now count on Africa’s pop scene.
Jefferson Seneadza, co-founder of the Ghanaian music streaming platform Aftown, which aims to promote African music, has noted “a massive interest in Ghanaian music”.
“Our music industry is finally being taken seriously,” he says, saying the country can now take its talents to the international stage.
Stonebwoy’s latest album, for example, has been listened to over a million times in a week on the platform.
“And a lot of those tapping came from abroad,” Seneadza said.
Young singer Gyakie signed a contract with US giant Sony Music earlier this year, shortly after a delegation from the label travelled to Ghana to scout the local market.
“In Afrobeats, Ghana is now in a position to compete with Nigeria,” said Jim Donnett, public relations manager of Sony Music West Africa.
“But it’s healthy competition.”
Musicians attribute this success to the mixture of genres.
“My music is Afro-dancehall influenced by Caribbean music,” says Stonebwoy, a bright red cap resting on his braided hair.
“I borrow from Jamaican dancehall, reggae, and cook it all in the big pot of African music, adding the rhythms and melodies unique to the continent.”
A man dances in an open-air night pub, famous for playing Afropop music mainly from Ghanaian and Nigerian artists, in downtown Accra, Ghana, on April 17, 2020. – In a music scene long ruled by giant neighbour Nigeria, Afrobeats from Ghana are now finding favour not only in Accra’s clubs but in a thriving international market even beyond West Africa.
Afrobeats takes its name from the afrobeat, a musical genre of the 1970s popularized by the music icon Fela Kuti, was born and exploded in Nigeria.
Western audiences were discovering the afrobeats scene in 2016 thanks to the hit “One Dance”, featuring Canadian superstar Drake and Nigerian Wizkid. It became the most played song of all time on Spotify, surpassing the billion streams. (Photo by CRISTINA ALDEHUELA / AFP)
The Highlife –
The result: contagious rhythms which, served by a powerful voice, form irresistibly catchy pieces.
But the Ghanaian Afrobeats stand out from their Nigerian big sister in one particular way: the legacy of “Highlife”.
The genre appeared in colonised Ghana, then called Cote-de-l’Or, at the beginning of the 19th century, by adapting the traditional rhythms of the Ashanti people to Western instruments brought by the colonists.
It was thanks to Highlife that Ghana enjoyed its first success on the international music scene.
“By the 1970s, big Highlife groups like Osibisa were already filling entire stadiums,” recalls Ghanaian-Romanian musician Wanlov the Kubolor, avant-garde cultural icon and author of an offbeat album called ‘Afrobeats LOL’.
“But the recent popularity of Afrobeats is of a different nature.”
Thanks to the internet, young Ghanaian artists can achieve viral success very quickly, he said.
But Ghana’s scene now faces another challenge: the Covid-19 pandemic and the strict health restrictions put in place by the government since March 2020 that have been a blow to the music sector across the world.
The cancellations of festivals and concerts, which represent the bulk of income for African artists, have further weakened a sector where funding was already fragile.
“All eyes are on Africa right now, and we, the young Ghanaian creators, feel that it is the right time to emerge,” says young talent Sofie on the sidelines of a shoot for a new video in a private villa in Accra.
“What we lack now is a real industry, structured and funded with the help of the state.”
(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 14, 2020 French journalist Olivier Dubois is photographed while reporting in Nioro, Mali. - A missing French journalist said he was kidnapped in Mali by a jihadist group with links to Al-Qaeda, according to a video circulating on social media May 5, 2021, the latest foreigner to be taken hostage in the West African country.
The video of Olivier Dubois, who worked with several French media, could not be immediately verified independently, although Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and an official at the French foreign ministry confirmed he was missing.
In the undated video, which lasts about 20 seconds, Dubois, 46, said he was abducted on April 8 in Gao, central Mali, by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the biggest jihadist alliance in the Sahel. (Photo by Michele Cattani / AFP)
Missing French journalist Olivier Dubois says he has been kidnapped in Mali by a jihadist group with links to Al-Qaeda, according to a video circulating on social media on Wednesday.
Here is what we know about the latest kidnapping of a foreigner in the war-torn West African state.
Why was the journalist in Gao? –
Olivier Dubois has worked as a freelance journalist in Mali since 2015, covering the country’s jihadist conflict for French weekly Le Point, as well as the left-of-centre daily Liberation.
In the undated hostage video published on Wednesday, the 46-year-old said he was abducted on April 8 in Gao, northern Mali, by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the biggest jihadist alliance in the Sahel.
According to military officials and diplomats interviewed by AFP, as well as Dubois’ local help — called a “fixer” in journalism — the Frenchman had travelled to Gao to interview GSIM commander Abdallah Ag Albakaye.
Named only as Souleymane for security reasons, the fixer has often helped journalists navigate high-risk areas of the country.
He comes from Talataye, a region where Abdallah Ag Albakaye is active, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Gao, and helped Dubois arrange the interview.
This screengrab made on May 5, 2021 from an undated propaganda video circulating on social media shows French journalist Olivier Dubois saying he was kidnapped in Mali in early April by a jihadist group with links to Al-Qaeda. – The brief video could not be independently verified, although an official at the French foreign ministry confirmed the “disappearance” of Olivier Dubois, who worked for several media, including the international TV channel France 24 and Liberation daily. (Photo by – / social media / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / social media ” – NO MARKETING – NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
The kidnapping –
Olivier Dubois landed in Gao by plane from the capital Bamako on the morning of April 8.
He had an appointment with Abdallah Ag Albakaye in an apartment in the town, and left several items, including his passport, in his hotel room before going to the meeting.
Souleymane said he accompanied Dubois to a street, where he saw the journalist get into a car with several men.
Dubois has not been seen in public since.
Officials discreetly put out an alert to a small group of people after he failed to show up for his return flight two days later.
Initially, there were hopes that the journalist had missed his flight because of a simple change of schedule or itinerary.
But those hopes were dashed after the hostage video came to light.
French military officials questioned Souleymane for several days in Gao, where the French army has its main base in the Sahel region, before they handed him to Malian officials.
Souleymane has since been taken to Bamako, according to Malian security officers. Police are still questioning him.
The context –
Mali has been battling a jihadist insurgency since 2012, when Islamist fighters first emerged during a rebellion by ethnic Tuareg separatists in the north.
France intervened to crush the rebellion, but the jihadists scattered and regrouped, taking their campaign into central Mali, an ethnic powderkeg, in 2015 and then into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.
Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and swathes of the Sahel lie outside of government control.
Several armed groups operate in the area around Gao.
Some are former rebels who signed a peace agreement with Mali’s government in 2015.
But others are affiliated with al-Qaeda, or the Islamic State group, and are waging a brutal war against Malian and foreign troops.
The town of Gao is plagued by instability and crime, and much of the countryside remains in jihadist hands.
Journalists working in the Sahel, both local and foreign, risk being killed or kidnapped. Liberation, in a statement Wednesday, said that it had refused in advance Dubois’ proposal of the interview.
Several governments — including France’s — advise against all travel to most parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger because of the danger involved.
Two Spanish journalists were killed in mid-April while on assignment in eastern Burkina Faso, for example. Two French radio journalists were also killed in northern Mali in 2013.
With kidnappings, militants often take their captives to remote desert redoubts, where security forces struggle to mount effective rescue operations.
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