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Abuja, Nigeria — When Gazali Mahaman Abdou heard about the military coup in his home country of Niger last July, he went to work reporting on developments. A journalist for more than 20 years, Abdou reports for the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle from his base in Niger’s capital, Niamey. But with a transitional military leadership in power, Abdou said, covering the situation has become too risky, with some journalists detained. "Sometimes the menace is not coming from the junta directly but the supporters of the junta. That's why we are afraid,” he said. “Someone can attack you anywhere. That is why we're so careful. It's not easy.” Some journalists left Niger because they couldn't work, Abdou said, adding, “After three or four months, they returned to the country, but they can't critique the junta directly." Risky to report Media advocates say that since the military coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, journalists are at risk of arbitrary arrests and intimidation by transitional authorities. In January, the junta suspended Niger's media association, known as the Maison de la Presse, replacing it with a committee headed by the Interior Ministry’s secretary general. Abdou said journalists like himself who have stayed have changed how they report to ensure their safety. "We’ve become more careful with our choice of words,” he said. “When I work, I know that the junta doesn't like to hear about the number of soldiers who died at the front line. We have to be more careful — we don't give the number, but the government number is not the good [correct] number." It’s a situation that worries press freedom and rights advocates. Groups that include Amnesty International report Niger's transitional leaders are targeting and arbitrarily arresting journalists who report on the conflict and security-related topics. Amnesty has called for the immediate release of journalists unjustly detained, including Soumana Maiga. Authorities detained the newspaper editor in April over a story about Russian agents allegedly installing listening equipment in state buildings. Days before that arrest, authorities detained a journalist and former adviser to the ousted president. A regional trend Busola Ajibola, deputy director of the journalism program at the West Africa-focused Center for Journalism Innovation and Development, says the trend is concerning. "When journalists are arrested arbitrarily and held incommunicado, it sends signals to other journalists to begin to self-censor,” she said. “That pattern is spreading not just in Niger but in places like Burkina Faso. “What we worry about is not just the shrinking of the atmosphere for accountability journalism, but ... the total shrinking of the civic space," she said. VOA’s attempts to reach the transitional government were unsuccessful. But the military has said that those journalists detained are accused of trying to undermine national security and destabilize the country. In a tense environment, Ajibola said, media collaboration is one way for Niger’s journalists to get their stories out. "This is the time we need to begin to advocate for regional collaboration among journalists themselves,” she said. “The government of Niger does not constitute a major threat to a journalist in Ghana, Mozambique or Nigeria, so we can now have a situation where journalists that are in Niger find a way to amplify their voices. They necessarily do not have to be the ones telling the stories, especially if they can't tell the stories within a safe zone." Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, last year joined with 80 media groups and journalists to demand the military respect press freedom. But since the coup, Niger has dropped 19 points on the RSF World Press Freedom Index rankings.

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Dakar, Senegal — Mali and Russia on Friday launched the construction of the largest solar power plant in West Africa, Malian Energy Minister Bintou Camara said on national television.  It comes as the country continues to be plagued by electricity supply problems, with only half of the population having access to electricity.  The power station, "the first [in terms of size] in the country and even in the subregion ... will greatly reduce the electricity shortage currently affecting our country," Camara told Malian TV station ORTM.  Grigory Nazarov, director of NovaWind, the Russian company in charge of the construction, said it is expected to increase Mali's electricity production by 10%.  NovaWind is a subsidiary of Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom.  The 200-megawatt solar station will cover 314 hectares in Sanankoroba, in southwestern Mali, close to the capital, Bamako.  The work, which is costing over 200 million euros ($217 million), will take a year to complete, Nazarov said.  The solar power plant is designed for "stable operation for 20 years" and will come "under full control of the Malian Ministry of Energy" after 10 years, he added.  Malian electricity production is 70% thermal, which is extremely costly, Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou said in March when the deal with NovaWind was signed.  Burdened with a debt of more than $330 million, Mali's national energy company is no longer able to supply electricity to the capital and other towns around the country.  Construction of two other solar plants near Bamako is scheduled to start on May 28 and June 1 and be built by Chinese and Emirati companies.  Moscow has steadily gained influence in Mali through the deployment of Wagner Group mercenaries, unofficially serving the Kremlin's aims in resource-rich Africa since the 2010s.  During a call in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Malian junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita discussed strengthening "cooperation in energy, agricultural and mining projects," the Kremlin said. 

NEW YORK — Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar nominee whose most famous works skewered America's food industry and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.  Spurlock died Thursday in New York from complications of cancer, according to a statement issued Friday by his family.  “It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” Craig Spurlock, who worked with him on several projects, said in the statement. “Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity. The world has lost a true creative genius and a special man. I am so proud to have worked together with him.”  Spurlock made a splash in 2004 with his groundbreaking film “Super Size Me,” which was nominated for an Academy Award. The film chronicled the detrimental physical and psychological effects of Spurlock eating only McDonald’s food for 30 days. He gained about 25 pounds, saw a spike in his cholesterol and lost his sex drive.  “Everything’s bigger in America,” he said in the film. “We’ve got the biggest cars, the biggest houses, the biggest companies, the biggest food, and finally: the biggest people.”  In one scene, Spurlock showed kids a photo of George Washington and none recognized the Founding Father. But they all instantly knew the mascots for Wendy’s and McDonald’s.  The film grossed more than $22 million on a $65,000 budget and preceded the release of Eric Schlosser’s influential “Fast Food Nation,” which accused the industry of being bad for the environment and rife with labor issues.  Spurlock returned in 2017 with “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” — a sober look at an industry that processes 9 billion animals a year in America. He focused on two issues: chicken farmers stuck in a peculiar financial system and the attempt by fast-food chains to deceive customers into thinking they’re eating healthier.  “We’re at an amazing moment in history from a consumer standpoint where consumers are starting to have more and more power,” he told The Associated Press in 2019. “It’s not about return for the shareholders. It’s about return for the consumers.”  Spurlock was a gonzo-like filmmaker who leaned into the bizarre and ridiculous. His stylistic touches included zippy graphics and amusing music, blending a Michael Moore-ish camera-in-your-face style with his own sense of humor and pathos.  “I wanted to be able to lean into the serious moments. I wanted to be able to breathe in the moments of levity. We want to give you permission to laugh in the places where it’s really hard to laugh,” he told the AP.  After he exposed the fast-food and chicken industries, there was an explosion in restaurants stressing freshness, artisanal methods, farm-to-table goodness and ethically sourced ingredients. But nutritionally not much had changed.  “There has been this massive shift and people say to me, ‘So has the food gotten healthier?’ And I say, ‘Well, the marketing sure has,’” he said.  Not all his work dealt with food. Spurlock made documentaries about the boy band One Direction and the geeks and fanboys at Comic-Con. One of his films looked at life behind bars at the Henrico County Jail in Virginia.  With 2008's “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?” Spurlock went on a global search to find the al-Qaida leader, who was killed in 2011. In “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” Spurlock tackled questions of product placement, marketing and advertising.  “Being aware is half the battle, I think. Literally knowing all the time when you’re being marketed to is a great thing,” Spurlock told AP at the time. “A lot of people don’t realize it. They can’t see the forest for the trees."  “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” was to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 but it was shelved at the height of the #MeToo movement when Spurlock came forward to detail his own history of sexual misconduct.  He confessed that he had been accused of rape while in college and had settled a sexual harassment case with a female assistant. He also admitted to cheating on numerous partners. “I am part of the problem,” he wrote.  “For me, there was a moment of kind of realization — as somebody who is a truth-teller and somebody who has made it a point of trying to do what’s right — of recognizing that I could do better in my own life. We should be able to admit we were wrong,” he told the AP.  Spurlock grew up in Beckley, West Virginia. His mother was an English teacher who he remembered would correct his work with a red pen. He graduated with a BFA in film from New York University in 1993.  He is survived by two sons — Laken and Kallen; his mother Phyllis Spurlock; father Ben; brothers Craig and Barry; and former spouses Alexandra Jamieson and Sara Bernstein, the mothers of his children.

Yerevan, Armenia — Armenia has returned to Azerbaijan four border villages it seized decades ago, the countries confirmed Friday, a key step toward normalizing ties between the historic rivals. The move, which has sparked protracted protests in Armenia, is an important move for reaching a comprehensive peace agreement after years of fruitless talks mediated by Russia and Western countries. The Caucasus countries, both former Soviet republics, fought two wars in the 1990s and in 2020 for control of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan recaptured it last year in a lightning offensive, ending three decades of Armenian-separatist rule over the enclave and prompting more than 100,000 residents to flee into Armenia. Yerevan's disastrous defeat provoked a rift with its historic ally Russia, which Armenia accuses of failing to defend it in the face of Azerbaijani threats despite security treaty obligations. After months of diplomatic tensions, Moscow said Friday that it had recalled its ambassador to Armenia for "consultations." Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova did not provide a reason for the recall, which is typically seen in diplomatic circles as an extreme step in the face of worsening ties. Armenia's security service confirmed Friday that its border guards had taken up new positions in the east of the country, reflecting a recently brokered border demarcation deal that cedes the villages to Azerbaijani control. Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev announced separately that his country's border guards had taken control of the four settlements. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed in March to return the four abandoned villages, which were seized in the 1990s, as part of efforts to secure a lasting peace deal. In a televised statement Friday evening, he said fixing the country's volatile border with Azerbaijan "is a sole guarantee for the very existence of the Armenian republic within its internationally recognized and legitimate frontier." The two countries agreed earlier this month on the new demarcation of 12.7 kilometers of their border, returning the villages of Baghanis Ayrum, Ashaghi Askipara, Kheyrimli and Ghizilhajili to Azerbaijan. Pashinyan has hailed the agreement as "very important" for Armenia's sovereignty and said it "brings our security and stability to a new level." The territory ceded by Yerevan is of strategic importance for landlocked Armenia because it controls sections of a vital highway to Georgia. Armenian residents of nearby settlements say the move could cut them off from the rest of the country, and they accuse Pashinyan of unilaterally giving away territory without getting anything in return. Pashinyan has said Armenia will build new roads in the area over the next few months. His decision has sparked weeks of anti-government protests in Armenia, with thousands of demonstrators led by the charismatic cleric Bagrat Galstanyan demanding Pashinyan's resignation. A new anti-government protest is scheduled for Sunday. A 5.8-kilometer section of the border near the Armenian village of Kirants will be guarded "according to a transitional scheme until July 24," Armenia's national security service said Friday. The village mayor has said locals will be allowed to use a section of the road that is to be transferred to Azerbaijani control, until new roads are built. Local media reported that some Kirants residents had dismantled their houses and fled the village, which is located just meters from the redrawn border. 

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary will seek to opt out of any NATO operations aimed at supporting Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday, suggesting that the military alliance and the European Union were moving toward a more direct conflict with Russia.  Orban told state radio that Hungary opposes a plan NATO is weighing to provide more predictable military support to Ukraine in coming years to repel Moscow's full-scale invasion, as better armed Russian troops assert control on the battlefield.  “We do not approve of this, nor do we want to participate in financial or arms support (for Ukraine), even within the framework of NATO,” Orban said, adding that Hungary has taken a position as a “nonparticipant” in any potential NATO operations to assist Kyiv.  “We've got to redefine our position within the military alliance, and our lawyers and officers are working on ... how Hungary can exist as a NATO member while not participating in NATO actions outside of its territory,” he said.  Orban, considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest partner in the EU, emphasized NATO's role as a defensive alliance, and said he doesn't share the concerns of some other Central and Eastern European countries that Russia’s military wouldn't cease its aggression if it wins the war in Ukraine.  “NATO’s strength cannot be compared to that of Ukraine,” he said. “I don’t consider it a logical proposition that Russia, which cannot even deal with Ukraine, will come all of a sudden and swallow up the whole Western world.”  Hungary has refused to supply neighboring Ukraine with military aid in contrast to most other countries in the EU, and Orban has vigorously opposed the bloc's sanctions on Moscow though has ultimately always voted for them.  The nationalist leader is preparing for the European Parliament election on June 6-9 and has cast his party as a guarantor of peace in the region. He has characterized the United States and other EU countries that urge greater support for Ukraine as “pro-war” and acting in preparation for a global conflict.

Tbilisi, Georgia — Thousands of people took part in a rally in the Georgian capital on Friday against a controversial anti-NGO law, as the country's parliament said it would start proceedings next week to override a presidential veto.  The ruling Georgian Dream party's "foreign influence" law targets nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, and media outlets that receive funding from abroad. It has triggered a month of huge street rallies in Tbilisi and sparked condemnation from Europe and the United States.  Opponents say the law mirrors Russian legislation used to silence dissent and risks destroying the Black Sea nation's shot at EU membership.  Georgian Dream blasted the United States for "encroaching" on Georgian sovereignty after Washington announced a plan for visa restrictions on Georgian officials over the legislation.  Almost daily rallies against the law have been held since April 9. And several thousand protesters gathered in central Tbilisi on Friday evening to show solidarity with people arrested at previous demonstrations.  Waving Georgian and EU flags, demonstrators marched from Freedom Square to the Interior Ministry headquarters to demand the release of detainees.  "We will never tolerate a pro-Russian government in Georgia," student demonstrator Misha Kavtaradze, 20, told AFP.   "No to the Russian law, yes to Europe," he said.  Georgian MPs adopted the law last week, but it was later vetoed by President Salome Zourabichvili, who is at loggerheads with the government.  The parliament press office told AFP that a legal affairs committee will discuss overruling the veto on Monday, formally launching the procedure that could see the measure come into force.   A vote at a plenary session is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, the press office said.    Georgian Dream has enough MPs to override the veto, and Zourabichvili has acknowledged that her attempt to block the legislation holds only "symbolic" power.  The law requires NGOs and media outlets receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as acting "in the interests of a foreign power."  It has been blasted as undemocratic by Western countries.  Georgian Dream slammed Washington's announcement Thursday of visa restrictions for "individuals who are responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia" via the law.  In a statement, it accused the United States of "visa blackmail" and a "flagrant attempt to encroach on Georgia's independence and sovereignty."  The law was reintroduced one year after Georgian Dream dropped similar proposals that also triggered mass protests.   The rallies have turned violent on several occasions. Police have beaten and arrested demonstrators and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the rallies.  Georgian Dream insists it is still committed to joining the EU and NATO and portrays the bill as being aimed at increasing the transparency of NGO funding.  Protesters accuse the party of bringing the country back into Moscow's orbit and sabotaging Georgia's European aspirations that are enshrined in its constitution. Polls indicated more than 80% of the population support joining the EU.  The showdown comes ahead of parliamentary elections in October, seen as a crucial test of the country's democratic transition more than three decades after it gained independence with the fall of the Soviet Union. 

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The International Court of Justice rules against Israel. Hundreds are feared dead after a massive landslide flattened dozens of homes and buried families alive in a remote village in northern Papua New Guinea. Israel's government has authorized efforts to renew talks with Hamas following the release of a video showing female hostages on October 7th. A look at Israeli public opinion following the recognition of a Palestinian state by three European countries. The President of Kenya is visiting Washington and there’s more violence in Myanmar. Plus, an update from Kyiv and a Norwegian real estate auction with geopolitical consequences.

Geneva — United Nations agencies warn the humanitarian situation for an estimated 800,000 people in and around the Sudanese city of El Fasher is rapidly deteriorating as clashes escalate between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Since fighting for control of El Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudan Armed Forces in western Darfur, broke out March 10, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports an estimated 85 civilians have been killed and at least 700 wounded. According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 1,250 people have been displaced since May, noting that "these reported figures are underestimates and are likely to increase." "Due to the intensity of the fighting and lack of safe passage for civilians, it is anticipated that the number of reported casualties will rise," OCHA said Friday. "As indiscriminate bombing encroaches on different neighborhoods of the city," it said, "the increased use of civilian infrastructure and objects for military purposes by parties to the conflict and the increased presence of armed elements throughout the town exacerbates protection risks faced by civilians." A spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), William Spindler, said that thousands recently have fled into neighboring Chad. "There have been many calls for the fighting to cease because of the impact it is having on the civilian population, and we continue to see people fleeing this region and crossing into Chad," Spindler said. He said more than 600 people a day are crossing the border from Darfur, noting that in the last month nearly 19,000 new arrivals have been registered and "provided with emergency assistance, including food for four days and soap." He said most refugee families are going to Adre, some 400 km. from El Fasher. "The numbers continue to be relatively small," Spindler said, "but we have received reports there might be impediments for people who would like to seek refuge in Chad, but they are not able to do that because of the fighting or because they are being prevented by armed actors to travel." “We also have received very worrying reports that some people who intended to either go to El Fasher from the surrounding countryside or cross into Chad have been killed,” he added. Chad already hosts more than 600,000 Sudanese who have fled fighting in their homeland over the years. In addition to this huge refugee population, the United Nations estimates around 170,000 Chad nationals also have returned from Sudan since the rival generals went to war in mid-April 2023. "Every week, an estimated 5,000 new arrivals continue to stream in, converging on 32 entry points in eastern Chad. With further, imminent attacks anticipated in Darfur, this number may further rise," said Blanche Anya, World Health Organization representative to Chad. Speaking from the capital, N'Djamena, Anya said Friday the refugee crisis was having a profound impact on the health of the refugees and returnees, the overwhelming majority of whom are women and children, and on Chad's fragile healthcare system which "is under immense pressure." "Many of the women and young girls have been raped. Malnutrition among children is widespread. Combined with measles and other epidemics, and overcrowding in under-resourced camps, we have an ongoing, serious health emergency. "Every week, 1,500 to 2,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition are registered. As the prospect of famine in Sudan grows, we will see its repercussions in the health status of the new refugees arriving in Chad," she said. Since the start of the crisis, WHO says 320 deaths have been reported among both the refugee and host populations. Of these, it says 184 deaths were malnourished children. As the rainy season approaches, WHO warns the health situation will become more dire with access to affected populations becoming more difficult. UNHCR's Spindler says the conditions of refugee camps in Chad, especially in Adre, are severely congested. "And that is why UNHCR has identified a new site in Dougui, Ouaddai province where we would like to evacuate and transfer the refugees who are in Adre and very close to the border," he said. "UNHCR, and its partners are racing against time to open the new site before the rainy season makes the roads impassable…Last Tuesday, the first rains fell in Adre. UNHCR aims to distribute lifesaving 'rain kits' before the imminent rainy season to the newly arrived and most vulnerable refugees. "People must be moved as soon as possible to the camp where they will be safe, and where it will be easier to provide them with the aid they need," Spindler said.

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TEHRAN, Iran — The helicopter carrying Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi caught fire soon after it crashed into a mountain and there was no sign it was attacked, state media reported, citing the military's crash investigators. The statement from the general staff of the armed forces in charge of investigating the crash was read on state television late Thursday. The first statement on the crash did not lay blame but said more details would come after further investigation. The crash Sunday killed Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and six other people. The general staff’s statement said the communications between the control tower and the crew of the helicopter before the crash contained nothing suspicious. It said the last communication of the crashed helicopter was between it and two helicopters accompanying it some 90 seconds before the crash. There was no sign of anything being shot at the helicopter, and its flight path did not change, the statement said. The aging Bell helicopter went down Sunday in a foggy, remote mountainous region of Iran’s northwest. The crash site was discovered Monday morning with all eight on board dead. Raisi was buried in a tomb at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad on Thursday.

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ISLAMABAD — A journalist in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province Friday died of a gunshot wound he sustained in an attack earlier this week, bringing the total number of media workers reported killed nationwide in 2024 to five. Doctors and officials confirmed the death of Nasrullah Gadani, who was undergoing treatment in a hospital in Karachi, the provincial capital, after being shot and injured by unidentified assailants in a remote Sindh district on Tuesday. There were no claims of responsibility for the attack.   Activists and colleagues said the slain journalist had consistently highlighted the civic issues plaguing impoverished Sindh in his reporting. Gadani also was critical of the powerful feudal lords in the region, which led to his repeated detention by the police, as noted by Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir in this social media post on X, formerly Twitter. The news of Gadani’s death sparked outrage among journalists and civil society members, leading to a protest demonstration demanding justice for the slain reporter.     “I am deeply in grief and sorrow along with Nasrullah’s family and the media organization he is affiliated with,” Murad Ali Shah, the provincial chief minister, said in a statement. Critics hold Shah’s government for allegedly being behind some of the recent attacks on media workers in Sindh. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a leading independent rights watchdog, said it was “deeply concerned” by the situation facing journalists in the country. It urged the Sindh government to investigate Gadani’s killing and hold the perpetrators to account. Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, has pressed Pakistan to immediately reveal the whereabouts of Ahmad Farhad Shah, a freelance journalist and poet.   Several unknown men seized Shah from outside his home at night in the capital, Islamabad, and forced him into a vehicle over a week ago, said a copy of a petition his wife filed with the federal high court shortly after the incident.   Shah’s wife, Syeda Urooj Zainab, has accused the Pakistani spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, of abducting him for his activism against the country’s powerful military establishment. “The secretive, late-night seizure of journalist … Shah is further evidence of an intensifying crackdown on media freedom in Pakistan,” the CPJ quoted its program director, Carlos Martinez de la Serna, as saying on Thursday.   “Authorities must either present Ali Shah in court or immediately release him and ensure that law enforcement agencies do their job of investigating crimes against journalists,” Serna said. On Friday, the Islamabad High Court judge hearing the case summoned senior officers from the country’s intelligence agencies, including the ISI, to respond to the charges in the next hearing scheduled for May 29.    “His whereabouts remain unknown. Ahmad has spoken fearlessly about state oppression and enforced disappearance in the past,” Amnesty International wrote Friday on X. Pakistan’s ISI has long been accused of forced disappearances of journalists and political as well as human rights activists for criticizing the military’s role in national politics. The agency and successive governments have consistently denied the allegations.

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