Al Qaeda’s Mali branch released a proof-of-life video on Wednesday showing footage of two female hostages abducted in separate incidents and held for more than a year, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
The video, which was released on Telegram by the Mali-based Al Qaeda affiliate known by its acronym JNIM, shows Colombian nun Gloria Cecilia Narvaez caring for French aid worker Sophie Petronin, according to the US-based group that monitors jihadist communications.
Ms Petronin was kidnapped in late 2016 in Gao, Mali. Ms Narvaez was seized near Mali's border with Burkina Faso in February last year.
In the video, which Ms Petronin indicates was recorded on June 7, the two women address the camera.
Ms Petronin speaks out to her son, after allegedly hearing a message from him, according to a transcript of the video by SITE Intelligence Group. She expresses a wish to reunite with her family, and addresses the French government saying she fears being sacrificed.
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Al Qaeda-linked Mali extremists release hostage video
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Ms Narvaez addresses Pope Francis, thanking him for his interest in her case and asking him to help intervene to help the ailing Ms Petronin.
In January, the Mali insurgency released a video of Ms Narvaez with an extremist member narrating an appeal for the payment for her release. The last video of Ms Petronin was released in July last year alongside five other foreign hostages. Ms Narvaez was also in that video, which came shortly before France's president visited Mali.
A number of hostages in Mali have been held for years. The extremists have made a fortune in the past decade abducting foreigners in the vast Sahel region and demanding enormous ransoms for their release.
A Swede, Johan Gustafsson, was freed in June last year after being held by Islamic extremists in Mali for six years. South African Stephen McGown, also held for six years, was released in late July last year. Both governments said they did not pay ransoms.
A French-led intervention drove out Islamic extremists from strongholds in northern Mali in 2013, but the extremists have continued targeting peacekeepers and other forces.
Al Qaeda and ISIS-linked extremists have pushed into central Mali, and also stage attacks in Niger and Burkina Faso.
In March last year, the extremist groups Ansar Dine, Al Mourabitoun and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb declared that they had merged to form JNIM. The group has also claimed responsibility for attacks in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
A recently created G5 Sahel Force aims to have 5,000 troops from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Chad countering extremist groups linked to ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Sahel region.
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
Director: Nag Ashwin
Starring: Prabhas, Saswata Chatterjee, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Shobhana
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
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Source: Emirates
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez
Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
