Musicians are in the firing line as insurgent Islamists impose sharia law on two-thirds of the country.
Four-time champions Ghana beat Mali 1-0 to shoot to the top of Group B at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Pressure has been growing on Malian troops over summary killings and rights abuses in a French-led assault on al-Qaeda-linked groups.
Seydou Keita’s perseverance has given Mali a 1-0 win over Niger and the Africa Cup of Nations 2013 tournament its first goal.
Islamists have killed all seven of their remaining foreign captives before they were gunned down at a gas plant in the Algerian desert.
For African leaders who criticised French intervention in Cote d’Ivoire and Libya not too long ago, France’s advance in Mali must seem a nightmare.
The Malian army have retaken Konna, which fell to Islamist rebels advancing from the north and sparked French military intervention.
With the front line rapidly shifting, refugees are finding it ever more difficult to escape the fighting.
We look at this week’s headlines; from the Afcon kick-off to Amplats’ plan to axe 14 000 workers and Lance Armstrong’s bare-all interview with Oprah.
Al-Qaeda-linked fighters have killed two people in Algeria, taking more than 40 foreign hostages, while French troops battled Islamist rebels in Mali.
The US has confirmed that American citizens are among hostages being held in Algeria after an attack by Islamist militants near a southern gas field.
Germany has said it would supply two transport planes for the mission against rebels in Mali, in a bid to assist the country’s fragile government.
Air raids continue "day and night" in the battle with insurgents in Mali, but France’s president has dismissed suggestions of colonialism.
Despite intensive aerial bombardments by French warplanes, Islamist insurgents have grabbed more territory in Mali and got much closer to the capital.
Extremist forces based in northern Mali have vowed to avenge France’s fierce military offensive against them on French soil.
Unpopular in the polls and accused of dithering on the economy, France’s Francois Hollande is in decisive mode when it comes to the situation in Mali.
The West African bloc Ecowas has authorised the immediate deployment of troops to Mali a day after French forces began a military operation there.
Mali’s army has launched a counter-offensive to retake the central town of Konna seized by rebels, military sources and local residents said.
At refugee camps, reports are flooding in of horrific human rights abuses in a country once famous for its music and joyous lifestyle.
The AU and West African regional bloc has condemned army interference in Mali’s politics after the prime minister was forced to resign.
Diango Cissoko will replace Cheick Modibo Diarra as Mali’s prime minister after Diarra quit under pressure from former putschists.
Mali’s Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra has resigned hours after being arrested by soldiers while trying to leave the West African nation.
A spokesperson for Mali’s military says soldiers have arrested Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra as he tried to leave the country for France.
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/ 13 November 2012
A West African military force assembled to intervene against Islamic radicals in Mali is ready to be deployed as soon as the UN issues a green light.
A West African summit has agreed on a military force of 3 300 troops to wrest control of northern Mali from Islamist extremists.
West African leaders are to meet at an emergency summit on Sunday to firm up military plans to win back Islamist-held northern Mali.
Representatives of the Ansar Dine Islamist group in northern Mali are to meet the lead mediator as plans for military action take shape.
Mediators in Mali will try to convince one of the Islamist groups controlling the country’s north to cut ties with al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch.
In northern Mali, religious war has been declared on music.
Before Islamists seized the northern half of Mali, Mamadou Sekere sold masks and jewelry in Timbuktu to European tourists.
The UN Security Council is poised to adopt a draft resolution paving the way for military intervention in Mali on Friday, French officials said.
It was always going to be difficult for Malian duo Amadou & Mariam to follow up their sensational 2009 album Welcome to Mali, writes Loyd Gedye.