Of African descent, with a voice that is elegant, smooth, sensually melancholic. Imany overpowers and charm. Her birth name, Nadia Mladjao, immediately shows her African origins. In effect Imany, an ever brighter star on the new transalpine music scene, was born in Provence, near Marseilles into a family originally from the Comoros Islands. Her stage…
They are seers and traditional healers with a vast knowledge of medicinal plants, spells and fetishes. They represent an example of moral integrity. Today they enjoy a high position in Malinke society, especially in the rural environment. African societies have always lived in a close relationship with the world of visible powers and that of…
Moscow began to take its first steps in the African context during the “Soviet period”. Since it had no colonial networks, it relied upon Marxist-Leninist doctrine to give ideological support to the emancipation of Africans from the yoke of colonialism and upon military means to provide them with arms and organise them militarily. Such a…
The continual political repression by the government, the Sinologisation of religion. It was in order to keep alive a Church divided for many years that Pope Francis has just signed a historical accord with the regime of Xi Jinping which recognises the legitimacy of future episcopal appointments. The next step would be a visit by…
Long ago a wicked and lazy hunter was sitting under a tree. He was thinking that it was too hot to be bothered with the arduous task of stalking prey through the bushes. Below him in the clearing on the grassy veld there were fat springbok grazing. But this hunter couldn’t be bothered, so lazy…
In the context of the changes in power relations on the Asian continent, the movements of another power, India, merit particular attention to anticipate future scenarios. Often under-exposed by the media, New Delhi is showing itself to be playing an active role in the area, backed by its 1.3 billion inhabitants. Like China, India desperately…
The new centrality and strategic importance assumed by the Indian Ocean have unquestionably created competition based upon economic development and investment in infrastructure. This challenge, launched by the major powers of the area, has also been taken up by much smaller actors such as Oman, favoured by its geographic position that aims at increasing, in…
The collapse of the Soviet Union has characterized the birth of new and important geopolitical actors establishing themselves both on the global scenario and in various regional contexts. The decline of American monopolism and the on-going crisis in European construction are, in fact, accompanying the progressive redefinition of new geopolitical balances with their centre of…
Saudi Arabian interests have an anti-Iran role in the war in Yemen; “peace” between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the flourishing Jihadist militias on the African continent. Saudi Arabia is spreading its dangerous geo-political web also over Ethiopia and Eritrea. These two countries, after twenty years of conflict, reached an agreement on 9 July described as…
More than one year after he was sworn in, the new Angolan head of state, João Lourenço has made sure that the men suspected to be corrupt do face trial. The list includes the son of his predecessor. But reforms go much further beyond. On the 24 September, the arrest of the former President José…
A pre-Islamic instrument. Three brothers. Music that is a poetry, the heart and the patrimony of a people. Last October they launched their sixth album. The Long March At first sight it looks like a mandolin with a crooked neck. The oud is the chief musical instrument of Arabic music. It is a chordophone instrument…
An Amerindian legend says that one day, there was a huge wildfire. All the animals gazed at the disaster terrified, distressed and helpless. Only the little hummingbird was hurrying, going to find a few drops of water with his beak to extinguish the fire. After a moment, the armadillo, flustered with all the agitation, said,…