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(NIGER) — High-ranking officials at the U.S. Department of State are trying to restore democratic order in Niger, a key U.S. ally on counterterrorism.

There may be a “narrow opportunity” to reverse an attempted coup in the West African nation, according to one senior U.S. official.

The official told ABC News on Monday that the U.S. does not believe the military general behind the recent events, Col. Maj. Abdourahmane Tchiani, has widespread support among Niger’s public.

Military leaders in Niger are hesitant to act against Tchiani over fear that any intervention will prompt the Nigerian presidential guard — led by the general — to turn on the democratically elected head-of-state, Mohamed Bazoum, and his family, the official said.

As Tchiani continues to try to demonstrate control, U.S. officials have not with engaged him out of concern that communicating directly with the general could lend him legitimacy, according to the official.

The situation remains wildly fluid, the official said, but the unrest appears to be confined to the area immediately surrounding the presidential palace in Niger’s capital of Niamey.

Last Wednesday, a group of mutinous soldiers led by Tchiani announced on Nigerian state television that they have “put an end to the regime” of Bazoum due to “the continuing degradation of the security situation, the bad economic and social governance.” The group, which calls itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, said “all institutions” have been suspended, aerial and land borders have been closed and a curfew has been imposed until the situation is stabilized.

“The defense and security forces are managing the situation. All external partners are asked not to interfere,” Tchiani, flanked by soldiers, said in the televised statement.

Bazoum’s apparent ousting marks the seventh attempted coup in West and Central Africa since 2020 and throws into question the future of Niger, a landlocked country that has had four coups since gaining independence from France in 1960. Bazoum was elected to office in 2021 in Niger’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.

The streets of Niger’s capital have erupted in chaos over the past week. Hundreds of people have marched in support of the president while chanting “No coup d’etat.” But thousands of others have also come out in support of the junta, waving Russian flags and holding signs that read “Down with France.” Protesters have also burned down a door and smashed windows at the French embassy in Niamey before being dispersed by Nigerien soldiers.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional body comprised of 15 West African countries, announced sanctions against Niger on Sunday and threatened to use force if the coup leaders don’t reinstate Bazoum within one week. The African Union and the United Nations have also issued statements condemning the apparent coup.

Guinea, a nearby nation that has been under military rule since 2021, issued a statement on Sunday expressing support for Niger’s junta and urging ECOWAS to “come to its senses.” On Monday, the military-ruled governments of Burkina Faso and Mali, which share borders with Niger, released a joint statement denouncing the ECOWAS sanctions as “illegal, illegitimate and inhumane,” refusing to apply them, and also warned that “any military intervention against Niger will be considered as a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali.”

Since the apparent coup, Bazoum is believed to have been held at his residence in Niamey. The first images of Bazoum surfaced on Sunday, showing him smiling and sitting on a couch beside Mahamat Deby, the president of neighboring Chad, who traveled to Niamey to mediate between the Nigerien government and military.

Nigerien Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou told French media on Sunday that Bazoum will not resign and “is in high spirits” despite the “seizure of power by force.” He also warned that any sanctions imposed on Niger would be a “disaster” for the country.

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, spoke via telephone last Thursday to the Niger Armed Forces Chief of Defense, Lt. Gen. Issa Abdou Sidikou, about the developing situation in the West African nation and the safety of Americans there.

Milley also had a call with his French counterpart on Monday to discuss “the security situation in Niger,” according to a government report.

“The long-standing alliance between the U.S. and French militaries plays a critical role in maintaining peace and stability in Europe and other regions around the world,” the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson, Col. Dave Butler, said in a statement.

On Tuesday morning, France announced that it is preparing to evacuate French and European nationals from Niger, citing the recent violence that targeted the French embassy in Niamey as one of the reasons for the decision. The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the evacuation “will happen rapidly,” without providing additional details.

Bazoum’s government has been a top ally to both Europe and the U.S. in the fight against violent extremists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in Africa’s Sahel region. The U.S. Department of Defense said it has provided $500 million in military assistance to Niger since 2012, “one of the largest” security assistance and training packages in sub-Saharan Africa.

Other countries in the region, including Burkina Faso and Mali, have ousted the French military and instead enlisted the help of the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization.

In a voice message posted last Thursday on social media channels linked to Wagner, the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appeared to endorse the coup in Niger and offer the services of his fighters to the junta.

A senior official at the U.S. Department of State told ABC News on Monday that Washington continues to assess the recent events in Niger — a result of long-term tensions between power players. The U.S. government, however, still sees Wagner as attempting to take advantage of the situation, one official said.

While the security posture of the U.S. embassy in Niamey remains unchanged, the overall U.S. posture will depend on what transpires in the days and weeks ahead, according to the official. Currently, it appears unlikely that Washington will support any intervention attempts in Niger out of concern that it could trigger open conflict.

The official also lamented that the U.S. ambassador to Niger was only confirmed by the Senate last week, finally filling a 14-month vacancy the official described as a hinderance to diplomacy.

ABC News’ James Bwala, Will Gretsky, Matt Seyler and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

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(HAITI) — While the whereabouts of an American nurse and her young child reportedly kidnapped in Haiti late last week are still a mystery, the alarming surge of abductions taking place in the country demonstrates a clear and growing danger for both foreign travelers and Haitian citizens.

The efforts to locate Alix Dorsainvil and her child continued Tuesday — five days after they were reportedly kidnapped. Dorsainvil was working near Port-au-Price with El Roi Haiti, a Christian aid organization, when the group says she and her child were taken by unknown assailants — the only publicly known details regarding the apparent abduction.

U.S. officials have been tight-lipped, declining to share any information that may put their efforts to recover the two in jeopardy.

“We’re in regular contact with Haitian authorities and continue to work with them and our U.S. government inter-agency partners, but because it’s an ongoing law enforcement investigation — there’s not any more detail I can offer,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday.

Miller declined to say whether the department knew who exactly was holding Dorsainvil and her child, or whether they had requested anything from the U.S. in exchange for their freedom.

The investigation will almost certainly be sharply constrained by the Haitian government’s own limitations. The country admits that gangs control 80% of its capital city’s streets, creating a wide blind spot for law enforcement.

On Thursday, the deteriorating security situation also prompted the State Department to order all family members of U.S. government employees and non-emergency U.S. government employees to leave Haiti.

The crisis in Haiti is worsening, but it is not new: The State Department has for years warned Americans against traveling to the country, classifying it a “level four” — its most severe travel advisory — meaning U.S. citizens should not visit because of a “greater likelihood of life-threatening risks” and the department’s limited ability to provide assistance.

Haiti’s problems compounded in July 2021 when its president was assassinated. The country’s interim leader, Ariel Henry, has struggled to rein in gangs, resulting in escalating violence and exposing the government’s tenuous hold on power.

In the fall of 2022, the battle for control appeared to hit a chaotic crescendo when gangs blockaded Haiti’s largest fuel depot, crippling movement within the country, cutting off clean water supplies and exacerbating a cholera outbreak before negotiations ultimately cleared access to the energy source.

While the situation in Haiti remains dire, groups monitoring crime within the country say reports of offenses such as abductions had appeared to be on the decline — until they started to spike again in recent weeks.

The decrease, analysts say, was brought on not by the country’s authorities or direct assistance from international governments, but by Haitian citizens stepping into de facto law enforcement roles, creating what are known as “vigilance brigades” to patrol their own neighborhoods.

But Diego Da Rin, a Haiti expert with the International Crisis Group, said the gangs are now winning out over those groups, resulting in a resurgence of violent crime.

“That self-defense movement has waned over time,” he told ABC News. “Gangs need to resume their criminal activities and kidnapping is one of their main sources of income. Gang leaders have to pay their soldiers or else risk being overthrown.”

Da Rin says there have been a number of recent cases involving foreign nationals kidnapped in Haiti that have been resolved with the victim being released after a ransom is presumably paid. This could be a cause for some optimism in Dorsainvil’s case, Da Rin said. But he adds there have also been disturbing incidents involving captors filming themselves harming victims as a play to extort payments — and that law enforcement will likely be able to do very little to intervene even if they can identify the criminals.

“The Haitian security forces and U.S. forces present in Haiti are not able to enter the areas where most kidnapped people are held — they’re located in gang strongholds, neighborhoods where security forces haven’t been able to enter for months or even years,” he said.

Nearly 10 months ago, Henry urged foreign militaries to help restore law and order in Haiti. The world’s leading powers have waffled — uneager to embroil themselves in the conflict, especially when the Haitian public has signaled disapproval of outside intervention.

On Saturday, the government of Kenya announced it was ready to lead a multinational force into Haiti, a development that was welcomed by the West.

“We are committed to finding the resources to support this multinational force,” Miller said.

However, the plan faces a number of hurdles, and even if it ultimately succeeds, U.S. officials say it will likely be weeks or even months before it bears any result.

Renata Segura, the deputy director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the International Crisis Group, says the mission could also backfire.

“There is a danger that this force could just consolidate power for Henry, an illegitimate Prime Minister — particularly because we don’t see the likelihood of elections taking place anytime soon,” she said.

“The fact that Kenya is volunteering is significant,” Segura continued. “We do hope that the Henry administration doesn’t take this as a signal that they can stop negotiating with the opposition, because we are very concerned about the possibility of unrest and protests if people think that this is just something that is going to benefit Henry.”

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(LONDON) — The body of a hiker who has been missing for 37 years has been unearthed on a thawing glacier near the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.

A 38-year-old German mountaineer was reported missing after failing to return from a hike in Sept. 1986, the Valais cantonal police in Switzerland said in a press release.

But last month on July 12, climbers who were traversing the Theodul Glacier near the Matterhorn in the southern Alps “discovered human remains along with several pieces of equipment” on the glacier, authorities confirmed.

“The entire discovery was transported to Sion, to the forensic medicine department of the Valais Hospital, to be examined there in collaboration with the forensic identification section of the Valais cantonal police,” police said in their statement announcing the grisly discovery. “A DNA comparison has established that it was indeed the mountaineer who has been missing since September 1986.”

Authorities did not disclose the identity of the man but did release a single picture of the scene where he was discovered of a wet, red-laced hiking boot next to several items of rusted hiking equipment.

“The receding glaciers are increasingly bringing in mountaineers,” police said.

It is unclear if the man still has any existing next of kin to be notified of his death. The investigation into his death is ongoing.

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(LONDON) — The death toll after an apparent suicide bombing in Pakistan has risen to 54, officials said on Monday.

No organization has yet taken responsibility for the apparent suicide bombing, which injured dozens of others when it rocked a political rally in the country’s northwest, local officials said.

“Those responsible will be identified and punished,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement in Urdu. “The Pakistani nation, law enforcement agencies and our protectors will never allow such cowardly tactics of the enemy to succeed.”

Counter-terrorism officers who were investigating the blast said they suspected the Islamic State group may have been behind it, police said in a statement.

The event had been put on by one of the leading Islamic parties, the conservative Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Funerals were underway for the victims on Monday, the party said in a series of posts on social media.

“Every eye was full of tears, every face was mournful,” said one message, which was posted alongside a video of a swarm of people carrying and praying over caskets.

“May Allah accept the martyrdom of the martyrs and grant patience to their families and give complete healing to the injured,” Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, the party’s leader, said in a statement.

President Arif Alvi “expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives” in the blast, his office said in a statement.

Police had said on Sunday that at least 44 people were killed and more than 100 others were wounded.

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(PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti) — Haiti is in the grips of a ravaging hunger crisis, where nearly five million Haitians — half of the country — do not get enough to eat on a daily basis.

Nearly two million people are in what the World Food Programme calls IPC 4 – Emergency. This is its second-worst hunger classification, marked by acute malnutrition and excess mortality, just one step shy of famine and starvation.

Tens of thousands of people in a sprawling slum called Cité Soleil were formally classified as in famine last year, the first time WFP has recorded that in Haiti.

The crisis comes against the backdrop of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 and gang violence is the worst it has ever been in the country.

The crisis is further pronounced in the pediatric section of the Hospital Universitarie de la Paix. Like nearly every other hospital in the city, it is overwhelmed, under-funded and barely staffed.

Once vibrant colors are fading on the walls, as paintings of animals and stars and numbers flake onto the ground. Every bed is full but it doesn’t take a doctor to identify the kids who aren’t getting enough to eat.

Gaunt, wide awake but supremely still, there are at least a half dozen children in this small ward being treated for severe acute malnutrition. Four-year-old Marvens Marachelle is one of them.

His mother, Paulette, gently peels off his clothes as a nurse pulls his legs through two holes in a blue canvas bag, like the kind you might put groceries in.

They lift him up and hang the bag on a hook, his weight pulling it down. The scale above reads 9 kilos, about 20 pounds, the same as a healthy 10-month-old infant.

“He’s had a fever and vomiting and he’s been losing weight,” said his mom, who said she knows he is hungry but can’t find food consistently.

She said she’s now considering putting him up for adoption.

“I’m sad, sometimes my head gets heavy and I cry. I cry when I see what the country has become,” she said.

As many as 115,000 Haitian children younger than 5 are expected to suffer from life threatening malnutrition this year, according to the latest U.N. figures, a 30% percent spike from last year. The United Nations World Food Programme recently announced a 25% cut of aid to Haiti due to a lack of funding.

There are myriad reasons for this hunger crisis that go back generations.

Haiti has long been undercut by foreign exploitation that has led to the decimation of local food production. Corruption prevents local economies from ever realizing their potential. Natural disasters have destroyed huge swaths of farmland. And given the gang control over Port-au-Prince, bad actors control the flow of food to and from different communities.

But today it is gang violence that keeps Haitian-grown food from reaching Haitian stomachs.

Artibonite, the Haitian department — equivalent to a state or province — is known as Haiti’s breadbasket, where the country’s deep connection to the earth and its bounties was born.

Gonaïves, the city at the department’s heart, is about 90 miles or so from Port-au-Prince, roughly the same distance from New York to Philadelphia.

Traditionally, the only way to get there was driving on Highway 1, a twisting road that follows the coastline and crystalline waters of Port-au-Prince Bay.

These days, though, there’s hardly anyone driving the road. It is entirely controlled by gangs, with a series of checkpoints manned often by drunk gang members still in their teens, the AK-47s slung over their shoulders significantly older than they are.

Now, the only way to get to Gonaïves safely is by air.

For that, ABC News employed the services of an Mi-8 helicopter, an old Soviet twin-engine workhorse currently in the employ of the U.N.’s Humanitarian Air Services.

Haiti’s beauty is staggering from above. Its rolling mountains cascade down into deep valleys, exploding in every shade of green and brown imaginable. The clear blue waters easing onto white sand beaches rival the best in the world. No wonder one of Haiti’s most beloved songs is “Ayiti Cheri,” Haiti My Beloved, based on a 100-year-old poem written as an ode to the country.

ABC News touched down in an old field next to an abandoned concrete building. It used to belong to the Ministry of Defense but now serves both as a home for feral goats and as a pointed symbol of the decline of the country’s security forces.

From there, it was a long, bumpy drive over painfully potholed roads to a rural farming community. The scent in the air gave away the area’s main crop.

The distinct smell of mangoes filled the car, both a source of income in these parts but also of deep national pride.

These days, thousands of mangoes litter on the ground, spilled across field after field, rotting in the blazing Haitian heat — nurturing the ants and the maggots and the flies instead of the people.

“We used to make a lot of money from selling mangoes,” said Justin Dhene, a lifelong resident and farmer. “Nowadays, we can’t sell one. They’re all going to waste.”

Just a few years ago, mangoes like these were a cash crop. Farmers would grow them, wholesalers would buy them and then resell them in Gonaives. From there it was onward to the capital or to the U.S., selling for $5 each at Whole Foods.

But the explosion in gang violence in Port-au-Prince has not spared Gonaïves. Many of the markets so key to this network of distribution have closed. Roads controlled by gangs are now impassable and those that dare risk their lives.

“We were kidnapped for three days,” said Decimis Modeline. “They took our money and then they let us go.”

She is one of the people known as Madan Sara, women who buy and sell food and are key parts of how food makes its way around the country.

She said she and her colleagues were kidnapped recently as they took their goods to sell in the market, freed only after her family took on debt to pay a ransom of more than 1 million Haitian Gourdes, about $7,200 in U.S. dollars, she said. They’re still paying it off.

Beaten and threatened alongside the three other Madan Sara kidnapped that day, the group wasn’t sure if they’d make it out alive.

“The kidnapping brought me a lot of sadness,” said 21-year-old Lovely Acéus. “They took the ransom money, the money I had to buy stuff and they raped me.”

The trauma remains, she said.

“You get suicidal thoughts, you want to do bad things to yourself,” said Pierre St. Annia, also kidnapped, her voice clear and direct. “If I die today, I won’t have any regrets.”

They say they will not go to the markets anymore, prisoners without a prison, held in place by a palpable fear about what happens if they leave the confines of the farm.

The dirt roads and threatening skies forced ABC News to leave shortly after the interview. Around here, it’s the gangs or the rain that makes the roads impassable.

Back in town, there are those that are trying to help. The WFP has set up a small, temporary market in a relatively safe part of Gonaives, where it buys food directly from farmers.

Country Director Jean-Martin Bauer, an American whose mother is from Haiti, acknowledged it’s just a drop in a gigantic bucket of need but said they have to try.

It’s brave to even attempt it, given the violence WFP itself has faced here. Last year, its storehouse, a massive space filled with grains and rice, was ransacked. Hundreds of people stormed the complex, breaking through a concrete wall, completely emptying the warehouse before setting it on fire.

It remains empty to this day.

There is deep-seated resentment among many Haitians about the role international aid groups have played in the country.

Bauer understands the frustration but his commitment, he says, is to help and that requires showing up. So, he and his team keep fighting, not only to help on a day-to-day basis but to sound the alarm internationally.

More than $700 million has been requested by the U.N. to address the humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Only 23% of that appeal has been funded at the time of publication.

“Haiti is in deep trouble,” said Bauer. “Haiti is not at risk of becoming a forgotten crisis. Haiti is a forgotten crisis.”

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(TOWNSVILLE, Australia) — For the next week 30,000 troops from the U.S., Australia, and 11 other countries will continue their joint training in different parts of Australia as part of the Talisman Sabre 2023, a military exercise that used to focus on the U.S. and Australia but now shows the growing interest other nations in the region and beyond have in countering China’s growing influence in the South Pacific.

The two-week exercise incorporates training on the ground, in the air and at sea, providing realistic training for how these militaries could work together if needed in the future.

Originally a joint U.S.-Australia exercise, it has grown in scope in recent years and is expected to keep growing in the future.

With 30,000 military personnel participating, this year’s exercise is the largest yet and reflects how countries in Asia and Europe see the importance of having their militaries train together in a region where there is a growing sentiment to counter China assertive actions.

“There really is a sense that the partner nations, the 13 countries participating in exercise Talisman Saber are building a connectedness with each other in the way in which we go about our work, which enhances the collective security of the Indo-Pacific region and ultimately that is what underpins the way our forces exist in this part of the world,” Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister, who also serves as its defense minister, said Sunday during a visit with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Townsville, Australia.

Australia’s active duty military numbers 60,000 personnel, significantly smaller than the 1.1. million who serve in the United States military, but, as Australian officials are heard to say, “we pitch above our weight” — one reason why the U.S. sees Australia as a key partner to help counter China in the region.

This week’s visit by Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for an annual meeting with their Australian counterparts reflects that commitment.

A joint statement that resulted from their meetings included a deepening in military ties between the U.S. and Australia, including U.S. access to more Australian bases, regular and longer U.S. Navy submarine stops to Australia, increased cooperation between both countries in space, speeding up efforts for Australia to develop its own guided missile production capability and working to establish deeper security relationships with other countries in the region — most notably Japan.

Austin reaffirmed the goal shared by the U.S. and Australia, exemplified by the exercise.

“We’re about promoting a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and we will continue to stand by our allies,” Austin said in an address to some of the troops gathered at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville.

“This exercise helps us strengthen our unbreakable alliance and our vision for that free and open Indo-Pacific,” he added.

This year’s exercise marked the first-time participation from countries as far away as Germany and by South Pacific countries including Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Tonga.

“There’s a lot of things that happen here that have never happened before in the world,” Royal Australian Air Force Wing Cmdr. WIlliam Laredo said, while briefing reporters about the exercise during the stop in Townsville.

Among other things during the past week, U.S. Marines worked with Japanese and German forces on an amphibious assault exercise, HIMARS missile launches occurred in Australia for the first time, German tactical air controllers called in a U.S. AC-130 to fire live munitions, and there have been exercises at sea by warships from various countries.

U.S. Marines participating in the exercise for the first time told ABC News that they have seen the value in training with counterparts from so many countries. About 2,000 U.S. Marines were sent to Australia for the exercise to join the Marine rotational force from Darwin, Australia that is also participating in the exercise.

“I’ve never seen so many countries in one place and all working together cohesively in a good environment,” said Cpl. Jessica Perez, a 21-year-old Radio chief from Chicago, Illinois. “It’s amazing.”

Marine 1st Lt. Nicholas Pfanstiel said the shared history the U.S. military has had with their Australian counterparts has helped his Marines during the exercise.

“I think just knowing the culture and knowing the concepts, knowing how just the SOPs that a unit is already utilizing here that moves us forward. So when we come here next time, we’re not starting from scratch,” Pfanstiel said.

Col. Eric Dougherty, the operations officer for the 1st Marine Division, told ABC News that U.S. Marines are not only learning how to work with their peers from other countries but are also learning what it takes to deploy over Australia’s vast distances.

“We get to perform at distance and scale so that they have some non-defense training areas, which is literally like kind of training out in the public that we don’t have access to back in the States,” he said.

The exercise was temporarily halted following the crash of an Australian MRH-90 helicopter off the northeast coast of Australia that has left the four Australian service members aboard missing. Search and rescue operations continue in an effort to find the four missing service members.

The accident cast a pall over the exercise and both Austin and Marles expressed that their thoughts are with the families of the four service members and noted the risks military personnel take even when conducting training.

“This accident makes it very real. I know what this exercise means. The dangers that are involved, the risks that inevitably come with that,” said Marles.

“We also understand the process, the very grave significance that comes when we put on the uniforms of our respective nation,” he added.

“As we have walked around today and seen Exercise Talisman Sabre in action, the exercise that those aircrew were participating in on Friday and what becomes manifestly clear, as Lloyd said, is the sense of team and shared mission between the countries participating,” he said.

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(BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA) — The United States and Australia will deepen their military ties after reaching an agreement that expands their military cooperation as both countries work to deter China’s growing influence and territorial claims in the western Pacific.

The agreements were announced following an annual meeting of the U.S. Defense Secretary and Secretary of State with their Australian counterparts, held this year in Brisbane, Australia.

The agreement will see an increased American rotational presence in Australia to include frequent U.S. submarine visits to a base in western Australia, more U.S. access to airbases in northern and western Australia, increased cooperation between both countries in space, speeding up efforts for Australia to develop its own guided missile production capability and working to establish deeper security relationships with other countries in the region — most notably Japan.

“All of us have felt that the alliance has never been in better shape than it is right now,” Richard Marles, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, said at a news conference held after Saturday’s meetings.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the U.S. a “vital ally,” adding “It is our closest global partner; our closest strategic partner” and that recent meetings with their American counterparts have been about “operationalizing the alliance in order to ensure peace, stability, and order.”

Appearing at the same news conference Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed that both nations are focused on maintaining stability and security in the region which is being threatened by China.

“Our two countries are defending the international rules based order, which has underwritten peace and security for decades, and which ensures that each country can make its own sovereign decisions free from any coercion,” said Blinken who described China’s destabilizing actions in the South China Sea and towards Taiwan.

“The results of today’s discussions represent yet another major step for our alliance as we work together to enhance stability and deterrence in the region,” said Austin.

That deterrence capability will become more visible as the U.S. gains access to more bases in Australia that will build upon the the rotational U.S. Marine rotational training presence in Darwin, located in far northern Australia, that has been operating there for the last decade.

Under the new agreement the U.S. will gain access to two more airbases in that part of Australia and another base in southeastern Australia where humanitarian supplies that could be used for disaster relief in the South Pacific region and will be pre-positioned.

A more visible presence will be the arrival of “regular and longer” visits by U.S. Navy submarines to HMAS Stirling naval base in western Australia.

“These visits would help build Australia’s capacity in preparation for Submarine Rotational Force-West, an important milestone for the AUKUS Optimal Pathway that would commence as early as 2027,” according to the joint statement released by both nations.

AUKUS refers to the strategic security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States and will help Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines that could be operational beginning in 2035. Until that time the U.S. will provide three Virginia-class attack submarines to Australia to complement its six diesel submarines.

A senior U.S. defense official described the force posture agreements disclosed on Saturday as “a big deal” that will improve regional deterrence by having both countries work together across multiple domains, including space.

“We agreed that space cooperation would now form a key part of what we do in our military and defense cooperation, and this is a critical step forward,” said Marles.

“It’s actually pretty natural that as space evolves as a domain of human context that it becomes one of the key areas of force posture initiatives,” said Marles though he did not provide specifics.

Space cooperation has already been visible in the ongoing Talisman Sabre exercise taking place in Australia with more than 30,000 military personnel from 13 countries. In the exercise, U.S. Space Command has provided a Counter Communications System that can counter an adversary’s satellite communications.

The Talisman Sabre exercise was paused on Saturday as the U.S. and Australian militaries carried out search and rescue operations for the four Australian service members aboard an Australian military helicopter that crashed into the waters off of northeastern Australia.

The joint U.S.-Australia agreement is committed to helping Australia develop its own defense industry, an Australian initiative known as Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEO).

The U.S. committed to aiding that program by helping to co-produce Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) in Australia by 2025. Under the agreement Australia could also be involved in the future production of 155mm artillery shells that are currently in high demand with their constant use by Ukrainian forces against Russia.

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(NEW YORK) — Soldiers in Niger have announced they have ousted the West African nation’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, in a national televised address.

Surrounded by uniformed soldiers, Niger’s Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane — representing the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP) — declared the military has “put an end to the regime” of Bazoum, citing “the deteriorating security situation and bad governance.”

“This day, July 26, 2023, we, the defense and security forces, meeting within the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland have decided to put an end to the regime you know,” said Abdramane. “This follows the continuing deterioration of the security situation, and poor economic and social governance. The defense and security forces are managing the situation. All external partners are asked not to interfere.”

Reading from a statement Abdramane, flanked by soldiers, also announced Niger’s land and air borders have been closed, and “all institutions” suspended.

Niger’s Presidential Guard Officer also announced the indefinite suspension of activities of all political parties on Thursday.

The televised announcement came hours after reports on Wednesday of President Bazoum being held by guards inside the presidential palace in Niamey.

Niger’s presidency announced that Bazoum and his family are “doing well.”

Bazoum defiantly tweeted that “hard-won achievements will be safeguarded in Niger” and that “All Nigerians who love democracy and freedom will see to it.”

With fears of a coup attempt underway, dozens of peaceful protesters spontaneously gathered on the streets of Niamey as gunfire erupted when soldiers fired into the air in a bid to disperse them. There were no reports of injuries.

In a statement, The African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat strongly condemned the “attempted coup d’etat,” referring to the actions of members of the military as acting in “total betrayal of their republican duty.”

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also decried the apparent coup attempt, condemning the “unconstitutional change in government” and expressed concern over the safety and well-being of Bazoum, who has been in the palace since early Wednesday.

All UN operations in Niger have been suspended “given the situation,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announced on Thursday.

“I spoke with President Bazoum earlier this morning and made clear that the United States resolutely supports him as the democratically elected president of Niger,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he spoke at a press conference in New Zealand.

“We call for his immediate release,” Blinken added.

The attempted coup — the seventh in West and Central Africa since 2020 — throws into question the future of the landlocked state of Niger, which has been subject to four coups since gaining independence in 1960.

Bazoum was first elected to office in April 2021 in Niger’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.

A few days before Bazoum was due to be sworn in, a dramatic coup attempt was thwarted as military units aimed to seize the presidential palace.

Niger has been a key ally to the U.S. and Western nations in the fight against Islamist militants in the Sahel. The U.S. Department of Defense said it has provided $500 million in military assistance to Niger since 2012 — “one of the largest” security assistance and training packages in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Sahelian jihadists have occupied Park W, a huge nature reserve in the borderlands of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, transforming it into a launchpad for expansion toward the West African savannah,” says the Crisis Group. “Authorities in these three countries have tried hard, with the support of foreign partners, to halt the militants advance. But their efforts have fallen short.”

Nearby nations such as Mali, Central African Republic (CAR) and Burkina Faso have turned to Russia’s Wagner Group for help in the fight against regional instability and terror in the Sahel, as the military company has been intensifying its focus and influence in the region.

Meanwhile, Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin commented on the coup in Niger, calling it a “struggle of the people of Niger with the colonialists.”

Neighboring President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria and Patrice Talon of Benin, met at the presidential villa in Abuja, and have described the attempted coup as “military misbehavior” that is a concern for both presidents and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

“We are taking this matter seriously and responding promptly,” they continued.

Benin’s president has headed to Niamey to “address the situation,” according to reports.

Meanwhile, the White House has said it is monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens.

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(LONDON) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his plan to overhaul his country’s judicial system is “a minor correction” to an “activist” court.

“It’s described as the end of Israeli democracy — I think that’s silly and when the dust settles, everybody will see it,” Netanyahu told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview on Good Morning America.

On Monday, Israeli lawmakers approved the first major piece of legislation in Netanyahu’s broader plan to reform the country’s judiciary, sparking mass protests in the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The new law removes the court system’s ability to strike down “unreasonable” decisions by the government. Critics of Netanyahu’s plan say it pushes Israel away from democratic ideals and toward authoritarian rule, while supporters say it claws back some power from unelected judges.

Netanyahu told ABC News that his government is trying to “bring back Israeli democracy in line with what is common to all democracies.”

“The essence of democracy is the balance between the will of the majority and the rights of the minority, and that’s achieved by the balance between the three branches of government,” the Israeli prime minister said during Thursday’s interview. “That’s been taken off the rails in Israel in the last 20 years because we have the most activist judicial court on the planet and it’s arrogated to itself powers from the government — from the executive and the legislative branches.”

“I want to bring the pendulum to the middle, I don’t want to bring the pendulum to the other side,” he continued. “But we have to correct it and that’s what we just did. It’s a minor correction.”

The proposed overhaul has stirred concern among Israel’s closest allies, with the United States calling Monday’s enactment of the law “unfortunate” and the European Union saying it was “following the developments in Israel closely and with concern.”

But Netanyahu told ABC News on Thursday that he thinks the relationship between Israel and the U.S. is “as strong as it’s ever been.” He also noted that he followed the Biden administration’s advice to proceed with the reform slowly.

“This has been as slow as you can go,” he added. “I actually pressed the pause button for three months because I did take seriously the concerns. I don’t think the arguments are real but I think the concern is real people are afraid, I understand that.”

“So I pressed the pause button for three months, tried to get some kind of compromise on anything and couldn’t get anything from the opposition and, therefore, decided to proceed with this minor correction,” he continued. “As I said to President Biden, I’ll try to proceed if not with a consensus with the opposition — the other side of the political aisle in our parliament — then at least on something that has broad acceptance in the public.”

The Israeli leader said he thinks “it’s possible” to find “middle ground.”

“I’m actually more optimistic now than I was before,” he told ABC News. “I hope the opposition leaders show responsibility and come to the middle. There is a middle out there.”

When asked about criticism that the reform was designed in part for Netanyahu to protect himself against the corruption charges he’s facing, the Israeli prime minister called it “ridiculous” and said “it has nothing to do with my trial because it’s been proceeding for three years.”

“This is something that concerns millions of Israelis who, for the last 20 years, feel that they’re going to the polls, they’re voting in a government, they’re voting for policies that are then nullified by a judiciary that basically arrogated itself the powers of the majority,” he said. “And that I don’t think is right for democracy. That’s what’s driving this reform, not my individual case which is proceeding fine.”

Netanyahu presided over the vote on the controversial bill in the Knesset on Monday just hours after being released from the hospital where he had a pacemaker implanted. He told ABC News on Thursday that he was feeling “terrific.”

“Man of steel,” he said, laughing. “Or plastic, I think that’s what they put in there.”

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(ROME) — “What an artist dies with me!”

Nero, the emperor of Rome from AD 54 until AD 68, reportedly uttered those famous last words before his death in exile. Experts believe he may have left behind evidence of his love of the arts in the form of a theater he built near what today is the Vatican.

An archaeological excavation carried out in the courtyard of the frescoed Palazzo della Rovere has brought to light structures and decorations that experts say could be the remains of that theater.

Daniela Porro, the special superintendent of Rome, said Wednesday this “exceptional” discovery is believed to be the place where Nero held rehearsals for poetry and singing performances, which were mentioned in Roman writings, but until now never located.

Archaeologists have been working on the site since 2020 and say they’ve found part of the hemicycle-shaped seating section, along with elegant columns in precious and valuable marbles, refined decorations in gold-leaf on stucco and storage rooms for costumes and scenery.

The dig, which was carried out in a circumscribed area within the walls of the grand palazzo, situated on Via della Conciliazione, just a few steps from St. Peter’s Square, also gifted other rich historical findings. These include the possible remains of the Horti di Agrippina, which is where Caligula built a large circus for horse racing, as well as traces of the production and pilgrimage activities from the medieval age and even artifacts from the 15th century.

Archaeologists say they’re particularly thrilled to have found rare specimens of medieval glass goblets, cooking pots to make bread in, coins, bits of musical instruments and combs made from bone, “tools” used to make rosary beads and small insignia of medieval Christian devotion worn on pilgrims’ clothing.

Archaeologist Marzia Di Mento, who is in charge of the dig, says that the findings will take years to study.

“It is a superb dig, one that every archaeologist dreams of…..being able to dig in this built-up historically-rich area is so rare,” she told reporters.

Archeologists say work is still in progress to study, catalogue and analyze all the findings before the area will be covered over for protection and the grand palazzo and garden restored to its original Renaissance grandeur.

Part of the building will become a Four Seasons hotel that is expected to open in 2025.

Local officials say the artifacts will be put on display and all the dig’s findings put in a city-run public databank to add to the wealth of information gathered over the years on life in Rome throughout the centuries.

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