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France has appointed Jean-Marie Bockel as a special envoy to Africa with the mission to change the status, format, and tasks of French military bases in Africa. This appointment comes after France had to reduce its military presence in Africa due to conflicts with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Bockel's first official trip was to Côte d'Ivoire, where he discussed plans for reducing the number of French troops in the country and shifting towards a training mission. Meanwhile, Russia has deployed a new Africa Corps to Burkina Faso, taking over from the defunct Wagner Group. This new unit will be directly subordinate to Russia's Defense Ministry and is intended for deployment in Burkina Faso, Libya, the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, and Niger. In CAR, the government plans to open an official Russian military base in the town of Berengo. This move has triggered a debate about the geopolitical motives behind the presence of both Russian and American security firms in CAR. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents a report on a conference on the history of humanitarianism, international cooperation, and humanitarian intervention, convened by the Centre for Global Cooperation Research in Duisburg, Germany, and the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (Institute of Cultural Studies, KWI) in Essen, Germany, from June 5-7, 2014, in Essen. Topics of discussion included the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the post-World War I era, Arab Islamic charities in Africa, and private military and security companies.