The AK-47 rifle, the brainchild of Mikhail Kalashnikov who died yesterday, was first used by Soviet Russia to suppress rebellious east European states, but soon became the freedom fighter’s creed.
Nearly 1,000 people are killed over two days in brutal reprisal attacks in the Central African Republic this month – double the UN estimate, according to Amnesty International.
It was a weird feeling, standing there in my suit and tie at the edge of the virtual battle space. Because the asymmetry of power is massively dramatized in this drone ‘cockpit’.
Alex Thomson
His mother is dead. His father, listless, appears to have simply given up. We photograph him and give his exact location to Unicef officials. Several hours later they say they’ve lost the picture.
Alex Thomson
At the Don Bosco Catholic educational institute in Bangui, they frisk you for weapons at the door but still keep finding machetes here.
Alex Thomson
It is barely 1,000 metres from the main terminal building here in Bangui, in the Central African Republic, but it is a sight that renders you speechless.
Alex Thomson
France has deployed troops to the country – but the terrified people on the streets don’t believe they will be able to protect them from rival armed militia.
Alex Thomson
Since gunmen attacked this hospital patients won’t come here, and the presence of heavily armed African peacekeeping troops in the hospital grounds does not reassure them.
Alex Thomson
Doctors with scarce supplies are forced to help the Seleka militia responsible for much of the bloodshed. And as the UN warns of impending genocide, aid groups say the world must act.
Tit-for-tat killings, rape, refugees – the Central African Republic has been described as “on the brink of genocide”, so should the international community intervene?
Alex Thomson
Out of time and soon out of office, the Afghan president-outgoing, Hamid Karzai, has just done exactly what Afghans and foreigners alike, never expected.
Alex Thomson
The judge tells jurors to aim for a unanimous verdict in the court martial of three Royal Marines accused of murdering an insurgent Afghan prisoner in September 2011.
Alex Thomson
“Devoid of human compassion”: the words of the prosecutor in the court martial of three British marines accused of murdering an Afghan prisoner.
Alex Thomson
As three Royal Marines face a court martial on allegations of murder, Channel 4 News Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson reports on the judge’s decision not to release crucial footage.
Alex Thomson
The marines accused of murdering a gravely injured Afghan insurgent have been granted anonymity and may only be referred to as A to C.