But we are also very focused on working together with partners to try to help the haitians restore security, restore stability. That really is the necessary foundation. The developments happen as a Christian Aid Group says an american nurse and her child have been kidnapped in the country. It happened on thursday near the capital, Port Au Prince, after the us advised all its citizens to leave the country because of the worsening Security Situation. Gangs control large parts of haitis capital Port Au Prince and kidnappings for ransom are common. Earlier, i spoke about the situation in haiti with harold isaac, a journalist based near Port Au Prince. Kenya says that it is prepared to send a Multinational Force to haiti what more do we know about that and how it might work . Very little at this stage. I mean, for many people here, it came as a bit of a surprise, especially after over nine months of waiting for a word or an actual commitment with regards to Foreign Police or Military Personnel here in haiti. Its really interesting you say that it came as something of a surprise because as weve been speaking about, the un secretary general Antonio Guterres was in the country and he said its not time to forget haiti. Is that the sense that people there are feeling, that the country has been forgotten . It has been a prevailing feeling in the country for a little while, although in the last week or so, there seems to have been a lot of Movement Including the order of evacuation from us authorities and also now is information about troops, eventually, Police Officers eventually coming to haiti so everyone is taking this for the most part with a bit of a grain of salt, a bit of cautious cautiousness with regards to what it will entail in the short term. I want to ask you about how you think a Multinational Force will be accepted in haiti because as you know, a great deal of Mistrust Grew with un peacekeepers after the Cholera Outbreak in 2010. How do you anticipate these forces being met in haiti . Well, effectively, the question of Foreign Military or Police Intervention in haiti has been a polarising one over the years, especially after the minister, which is the Un Peacekeeping mission from 2004 to 2017, which didnt leave haiti with necessarily good memories, especially the cholera epidemic and sex abuse scandals, so it is early to know how the population will react to this news and also what will be the terms of this intervention. Is this coming at a time when weve been hearing about an american nurse and child who has been kidnapped in the country. Just talk to us about how dangerous it is there right 110w. Well, this is where it is a bit nuanced and complicated because people here, people on the street here in haiti, not much has changed in the last year or so. The main highlight has been in april when a civilian Vigilante Movement started which shifted, pushed the fear to change camp and led gangs to be a little bit more before but it remains a very volatile situation, many parts of the capital remained dangerous and its unclear where we go from here. And along with the United States ordering the departure of nonemergency personnel, we are hearing that some haitian residents have been gathering at the embassy ground, seemingly looking for respite from Gang Violence. Is that what you have been hearing as well . As weve seen on the ground this week, dozens of folk had gathered in front of the us embassy seeking shelter seemingly from Gang Violence which has been prevailing in the vicinity of the us representation. That being said, these people eventually got evacuated by police as they were growing in number and concerns over Security Situation with representation but ivp is, as they are called, internally displaced people, from Gang Violence, are numerous around town. Many neighbourhoods have to be vacated by civilians running away from Gang Violence. Harold isaacs, a journalist in haiti. Harold, great to have your insight. Thank you for being on. The eu has suspended all Security Cooperation with niger after the countrys army took power in a coup, and has refused to recognise the new leaders. It comes shortly after the us declared its Unflagging Support for ousted president mohamed bazoum, seen as a key western ally in the fight against islamist militants. On friday, the head of the president ial guards unit, Generalabdourahmane Tchiani declared himself nigers new leader. He said insecurity, economic woes and Corruption Led him to seize power. But there are now concerns in the west about which countries the new leader will align with. Nigers neighbours, burkina faso and mali, have both pivoted towards russia since their own coups. Chris ewokor in nigeria is following the story for us. There have been a lot of pressure being piled on the leaders of the coup in niger. This evening we are hearing that france has also suspended financial and other aid to niger with immediate effect. This is as a result of the coup and development, Political Development in that country and it is also similar to the eus position, the eu has suspended aid, both financial and military aid. The United States secretary of state, antony blinken, had earlier threatened the countries� s risk, also having millions of dollars in aid be suspended because the coup and the strongest reaction yet we have gotten is from the African Union, which had given the military in niger 15 days maximum to get back to the barracks and have called the Immediate Release of president bazoum who, at the moment, we know is still being held by the military. Earlier, i spoke to cameron hudson, an analyst on African Security with the centre for strategic and international studies. And i began by asking about the response to the coup from the international community. I think for a lot of western countries, the United States, European Union and others, there is an almost automatic response when there is military coups, there is a suspension of military assistance, certainly they maintain humanitarian assistance in a place like niger, which has such a large population, i would expect that to be the same. But were also looking at many of these countries, trying to let the africans lead on this issue. There has been widespread condemnation from the Regional Organisation ecowas, the African Union has given the coup makers two weeks to restore civilian rule in the country and so i think as much as western nations have a playbook that they tend to follow when there is a coup, i think they are also trying to give space to let the region come together in defence of democracy before theyjump in and lead with sanctions or other tactics. In the interim, thejunta says it has dissolved all state institutions. Some aid is being pulled out. What could this mean for the people of niger . I think the people of niger, they will suffer the most and immediately stop the western contribution to nigers budget is more than half so whether it is maintaining the doors of ministries open, schools open, clinics open, all that Depends On Western Donor assistance coming in to the government. In addition, if they are not able to export their principal exports which mostly go to europe, so uranium, which goes almost entirely to france, then again, they are going to see a cut off of their Export Earnings in a massive and very quick way, so the government is going to see their earnings dry up very quickly and if we cant continue to support citizens in the country, they are going to feel the effects of this very, very soon and lets not forget, they are still trying to recover from the covid downturn, the effects of Climate Change and the ukraine war costs which continue to pound that economy. President bazoum has been a key ally for the west in its fight against islamist extremists. Do you envisagejihadist organisations in the region looking to move in on niger and do you see increased risks outside the region as well . Thosejihadist already are targeting niger, they have been encroaching on the capital for upwards of two years and we have seen an uptick in terrorist attacks inside of niger so if you see western military aid and support, assistance, training suspended to niger, youre going to see a further encroachment and certainly those jihadists will see this as a new opportunity to expand their territory. So i think its very likely, in fact, that we see rather quickly a degradation of the Security Environment in the country but again, i think this is the irony of this coup, and the coups in mali and burkina faso, what you find is military leaders who simply dont want to believe that civilian rulers can handle Security Threats in the country and so this is the same playbook they are playing from right now, but what has resulted in mali and burkina faso since those coups is a degradation of security, not an improvement, so i would expect to see the same in niger. Im glad you brought up those two countries of well, burkina faso and mali, because what we have seen is them pivot towards russia since their own coups. Do you see a possibility of this happening with niger . I think its a concern that we have to have. We havent seen the same level of anti western, Anti French Sentiment within the public. Its certainly there, there is no denying that. But i think that the nigerien public had understood that because bazoum was doing the right thing and his predecessor was doing the right thing in terms of transparency and Anti Corruption and democratic principles, there was a great deal of benefit to the country from western donors so i think that we will see that there is pressure on this new regime. Weve seen protests both for and against the coup in niger, so i think its really, how does russia try to take advantage of this and are they able to take advantage of it im using the tactics we know theyve used in mali and burkina faso, disinformation, propaganda, corruption, those kind of things. It will be something we have to watch very closely, for sure. So, cameron, what comes next . Because we have calls today from the African Union for the coup leaders to return to their base. As you say, theyve given that deadline of within 15 days. Ecowas, also due to meet. Do you see this coup has a done deal . Id like to not see the coup as a done deal and using the words of anthony blinken, there is still time for diplomacy and that seems to be the message were certainly getting from washington. I think there is a lot of behind the scenes diplomacy at work right now with countries in the region. The nigerian president has come out forcefully as the head of ecowas, trying to walk this back so i think there is no small amount of effort under way right now trying to walk this back. Will it be successful . I dont know, but i certainly dont think that 48 hours after the coup, we can abandon the billions of dollars and the tens of millions of people that we have been engaging with and supporting in niger, just because some very small group of disgruntled Army Officers decides that they dont want to lose theirjobs and theyre going to take this entire country hostage. I think that would set a very bad example for the rest of the region. Cameron hudson, an analyst on African Security at the centre for strategic and international studies, as always, great to get your insights, cameron, thank you. Thanks. Protests have taken place in israel for the 30th week in a row against the governments planned judicial overhaul. Its the first saturday of mass demonstrations since the first bill in the overhaul was passed by the Israeli Parliament earlier this week. The new law limits the supreme courts ability to nullify legislation it deems unreasonable. An explosion at a Fireworks Warehouse in Southern Thailand killed at least nine people and injured more than a hundred others. With the latest, heres our reporter callum tulley. We know that at least three of those killed in this incident were children, and over 120 people were seriously injured. This is where it happened, in the south of thailand close to the malaysia border in the town of sungai kolok and if we look at some pictures of the aftermath of this incident, we can see the level of destruction caused. The impact wasnt confined to the Fireworks Warehouse. We know that neighbouring buildings were shaken, windows were shattered, roofs collapsed. As these pictures show and we actually heard from one eyewitness who lives 100m from the site and he said that he was at home when he heard a Loud Thunderous Bang and his whole house shook. I saw my roof was wide open, he said. I looked outside and i saw a House Collapsing and people lying on the ground everywhere. It was chaos. We understand the fire has now been contained and the local governor said it was caused by a technical error in steel welding during construction of the building but thailand doesnt have a brilliant record when it comes to incidents involving fireworks, and just five days ago, one woman as killed and ten others were seriously injured in a similar accident in the north of the country. So, although this is a particularly tragic case, its not an isolated one and that is why we are seeing some public pressure on the authorities with regards to safety in the workplace over the last couple of years. Wnba player and two time olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner has announced she will not bejoining her team the Phoenix Mercury, for a two game trip to chicago and indiana. Her team said that griner will miss the games to focus on her mental health, adding Griner Returned To Professional Basketball Playing for the Phoenix Mercury this season after being detained by russia on drug charges for ten months. She was released in a Prisoner Exchange in december. A federaljudge has thrown out former president Donald TrumpsDefamation Lawsuit brought against Us Cable Network cnn. Mr trump sued cnn for 475 million for describing his un substantiated claim that the 2020 president ial election had been stolen from him as the big lie, arguing the phrase had created a False And Incendiary Association between him and hitler. Trump alleged the big lie referred to a nazi Propaganda Campaign used to justify the persecution of the jews. Districtjudge raag singhal, who was appointed by trump, ruled that cnns comments were not defamatory, writing in his verdict no reasonable viewer could, orshould, plausibly make that reference. And adding while the statements were repugnant, were not, as a matter of law, defamatory. Neither cnn or mr trump have commented on the ruling. Ukraine says a Russian Missile attack on the city of sumy in northeast ukraine has killed at least one civilian and wounded five. National police and the Interior Ministry say the missile struck an educational centre. Russian state media is also reporting ukrainian drones have damaged two buildings in moscow. Its happened as president zelensky visits Ukrainian Special forces near the city of bakhmut and as kyiv continues its counter offensive. The city has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. 0ur ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse has more on the significance of the visit. Now he has visited advanced positions on the outskirts where hes thanked his troops. He hasnt gone into detail about what their plans are. He even posed with them in a Petrol Station having a coffee, which is a ukrainian pastime. You often see soldiers in Petrol Stations making long journeys back and forth from the front. And there is a backdrop here where ukraine is attempting its offensive. There are small, hard fought gains taking place. So this is the political effort alongside that, where he wants to be seen near the front to preserve that morale. The City Of Liverpool in the uk has been hosting ukraines biggest pride march, kyi