![The Berber dish is as elementary as rice or noodles are to Asian cuisine, the staple without which no meal is complete. [Ryad Kramdi/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8X42BN.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Momentous day for world diplomacy as Morocco, Algeria celebrate addition of dish to UN cultural agency’s coveted list.
Mauritania
![Mauritania's former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was held last week on charges of corruption [File: Bilal Hussein/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/9f149aada07e42ad94b20f703917e5d0_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, questioned by police over suspected embezzlement, has been banned from leaving the capital.
![Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani made the appointment hours after the previous government resigned [Ludovic Marin/Pool/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/f3b6eb58d551492fab02c79306058279_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Move comes after former ministers appeared in a controversial report on the financial dealings of...
President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani names Mohamed Ould Bilal as prime minister after previous government...
![The meeting marks the first time Sahel allies have gathered physically since the start of the coronavirus crisis [Ludovic Marin/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/0a9c5fc59f91427d94610268f64322f0_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Leaders from G5 Sahel bloc of nations and French president meet in Nouakchott to discuss campaign against armed groups.
![Oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to see a yearly decline in oil export receipts this year of $226bn, according to the IMF [File: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/880502b1a8e1496ebff120e69add6ec8_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
MENA oil exporters may see a 4.2 percent real GDP contraction in 2020, says the International Monetary Fund.
![The Sahel region has been the epicentre of the war against armed groups in sub-Saharan Africa for almost a decade [File: AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20137693012351734_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Parts of the arid belt of land below the Sahara have been engulfed by swiftly deteriorating violence.
![G5 nations expressed a desire for continued French military involvement and Macron promised more support at the summit [Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/e63a2507442443b9be0722a3df1fdc96_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
After talks, analysts say French military strategy extension will not end violence, stress political goals must be met.
![The French president will host the leaders of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad [File: Baba Ahmed/Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/0ea6ac9dad464dc9934d1c4e79ff4d8a_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
French role, security set to dominate Macron’s talks with leaders from Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.
![Migrant passages along the route from West African countries to the Canary Islands have increased recently [File: Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/c15250278fec4f799d1a0472eaec3661_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Adama Barrow says probe launched as nation mourns ‘national disaster’ that saw dozens of people drowning off Mauritania.
![West Africa is struggling to generate enough jobs for its mushrooming young population, forcing many to take the perilous journey to Europe [File: Arturo Rodriguez/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/b99254a628e043e08d9c2ca5ee02813d_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
At least 62 people, including children, drown while 83 others swam ashore after the overcrowded boat capsized.
Fears of a serious escalation increased after the arrest of the commander of the presidential guard and his deputy, both loyalists of former President Abdul Aziz.
![Competition between farmers and herders over scarce resources is one of the main sources of deadly conflict in West Africa [File: Rebecca Blackwell/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/9ff88850e08e464e9739eedbcc96b19e_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Experts warn barren pastures in the two West African states threaten livestock herding, a key pillar of food security.
![Mkhaitir was arrested in 2014 and charged with apostasy over a Facebook post [Courtesy: Human Rights Watch]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/4b837533f15e45c99e74cdfbfd6d885d_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Mkhaitir was initially sentenced to death for comments about Prophet Muhammad and the role of Islam in society.
