In a smoke-filled room in Lahore, Pakistan, a small group of teenagers pass a `shisha’ (water pipe) round a table. Strawberry essence has been added to the tobacco, making a fruity aroma. “We come to this café at least once a week to share a `shisha’,” said Zeeshan Ahmed, aged 16. “Our parents don’t mind us smoking `shisha’ and it is not dangerous,” said Fyza Imad, also 16. Shisha smoking has become fashionable over the last dec ... Jump to full article >>

For centuries, blue-turbaned nomadic Tuareg tribesmen have led caravans of camels across the expanses of the Sahara. Laden with millet and cloth from Africa’s West Coast, the caravans traveled unmarked paths to trade for salt and dates in Timbuktu, across the sand plains of Niger, and into the mountain oasis of the Algerian south. Military officials and scholars say cigarette smuggling, in fact, has provided the bulk of financing for AQIM. The ... Jump to full article >>