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Timeline: 10 African strongmen deposed since 2011

Africa has a long history of strongmen who have spent decades in power. But since the 2011 Arab Spring, no less than 10 of them have been toppled, with two – Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir – forced out in April. January 2011: Tunisia’s Jasmine...

Is oil embargo on Assad pushing for political solution?

Because of the shortage of gasoline and the almost total inability to provide solutions, Assad’s regime is under increasing pressure at a time when there is talk of an international and regional desire for a political solution in accordance with the Security Council resolutions. Analysts...

Jacinda Ardern and Red Cross lock horns over publication of nurse's kidnap in Syria

The revelation that a New Zealand nurse has been detained in Syria for five years has prompted tensions between the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the New Zealand government, with the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, criticising the aid agency for releasing details of the...

Islamic State recruit says many foreign fighters jailed or killed

A Tajik man who joined Islamic State said many foreigners who enlisted in its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria were jailed or killed for trying to leave. The 28-year-old, who once drove a taxi in Moscow, said he handed himself over to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a...