Mali

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – French ground forces engaged in combat with Al Qaeda-linked rebels in central Mali on Wednesday, according to French news reports, as the newly deployed troops launched their first ground operation in a battle to oust...

As aid groups bemoan the suffering of people in embattled Mali, the International Criminal Court said it launched an investigation Wednesday of alleged crimes against humanity committed by armed groups in the country. The suspected crimes include...

PARIS — A column of about 30 French tanks and several troop carriers, accompanied by a helicopter, crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast in an international mission to take control of the African nation’s north from Islamist extremists, French...

Islamist rebels say they took a strategic city in central Mali on Thursday amid fresh clashes with government forces, extending their reach in the divided country. Battles that began Wednesday marked the first fighting between military forces and...

MOPTI, Mali (AP) — Deep inside caves, in remote desert bases, in the escarpments and cliff faces of northern Mali, Islamic fighters are burrowing into the earth, erecting a formidable set of defenses to protect what has essentially become al-Qaida's...

Mali was thrown into turmoil again Tuesday following the arrest of Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra by soldiers who forced him to resign, an unsettling ouster that could derail plans to eject Islamic extremists from the northern stretches of the...

From turmoil in Mali to a green gladiator in Iran, here are five stories you shouldn't miss from the past week in global news: Plan for military intervention in Mali stalls Iran's subtle, persistent voice for environmentalism U.S. gingerly expands...

 The opening scene-setter for the 1996 film "Independence Day" might serve as a metaphor for what Egyptians could face if a draft constitution written by a panel dominated by Islamists and based on Sharia law wins approval in a referendum: "A loud...

Aiming to reclaim the northern stretches of Mali from extremists, the United Nations Security Council on Thursday approved the deployment of African-led forces to the West African nation for a year. However, the resolution stresses that Mali has a...

CAIRO -- The Algerian military on Thursday launched a raid to retake a natural gas complex from Islamic militants who seized the compound a day earlier and took scores of hostages, including Americans, Britons and Japanese. Conflicting reports of...

LONDON — The European Union on Thursday authorized sending a military training mission to Mali to help the African nation fend off the Islamist rebels that have taken over a broad swath of territory. The EU said the mission would provide...

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algerian forces raided a remote Sahara gas plant on Thursday in an attempt to free dozens of foreign hostages held by militants with ties to Mali's rebel Islamists, diplomats said. Islamic militants claimed that 35 hostages...