The prices of the coup in Niger
The army takeover in Niger has upended years of Western counterterrorism efforts in West Africa. The coup additionally poses challenges for the Biden administration’s struggle in opposition to Islamist militants on the continent, particularly within the Sahel, the semiarid area south of the Sahara the place teams linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State are shortly gaining floor.
Niger, an impoverished nation of 25 million folks that’s practically twice the dimensions of Texas, has lately been the exception to that development. Terrorist assaults in opposition to civilians there decreased by 49 % this yr, largely due to French and U.S. troops’ coaching and aiding of Nigerien forces there, in addition to efforts from the deposed president, analysts say.
These features might be in jeopardy if a regional battle breaks out or if the junta orders the Western forces, together with 1,100 American troops, to depart and three U.S. drone bases to be shuttered. It might additionally open the door to Russian affect in Niger within the type of the Kremlin-backed Wagner personal army firm.
Penalties: A safety vacuum in Niger might embolden the militants to ramp up propaganda, enhance recruitment, set up ministates in distant areas and plot assaults in opposition to Western nations. Eradicating the comparatively small U.S. presence would make it more durable to handle threats as they emerge, officers mentioned.
Ukraine claims one other small acquire
Ukraine’s forces have pushed additional into the Mokri Yaly River Valley within the south of the nation, retaking the tiny village of Urozhaine, with a inhabitants of underneath 1,000. The recapture of the village, the primary by Kyiv’s forces since late July, follows the retreat by Russian forces after greater than per week of preventing.
Ukraine now holds positions on each banks of the Mokri Yaly River. However the truth that progress in Kyiv’s counteroffensive is measured by the recapture of small villages reinforces how troublesome the preventing has develop into.
In different information: As Russia threatens ships within the Black Sea, the 40-mile Sulina Channel has stored grain flowing, changing into an important and secure lifeline for Ukraine.
England triumphs in opposition to Australia
Spain and England will face off within the ultimate of the Ladies’s World Cup on Sunday, after England beat Australia, 3-1, yesterday, in a sport that broke hearts throughout the host nation.
For 3 weeks, the Matildas have held Australia within the palms of their arms, throughout exhilarating highs and moments of beautiful pressure. Sam Kerr, the staff’s captain and celebrity, has needed to miss a lot of the match due to a calf damage. Towards England on Wednesday, she scored one extraordinary aim — however she couldn’t observe it with others.
Results: Alex Chidiac, a midfielder for the Matildas, mentioned that the nation’s run on this match will go away a “lasting legacy.” Learn extra about the lengthy rise of ladies’s sports activities in Australia.
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France’s huge however ageing system of public swimming pools is feeling the strains of rising power prices, rising water shortage and mounting budgetary strain.
As warmth waves develop into extra frequent, conflicts over spending priorities might develop into extra widespread. A brand new stadium stands reverse a closed pool in Montlhéry, south of Paris. “They discovered cash for soccer, however not for swimming,” one native swimmer mentioned.
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How England received: Learn evaluation of the victory in opposition to the Matildas.
Carli Lloyd responds: The response to her headline-grabbing feedback.
A brand new debate about magnificence requirements
4 ’90s supermodels, all of their 50s — Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell — grace the entrance of the September problem of Vogue.
The quilt has generated enthusiasm amongst some and consternation amongst others, who query the promotion of those girls as paragons of mature magnificence when the years have seemingly been smoothed from their faces. The fashions look “so retouched that they appear extra like A.I.-generated bots than precise folks,” Vanessa Friedman, The Occasions’s chief vogue critic, writes.
