Vue lecture

Tiébilé Dramé, Voice for Rights in Mali, Is Dead at 70

A former foreign minister, he founded an opposition political party and then served in the government as an unflagging negotiator with northern rebels.

© Joel Saget/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Tiébilé Dramé in 2019. He was often on the edge of power in Mali but never at the center.
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Sonallah Ibrahim, Egyptian Novelist of Irony and Dissent, Dies at 88

Starting with “That Smell” in 1966, he wrote with stark power about themes of repression in the Egyptian police state.

© Frederic Reglain/Gamma-Rapho, via Getty Images

The Egyptian writer Sonallah Ibrahim in 1999. He chronicled his country’s submission to dictatorship and materialism with deadpan irony.
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Stella Rimington, First Woman to Lead U.K.’s MI5, Dies at 90

Widely regarded as the inspiration for the recast of the James Bond character “M,” she was the first British spy chief to be publicly named and photographed.

© Dave Caulkin/Associated Press

Ms. Rimington in 2004. After retirement, she wrote spy novels.
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