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As regional and global powers decry Niger’s coup, the country’s future remains uncertain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Days after after mutinous soldiers ousted Niger’s democratically elected president, uncertainty is mounting about the country’s future and some are calling out the junta’s reasons for seizing control.The mutineers said they overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France, because he wasn’t able to secure the nation from growing jihadi violence. But some analysts and Nigeriens say that’s just a pretext for a takeover that is more about internal power struggles than securing the nation. “Everybody is wondering why this coup? That’s because no one was expecting it. We couldn’t expect a coup in Niger because there’s no social, political or security situation that would justify that the military take the power,” Prof. Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the University of Niamey, told The Associated Press. He said Bazoum wanted to re...

Catholic youth camp’s fundraising pitch alarms Wilder Forest advocates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

A fundraising brochure produced on behalf of the Minnesota Catholic Youth Partnership details why the organization needs $16 million to purchase and create a new camp on the 600-acre Wilder Forest property in northern Washington County.It lists a dozen activities that will be available to campers, including zip-lining, rope challenge courses and a vertical climbing wall. The second phase of the group’s fundraising push, amount to be determined, calls for the construction of a “majestic lodge that will house a new and improved cafeteria, chapel and coffee shop, and additional housing for campers and staff.”The problem with the 12-page brochure, according to members of the Square Lake Conservancy, a group dedicated to the preservation of the natural resources at Square Lake and Wilder Forest, is that none of the proposed buildings or activities have been approved yet. “I was horrified when I saw it,” said former Minnesota Sen. Jane Krentz, DFL-May Township. “They are fundraising...

Stormy Daniels May Have the Last Word on Donald Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally on July 7, 2023, in Council Bluffs, Iowa.Photo: Charlie Riedel/APOnly a career criminal finds himself facing four indictments in four different jurisdictions at the same time. That level of legal exposure is generally reserved for those who engage in crime sprees of historic proportions.Enter Donald Trump, a serial criminal who has been the subject of so many federal and state investigations and indictments that he could put most Mafia bosses to shame. It seems likely that Trump, who has already been charged with felonies in two separate cases, will soon be indicted at least twice more, perhaps before the summer is over. If that happens, Trump will have to spend much of the next year traveling up and down the Eastern Seaboard defending himself in courtrooms in New York, Washington, Georgia, and Florida, even as he campaigns for the presidency.But rather than conflicting with his court appearances, Trump’s presidential run is ...

Drones attack Moscow city center; Kremlin blames Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

Several drones attacked the center of Moscow in the early hours of Sunday morning, in the latest assault on Russian territory that the city’s mayor blamed on Kyiv. The drones hit two high-rise buildings in an area called Moscow City, a posh business district in the center of the Russian capital, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a Telegram statement on Sunday.“Ukrainian drones attacked tonight. The facades of two city office towers were slightly damaged. There are no victims or injured,” Sobyanin said.Russian media reported that a 50-story building in Moscow City was evacuated. And Russian social media users posted videos of blasts.Russian media channel Astra reported that one of the drones damaged the 10th floor of an office building in Moscow City, where at least three Russian ministries have their offices — the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Digital Development.Ukraine did not officially take responsibility for the attack. “We...

Palestinian factions meet in Egypt, seeking reconciliation, as violence surges in the West Bank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Palestinian factions were meeting Sunday in Egypt to discuss reconciliation efforts as violence in the occupied West Bank surged between Israel and Palestinian militants.The main groups, Hamas and Fatah, have been split since 2007. With repeated reconciliation attempts having failed, expectations for the one-day meeting are low. According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the gathering in the Egyptian city of el-Alamein on the Mediterranean Sea will discuss “ways to restore national unity and end the division.”The meeting comes amid soaring violence in the West Bank, where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah group are based and exert limited self-rule. Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in Palestinian areas of the territory in what it says is an attempt to stamp out militancy, especially in areas where Abbas’ security forces have less of a foothold.Those raids have led to some of the worst fighting in nearly two decades in t...

Constitutional referendum to remove presidential term limits divides Central African Republic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The Central African Republic went to the polls Sunday in a highly anticipated vote on a new constitution, which would remove presidential term limits. President Faustin Archange Touadera wants to extend presidential terms from five to seven years and remove the previous two-term limit, enabling him to run again in 2025. The new constitution would replace the one adopted at Touadera’s inauguration in 2016, when the country was in a civil war and 80% of it was not under state control. If the new constitution is passed, it could entrench the ruling party’s power indefinitely, analysts say. “This referendum basically confirms the fears of authoritarian drift (in CAR),” said Enrica Picco, Central Africa project director with the International Crisis Group. The new constitution would weaken checks on the executive by opposition parties, closing the space for Central Africans to participate in democratic decision-making, she said. The proposed change...

Supporters of Niger’s coup march through the capital waving Russian flags and denouncing France

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup earlier this week marched through the streets of the capital, Niamey, on Sunday waving Russian flags, chanting the name of the Russian president and forcefully denouncing former colonial power France. Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighboring Mali, and Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country’s influence in the region, but it is unclear yet whether the new junta leaders are going to move toward Moscow or stick with Niger’s Western partners. Days after after mutinous soldiers ousted Niger’s democratically elected president, uncertainty is mounting about the country’s future and some are calling out the junta’s reasons for seizing control.The mutineers said they overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France, becau...

1 killed, 6 wounded in overnight clashes in crowded Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Overnight clashes Sunday in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon left 1 dead and 6 others wounded, Palestinian officials said.The clashes took place as Palestinian factions in Ein el-Hilweh cracked down on militant Islamist groups and fugitives seeking shelter in the camp’s overcrowded neighborhoods. In 2017, Palestinian factions engaged in almost a week of fierce clashes with a militant organization affiliated with the extremist Islamic State group. The Palestinian officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the clashes broke out after an unknown gunman tried to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead. According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, six people were wounded in the clashes, including two children. Factions used assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the overcrowded camp, a...

Other voices: Admitting foreign workers is good for America

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

The U.S. has a people problem. The birth rate has been sliding for years, and it’s about to translate into a shrinking labor force. By 2040, according to a study out last week, America could have more than 6 million fewer working-age people than in 2022. The only way to counter the domestic trend is by attracting workers from abroad.“The working-age U.S. population has peaked absent additional immigration,” writes Madeline Zavodny, in a forthcoming paper from the National Foundation for American Policy. “New international migrants are the only potential source of growth in the U.S. working-age population over the remainder of the next two decades.” Ms. Zavodny is an economics professor at the University of North Florida, and her analysis is based on data from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.At a time when some Americans view foreign workers as cheap competition, she offers a prescription for growth and vigor. In particular she notes that, although foreign-born worke...

Frosh, Kopp: Bigfoot government orders investment managers to ignore risk

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:24:18 GMT

In the face of fires, record heat, floods and other extreme weather events across the country, House Republicans are using much of July to oppose financial transparency related to climate risks and to attack investor freedoms. Their reckless course endangers not just the planet but also the financial stability of Americans’ retirement savings and pensions. One Republican went so far as to say consideration of climate risk by asset managers is “Satan’s plan.”On July 12, leaders of the House Financial Services Committee launched hearings to attack environmental, social and governmental (ESG) practices by financial firms. They are also crafting legislation that would outlaw long-standing risk assessment practices. Just as dangerously, House Republicans intend to restrict shareholders’ ability to hold corporate executives accountable by restricting rights to vote proxies and curbing shareholder resolutions related to corporate governance.It’s hardly s...