Niger military council takes over, US says room for diplomacy remains
Niamey, Niger Reuters Leaders of a coup in Niger declared General Abdourahamane Tiani as the new head of state on Friday days after saying they had ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in the seventh military takeover in West and Central Africa in less than three years. African countries, Western powers and regional and international organisations have […]
African leaders tell Putin: “We have a right to call for peace”
Reuters African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their plan to end the Ukraine conflict and to renew a deal crucial to Africa on the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain, which Moscow tore up last week. While not directly critical of Russia, their interventions on the second day […]
Philippines to probe sinking of overloaded boat that killed at least 26
Manila, The Philippines Reuters The Philippine coast guard said on Friday it will investigate why a passenger boat that capsized in a lake near the capital, killing at least 26, was allowed to sail while overloaded. Authorities rescued 40 people on Thursday after the vessel sank in strong winds, meaning it was carrying many more […]
Upstate New York Catholic diocese announces $US100 million settlement for sexual abuse victims
Syracuse, New York, USAP The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse on Thursday announced a $US100 million settlement with people who say they were sexual abuse victims as part of its bankruptcy proceedings. Catholic dioceses around the state are dealing with a surge of lawsuits dating to when New York temporarily suspended the statute of limitations […]
Explainer – How the military coup in Niger threatens stability in West Africa
Reuters Niger’s regional and international partners are scrambling to respond to a military coup which political analysts say could have grave consequences for democratic progress and the fight against an insurgency by jihadist militants in West Africa. Here is what is at stake. “Only hope” for stability on Sahel Niger became a democratic outlier in […]
US Justice Dept investigating Memphis police for civil rights violations
New York, US Reuters The US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation into whether the Memphis Police Department has an unconstitutional “pattern or practice” of using excessive force and racial discrimination, department officials announced on Thursday. Earlier this year, the Justice Department agreed to join city officials and other agencies in […]
Swedish PM “extremely worried” what could happen if further Quran burnings go ahead
Stockholm, Sweden Reuters Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is “extremely worried” about the consequences if more demonstrations go ahead in which the Quran is desecrated, he said on Thursday, amid growing Muslim anger at a series of attacks on Islam’s holy book. Attacks on the Quran in Sweden and Denmark have offended many Muslim countries […]
Biden acts to protect workers as temperatures soar in record-setting July
Washington DC/Phoenix, US Reuters US President Joe Biden took steps to protect workers from extreme heat and met with the mayors of sweltering cities Phoenix and San Antonio on Thursday as an intensifying heat wave put half of Americans under heat watches and warnings. With this July set to become the hottest on record globally, temperatures […]
Fighting to remain: After decades of struggle in Israel, dozens of African Hebrew Israelites face deportation
ILAN BEN ZION, of Associated Press, reports on challenges facing a group living in Israel who, while they do not consider themselves Jewish, claim an ancestral connection to Israel…
Countries urge return to order in Niger day after coup
Updated: 11:40am (AEST) Niamey, Niger Reuters Niger President Mohamed Bazoum remained held in the presidential palace on Thursday afternoon and it was unclear who had taken charge of the country, after soldiers on Wednesday evening declared a military coup. France, the country’s former colonial power, and the West African regional bloc ECOWAS called for Bazoum’s […]