Ivory Coast is losing US aid as Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups are approaching

Ivory Coast is losing US aid as Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups are approaching
1 / 4
Members of a micro-credit cooperative meet in a compound at Kimbirila-Nord, the last village to the Mali border in Ivory Coast, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)e
Short Url
Updated 17 March 2025
Follow

Ivory Coast is losing US aid as Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups are approaching

Ivory Coast is losing US aid as Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups are approaching
  • In Kimbirila-Nord, US funding helped young people get job training, built parks for cattle to graze so they are no longer stolen by jihadis on Malian territory
  • In 2019, President Donald Trump signed the Global Fragility Act that led to the initiatives in northern Ivory Coast
  • In January, Trump ordered a freeze on foreign assistance and a review of all US aid and development work abroad

KIMBIRILA-NORD, Ivory Coast: With its tomato patches and grazing cattle, the Ivory Coast village of Kimbirila-Nord hardly looks like a front line of the global fight against extremism. But after jihadis attacked a nearby community in Mali five years ago and set up a base in a forest straddling the border, the US committed to spending $20 million to counter the spread of Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group here and in dozens of other villages.
The Trump administration’s sweeping foreign aid cuts mean that support is now gone, even as violence in Mali and other countries in the Sahel region south of the Sahara has reached record levels and sent tens of thousands refugees streaming into northern Ivory Coast.
Locals worry they have been abandoned. Diplomats and aid officials said the termination of aid jeopardizes counterterrorism efforts and weakens US influence in a part of the world where some countries have turned to Russian mercenaries for help.
In Kimbirila-Nord, US funding, among other things, helped young people get job training, built parks for cattle to graze so they are no longer stolen by jihadis on Malian territory, and helped establish an information-sharing system so residents can flag violent encounters to each other and state services.




A radio technician at Kaniasso FM, a community radio station formerly funded by USAID to disseminate information in the local languages to neighboring villages, plays a jingle in Kaniasso, Ivory Coast, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

“What attracts young people to extremists is poverty and hunger,” said Yacouba Doumbia, 78-year-old chief of Kimbirila-Nord. “There was a very dangerous moment in 2020. The project came at the right time, and allowed us to protect ourselves.”
“Seize a narrow prevention window”
Over the last decade, West Africa has been shaken by extremist uprisings and military coups. Groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group have conquered large areas and killed thousands in the Sahel and have been spreading into wealthier West African coastal states, such as Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo.
In 2019, President Donald Trump signed the Global Fragility Act that led to the initiatives in northern Ivory Coast. The US goal in this area was to “seize a narrowing prevention window,” according to this year’s congressional report about the implementation of the bipartisan legislation.
Experts say local concerns help drive the popularity of extremist groups: competition for land and resources, exclusion, marginalization and lack of economic opportunities. Across the region, Islamic extremists have recruited among groups marginalized and neglected by central governments.
“Ivory Coast is one of the few countries that still resist the terrorist threat in the Sahel,” said a UN official working in the country who was not authorized to speak on the matter publicly. “If we do not continue to support border communities, a minor issue could send them into the arms of extremists.”
Trump issued an executive order in January directing a freeze on foreign assistance and a review of all US aid and development work abroad. He charged that much of foreign aid was wasteful and advanced a liberal agenda.
“Everyone was just looking out for themselves”
In 2020, when the jihadis struck a Malian village 10 kilometers (6 miles) away, Kimbirila-Nord in many ways fit the description of a community susceptible to extremism.
The lives of Malians and Ivorians were intertwined. People crossed the border freely, making it easy for extremists, who like residents spoke Bambara, to access Kimbirila-Nord. Many residents did not have identity cards and few spoke French, leaving them with no access to states services or official information. Different ethnic groups lived next to each other but were divided by conflicts over scarce natural resources and suspicions toward the state. And young people did not have opportunities to make money.
“We were very scared” when the extremists attacked, said Aminata Doumbia, the head of the village’s female farmers cooperative. “Everyone was just looking out for themselves.”




A ranch belonging to Ibrahima Doumbia, president of the Association of Cattle Breeders, is seen in Kimbirila-Nord, near the Mali border, in Ivory Coast, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

The Ivorian government runs a program that provides professional training, grants and microloans. But access is difficult in villages such as Kimbirila-Nord.
Kimbirila-Nord is home to refugees from Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea. Sifata Berte, 23, fled there with his family two years ago from Mali. He is not eligible for the government-run program, but got training through the project funded by the US Agency for International Development and now works as an apprentice in an iron workshop.
Other things the USAID-funded project set up included a network of community radios in local languages, so people could get access to information. It also used mobile government trucks to help tens of thousands of people across the region get their identity documents. And it brought people together with microcredit cooperatives and with a special committee of ranchers and farmers that helps resolve tensions over land.
“It’s thanks to the project that we can sleep at night,” Doumbia, the village chief, said. “We learned how to be together.”

Equal Access International, an international nonprofit, designed and implemented the US-funded project.
The USAID project also has been the only direct source of information on the ground in northern Ivory Coast on violent events for the US-based Armed Conflict and Location & Event Data Project, the main provider of data on violence in the Sahel.
The village had big plans
Ivory Coast became known as a target for extremists in 2016, when an attack on the seaside resort of Grand Bassam killed tourists. In 2021, a string of attacks occurred near the country’s northern border, but the violence has been largely contained after Ivorian authorities, Western governments and aid groups rushed into this impoverished and isolated part of the country with military build up and development projects.
In 2024, the US Africa Command provided over $65 million to projects in Ivory Coast, most of which “focused on counterterrorism and border security” in the northern part of the country, according to the group’s website. The Pentagon said in a statement that it was “not aware of any budget cuts that have undermined counterterrorism training or partnership programs in Africa.”




A police barrier ahead of a Malian border is seen in Kimbirila-Nord, Ivory Coast, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Ivory Coast has the second-highest GDP per capita in West Africa, but according to the UN it remains one of the world’s least developed countries. Many in remote villages like Kimbirila-Nord do not have access to running water.
“At first we thought that we only had to solve these problems with a military solution,” Famy Rene, the prefect of Korhogo, the region’s capital, said. “But we saw that this was not enough. We had to put in place programs that strengthen the resilience of the population.”
Residents of Kimbirila-Nord had big plans before the US froze aid. The US was supposed to finance the first well in the village, help create a collective farm, and expand vocational training,
Now they fear they have been left alone to deal with extremists.
“If you forget, they will come back,” said Doumbia, the village chief. “As long as there is war on the other side of the border, we must remain on a high alert.”


Wildfire kills 2 people in Spain as parts of Europe bake in heat wave

Wildfire kills 2 people in Spain as parts of Europe bake in heat wave
Updated 55 min 44 sec ago
Follow

Wildfire kills 2 people in Spain as parts of Europe bake in heat wave

Wildfire kills 2 people in Spain as parts of Europe bake in heat wave
  • The blaze that broke out late on Tuesday created an enormous thick plume of ash and smoke that reached 14,000 meters of altitude
  • Two farmers were killed while apparently trying to flee in a vehicle

BARCELONA: A relentless European heat wave helped fuel a deadly wildfire in Spain while the European Union presented plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under scorching temperatures on Wednesday.

The blaze that broke out late on Tuesday created an enormous thick plume of ash and smoke that reached 14,000 meters (45,000 feet) of altitude, making it the largest registered by firefighters in Catalonia, a northeastern region of Spain.

Two farmers were killed while apparently trying to flee in a vehicle, local authorities said Wednesday.

Firefighters said that the fire spread at 28 kph (17 mph) at one point as it consumed 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) mostly of grain fields, making it one of the fastest fires registered in Europe.

“Wildfires today are not like they were before,” Salvador Illa, the regional president of Catalonia, said. “These are extremely dangerous. From the very first moment, it was considered to be beyond the capacity of extinction. I mean that not even with two or three times the number of firefighters, they have told me, it would have been possible to put out.”

Firefighters credited a rainstorm later on Tuesday for having “quickly changed the situation and helped speed up getting the fire stabilized.”

Two of the 500 firefighters who deployed needed treatment at a local hospital for their injuries. Some 14,000 residents were ordered to stay indoors for several hours on Tuesday night.

More hot weather is expected on Wednesday with temperatures in the Lleida region forecast to reach a high of 39 C (102 F).

The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said that it was closely monitoring the abnormally hot temperatures. Weather experts link the heat wave to climate change.

EU presents plan to cut emissions
As much of Europe was scorched by torrid weather, the European Commission unveiled proposals to reduce emissions by 90 percent by 2040 as the 27-nation bloc aims to be fully carbon-neutral by 2050.

“We are finally here on a very hot day, and some would call that very timely,” Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters in Brussels.

The proposals include allowing businesses to use international carbon credits to offset their emissions. Under the plan, international carbon credits could be used — starting in 2036 and limited to 3 percent of benchmark 1990 EU emissions — to reach the 2040 emission reduction target.

The proposals have to be approved by the EU’s 27 member states.

More than two-thirds of the severest heat waves in Europe registered since 1950 have occurred since 2000, the World Meteorological Organization says.

Spain’s seas heat up
After Spain already set a record for June air temperatures, Spanish port authorities recorded the hottest ever water temperature readings for June in both the Mediterranean and the part of the Atlantic nearest to France.

Experts say higher surface temperatures are bad for sea life and make for warmer nights on shore.

“A much warmer sea around us contributes to the nights not cooling down, which is detrimental to people’s rest,” Manuel Vargas, researcher at the Oceanographic Center of Malaga, told The Associated Press.

Also in Spain’s southern city of Malaga, the international Red Cross set up an air-conditioned “climate refuge” to help residents. The Spanish Red Cross was itself providing an “assisted bathing service” to help people with reduced mobility to cool down in waters at the beach.

Air conditioning strains Italian power
Heat alerts were issued for 17 Italian cities Wednesday. The corresponding surge in air conditioning was straining the electric grid and causing periodic blackouts. On Tuesday, parts of Florence’s historic center had a blackout following a surge in electricity use, energy company Enel said.

Italy’s labor ministry, meanwhile, summoned union representatives to a meeting Wednesday to finalize a protocol on protecting farm, construction and other workers who labor outdoors from heat exposure. This came after a construction worker died in Bologna this week.

On Tuesday, Catholic bishops from Asia, Africa and Latin America met in the Vatican to demand climate justice for the parts of the world most affected by rising temperatures.

France remains under alert
France’s national weather agency kept four departments under red alert on Wednesday after temperatures exceeded 40 C (104 F) in many towns.

The summit of Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower remained closed until Thursday for “everyone’s comfort and safety.”

Switzerland protects river
In Switzerland, one of the two reactors at the Beznau nuclear power plant was shut down as part of efforts to prevent excessive warming of the Aare River, so as not to further burden wildlife and the overall ecosystem in already hot weather, operator Axpo said.

Water fight in the NetherlandsHundreds of people in the central town of Soest cooled down on a baking-hot Tuesday night by taking on the local fire brigade in a water fight. Townsfolk were armed with water guns, the first responders with fire hoses.


Ukraine struggles to contain Russian summer advances as US aid stalls

Ukraine struggles to contain Russian summer advances as US aid stalls
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

Ukraine struggles to contain Russian summer advances as US aid stalls

Ukraine struggles to contain Russian summer advances as US aid stalls
  • Russia’s advances on the front are matched by an intensification of drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other cities
  • “There are constant attacks with the intent of breaking through” to the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region at any cost, Trehubov said

KYIV: Russia has made incursions near two towns key to army supply routes in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said on Wednesday, as Moscow seeks a breakthrough in a summer offensive at a time of uncertainty over US support for Kyiv.

In recent weeks, Russia has amassed forces and despite heavy losses has advanced in rural areas either side of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, which both sit on crossroads running to the frontline from larger cities in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Russia’s advances on the front are matched by an intensification of drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other cities, following signs that Washington’s support for Ukraine’s war effort is faltering.

So far, the efforts by US President Donald Trump have failed to achieve a ceasefire in the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in 2022.

One of the aims of the Russian offensive is to occupy the rest of the Donetsk region. Now, they are using small assault groups, light vehicles, and drones to push toward the neighboring region, said Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces.

“There are constant attacks with the intent of breaking through” to the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region at any cost, Trehubov said in written comments to Reuters.

Russia now has 111,000 soldiers in the Pokrovsk area, which it has been trying to seize since early last year, Ukraine’s top armed forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said last week, describing dozens of battles in the area every day.

A decision by Washington to halt some deliveries of various weapons including precision rocket artillery to Kyiv will worsen the situation on the ground for Ukraine’s forces, said Jack Watling, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, a think-tank.

“The loss of these supplies will significantly degrade Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian forces beyond 30 km (19 miles) from the front line and therefore allow Russia to improve its logistics,” Watling said.

RUSSIAN GAINS
Ukrainian blog DeepState, which uses open-source data to map the frontline, said the Russian military in June had seized 556 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, which it said was the largest monthly loss of ground since November.

Russian forces, which have numerical superiority, cut the main road linking Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in May, complicating Ukrainian movements and resupply efforts.

“The Russian advance is being contained, but their crossing of the Pokrovsk-Kostyantynivka highway is a strategic and logistical setback,” Trehubov said.

Heavy Russian losses have prevented Russian advances toward Kostiantynivka via Chasiv Yar, or along the western Pokrovsk front. “Now they are attempting (to advance) further away from populated areas,” Trehubov said.

DeepState also reported that Russian advances in June near Pokrovsk and nearby Novopavlivka accounted for more than half of all Russian gains along the entire frontline in all of Ukraine.

Trehubov said Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka remain Ukrainian logistical hubs, despite setbacks and drone activity which make some defensive fortifications less effective.

“(Drones) hinder logistics for both sides but don’t make it impossible. Drones after all are not invulnerable,” he said.


Miss Indonesia contestant removed from pageant after pro-Israel video

Miss Indonesia contestant removed from pageant after pro-Israel video
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

Miss Indonesia contestant removed from pageant after pro-Israel video

Miss Indonesia contestant removed from pageant after pro-Israel video
  • Merince Kogoya’s Instagram clip shows her dancing with Israeli flag
  • Social media admission says she was removed due to public backlash

JAKARTA: A Miss Indonesia contestant has been removed from the pageant after a video showing her waving the Israeli flag went viral, sparking backlash in a country that has long stood in solidarity with Palestine.

Merince Kogoya, who was set to represent the province of Highland Papua at the Miss Indonesia finals on July 9, was dropped from the competition last week after the video from May 2023 gained traction on social media. 

The clip, which shows Kogoya dancing with the Israeli flag, sparked outrage among Indonesians and prompted pageant organizers to quietly remove Kogoya from the competition. She was replaced with Karmen Anastasya, a runner-up from the same province.

On Monday, Kogoya posted on Instagram — where her bio reads “I stand with Israel” — that she was replaced due to “public comments,” referring to the backlash she faced.

“My two-year-old video reel was widely shared with various misinterpretations about my beliefs,” she wrote. 

“I am also conveying my apology to the Highland Papua family, I have tried to give my best but the fact is that @missindonesia’s decision was taken based on comments that were not in line with my beliefs.” 

Kogoya did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Arab News.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, has long been a staunch supporter of Palestine, as its people and government see Palestinian statehood as mandated by their own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism. 

The Southeast Asian nation has no diplomatic relations with Israel, and the Indonesian government has repeatedly called for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and for a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders. 

Hundreds and thousands of Indonesians across the country have rallied in solidarity with Palestine since the beginning of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza in October 2023, while they also take part in mass boycotts of products and companies linked to Israel. 

To date, Israel has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians and wounded over 133,000 others. The true death toll is feared to be much higher, with research published in The Lancet medical journal in January estimated an underreporting of deaths by 41 percent. 

The study also takes into account the possibility of a higher death toll, as it does not include deaths caused by starvation, injury and lack of access to healthcare, caused by Israeli forces’ destruction of most of Gaza's infrastructure and the blocking of medical and food aid.


How ancient engineering helped address Delhi’s perennial water shortage

How ancient engineering helped address Delhi’s perennial water shortage
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

How ancient engineering helped address Delhi’s perennial water shortage

How ancient engineering helped address Delhi’s perennial water shortage
  • Delhi used to have 20 stepwells, which made water available throughout the year
  • In summer months, stepwell sites turned into places for social gatherings

NEW DELHI: Just minutes from New Delhi’s commercial hub, Ugrasen ki Baoli is an engineering marvel worth a detour from the usual tourist path, as it bears witness to unique medieval water storage solutions that could still hold relevance today.

A baoli, or a stepwell, is a storage system that once helped the Indian capital address its perennial water shortage.

With a series of steps leading down to the water level, these structures allowed people to reach the water even when its levels changed with the seasons.

Usually built in the hot and arid areas like the northern state of Rajasthan and the western state of Gujarat, they used to be common in the Delhi region too.

“Since Delhi was also semi-arid, there was a large number of these built to provide water to people in small and large villages and settlements,” Sohail Hashmi, oral historian of Delhi and conservationist, told Arab News.

“They were dug especially in areas where the water level was rather low … You dug a well and next to the well, you built a tank, and when both structures were ready, you connected the well through a channel to the stepwell, and the water from the well filled up the stepwell.”

Located about a 5-minute walk from Connaught Place, the New Delhi stepwell is approximately 60 meters long and 15 meters wide, descending 108 steps — or about 15 meters below ground.

The baoli made water available throughout the year, and people could use it not only to draw drinking water but also to wash and bathe in the tank.

“It was a relief because the water was flowing from the well and the water from the well was always clean. So even if the water in the tank got dirty because people washed their clothes, you could still draw water from the well for drinking,” Hashmi said.

“Over time, these places also became places for social gathering, especially during the summer months … You had a large water body with arches and rooms and spaces, so people could come there and escape the summer heat.”

According to local legend, Ugrasen ki Baoli was commissioned by King Agrasen, the legendary ancestor of the prosperous Agrawal community, who, thousands of years ago, ruled over Agroha, an ancient trading city near present-day Delhi.

But historians estimate it was built around the 15th century, in the Delhi Sultanate period, which marked numerous cultural and architectural developments in the city.

“Architecturally, if you look at it, it is built with rubble, and the rubble is held together with a plaster of limestone and crushed bricks … These are techniques that were introduced into India in the late 12th and early 13th century,” Hashmi said.“It belongs to the late Sultanate period, so I would roughly place it in the 15th century.” Delhi once had 20 stepwells similar to Ugrasen ki Baoli, but none have survived the test of time. Efforts to revive them may no longer be effective, as the city’s groundwater levels have dropped significantly.

Groundwater at deeper levels is often not potable due to natural contamination — high levels of minerals like arsenic, fluoride, or heavy metals, and salinity, which in arid regions turns deep groundwater brackish.

There is still potential for the stepwells to conserve water and help address Delhi’s water problems, although it would take some time.

“At best, what can be done is that in the monsoon (season), you can divert rainwater into these stepwells, so they replenish the subsoil water,” Hashmi said.

“If this is done over decades, maybe the subsoil water level would improve and then much of this water could become potable, but before you do that, building (new) stepwells doesn’t make sense now.”


Explosion at a California fireworks warehouse sets off fires and forces evacuations

Explosion at a California fireworks warehouse sets off fires and forces evacuations
Updated 02 July 2025
Follow

Explosion at a California fireworks warehouse sets off fires and forces evacuations

Explosion at a California fireworks warehouse sets off fires and forces evacuations
  • The cause of the explosion was under investigation, the office said
  • The fire had reached 78 acres (32 hectares) as of Tuesday night

CALIFORNIA: An explosion at a fireworks warehouse in northern California caused several fires, sending black smoke into the air and forcing evacuations, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

People were urged to avoid the area of Esparto and Madison for several days following the Tuesday night explosion, which set off multiple fireworks and caused a large fire that led to other spot fires and collapsed the building.

“The fire will take time to cool, and once it does, explosive experts must safely enter the site to assess and secure the area,” the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation, the office said.

The fire had reached 78 acres (32 hectares) as of Tuesday night, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

Esparto is in a rural area about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Sacramento.

“We do believe this location is owned by an active pyrotechnic license holder,” Deputy State Fire Marshal Kara Garrett told KXTV. She added: “This type of incident is very rare, as facilities like this are required to not only follow our stringent California pyrotechnic requirements, but also federal explosive storage requirements.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office posted that it was tracking the fire and that state ground and air resources were deployed.

“The State Fire Marshal has sent an arson and bomb investigation team, and stands ready to provide additional support as needed,” the statement said.