...Today programme, Niamey, Niger For thousands of years Tuareg tribespeople have defied the pull of civilisation and roamed the vast and inhospitable Sahara desert with their animals. Yet now the drought that has left seven million people in Niger needing food aid is blighting Tuareg nomads too.

The military junta announced it will audit all uranium exploration permits awarded before last month’s Niger coup. Evidence has emerged that the permits enriched the ousted president and devastated the Tuareg population.

...guerrilla brethren. Halil, a 40-year-old veterinary engineer, was a reluctant soldier in a rebellion that had broken out over an improbable — and as yet unrealized — bonanza in one of the world's poorest countries. A battle is unfolding on the stark mountains and scalloped dunes of northern Niger...

...international mining companies? tALLAHhassee : Thanks for your brilliant analysis! I quite agree that imperial Europe wiped out African history. Africa was to them a 'dark' continent, as symbolized by the racist 'Heart of Darkness' by Conrad. Rodney has discussed this aspect of European...

...nearly 70 per cent of its exports. Niger is the world's third largest uranium producer and exploiting that natural resource is the cornerstone of Niger's efforts to pull itself out of poverty. Environmental cost The uranium mines are clustered in the north, where the population is largely Tuareg...