Mali: Africa's Newest Fighting Force Battles For Funding

https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/mali-africas-newest-fighting-force-battles-funding?id=743c2bc617&e=1bd154cf7d&uuid=86c85735-8b29-4c6c-b4df-d87d3093fbea&utm_source=Topics%2C+Themes+and+Regions&utm_campaign=b734d9de0a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_743c2bc617-b734d9de0a-53655957&mc_cid=b734d9de0a&mc_eid=1bd154cf7d

Liberia: Political Football

LIBERIA

Political Football

Former football (or soccer) star George Weah will face Vice President Joseph Boakai in a run-off election to select Libera’s president next month.

Weah won the first round with 38.4 percent of the vote, 10 points ahead of Boakai, Reuters cited the country’s election commission as saying Thursday.

The only African ever to win FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d‘Or, Weah, 51, has served as a senator from the opposition Congress for Democratic Change since 2015. Though he’s wildly popular with young people and the poor, who feel they have not benefited from Liberia’s post-war recovery, his campaign has not offered much in the way of concrete policies.

Provided he wins the run-off, he’ll have a hard time matching his supporters’ aspirations, with the resource-based economy reeling from endemic corruption and low commodity prices.

On the plus side, whichever candidate wins the run-off will make history – marking Liberia’s first democratic transfer of power in 

Who Actually Killed The American Soldiers In Niger?

https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/surprising-suspects-behind-islamist-ambush?id=743c2bc617&e=1bd154cf7d&uuid=826c59b4-8d4e-4a77-93a0-5e012dd3a4e7&utm_source=Topics%2C+Themes+and+Regions&utm_campaign=f4c2514cab-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_743c2bc617-f4c2514cab-53655957&mc_cid=f4c2514cab&mc_eid=1bd154cf7d

Somalia: A Chilling Future

SOMALIA

A Chilling Future

The devastating terrorist attack in Mogadishu over the weekend was a chilling dose of reality for Somalia, a nation that continues to struggle against the Islamist militants of al-Shabab, all while international troops propping up the government prepare for withdrawal early next year.

Locals are calling the twin truck bombings that killed more than 270 people Somalia’s 9/11. The president has declared three days of mourning, and heads have already begun to roll for what is widely perceived as an egregious security failure, the New York Times reported.

In the wake of the attack, many locals expressed fears that the country could soon fall under the control of al-Shabab.

Noting al-Shabab’s ability to wreak havoc is as strong as ever – the fragile veneer of peace in the country is cracked almost weekly by a new, deadly attack – Warwick University professor David Anderson called this latest attack a “cold, cold blast of reality” for Somalis about the future of their beleaguered nation.

"No Place Like Home" China Gives The Birthplaces Of African Leaders A Lot Of Aid

https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21730027-much-it-comes-china-birthplaces-african-leaders-receive-awful

Ethiopia's Ethnic Federalism Is Being Tested

https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21730021-violence-between-ethnic-groups-has-put-country-edge-ethiopias-ethnic

Life Inside Pollsmoor Prison In Cape Town

http://www.w24.co.za/Entertainment/Books/stepping-into-pollsmoor-20171015-2