SAND mine: An aerial view shows Malian diggers loading boats with sand collected from the Niger River near Kangaba, in Mali’s southwestern Koulikoro region, on Friday. Increasing construction in the Malian capital has boosted the demand for bricks made out of high-quality Niger River sand. Diggers can travel more than 100 kilometres from Bamako to reach an extraction site, sometimes exposed to harsh weather conditions that endanger their fragile convoys. — AFP