Mali’s 10-hour siege

27 including five attackers dead in biggest hostage standoff:

Soldiers in Mali’s capital shot their way into a Radisson Blu hotel and liberated dozens of captives after a 10-hour siege by Islamist gunmen that left 27 people dead, including five attackers, ending one of the biggest hostage standoffs in recent years.

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Paris attacks:

The unanswered questions

French officials now say, the cousin of the presumed ringleader of last week’s Paris attacks did not blow herself up in a police raid as previously thought. They say the suicide bomber was a man, not Hasna Ait Boulahcen,

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Syria’s rebellious women

These women, fighting against both the Assad regime and ISIL, don’t fit into any easy political narratives:

The real surprise is that there should be any surprise. Watching the film series titled Syria’s Rebellious Women, it should be obvious that this is the case: that there are women actively involved in the war, on the ground.

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