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After nearly three weeks of appealing to the United States and other allies for help restoring Niger’s president to power, friends and supporters of the democratically elected leader are making a simpler plea: Save his life. President Mohamed Bazoum, leader of the last remaining Western-allied democracy across a vast stretch of Africa’s Sahara and Sahel, sits confined with his family in an unlit basement of his presidential compound, cut off from resupplies of food and from electricity and cooking gas by the junta that overthrew him, Niger's ambassador to the United States told The Associated Press. “They are killing him,” said the ambassador, Mamadou Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, a close associate who maintains daily calls with the detained leader. The two have been colleagues for three decades, since the now 63-year-old president was a young philosophy instructor, a teacher’s union leader, and a democracy advocate noted for his eloquence. “The plan of the head of the junta is to starve him to death," Liman-Tinguiri told the AP in one of his first interviews since mutinous troops allegedly cut off food deliveries to the president, his wife and his 20-year-old son almost a week ago. “This is inhuman, and the world should not tolerate that,” the ambassador said. “It cannot be tolerated in 2023.” Bazoum sits in the dark basement, the ambassador said. He answers the phone when a call comes in that he knows to be his friend or someone else he wants to speak to. The beleaguered president and his ambassador, whom junta members have declared out of a job, talk one or more times a day. Bazoum has not been seen out in public since July 26, when military vehicles blocked the gates to the presidential palace and security forces announced they were taking power. It is not possible to independently determine the president's circumstances. The United States, United Nations and others have expressed repeated concern for what they called Bazoum's deteriorating conditions in detention, and warned the junta they would hold it responsible for the well-being of Bazoum and his family. Separately, Human Rights Watch said Friday it had spoken directly to the detained president and to others in his circle, and received some similar accounts of mistreatment. However, an activist who supports Niger's new military rulers in its communications said the reports of the president's dire state were false. Insa Garba Saidou said he was in contact with some junta members but did not say how he had knowledge of the president's lot. “Bazoum was lucky he was not taken anywhere,” Saidou said. “He was left in his palace with his phone. Those who did that don’t intend to hurt Bazoum.” Niger's military coup and the plight of its ousted leader have drawn global attention — but not because that kind of turmoil is unusual for West Africa. Niger alone has had about a half-dozen military takeovers since independence in 1960. Niger leaders have suffered in coups before, most notably when a military-installed leader was shot down in 1999 by the same presidential guard unit that instigated the current coup. Niger's return to reflexive armed takeovers by disgruntled troops is reverberating in the U.S. and internationally for two key reasons. One is because Bazoum came to power in a rare democratic presidential election in the Africa's unstable Sahara and Sahel, in the only peaceful, democratic transfer of power that Niger has managed. The United States alone has invested close to $1 billion in Niger in recent years to support its democracy and deliver aid, in addition to building national forces capable of holding off north and west Africa's al-Qaida- and Islamic State-allied armed groups. The U.S.-backed counterterror presence is the second key reason that Niger's coup is resonating. Americans have a 1,100-strong security presence and have built bases in Niger's capital and far north into its main outposts to counter West Africa's armed jihadist groups. The Biden administration has yet to call what has happened in Niger a coup, citing laws that would obligate the U.S. to cut many of its military partnerships with the country. Niger's region is dominated by military or military-aligned governments and a growing number of them have entered security partnerships with Russia's Wagner mercenary groups. The soldiers who ousted Bazoum have announced a ruling structure but said little publicly about their plans. U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with Niger's junta members in the capital this week but called them unreceptive to her demands to restore Niger's democracy. “They were quite firm about how they want to proceed, and it is not in support of the constitution of Niger,” Nuland told reporters after. The junta also told Nuland that Bazoum would die if the regional ECOWAS security bloc intervened militarily to restore democracy, U.S. officials told the AP. Late this week, the ambassador shrugged that threat off, saying the junta is already on track to kill Bazoum by trapping his family and him with little more than a shrinking supply of dried rice and no means to cook it. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken several times with the detained president and expressed concern for his and his family's safety. The U.S. says it has cut some aid to the government and paused military cooperation. Blinken has expressed broad support for ECOWAS, whose diplomatic efforts have been spurned by the Niger junta and which has warned of military force as a last resort. Blinken said in a statement Friday he was “particularly dismayed” that Niger's mutinous soldiers had refused to release Bazoum's family as a goodwill gesture. He gave no details. While the junta adviser Saidou denied that the junta threatened to kill Bazoum if ECOWAS invaded, he said Bazoum's death would be inevitable if that happened. “Even if the high officers of the junta won’t touch Bazoum, if one gun is shot at one of Niger’s borders in order to reinstate Bazoum, I’m sure that there will be soldiers who will put an end to his life," he said. Bazoum told Human Rights Watch that family members and friends who brought food were being turned away, and that the junta had refused treatment for his young son, who has a heart condition. Bazoum and his undetained allies want regional partners, the U.S. and others to intervene. With Bazoum vulnerable in captivity, neither he nor the ambassadors specify what they want the U.S. and other allies to do. Bazoum is a member of Niger's tiny minority of nomadic Arabs, in a country of varying cultures rich in tradition. Despite his political career, Bazoum has retained his people's devotion to livestock, keeping camels that he dotes on, Liman-Tinguiri said. For all his deprivations, the ambassador said, Bazoum remains in good spirits. “He is a man who is mentally very strong,” he said. “He’s a man of faith.” ___ Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed from Niamey, Niger. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Developers have Black families fighting to maintain property and history Rising political threats take US into uncharted territory as 2024 election looms A mudslide kills at least 2 in China while rain from Khanun cancels some trains in the northeast

European delegates staged a walkout at an international cooperation forum hosted by China – as Vladimir Putin was set to begin speaking. The Russian president arrived in China as a guest at Beijing’s third installment of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – Beijing’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure project aimed at increasing the country’s global standing by connecting China to other parts of the world through road, train, and port project investments. Chinese president Xi Jinping opened the ceremony in the presence of several world leaders and more than 1,000 delegates at the Great Hall of the People, west of Tiananmen Square, and shared the stage with Mr Putin who made the rare trip outside Russia despite his nation’s . But he was boycotted by some European delegates, including former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, underscoring the growing geopolitical divide in Europe and the West. Videos from the event showed Mr Raffarin and other delegates walking out from the halls as Mr Putin was set to deliver his remarks after Mr Xi. Other footage from the visit showed Mr Putin accompanied by his aides carrying the so-called nuclear briefcase which can be used to order a nuclear strike. Surrounded by security, Mr Putin was followed by two Russian naval officers in uniform each carrying a briefcase – known as Cheget – that can transmit nuclear strike launch orders to the central military command. Mr Putin and Mr Xi spoke out against the West in their speeches as the two leaders underscored their close relationship amid Russia’s international isolation over the Ukraine war. “Ideological confrontation, geopolitical rivalry and bloc politics are not the choice for us, but we stand against economic sanctions, economic coercions, and decoupling and supply chain disruptions,” Mr Xi said Mr Xi pushed against Western efforts to reduce dependence on the Chinese economy, saying that, "our lives will not be better and our development will not be faster if we view the development of others as a threat and economic interdependence as a risk”. Mr Putin, who attended the ceremony along with foreign leaders and key Chinese officials from the 25-member Politburo, praised Mr Xi for the success of BRI projects. "When we start something big, we expect that it will be successful. But undertsanding the global scale, it is hard to expect everything will be well," he said. "But our Chinese friends did it," he said. The Kremlin leader called Mr Xi his “dear friend” as he spoke on his only second known trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Ukraine war. He insisted that Moscow can play a key role in China‘s modern-day revival of the ancient Silk Road and invited states to participate in the Northern Sea Route, which is ambitious Russian Arctic maritime transport artery running from of Russia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to Norway and to the Bering Strait near Alaska. "Starting next year, navigation for ice-class cargo ships along the entire length of the Northern Sea Route will become year-round,” he said. The two leaders held bilateral talks and touted “close political coordination” to safeguard international “justice”. "In the current difficult conditions, close foreign policy coordination is especially necessary - which is what we are doing, and today we will also discuss all of this," Mr Putin told Mr Xi. Mr Putin held several bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit, including with Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Pakistani leaders. He took part in an official family photo ceremony with heads of delegations at the summit. Hungary’s leader, Viktor Orban held talks with Mr Putin and was pictured shaking hands with him – becoming the first western leader to share stage with him since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against the Russian president for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Mr Orban said the meeting was a bid to “save everything that is possible from our bilateral contacts” and that that Hungary “never wanted to confront Russia”. “We are interested in supporting this co-operation not only at the level of communication but also at the economic level,” Mr Orban said. Hungary, which is dependent on Moscow for it’s 80 per cent of gas trade, has faced criticism from the bloc members for aligning with Mr Putin’s interests, especially through his delays in imposing sanctions, refusal to provide military aid to Kyiv, and objections to its EU accession amid the war. Read More Putin arrives in China on rare trip abroad to meet ‘dear friend’ Xi Jinping Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s forces suffer blow as Kyiv fires US ATACMS missiles for first time Russia threatens US with ‘serious consequences’ after Ukraine fires first long-range ATACMS missiles The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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Ryan Reynolds appeared to troll celebrity pal Taylor Swift over recent rumours that she's dating The 1975's Matty Healy. In a post to his Instagram Stories, the 'Deadpool' actor shared a selfie of himself and chose to include The 1975’s hit song "Chocolate," for the music. There was also a caption: "Zoom Zoom," that appeared on Reynolds's forehead, in what can only be described as a random post with no context whatsoever. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter While Swift herself wasn't not mentioned in the Insta story, it hasn't stopped fans from questioning the song choice, given recent reports that Swift and Healy were spotted together, with The 1975 frontman also in attendance at the popstar's Nashville Eras Tour shows. It comes after The Sun first reported a "source close to Taylor" alleged Swift and Healy are "madly in love," and that it's "super-early days, but it feels right." With this recent post by Reynolds, fans don't quite know what to make of it all. Reynolds often takes to social media to troll his actor wife Blake Lively and his showbiz mates such as Rob McElhenney, and Hugh Jackman, so it could be another instance of this. While he and Lively are good friends with Swift, as back in 2016 the couple spent the Fourth of July with the 'Anti-Hero' singer and her then-boyfriend Tom Hiddleston. A voice recording of the couple's eldest daughter, James features on Swift's 2017 song 'Gorgeous,' while their third daughter's name is also a track ('Betty') on the singer's album Folklore where James and their second daughter Inez are also mentioned in the lyrics of the song. "I named all the characters in this story after my friends' kids... and I hope you like it!" Swift said on country radio in 2020. When Swift won Album of the Year award for 'Folklore' at the 2021 Grammy's, she thanked "James, Inez and Betty and their parents who are the second people that I play every new song that I write." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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