France said on Wednesday it will increase its development aid to the troubled Sahel by more than a third, linking the extra funds to the fight against jihadist groups in the vast African region. The five nations in the sprawling area south of the Sahara – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, …

Maghreb neighbours Algeria and Mauritania are to open their first border post more than 50 years after independence from France, the Mauritanian news agency AMI reported on Thursday. Mauritanian Interior Minister Ahmedou Ould Abdallah and Algerian counterpart Noureddine Bedoui signed an accord Bedoui ended a visit to Nouakchott on Wednesday, …

NATO’s defense ministers’ introductory meeting began in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on Wednesday, as the allies are expected to confer on a range of issues including sending more troops to Afghanistan. The defense ministers are to address a wide range of issues, including new commands to improve the movement …