Abidjan, Ivory Coast
All the warring parties in the Ivory Coast agreed this week to cease fire and meet for talks in France. The world’s leading cocoa producer has been in turmoil since last September, when one faction attempted a coup. In the following months, various rebel groups attempted to take over the cocoa fields, and more than half a million people had to flee their homes. France, which has strong business ties to its former colony as well as 20,000 citizens there, has sent in 2,500 troops, in its biggest African intervention in decades. It hopes to avert a full-scale civil war, which could create millions of refugees. “France accepts its responsibilities,” said Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, and is committed to “neither interference nor indifference.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why UK scientists are trying to dim the SunIn The Spotlight The UK has funded controversial geoengineering techniques that could prove helpful in slowing climate change
-
Gandhi arrests: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's oppositionThe Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
-
How the woke right gained power in the USUnder the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
