“There is an old saying that the first cup is bitter like life, the second is sweet like love.” Singer Aliou Toure sits up on the edge of a single bed, smiling from under the brim of his straw trilby.

THE spirit of late, great musician Ali Farka Toure and the Songhai tradition of Mali’s sub-Saharan northern region, along with the spectre of the country’s geopolitical woes, hover over Music In Exile ...

A former Malian president overthrown in a 2012 coup has returned from exile to the capital Bamako, prompting speculation about a political comeback as the country's security crisis deteriorates ...