From Mali Conflict Enters New Phase, one of 37 photos. Malian soldiers fight while clashes erupted in the city of Gao on February 21, 2013 and an apparent car bomb struck near a camp housing French troops as Malian and foreign forces struggled to secure Mali’s volatile north against Islamist rebels. (Frederic Lafargue/AFP/Getty Images)
From The Conflict in Mali, one of 36 photos. A soldier of the French foreign legion wearing a skeleton mask stands next to an armored vehicle in a street in Niono, Mali, on January 20, 2013. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said today that the goal of France’s military action in Mali was to retake control of the entire country from Islamist militants who have seized the north. “The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets” of resistance, Le Drian said on French television. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)
From Nigeria’s Illegal Oil Refineries, one of 30 photos. Smoke rises as an illegal oil refinery burns after a military chase in a winding creek near river Nun in Nigeria’s oil state of Bayelsa, on December 6, 2012. Thousands of people in Nigeria engage in a practice known locally as “oil bunkering” - hacking into pipelines to steal crude then refining it or selling it abroad. The practice, which leaves oil spewing from pipelines for miles around, managed to lift around a fifth of Nigeria’s two million barrel a day production last year according to the finance ministry. (Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye)
From Rebel Attacks in Eastern Congo, one of 37 photos. The body of a dead Congolese army soldier lies in the road between Goma and Kibati, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on November 18, 2012. Government soldiers were fleeing the eastern DR Congo city of Goma in large numbers today as rebels advanced to the gates of the regional capital, a UN source said. Rebels took control of Goma two days later. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
From Mali After the Coup, one of 28 photos. Small-scale gold miner Modibo “Fama” Kone, 57, stands in an area where he is panning for gold in Kalana, Mali, on August 26, 2012. Mali faces serious difficulties following a March coup d’etat that has since collapsed, leaving Islamist militant groups to fill the void and form an extremist ministate in northern Mali. The collapse of state governance has chased away foreign investment, and tourism has dropped precipitously. (Reuters/Joe Penney)
From The Maasai Cricket Warriors, one of 17 photos. Here, a player in the Maasai Warriors cricket team is silhouetted as he plays cricket on the beach in Mombasa, Kenya, on March 6, 2012. The team is made up of Maasai warriors from the Laikipia region of Kenya. The players are aiming to be role models in their communities where they are actively campaigning for the rights of women. (Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images)
