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TOPIC: burkina faso

In The News

Global Banks Slump, Aukus Deal, Vinyls Outsell CDs

👋 אַ גוטן טאָג*

Welcome to Tuesday, where bank stocks slump around the world following the Silicon Valley Bank debacle, the U.S., UK and Australia agree on creating a new fleet of nuclear powered submarines, and the vinyl world keeps spinning. Meanwhile, Flora Toelo Karambiri for news website Burkina 24 follows the rafistoleurs crisscrossing the streets of Ouagadougou, ready to sew and mend anything.

[*A gutn tog - Yiddish]

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Meet The "Patchers," Burkina Faso's Mobile Tailors Cutting Corners On-The-Go

Seven days a week, the "patchers" of Burkina Faso roam the streets of the country's capital, looking out for any clothes that might need mending.

OUAGADOUGOU — They are easy to spot as they crisscross the capital of Burkina Faso. With sewing machines on their shoulders and scissors in hand, they travel around in search of their daily tasks. Many in urgent need make use of their services to adjust an outfit, mend holes, replace a zipper, sew on buttons or repair a tear.

These are the mobile tailors or rafistoleurs ("patchers") of this West African nation of 22 million. They save people time, trouble and often money, and are a common sight on the streets of Ouagadougou.

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Dnipro Death Toll, Mafia Boss Captured, Miss Universe

👋 Wai!*

Welcome to Monday, where the death toll in Russia’s missile strike on an apartment in Dnipro rises to 35, Italy’s most-wanted Mafia boss is captured in Palermo after 30 years in hiding, and an Australian woman runs 150 marathons in 150 days. Meanwhile, Lucie Robequain in French daily Les Echos looks at the “David v. Goliath” parallels between Ukraine-Russia and Taiwan-China.

[*Bodo, India, Nepal & Bengal]

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Meet Ibrahim Traoré, Russia’s Favorite New Strongman In Africa

While Russia is suffering bitter setbacks in the Ukraine war, it is successfully expanding its influence in Africa. With Burkina Faso, Moscow has succeeded in detaching another country from the French sphere of influence. The Kremlin was not only motivated by security policy, but also by digging into the resources available.

-Analysis-

Experience shows that the number of well-wishers after coups d'état is close to zero.

The situation is different for Burkina Faso's new military ruler, Ibrahim Traoré. Although he received the expected condemnation for his September 30 coup from the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and the West African confederation Ecowas, he also received benevolent words — from Russia.

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They came from Russian oligarch Yevgini Prigozhin, founder of the Kremlin-affiliated mercenary group Wagner.

"I congratulate and support Captain Ibrahim Traoré," the Putin loyalist announced just hours after the coup, when the whole world was still puzzling over who exactly is this soldier, who is just 34 years old and has emerged from the middle ranks of the army hierarchy.

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In The News
Sophia Constantino, Laure Gautherin, Anne-Sophie Goninet

North Korean Missiles Over Japan, Zelensky To Never Negotiate With Putin, Ian Toll Tops 100

👋 Shlamaloukh!*

Welcome to Tuesday, where North Korea reportedly fires a missile over Japan for the first time in five years, Ukrainian President Zelensky signs a decree vowing to never negotiate with Russia while Putin is in power, and a lottery win raises eyebrows in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Argentine daily Clarin looks at how the translation of a Bible in an indigenous language in Chile has sparked a debate over the links between language, colonialism and cultural imposition.

[*Assyrian, Syria]

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In The News
Chloé Touchard, Lisa Berdet, Lila Paulou and Anne-Sophie Goninet

Brazil Runoff, More Ukraine Gains, Iran Protests Go Global

👋 Bok!*

Welcome to Monday, where Brazil’s presidential elections go to a runoff, Indonesia launches a probe into a tragic stampede that left at least 125 dead in a soccer stadium, and the Nobel prize season starts with the medicine award. Meanwhile, Die Welt’s Stefan Schocher reports from a village just a few kilometers from what is now the Ukraine-Russia “border” in Putin's eyes.

[*Croatian]

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In The News
Anne-Sophie Goninet, Laure Gautherin, Lisa Berdet, Chloé Touchard, Lila Paulou and Bertrand Hauger

Putin’s New Doctrine, BoJo Bids Farewell, First COVID Inhaler

👋 Ko na mauri!*

Welcome to Tuesday, where Vladimir Putin unveils a new “Russian World” foreign policy doctrine, Liz Truss officially takes over from Boris Johnson as UK Prime Minister, and Instagram gets slapped with a hefty fine. Meanwhile, Spain’s Agencia SINC looks at how the distorted and often negative portrayal of women in medicine is being challenged by the research community.

[*Gilbertese, Kiribati]

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Society
Clara Le Fort

Return To Clay: Why An Ancient Building Material Is Back In Fashion

Concrete and glass are often thought of as the only building materials of modern architecture. But Francis Diébédo Kéré, the first African winner of a prestigious Pritzker architecture prize, works with clay, whose sustainability is not the only benefit.

"Clay is fascinating. It has this unique grain and is both beautiful and soft. It soothes; it contributes to well-being..."

Francis Diébédo Kéré, the first African to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize last March, is paying tribute to clay. It's a material that he adores, which has too often been shunned and attributed to modest constructions and peasant houses. Diébédo Kéré has always wanted to celebrate "earthen architecture”: buildings made out of clay. It's a technique that has been used for at least 10,000 years, which draws on this telluric element, known as dried mud, beaten earth, rammed earth, cob or adobe.

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In The News
Lorraine Olaya, Lisa Berdet, Anne-Sophie Goninet and Bertrand Hauger

West Doubles Down On Russian Sanctions

👋 Hei!*

Welcome to Wednesday, where Western leaders toughen sanctions against Russia, Twitter limits Russian officials visibility, and the ICC holds the first trial on Darfur war crimes. We also turn to Colombia, where some see the shadow of Russian meddling looming over next month’s presidential elections.

[*Norwegian]

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Geopolitics
Hannah Steinkopf-Frank

France Kills Top ISIS Leader In Sahel: Africa Is Not Afghanistan

The French military announces the killing of Adnan Abou Walid al-Sahrawi the head of the jihadist group Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISIS-GS). In its long involvement in the northwest African region of the Sahel, France.

-Analysis-

The hastened withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan has effectively handed the country back to the Islamic regime of the Taliban. But elsewhere, the West's two-decades war on Islamic terrorism carries on.

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Geopolitics
Sophie Douce

Facing Jihadists, Burkina Faso Gambles On Village Militias

The West African country is training and arming everyday citizens to protect remote communities from terrorist groups. But some fear the strategy will lead to even more violence.

KONGOUSSI — Ousséni is proud, and as he looks out at the rust-colored hills in the province of Bam, in north-central Burkina Faso, his face lights up.

The 56-year-old farmer doesn't want to use his real name for this article. But having "finally returned" to his village after months of shock and shame, he says also feels at peace in a way he'd no longer thought possible. And that's because Ousséni feels "victorious' — in the face of the jihadists.

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blog

German Anti-ISIS News, Europe's Solar Power, Billboard Shaming

GERMAN CABINET BACKS ANTI-ISIS CAMPAIGN

After agreeing last week to send 650 soldiers to Mali to support 1,500 French troops deployed to fight Islamist extremists, Germany could be about to launch a military campaign in Syria. The German cabinet voted today to send reconnaissance aircraft, a naval frigate and a 1,200-strong military force to the region as part of plans to back the fight against ISIS, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. German troops will not, however, engage in combat. This follows an appeal by French President François Hollande for an international coalition against ISIS in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks. German lawmakers in Berlin are expected to vote on the campaign tomorrow.

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