Militants massacre 31 civilians and kill UN worker in Mali

Militants killed at least 31 people in central Mali on Friday when they fired on a bus ferrying people to a local market, local authorities say.

The bus was targeted by unidentified gunmen as it travelled its twice-weekly route from the village of Songho to a market in Bandiagara, 10 kilometres away, said Moulaye Guindo, mayor of the nearby town of Bankass.

"Armed men ... shot at the vehicle, slashed the tires, and shot at the people," Mr Guindo said.

He and another local official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least 31 were dead with many more wounded or missing.

The villages sit in the heart of the Mopti region, an epicentre of violence in Mali fuelled by insurgents linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS.

An internal security memo, shared by a source, said first responders at the scene of the latest attack discovered 25 burned bodies in the truck.

Images on social media showed the smouldering frame of a passenger bus filled with bodies, still slumped over in their seats. Reuters could not independently verify their authenticity.

Jihadist attacks have surged across Africa's Sahel region, killing thousands and displacing millions across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The UN mission Minusma has deployed about 13,000 troops to try to contain the violence, while France is in the process of drawing down a counterinsurgency force, from around 5,000 troops to around 3,000, supported by a mix of European Special Forces and focused on training the Malian army.

Minusma has recorded more than 250 fatalities since it started in 2013, making it the most dangerous UN peacekeeping mission in the world.

Unidentified armed men attacked a convoy belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali on Friday, killing one civilian worker and wounding another, the mission said.

The convoy was travelling from the northern city of Kidal to Gao and came under fire about 100km (62 miles) northeast of the town of Bourem, the mission said.

Armed attacks by Islamist militants and other groups are common across vast swathes of Mali, despite a heavy presence of international troops.

La Mer lowdown

La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.

What are NFTs?

Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.

You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”

However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.

This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”

This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.