- What Makes Westerns so Cool? (YouTube)
The Western genre is one of the most recognisable genres out there, with many classics such as ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ and ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.’ When people think of classic films, no doubt Westerns spring to mind. But why are they so memorable? And why have they had such a lasting impact on popular culture and cinema as a whole? This video aims to answer this question by examining what makes them so cool, by focussing on Sergio Leone’s western filmography.
- World Report 2024: Mali (hrw.org)
The human rights situation in Mali significantly deteriorated in 2023, as attacks against civilians by Islamist armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and large-scale abusive counterterrorism operations by Malian armed forces and associated foreign fighters surged. Clashes between the Malian armed forces and a coalition of armed groups called the Coordination of Azawad Movements (Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad, CMA)—an alliance of mostly ethnic Tuareg rebel groups that have sought independence for the Malian northern desert region they call Azawad—put a 2015 peace deal between the two parties at risk.