DAKAR: Two men claiming to be Russian nationals and saying they were taken captive in Niger by militants linked to Al-Qaeda appeared in a video published on a media platform affiliated to the extremist group.
The video, which appeared on the az-Zallaqa platform on Friday night, showed two men who said they were seized by the militants while working in Baga in northeastern Niger.
The men, seated side by side and dressed in traditional local clothing, spoke into the camera. One identified himself as Yury, saying he is a geologist and was working for a Russian company when he was arrested by JNIM, the Al-Qaeda affiliated group in the region. The other man said his name, which was harder to make out, and said he’d been in Niger for a month.
The AP cannot independently verify the video or the date it was filmed. The men, who spoke in English, did not say when they had been detained.
This is the first known sighting of the men. If their account is confirmed, they would be the first Russians in the Sahel believed to be kidnapped by militants despite a strong and growing Russian presence across the region.
Russia has capitalized on the deteriorating relations between the West and coup-affected Sahel nations in West Africa to send fighters to the region and assert its influence. Wagner, Russia’s shadowy mercenary group, has been active in the Sahel — the vast expanse south of the Sahara Desert — as the mercenaries profit from seized mineral riches in exchange for their security services.
In recent months Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, notably France and the United States, turning instead to Russia for security. In April, Russian military trainers arrived in Niger to reinforce the country’s air defenses.
The video comes days after Al-Qaeda claimed and an attack that dealt Wagner its deadliest blow in recent years, when it ambushed and killed at least 50 fighters in Mali. At least two Russians were taken captive by rebels, who were also involved in the attack.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment about the hostages.
The abductions are a significant hit to Wagner’s efforts in Niger, said Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a security think tank, who first reported the Russians had been taken. The fact that Al-Qaeda used the word “captives” and not hostages, in the video, points to a potential desire for a prisoner swap with militants being held by military regimes in the Sahel, he said.
Nasr said the hostages were taken on July 19 during a battle between militants and Niger’s military in Baga.
He said this based on a photograph sent to him by JNIM in the aftermath of the attack and showing the men’s faces, which he identified as the Russian captives in the video. The militants also confirmed to him the date the men were taken and their nationalities. The Russians are the only known foreign non-African hostages currently believed to be held by militant groups in the Sahel, he said.
Militant groups have been abducting hostages for ransom as a way to fund their operations and expand their presence. At least 25 foreigners and untold numbers of locals have been kidnapped in the Sahel — the vast, semi-arid expanse below the Sahara Desert — since 2015, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
French journalist Olivier Dubois was released last year after being kidnapped from northern Mali in April 2021 and the last known Western hostages were three Italians freed in February, after being kidnapped by militants from Mali in 2022.
Two men who say they’re Russian appear in hostage video from Niger released by Al-Qaeda-linked group
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Two men who say they’re Russian appear in hostage video from Niger released by Al-Qaeda-linked group
- The video, which appeared on the az-Zallaqa platform on Friday night, showed two men who said they were seized by the militants while working in Baga in northeastern Niger
- If their account is confirmed, they would be the first Russians in the Sahel believed to be kidnapped by militants despite a strong and growing Russian presence across the region
South Korea’s parliament convenes for acting president impeachment vote
- Push to impeach acting president Han Duck-soo has thrown South Korea’s once-vibrant democratic success story into uncharted territory
- Plan for a vote to impeach Han was after he declined to immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court
The push to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who has been acting president since Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14 for declaring martial law on Dec. 3, has thrown South Korea’s once-vibrant democratic success story into uncharted territory.
Ahead of the parliamentary session, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said his Democratic Party, which has majority control of parliament, will go ahead with the plan to impeach the acting president, accusing Han of “acting for insurrection.”
“The only way to normalize the country is to swiftly root out all the insurrection forces,” Lee said in a fiery speech, adding the party was acting on the public order to eradicate those who have put the country at risk.
There has been overwhelming public support for Yoon’s removal, according to opinion polls conducted after his martial law attempt.
The plan for a vote to impeach Han was unveiled on Thursday by the main opposition Democratic Party after he declined to immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court, saying it would exceed his acting role.
It remained unclear how many votes are needed to impeach Han as acting leader. The threshold for a prime minister is a simple majority, while a two-thirds majority is needed for a president. It is also unclear whether Han and the ruling party would accept any outcome.
If Han is suspended, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will assume the acting presidency by law.
Lee’s pledge to oust Han came minutes after Choi warned that impeaching the acting president would seriously damage the country’s economic credibility and asked political parties to withdraw the plan.
“The economy and the people’s livelihoods are walking on thin ice under a national state of emergency and it cannot cope any greater political uncertainty that will result from another acting president assuming the acting presidency,” he said.
Choi spoke for the country’s cabinet, flanked by ministers.
The South Korean won weakened to a fresh low of 1,486.7 per dollar on Friday, the weakest since March 2009, as analysts said there was little to reverse the negative sentiment stemming from the political uncertainty.
The vote to determine Han’s fate comes on the same day the Constitutional Court held its first hearing in a case reviewing whether to overturn the impeachment and reinstate Yoon or remove him permanently from office. It has 180 days to reach a decision.
Speaking for the court in a preparatory hearing, Justice Cheong Hyung-sik said the court will move swiftly on the case considering its gravity, denying a request by Yoon’s lawyers for a postponement in proceedings to better prepare the case.
In the hearing that wrapped up under an hour, the court set the next hearing for Jan. 3.
Yoon Kap-keun, one of the lawyers representing the impeached president, later told reporters the legal team is still adding members and that Yoon himself plans to appear in person in the future.
The hearing follows weeks of defiance by Yoon ignoring requests by the court to submit documents as well as summons by investigators in a separate criminal case over his martial law declaration.
Yoon was not required to attend Friday’s hearing. If he ousted, a new presidential election would be held within 60 days.
WORST POLITICAL CRISIS IN DECADES
The events following the Dec. 3 martial law declaration have plunged the country into its gravest political crisis since 1987, when widespread protests forced the ruling party of former military generals into accepting a constitutional amendment bringing in direct, popular vote to elect the president.
Yoon shocked the country and the world with a late-night announcement on Dec. 3 that he was imposing martial law to overcome political deadlock and root out “anti-state forces.”
The military deployed special forces to the national assembly, the election commission, and the office of a liberal YouTube commentator.
It also issued orders banning activity by parliament and political parties, as well as calling for government control of the media.
But within hours 190 lawmakers had defied the cordons of troops and police and voted against Yoon’s order. About six hours after his initial decree, Yoon rescinded the order.
Yoon and senior members of his administration also face criminal investigations for insurrection.
‘Dangerous new era’: climate change spurs disaster in 2024
- This year was hottest in history, with record-breaking temperatures in atmosphere, oceans acting like fuel for extreme weather
- World Weather Attribution said nearly every disaster they analyzed over the past 12 months was intensified by climate change
PARIS: From tiny and impoverished Mayotte to oil-rich behemoth Saudi Arabia, prosperous European cities to overcrowded slums in Africa, nowhere was spared the devastating impact of supercharged climate disasters in 2024.
This year is the hottest in history, with record-breaking temperatures in the atmosphere and oceans acting like fuel for extreme weather around the world.
World Weather Attribution, experts on how global warming influences extreme events, said nearly every disaster they analyzed over the past 12 months was intensified by climate change.
“The impacts of fossil fuel warming have never been clearer or more devastating than in 2024. We are living in a dangerous new era,” said climate scientist Friederike Otto, who leads the WWA network.
That was tragically evident in June when more than 1,300 people died during the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia where temperatures hit 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit).
Extreme heat — sometimes dubbed the ‘silent killer’ — also proved deadly in Thailand, India, and United States.
Conditions were so intense in Mexico that howler monkeys dropped dead from the trees, while Pakistan kept millions of children at home as the mercury inched above 50C.
Greece recorded its earliest ever heatwave, forcing the closure of its famed Acropolis and fanning terrible wildfires, at the outset of Europe’s hottest summer yet.
Climate change isn’t just sizzling temperatures — warmer oceans mean higher evaporation, and warmer air absorbs more moisture, a volatile recipe for heavy rainfall.
In April, the United Arab Emirates received two years worth of rain in a single day, turning parts of the desert-state into a sea, and hobbling Dubai’s international airport.
Kenya was barely out of a once-in-a-generation drought when the worst floods in decades delivered back-to-back disasters for the East African nation.
Four million people needed aid after historic flooding killed more than 1,500 people across West and Central Africa. Europe — most notably Spain — also suffered tremendous downpours that caused deadly flash flooding.
Afghanistan, Russia, Brazil, China, Nepal, Uganda, India, Somalia, Pakistan, Burundi and the United States were among other countries that witnessed flooding in 2024.
Warmer ocean surfaces feed energy into tropical cyclones as they barrel toward land, whipping up fierce winds and their destructive potential.
Major hurricanes pummelled the United States and Caribbean, most notably Milton, Beryl and Helene, in a 2024 season of above-average storm activity.
The Philippines endured six major storms in November alone, just two months after suffering Typhoon Yagi as it tore through Southeast Asia.
In December, scientists said global warming had helped intensify Cyclone Chino to a Category 4 storm as it collided head-on with Mayotte, devastating France’s poorest overseas territory.
Some regions may be wetter as climate change shifts rainfall patterns, but others are becoming drier and more vulnerable to drought.
The Americas suffered severe drought in 2024 and wildfires torched millions of hectares in the western United States, Canada, and the Amazon basin — usually one of Earth’s wettest places.
Between January and September, more than 400,000 fires were recorded across South America, shrouding the continent in choking smoke.
The World Food Programme in December said 26 million people across southern Africa were at risk of hunger as a months-long drought parched the impoverished region.
Extreme weather cost thousands of lives in 2024 and left countless more in desperate poverty. The lasting toll of such disasters is impossible to quantify.
In terms of economic losses, Zurich-based reinsurance giant Swiss Re estimated the global damage bill at $310 billion, a statement issued early December.
Flooding in Europe — particularly in the Spanish province of Valencia, where over 200 people died in October — and hurricanes Helene and Milton drove up the cost, the company said.
As of November 1, the United States had suffered 24 weather disasters in 2024 with losses exceeding $1 billion each, government figures showed.
Drought in Brazil cost its farming sector $2.7 billion between June and August, while “climatic challenges” drove global wine production to its lowest level since 1961, an industry body said.
Court hearing set for man accused of fatally burning woman on New York City subway
- Sebastian Zapeta, a Guatemalan citizen who entered the US illegally, has been jailed at the city’s Rikers Island complex
- Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman and set her clothing on fire with a lighter, then sat on a bench and watched as she burned
NEW YORK: A court hearing is scheduled Friday for the man accused of setting a woman on fire on a New York City subway train and fanning the flames with a shirt as she burned to death.
Sebastian Zapeta has been charged with two counts of murder and one count of arson for the apparently random attack, which occurred early Sunday morning on a train stopped in Brooklyn.
The 33-year-old man made his first court appearance earlier in the week. He was not required to enter a plea, and his attorney has not responded to requests for comment.
The victim has not yet been publicly identified by police.
Zapeta, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the US illegally, has been jailed at the city’s Rikers Island complex.
Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who might have been sleeping on the train at the Coney Island station stop, and set her clothing on fire with a lighter. He waved a shirt at her to fan the fire, causing her to become engulfed in flames, prosecutor Ari Rottenberg said during the court appearance Tuesday.
Zapeta then sat on a bench on the platform and watched as she burned, prosecutors allege. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police took Zapeta into custody while he was riding a train on the same line later that day.
Zapeta told investigators that he drinks a lot of liquor and did not know what had happened, according to Rottenberg. However, Zapeta did identify himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit, the prosecutor said.
A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police after his arrest matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support.
Federal immigration officials said he was deported in 2018 but returned to the US illegally sometime after that.
India announces state funeral for ex-PM Manmohan Singh
- Manmohan Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, died at the age of 92 late Thursday evening at a hospital in New Delhi
- The official date for the funeral was not announced, but a member of Congress party suggested it would be held on Saturday
NEW DELHI: India on Friday announced seven days of state mourning after the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, one of the architects of the country’s economic liberalization in the early 1990s.
Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, died at the age of 92 late Thursday evening at a hospital in New Delhi. He will also be accorded a state funeral.
“As a mark of respect for the departed dignitary, it has been decided that seven days of state mourning will be observed throughout India,” the Indian government said in a statement Friday, with mourning running until January 1.
“It has also been decided that the state funeral will be accorded to late Dr. Manmohan Singh,” it said, adding that the national flag will also be flown at half-mast.
India’s cricket team battling hosts Australia in the fourth Test took to the ground Friday with black arm bands to show respect for Singh.
The official date for the state funeral was not immediately announced, but a senior member of the Congress party suggested it would be held on Saturday.
The former premier was an understated technocrat who was hailed for overseeing economic boom in Asia’s fourth-largest economy in his first term but his second stint ended with a series of major corruption scandals, slowing growth, and high inflation.
The unpopularity of Singh in his second term, and a lacklustre leadership by Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, the current leader of opposition in the lower house, led to the first landslide victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
Born in 1932 in the mud-house village of Gah, in what is now Pakistan, Singh studied economics to find a way to eradicate poverty in the vast nation and never held elected office before taking the nation’s highest office.
He won scholarships to attend both Cambridge, where he obtained a first in economics, and Oxford, where he completed his doctorate.
Singh worked in a string of senior civil service posts, served as a central bank governor and also held various jobs with global agencies such as the United Nations.
He was tapped in 1991 by then Congress prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to reel India back from the worst financial crisis in its modern history
In his first term Singh steered the economy through a period of nine-percent growth, lending the country the international clout it had long sought.
He also sealed a landmark nuclear deal with the US that he said would help India meet its growing energy needs.
India announces state funeral for former PM Manmohan Singh
- Former leader was one of the architects of India’s economic liberalization in the early 1990s
- He sealed a landmark nuclear deal with the US that he said would help India meet its growing energy needs
NEW DELHI: India on Friday announced seven days of state mourning after the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, one of the architects of the country’s economic liberalization in the early 1990s.
Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, died at the age of 92 late Thursday evening at a hospital in New Delhi. He will also be accorded a state funeral.
“As a mark of respect for the departed dignitary, it has been decided that seven days of state mourning will be observed throughout India,” the Indian government said in a statement Friday, with mourning running until January 1.
“It has also been decided that the state funeral will be accorded to late Dr. Manmohan Singh,” it said, adding that the national flag will also be flown at half-mast.
India’s cricket team battling hosts Australia in the fourth Test took to the ground Friday with black arm bands to show respect for Singh.
The official date for the state funeral was not immediately announced, but a senior member of the Congress party suggested it would be held on Saturday.
The former premier was an understated technocrat who was hailed for overseeing economic boom in Asia’s fourth-largest economy in his first term but his second stint ended with a series of major corruption scandals, slowing growth, and high inflation.
The unpopularity of Singh in his second term, and a lackluster leadership by Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, the current leader of opposition in the lower house, led to the first landslide victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
Born in 1932 in the mud-house village of Gah, in what is now Pakistan, Singh studied economics to find a way to eradicate poverty in the vast nation and never held elected office before taking the nation’s highest office.
He won scholarships to attend both Cambridge, where he obtained a first in economics, and Oxford, where he completed his doctorate.
Singh worked in a string of senior civil service posts, served as a central bank governor and also held various jobs with global agencies such as the United Nations.
He was tapped in 1991 by then Congress prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to reel India back from the worst financial crisis in its modern history
In his first term Singh steered the economy through a period of nine-percent growth, lending the country the international clout it had long sought.
He also sealed a landmark nuclear deal with the US that he said would help India meet its growing energy needs.
