World
France backs ECOWAS push to reverse Niger military coup
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said the coup leaders in Niamey had until Sunday to hand back power.
France will support efforts by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to make the military coup in Niger fail, the French foreign ministry said on Saturday.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna met with Niger Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou and the Niger ambassador in Paris on Saturday.
Earlier, Colonna said the coup leaders in Niamey had until Sunday to hand back power, otherwise a threat by member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to stage a military intervention had to be taken “very seriously”.
“The threat is credible,” she said on French public radio.
France did not specify on Saturday whether its backing would entail military support for an ECOWAS intervention in Niger.
On Friday, ECOWAS said its military chiefs had agreed on a plan for a possible intervention in Niger.
“All the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out,” ECOWAS commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah said.
These included “the resources needed, and including the how and when we are going to deploy the force”, he added.
“We want diplomacy to work, and we want this message clearly transmitted to them [the junta] that we are giving them every opportunity to reverse what they have done,” Musah said.
The coup leaders have warned they would meet force with force.
Mali and Burkina Faso, where military leaders have taken power since 2020, have warned that any regional intervention would be tantamount to a “declaration of war” against them.
Russia, which has increased its footprint across the Sahel region in recent years, said a foreign intervention would not resolve the crisis.
Neighbouring Benin and Germany on Friday urged continued diplomacy to defuse the situation.
The United States said on Friday it was suspending some aid to Niger following the coup.
Washington is pausing “certain foreign assistance programmes benefitting the government of Niger”, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“As we have made clear since the outset of this situation, the provision of US assistance to the government of Niger depends on democratic governance and respect for constitutional order,” Blinken said, adding that Washington would continue to review its foreign assistance as the situation on the ground evolves.
Blinken did not specify what programmes would be affected but said life-saving humanitarian and food assistance, as well as diplomatic and security operations to protect US personnel, would continue.
“We remain committed to supporting the people of Niger to help them preserve their hard-earned democracy and we reiterate our call for the immediate restoration of Niger’s democratically-elected government,” Blinken said.
World
Reacher Gets Early Season 4 Renewal Ahead of Amazon Hit’s 2025 Return
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World
The history of the Hoxne Hoard, the largest collection of Roman treasure found in Britain
The Hoxne Hoard is one of Britain’s unique archaeological finds, not just by its value, but also by how it was found.
Various sources note the Hoxne Hoard as the largest hoard of Roman treasure ever found in Britain. The collection of treasures is heavily made up of gold and silver coins, though there are other objects, such as tableware and jewelry that were also found.
How this collection of ancient treasures was found adds to its uniqueness.
SANXINGDUI RUINS WERE DISCOVERED ACCIDENTALLY BY A FARMER; HAS SINCE BEEN THE SITE OF OVER 60K RELICS
On Nov. 16, 1992, Eric Lawes was scouring a field in Hoxne village in Suffolk, not on the hunt for hidden treasure, but simply looking for a hammer that had been lost on the land.
Lawes was scanning the area with his metal detector, when he came across a small portion of the treasures within what would become the Hoxne Hoard.
After shoveling up some of the silver spoons and gold coins he found, he quickly reported his find to be properly excavated.
Lawes was awarded £1.75 million for his find, which he shared with the farmer who owned the land the treasures were discovered on, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.
THE 4,000 ITEMS IN THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD MAKE IT THE LARGEST COLLECTION IN HISTORY OF ITS KIND
The very next day, the Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service (SCCAS) was on the scene, according to the World History Encyclopedia.
The gold and silver artifacts part of the Hoxne Hoard weigh around 60 pounds in total, according to Ancient Origins. There are around 15,000 Roman coins as part of the collection, per The British Museum, where many of the items are displayed today. The items were buried in the 5th century A.D.
Other unique finds include pieces of jewelry, like a body chain, six necklaces, three finger rings and gold bracelets, according to the source.
MOM, SON DIG UP ANCIENT OBJECT OFTEN FOUND NEAR BURIAL GROUNDS WHILE GARDENING
Even though the Hoxne Hoard is heavily made up of coins, one of the best-known treasures that was found was the “Empress” pepper pot. This pot was one of four that were excavated from the site, according to The British Museum. The pepper pot is intricately formed to represent a woman.
Additionally, there were many tableware items that were part of the hoard, including a set of 19 spoons, in good condition, that were decorated with marine themes, according to The British Museum.
Archaeologists believe that the Hoxne Hoard was buried no later than 450 A.D., according to Ancient Origins.
At the end of the 4th century A.D., the western Roman Empire was in a place of uncertainty, with Roman soldiers exiting Britain, leaving citizens to fend for themselves.
While experts have posed varying hypotheses as to why the hoard was buried, one common suggestion is that it was done for protection, with the intent of the owners collecting their precious items once again. In the case of the Hoxne Hoard, the items were never retrieved by their owners.
Today, the Hoxne Hoard is on display at the British Museum in London. The display contains many of the coins, jewelry and tableware, as well as Lawes’ hammer, which he was originally looking for when he stumbled upon the far more significant discovery.
World
Greece confronts disastrously low birth rate in Aegean Islands
At 1.3 babies per woman, Greece’s fertility rate is among Europe’s lowest — and well below the threshold for population growth.
Authorities in the Aegean Islands have warned that low birth rates spell disaster for their region.
Mayors from the islands expressed serious concerns during the 15th Congress of Small Islands in Milos, where they lamented the continuous downward trend of Greece’s births-to-deaths ratio and said the consequences were already visible in their communities.
A case in point is Agios Efstratios, a small island in the north Aegean with no more than 250 inhabitants.
‘’There are no girls on the island. Or at least there are no more than 2 women under 30 years old,” said Kostas Sinanis, the local mayor.
“The same goes for the boys. We need to search for the incentives that will bring the young boys and girls back to the island, the place where they were born and raised, to create their families. Unfortunately, we had one birth last year and another one three years ago.”
In 2022, Greece recorded its lowest number of births in 92 years — and this year, the country posted the second-largest population decrease in the EU.
Greece’s fertility rate is among the continent’s lowest at 1.3 babies per woman, well below the 2.5 needed for population growth. Economic forecasts indicate its workforce will fall by 50% by 2100, with its output shrinking by 31% over the same period.
Michalis Vlastarakis of the Eurobank Group warned that if nothing is done, disaster will follow.
‘’If we don’t do something, in about 25 years from now, in two decades, one-third of the population will be over 65 years old, and in 2050 we will be 2.5 million less”, said Vlastakaris.
“You don’t need to have studied finance to understand the consequences of these projections on economic indicators, GDP, the workforce, the insurance system, pensions, health, and education, even since there’re going to be fewer schools.’’
Greece’s family ministry said a few days ago that it plans to spend €20 billion through 2035 on incentives to halt the decline, including cash benefits and tax breaks.
The government already spends around €1 billion a year on pro-child measures — but like other European countries doing the same, it has seen little impact.
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