This year looks set to be another difficult one for democracy in Africa. In the Sahel, at least three elections have been postponed. Elsewhere, they risk being unfair or triggering violence, while a growing number of leaders are changing the rules to stay in power indefinitely. In North Africa, Egypt is due to hold parliamentary…

The Lebanese movement relies on a mafia-like, opaque system rooted in the Shiite diaspora, which also uses the laundering of proceeds from illicit trafficking networks to reach Shiite neighbourhoods in Beirut. In Abidjan, especially around the al-Mahdi Mosque in the Shiite neighbourhood of Marcory, many have been in mourning for days after the killing, last…