professor. "It's an army consistently weakened by internal fighting. My suspicion is that's why there's a delay in the international intervention."

Country in crisis

Mali was left rudderless in March when a coup by military officers, angry at the lack of action against northern Tuareg separatists, ousted President Amadou Toumani Touré ahead of the April elections. It paved the way for the Tuareg rebel group the Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) to take advantage of the power vacuum and overthrow the weak Malian army. They seized control of the north, declaring the independent state of Azawad. They soon merged with the Ansar Dine rebel group but the partnership did not last; Mujao, Ansar Dine and al-Qaeia in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), armed groups linked to al-Qaida, turned onMore than 100 people have died from heatstroke in the southern Pakistan port city of Karachi in the last two days, officials have said.

Seemi Jamali, a spokeswoman for the city’s Jinnah Hospital, confirmed the deaths today.

She said hundreds more have been admitted to the hospital with heat-related ailments, including fever and dehydration.

Karachi is in the grip of a rare heatwave, with temperatures soaring to 45C. A collapse of the local power grid over the weekend made matters worse.

Meteorologist Mohammad Hanif said the heatwave is the worst in at least a decade, but that the arrival of monsoon rains in the coming days should bring relief.