Niger is a key part of africas sahel region, which stretches from the atlantic to the red sea. Burkina faso and mali have also seen recent Military Coups, and say they would come to the defence of their neighbour. And on sunday, the Regional Bloc Ecowas made up of 15 west african countries gave the coup leaders in niger one week to restore democratic rule, or face what it called all necessary mea ns. Lets talk to beatriz de leon cobo from the security think tank the Royal United Services institute. Thank you for being here with us on bbc news. Your assessment, first, of what we are seeing in niger . Thank ou ve what we are seeing in niger . Thank you very much what we are seeing in niger . Thank you very much. Right what we are seeing in niger . Thank you very much. Right now what we are seeing in niger . Thank you very much. Right now we what we are seeing in niger . Thank you very much. Right now we are i you very much. Right now we are seeing lots of confusion. I have to remember that the president has not resigned, there has been a coup, first it was a coup attempt, we did not know on the 26 if the coup would be successful, now it seems it has been successful but still, the president. We still do not have all the information of what is going to happen next. What we have is the communiqu s of the National Military of niger, which is then close the border, as you know. Theyve also decided to suspend the constitution. Yesterday and the day before they started to detain some ministers from bazoum and the situation is quite tense in niamey right now, the International Community is supporting bazoum apart from the countries you mention that are supporting, mali and burkina faso, supporting, mali and burkina faso, supporting the militaryjunta. Its a tense situation and unfortunately there are scenarios possible. And there are scenarios possible. And what ou there are scenarios possible. And what you make there are scenarios possible. And what you make of those claims that france in some way is preparing to intervene . I france in some way is preparing to intervene . , � ~ france in some way is preparing to intervene . , � ~. ,. France in some way is preparing to intervene . Intervene . I dont think france is auoin to intervene . I dont think france is going to intervene. Intervene . I dont think france is going to intervene. I intervene . I dont think france is going to intervene. I hope intervene . I dont think france is going to intervene. I hope i intervene . I dont think france is going to intervene. I hope i am l going to intervene. I hope i am right. I think that would be a very complicated move, considering some are saying bazoum is still kidnapped in the palace, so an intervention of france would be right now very. Very complicated. And also to do what, exactly . Because as you have mentioned, it seems the newjunta has quite a lot of popular support, so they have accused france to do this, already the ministry of Foreign Affairs of france have said these are preposterous accusations, that they are not funded on anything like founded on anything. Another thing is that on the 26th france did not think about the possibility of rescuing bazoum, but right now i do not think france is planning an attack on the potential palace. We have had three coups now in the sarr hell, what you think the implications and significance of thatis, implications and significance of that is, and of course the russian involvement in so many of these countries now in africa . Three cookes in the sahel. {iii countries now in africa . Three cookes in the sahel. Countries now in africa . Three cookes in the sahel. Of course there is a very big cookes in the sahel. Of course there is a very big Involvement Cookes in the sahel. Of course there is a very big involvement of cookes in the sahel. Of course there is a very big involvement of russia l is a very big involvement of russia in west africa, in particular in mali. I have to say, not yet in niger. I would mali. I have to say, not yet in niger. Iwould not mali. I have to say, not yet in niger. I would not be able to say this falls directly into russian hands. Obviously russia has been promoting this information in niger and west african countries, but i would be cautious to say that russia is behind this. Whats clear is that we need to rethink democracy in west africa because its not only mali and burkina faso now, its also guinea, we have to remember that theres been quite a lot of tensions on other Elections Processes in the past few years. So it is clear that this is west africa deciding its fate. � , , this is west africa deciding its fate. , , ;; fate. And ust briefly, 30 seconds, if fate. And just briefly, 30 seconds, if you fate. And just briefly, 30 seconds, if you would. Fate. And just briefly, 30 i seconds, if you would. What fate. And just briefly, 30 seconds, if you would. What is the implications of that, youre last thought, for the west . The implication thought, for the west . The implication is thought, for the west . The implication is obviously thought, for the west . Tta implication is obviously that thought, for the west . Tt2 implication is obviously that we are going to have a very unstable region because these Military Coups are not able to maintain the Security Situation, so that is going to give more space not only to jihadist groups but also to criminal networks and other proxies and other Military Agents such as russia. Its obvious thatis agents such as russia. Its obvious that is going to be the consequences. And the stability in the back yard of europe, because the sahel is 1000 kilometres from our borders, is obviously terrible for europe and the west in general, and it could be very well that we find ourselves in a very complicated situation with governments that are very unstable and not a stable west africa, which is what we would hope for. B. Africa, which is what we would hope for. � , ,. ~ africa, which is what we would hope for. M i, for. A pretty bleak assessment, thank you for. A pretty bleak assessment, thank you so for. A pretty bleak assessment, thank you so much for. A pretty bleak assessment, thank you so much for for. A pretty bleak assessment, thank you so much forjoining i for. A pretty bleak assessment, | thank you so much forjoining us for. A pretty bleak assessment, thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news, thank you for your thoughts and analysis. And of course theres been extensive coverage of this story on bbc focus on africa, so lets go to nairobi and the Programme Presenter waihiga mwaura. Tell us how youre covering the story today . Indeed, what began as a coup seven days ago in one of west africas largest countries, niger, has become an issue in the continent and the world, we will look at what Different Countries are saying, which size they are taking, thats something that we will really be focusing on, why they are making those decisions. And also the regional implications. Niger has stood out as the last hub for Western Counterterrorism attempts, niger is hosting that. A usa base and front space, 1500 french troops on site. And a france base. And we will look at what this means. Protesters said one of their main concerns was Regional Security deteriorating within the country, one wonders, could they be looking for new allies in all this . And the name of wagner, that russia backed group, comes out. We will look at all of these implications on the programme later on. find all of these implications on the programme later on. All of these implications on the programme later on. And ust rewind, almost in terms programme later on. And ust rewind, almost in terms of. Programme later on. And ust rewind, almost in terms of. Im programme later on. And just rewind, almost in terms of. Im interested i almost in terms of. Im interested to have your assessment on why this coup happened in the first place . So coup happened in the first place . Sr different theories have been proposed as to why this happened, the plotters themselves said they were concerned about rising insecurity and deteriorating Economic Conditions within the country but of course we have seen different coups and the reasons have been similar, some say that as a default excuse, there could be many underlying factors. One could be a question about the ethnicity of the democratically elected president , mohamed bazoum, he comes from an ethnic minority and there are questions about whether he had full support when he was sworn in in 2021, in the countrys first peaceful transition. And that could be one reason. Some other reasons however could be the fact that previous coups, you talked about on the state of them having been attempted over the last couple of years, three at least that were successful, yet seen what has happened after that, as much as there have been strong response from there have been strong response from the african union, ecowas, the Economic Community of west african states, and other Regional International bodies as well, the Coup Plotters and still managed to stay in power and in some sense begin to establish normal relations with the rest of the world, and one then wonders, did these Military Leaders look at what was happening within the country, within the region, look at what previous trends i have been in regards to cookes and make similar decisions as well . So those are some of the reasons that have been touted as to the reason this coup happened, this seems to be progressing quite successfully, if thatis progressing quite successfully, if that is the right word to use, to describe the situation that the country finds itself in. That describe the situation that the country finds itself in. Country finds itself in. That is fascinating country finds itself in. That is fascinating and country finds itself in. That is fascinating and the country finds itself in. That is fascinating and the Situationl Country finds itself in. That is. Fascinating and the situation is country finds itself in. That is fascinating and the situation is so fluid, thanks very much for that and love that coming up on bbc focus on africa. All of that is coming up on bbc focus on africa. Live from nairobi at 1630 gmt, for our International Viewers here on bbc news. Lets turn now to moscow where a tower block in the centre of the city has come under attack for a second time. The building was first hit on sunday these pictures were taken from a short distance away. This was the aftermath of the Second Attack last night. You can see some of the damage in these pictures. Emergency services have been at the scene. Several other drones were reportedly shot down by air defence systems. Heres some reaction from moscow. Translation after the first attack, everyone said it wouldnt hit the same place twice, and today we all woke up and were a bit shocked. I dont know what im going to do, but i think ill move from here. Joining us at the bbc� s evidence hub is our correspondent, nick beake. Take us through it, the frequency is certainly increasing of these Drone Strikes . , ~ ,. , certainly increasing of these Drone Strikes . , , strikes . Thank you, yes. Run strikin strikes . Thank you, yes. Run striking at strikes . Thank you, yes. Run striking at the strikes . Thank you, yes. Run striking at the Heart Strikes . Thank you, yes. Run striking at the heart of strikes . Thank you, yes. Run striking at the heart of the i strikes . Thank you, yes. Run striking at the heart of the russian capital. Its a big psychological win for the ukrainians but here at bbc verify we have been taking a closer they get what has been happening in the air and on the ground. Iwant to happening in the air and on the ground. I want to show you this video from last night of the latest attack. You can see the aftermath of it. The damage that has been done to this skyscraper, the windows theyre blasted out. But this building was attacked 2a hours earlier and if i show you this video, its much more dramatic and you can see within seconds of this video starting, that huge blast that rips through what is the financial district of moscow. You can see people coming at this point and trying to work out what has been happening, filming from themselves on their phones. The financial district and the Business District is only about five kilometres from the kremlin, as well as government ministries, there is also restaurants and luxury flats there. But you can see how close it is so when the ukrainians talk about they were coming to president putins doorstep, this, i think, they were coming to president putins doorstep, this, ithink, is what they mean the war coming. I can show you the complex, the places struck in the space of days, this is actually one skyscraper complex. As for the drone that was used, in the videos we have been looking at you, you cannot see the drone itself at the moment of impact but i want to show you this video, its interesting. We have verified this has been filmed on the day of the strike, or in the evening, i should say. This is the outskirts of moscow and this particular drone is distinctive because it has got a much larger rear wing than the front wing, we have put this on the up so you can see it will do what we have done is weve been talking to Drone Experts about what they think this could be, and theyre pointing to this, the characteristics of a larger rear wing and a smaller front wing, and look at this, they say it all points to this, a ukrainian made long range device, its quite due, reportedly has a range of up to 1000 kilometres, so potentially could have been fired within ukrainian territory towards the russian capital back it is quite new. Its worth pointing out that ukraine has not claimed responsibility for this and we dont know where the drone in question was deployed from. What were doing at bbc verify is trying to get a sense of the wider picture here. I want to show you this map because what we have done is weve been looking at Russian Media reports of Drone Strikes within russia russian controlled territory this year, and it looks like there has been at least 120 of them. So if we go to our mat here, we see a spate of attacks in the capital moscow. Also on the border and edging towards belarus there, around the Kharkiv Region of ukraine, so over the border, striking russian targets, and also if we come down to the south here, russian annexed crimea, back in 2014 that went into russian hands. Lots of attacks there. So this gives a sense of what is happening here, not just the russian capital that has been attacked by drones but also wider parts of russia and russian controlled territory, too. And wider parts of russia and russian controlled territory, too. And that is the latest controlled territory, too. And that is the latest on controlled territory, too. And that is the latest on the controlled territory, too. And that is the latest on the drone controlled territory, too. And that is the latest on the drone attacks, | is the latest on the drone attacks, there were attacks from the water, take me briefly through what both sides have been saying about that . The russians are saying that three drones, these are boat drones, apparently attacked two of their ships in the black sea. The ukrainians are saying that its nonsense, that this isnt the case, they didnt do that. But we know it has been a tactic that the ukrainians have been said to have used in the past. Though interestingly, only back in may, on one occasion they said this was something they had done but i think all of this shows that in this area of modern warfare, drones, which of course a relatively cheap, are something that are being used more and more. Certainly russia looking to hit ukrainian targets and the other way round. So many analysts are saying this is the era of the drones. , are saying this is the era of the drones. ,. , ~ ,. , drones. Thanks for taking us through all of that before drones. Thanks for taking us through all of that before we drones. Thanks for taking us through all of that before we have drones. Thanks for taking us through all of that before we have a drones. Thanks for taking us through all of that before we have a quick all of that before we have a quick break, i want to bring you the latest from the white house on our minster, niger. The situation there, the white house talking about it, we dont have any indications of direct threats to us citizens in niger, saying we dont have any decisions on the future of us assistance to that country and saying they were grateful for the strong statements of support from Ecowas Nations on the current situations in niger. And in the last few seconds saying there is no indication russia was behind that coup of the last few days. So they are some of the latest lines coming from the white house on our main story. Around the world and across the uk, youre watching bbc news. Lets bring you some of the main stories across the uk now. And retailers say the rate at which food prices are rising in shops is at its lowest level since last december. Food inflation slowed to 13. 4 injuly helped by the price of some staple foods such as oils, fish and Breakfast Cereals falling. But overall, shop prices are still 7. 6 higher thisjuly than a year ago. Almost half of under 185 in need of urgent care for Eating Disorders in england are waiting more than three months to begin nhs treatment, according to new analysis. This is despite an nhs promise to ensure that by 2021 the majority of children with acute cases would begin treatment within a week. And nigel farage says coutts bank has offered to reinstate his personal and business accounts after they were closed. Last month, the former ukip leader accused the bank of shutting down his accounts because it did not like his political views. Both the head of coutts and the Chief Executive of its Parent Company natwest have since resigned. Youre live with bbc news. In the womens world cup england have easily beaten china to get through to the knock out stage. The lionesses won 6 1 and now qualitfy as group winners. Elsewhere denmark have beaten haiti, to qualify second in group d. Earlier, defending champions the usa suffered a huge scare against world cup debutants, portugal before scraping through. They drew nil nil, with the portuguese hitting the post in the closing stages. The usa will now face the winners of group g. And the netherlands topped Group E Ahead of the us as they thrashed vietnam 7 nil. The former england lioness lynda hale shared her thoughts on the result. The result, you couldnt expect any more. It was brilliant. And the performance, such an improvement from the last one. Serena williams is such a brilliant tactician, she worked everything out and everything went to plan. It really did, there were those wobbles and worries with keira walsh out with injury, how the midfield would stack up. Theyve struggled perhaps in their earlier games, only getting one goal in each of those matches, but they seemed to really click today. You couldnt have asked for anything better. She gave everybody a job to do, the job they did was perfect, and the goals just came flowing. Its a shame that laurenjamess goal was disallowed because that was absolutely icing on the cake. How are you enjoying the tournament . Absolutely brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I mean, ive watched football for years but the actual standing of the football this year is absolutely brilliant. I want to put another picture on the screen as youre talking because this of course is light years away from your time with england. You were the second person ever to score for england women back in 1972. We have that picture on the screen, the First Official game for england. How does it feel, watching what has happened to womens football over these recent decades . From when i first started playing, we had next to nothing, and now they. What the england team have got now, they are absolutely elite players. But actually, working up from when i first started playing, with all the money and the grants from the lotteries and other things, there is no end to what we can do. Its an absolutely brilliant time for womens football. It was interesting, i was reading about your time, you had to apparently come through trials after the fa lifted the 51 year ban on girls and women playing football. I mean, that moment when you pulled on the england shirt, what did that actually feel like, after all of that . The ban really affected me as much as, that i never played on really good pitches, we all used to play on, like, a wreck or Something Like that, a common. But putting that shirt on, its 50 years ago we did that, there wasnt the publicity, all the hype and everything. To me, i wasjust going out to play football and representing my country. And never really got any recognition at all. Quick final thought, how far can england go, do you think . Sky is the limit, with what she did today. And the ones youre nervous about in terms of coming up against . Well, ijust hope we get a good result against nigeria. Because the teams that we play normally are european, and the other teams, theyre the ones that are pulling out all the stops and changing the record books. I want to show you some dramatic footage of a Plane Crashing into the sea by busy New Hampshire beach in the united states. A small plane was left floating nose first in the water, after an Emergency Landing caused it to flip tail over nose by a busy New Hampshire beach. Officials say lifeguards rescued the pilot, who was not hurt. Witnesses say the single engine plane was towing a banner before it crashed. Footage shared on social media shows the plane approaching the water, then Crash Landing and flipping over on impact all within close view of beach crowds. From that, let me take you to china. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in beijing, as heavy rain and flooding continues to batter northern china. At least 20 people are known to have died as a result of storm doksuri. President xi jinping today called for every effort to rescue those lost or trapped by the rains. From beijing, Steve Mcdonnell sent this report. Methods from the old days have been pulled out to reach people cut off by flash floods. Boats have been the best option for emergency teams, but in places there are not enough of them. Roads have become perilous fast moving rivers, and some have not heeded warnings, trying to drive through Suburban Beijing in clearly dangerous situations. Yesterday, cars were washed away by the dozen. Its not clear how many people died in this way. Rescue workers have been stretched to the limit in a race against rising waters. Neighbouring Hubei Province has been especially inundated after water was diverted there to take the pressure off the capital. But Still Beijing has had to move more than 120,000 residents to safer areas where supplies have been stockpiled for them. Translation we have prepared water, noodles, bread and hot water to keep people going. The government warned people here to remain indoors and ordered employers to allow their staff to stay at home. But this city is not used to flooding like this, certainly not like the cities in the south of china. The last couple of days have been very tough. Locals have pitched in to defend their neighbourhoods. When firefighters arrive, they are helping the most vulnerable. And china can also mobilise the Peoples Liberation army at times like this. Helicopters have been crucial. Translation if we can get in and land we will. But if we cant soldiers will rappel down on ropes and reach those that need help that way. The priority for them now is to reach communities cut off from the outside world, without water and without electricity. Stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. Earlier i spoke to the our china media analyst kerry allen. She told me about the unprecedented scale of the flooding and the damage. For the last couple of days, there had been this really extreme flooding in beijing and as stephen says, you dont normally see this in the city. Theres been acknowledgement from officials that this really is unprecedented weather. Youve got rivers that have flooded their banks, roads that are completely submerged, houses as well, some areas you can literally only see the roofs. And there has been this dramatic video footage of, for example, people being rescued out of cars because the water has suddenly, in some communities, where it is close to mountains, for example, so there have been landslides and mudslides, the water has just rushed so quickly that it has been a life or death situation for some people. As youre talking we are seeing more of the pictures, and theyre quite startling. 50,000 people have already been evacuated from beijing, theyve been hit by one typhoon, but another is coming, isnt it . It is, yes. Typhoon khanun, which is expected to make landfall or come very close to taiwan in the next couple of days. But also theres been media on how it is also going to impact the east of china, a province zhejiang province, which is quite close to shanghai. But flooding at this time of year is very common in china and there have been reports in recent weeks of flooding not just of the east coast but also in the south west of the country, so lots of media too on flooding in other regions, like sichuan, for example. I want to show you pictures from south western area, you can see an umbrella in the floodwaters but cling to it is an elderly woman trying to stay afloat. Floodwaters have swept down streets, flooding the elderly woman. Eventually she was pulled out by a man rushing into the waters, apparently he couldnt even swim but an incredible rescue there and incredible pictures coming into us from china. Just time to tell you that the french are saying that evacuation in niger is now under way. More on that here in a moment or two. Hello, there. Were into a new month, but very little change to the weather pattern. Its going to remain unsettled throughout the rest of this week with low Pressure Systems dominating the scene. And it will feel rather cool as well for the time of year. Now, july was a wet month up and down the country. Many places saw more than double their normal amounts of rainfall. A few areas even saw three times the amount of rainfall, all because of low pressure. Now, thats yesterdays area of low pressure. This is tomorrows low pressure. Were in between Weather Systems for the rest of today. So not a bad afternoon, i suppose. Well see some sunshine around. Quite a bit of cloud, though, across scotland, northern england, northern ireland, some spots of rain in there as well and the odd shower elsewhere. Otherwise, its mostly dry and with lighter winds for many, we should be up to around 22 degrees, but it goes downhill quite quickly across the southwest. This next area of low pressure hurtles in this evening and overnight, bringing strengthening winds across the south and the west and outbreaks of rain which will continue to push northwards and eastwards to most areas, that is away from the north of scotland. And for many it will be quite a mild and muggy night as well. So heres wednesdays picture, it looks pretty autumnal. And in fact, with this deep low spreading across the country, well see widespread gales across the channel and Southern England there, 50, 60 mile an hour gusts, but lighterwinds in the centre of the system. So as we move through the afternoon with light winds here, sunshine appears, may set off some heavy showers or thunderstorms and they may be slow moving because the winds will be light in the centre of the low. Could be up to 20 to 22 degrees in the warmest spots. Otherwise, for most, its the high teens. That area of low pressure pulls away into the near continent. So for thursday, were in a run of north north westerly winds, could start off with quite a lot of cloud across the northern half of the country. A few showers from the word go in the south, but it is a day of sunshine and showers. It will feel quite cool as well in the brisk north westerly winds, certainly around northern and western coasts. In the sunshine, not too bad, but well see most of the showers across Western Areas and some of them could turn out to be heavy and thundery. Disappointing temperatures for early august. Generally its the mid to high teens. So another day of sunshine and showers today on friday. The heavy showers will be towards the east of england. And then another area of low pressure arrives in time for the weekend. Forced this is bbc forced news, the headlines this is bbc news, the headlines france prepares to airlift its nationals out of niger as the Security Situation deteriorates after last weeks military coup. Russia blames ukraine after the second drone strike on a moscow skyscraper in two days. The pakistani migrants are risking their lives to reach europe . Bbc gains a rare access to Police Investigations of last june s deadly greek boat disaster. And the uk could soon send its first rocket into space the French Foreign minister has been talking and we can give you a few quotes from the last couple of minutes. They are organising flights to allow those who have contacted the Crisis Centre of the French Embassy to actually leave from the airport and they estimate a few hundred french people want to leave the country and have expressed that intention. They say a few hundred europeans, since we show solidarity with other european countries, and if their nationals decide to join those evacuations, we will Work Together to get those people out, the
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.