to restore niger s elected president. the premise to meanwhile was in paris on saturday to meet lawmakers and greeting protesters against the coup outside the country s embassy. i ve spoken to a senior associate at the centre. international studies africa program and i asked him how likely it is that we will see military intervention in niger. i think it is very unlikely at this stage. it was already unlikely before the deadline passed, it became less likely yesterday when the nigerian parliament voted to deny the president use of nigeria s military to stage an intervention. this was always a lot of blustery talk from ecowas, trying to ratchet up pressure on the junta. the junta called their bluff by calling in reinforcements from mali and niger, creating the possibility of a regional war, so with nigeria backing down now, i don t think there is a lot of hope that we are going to be able to see ecowas muster a military
intervention at this stage. i think they will have to go back to the drawing board. so, what else can ecowas do aside from a military intervention? well, let s remember ecowas is not the only organisation trying to put pressure on the junta. we have seen they have done a lot in the last week in terms of imposing their own no fly zone, so cutting off commercial flights into the country, they have imposed sanctions, so they are doing a lot already. we have seen nigeria cut off electricity supplies to niger. but let s remember the african union also has a role to play. it has threatened sanctions, it has threatened to suspend niger from the african union. then there s washington, france and other international powers that are suspending development assistance and could suspend military assistance to the country, so there is a lot more pressure that the international community can bring to bear
we start in niger, as the generals who ve seized power there, say they ve closed the country s airspace until further notice, in response to threat of military intervention against them. the announcement came as a deadline expired for them to restore the elected president or face possible action from the west african regional grouping known as ecowas. a spokesman for the military junta, amadou abdramane, made the annoucement of the closure of the country s airspace on television. he said the armed forces were ready to defend niger s territory, and said that any attempt to violate national airspace will be met with an energetic and instantaneous response. earlier thousands of people gathered in niger s capital to support the militaryjunta, despite international condemnation of the soldiers actions. some neighbouring countries including mali, and guinea have voiced support for the coup leaders. and algeria, which borders niger to the north, has said it is categorically
they were holding russian flags as well as flying the flag of niger. economically, the country is rich in uranium, indeed, it is one of the worlds biggest producers. it provides around 5% of global uranium supplies. the radioactive metal is so important that one of the main roads in the capital is named after it. but it is also worth remembering that the people of niger consistently rank among the poorest in terms of living standards anywhere in the world. at least 30 passengers have been killed after an express train derailed in southern pakistan. a police officer supervising the rescue operation said more than 100 people had been injured in the incident. the hazara express came off the rails near nawab shah in sindh province, as it travelled from karachi to abbottabad. it s not immediately clear what caused the derailment. these are the latest pictures from the scene as dusk
a deadline for the militaryjunta in niger, to step down, is nowjust hours away. the west african regional bloc of ecowas gave the coup leaders a week to reinstate the ousted president, mohamed bazoum and threatened military intervention if its demands were not met. there ve been reports of sporadic shows of support for the junta on the streets of the capital, niamey but overall the city is said to be calm. some neighbouring countries including mali, burkina faso and guinea have voiced support for the coup leaders. and algeria which borders niger to the north has said it is categorically against armed intervention. france says it will support efforts by ecowas to restore niger s elected president. niger s prime minister was in paris on saturday ? meeting lawmakers and greeting protestors outside the country s embassy. he has dismissed pro coup protests taking place in his country. let s get some more analysis with a senior lecturer at