Niger security forces search Orano offices and seize phones, sources say

NIAMEY, Niger, May 6 (Reuters) - Security forces in Niger have searched the offices of uranium miner Orano's local subsidiaries, seizing phones and equipment, two sources told Reuters on Tuesday, months after the French company said authorities had seized control of its Somair mine.
One of the sources, who is close to Orano, also said local director Ibrahim Courmo had been arrested.
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Orano said it had "very limited" information on the situation because it had lost operational control of its subsidiaries in December.
"On Monday, May 5, it appears that Nigerien law enforcement officers intervened at the headquarters of the Somair, Cominak, and Orano Mining Niger subsidiaries in Niamey, with equipment seized," the company said a statement to Reuters late on Tuesday.
"We are very concerned about the situation, as we have not been able to contact the Orano representative in Niger at this stage."
Orano on December 4 announced that Niger's military-led government, which seized power in a coup in 2023, had taken control of the Somair mine, of which Orano owns about 63%, with the government holding the remaining stake.
Niger and neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have been stepping up pressure on foreign mining companies over the past year.
Malian authorities have arrested foreign executives and seized gold stocks amid negotiations with mining companies in recent months. Burkina Faso's junta last month vowed to take control of more foreign-owned industrial mines.
In June 2024, Orano said Niger had removed a mining permit for its Imouraren subsidiary. Canada's GoviEx Uranium (GXU.V), opens new tab said it had been stripped of its right to develop a uranium project in Niger the following month.
All three Sahel countries are led by military governments that have seized power since 2020 and sought to move away, economically, politically and militarily, from former colonial power France.

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BBC News

33 minutes ago

• BBC News

Timeline of how Nnamdi Kanu terrorism trial don go since new judge take over

On Thursday, di lawyers of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of di Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), tok say dem go file a no-case submission over di terrorism charges wey di Nigeria goment sama on am. Dem tok dis one afta di federal goment close dia case for di trial afta dem don call five witnesses and tender plenty documents as exhibits including video and audio broadcasts wey dem say Kanu bin make. Nigeria goment dey try Kanu on terrorism allegations. Dem say e terrorise pipo by issuing illegal sit-at-home orders, and by telling im followers to attack and kill police. Kanu plead not gulity to di charges. Dis na di summary of how di matter take reach dis stage since Justice James Omotosho take over from Justice Binta Nyako: Re-arraignment... Kanu plead no guilty Di matter start afresh on 21 March, 2025 as di Nigeria goment re-arraign Kanu on seven counts of terrorism, belonging to a terrorist group, and illegal importation of radio equipment. Kanu plead not guilty. On dat day, our tori pesin wey don dey cover dis trial since 2019, notice say Kanu don change im lead counsels and employ ogbonge senior advocates like di former Attorney General of di Federation and Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi; Onyechi Ikpeazu, Emeka Etiaba, Paul Erokoro and so. Bifor dis time, Kanu lead counsel na Ifeanyi Ejiofor and Aloy Ejimakor, and later Mike Ozekhome (SAN) join dem for some time bifor dem withdraw am again. On di day of re-arraignment, Kanu Agabi apologise to di court for how Nnamdi Kanu bin para for Justice Nyako and di FG lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo during di previous hearings. Justice Omotosho accept di apology as e tok say e understand say di defendant bin tok out of anger sake of say di case don last for ten years now. "As I dey look di case file, I see say dis matter start wen di defendant dey 45 years old, now e dey 55 years, so I understand im anger. Dat na why I go grant accelerated hearing for dis matter," Omotosho tok. And true-true, e grant accelerated hearing. PW1 - Mr AAA For di next adjourned date - 29 April, 2025, di Nigeria goment call dia first prosecution witness, Mr AAA (no be im real name). All di goment witnesses testify using codenames AAA to EEE for di five witnesses, sake of say dem dey work wit di Department of State Services (DSS), wey be Nigeria secret security outfit. Di court also permit dem to testify behind cover and for dem to also wear mask. Mr AAA na di officer wey lead di arrest of Nnamdi Kanu for 2015. Dem arrest am for one hotel close to di Lagos International Airport. Di witness tok say dem arrest Kanu wit one woman for im room, and dem recover plenty broadcasting equipment for im hand, but during cross-examination, e confirm say dem no find any terrorism equipment wit am. E tender videos of statement wey Kanu bin make for di DSS headquarters in Abuja afta dem transport am from Lagos. For dat video, im lawyer Aloy Ejimakor and one oda lawyer dey dia. Di witness also tender in evidence two boxes containing Kanu personal belongings like shoes, wrist-watches, and perfumes, plus some broadcasting equipment like microphones, tripods, laptops, ipads, and internet modems. PW2 - Mr BBB Di second prosecution witness - Mr BBB start im own testimony on 7 May, 2025. E tok say im na one of di lead officers wey investigate Nnamdi Kanu, afta di den AGF Abubakar Malami, write a petition to DSS complaining of di broadcasts wey di Ipob leader dey make on social media using Radio Biafra. Dis witness tender video evidence wia Nnamdi Kanu announce di creation of di Eastern Security Network (ESN), and wia e threaten Bola Tinubu and say e go destroy im properties for Lagos. Mr BBB also say dia investigation show say Nnamdi Kanu broadcasts dey directly connected to di violence and killings wey dey go on for di southeast region. E also tender as exhibit, di death certificate of Ahmed Gulak, wey be chieftain of di All progressives Congress (APC) wey jaguda pipo bin kill for Owerri Imo State on 30 May, 2021. Di witness claim say na Ipob fighters kill Gulak sake of say e disobey di sit-at-home order wey Kanu bin give for dat May 30 - a day wey Ipob dey mark as Biafra Remembrance Day. During cross-examination, BBB deny say no be DSS pipo arrest Kanu for Kenya. E say dia work no dey cross outside Nigeria. Also, Kanu lawyers tender video evidence of di Govnor of Imo State as e tok say Ipob no dey responsible for di killings for di state, rather na politicians dey do am. Dem also play videos of retired Major General for di Nigeria Army, T.Y Danjuma, and di current Director-General of di DSS Adeola Ajayi wia dem dey tell di public make dem rise up and defend diasef from terrorists and bandits PW3 - Mr CCC Dis witness na also one of di officers wey bin investigate Kanu wen dem arrest am from 2015. E tok say im and two oda DSS officers bin interview Kanu on October 21, 22, 23 and 24, and again on November 4 of dat 2015, and e present di video recording of dat interview to be tendered as evidence. However, one of Nnamdi Kanu lawyers, Paul Erokoro inform di court say Kanu tell am say im bin dey under duress wen e make di statement. Prosecution lawyer say no be true, say Kanu make di statement voluntarily witout any force. To determine weda to accept di video in evidence, Justice Omotosho order for trial within trial. Dem play di video for court and e show say Kanu bin complain several times say e dey entitled to a lawyer but di DSS no wan give am im lawyer. Justice Omotosho rule say e no go admit di evidence bicos e go against di evidence act wey clearly state say a defendant must to make im statement in di presence of im legal representative. "I hereby order as follows: Dat di statement of di defendant dated 21 to 24 October and November 4 2015 dey inadmissible in evidence. "Dat di video recordings of di statement wey I bin don admit and marked PWQ and PWR, also dey inadmissible and hereby marked rejected," Omotosho tok. PW4 - Mr DDD Anoda DSS officer, dis witness say e work for di Imo State command between 2019 and 2022, and na im lead di team wey recover di radio transmitter wey Kanu bin allegedly import into di kontri illegally. Oga DDD say dem use ogbonge technology to geolocate one video wey Kanu bin make wia e tell im followers say dia radio transmitter don land. E say dem locate di equipment for Ubuluisiuzor Community, for Ihiala local goment area of Anambra State, for di compound of one Benjamin Madubugwu. Dem hide di transmitter inside di container and cover am wit household items like mattresses and washing machines, e tok. Dis witness also tell di court how one IPOB/ESN commander wey police arrest, bin confess say Nnamdi Kanu order dem to bury one of dia commander wey police kill wit 2000 human heads, but na 30 pipo dem don get so far bifor police arrest am. According to DDD, dis arrested Ipob member name na Uzoma Benjamin, a.k.a 'Onye Army. However, e admit say no be im interview di suspect, but na wetin di newspapers publish. Di witness tender a publication of Vanguard Newspaper of 3 July, wey contain di report. E also tok claim say na Ipob kill Ahmed Gulak bicos e disobey sit-at-home order wey Nnamdi Kanu bin declare. However, during cross-examination, one of Kanu lawyers Onyechi Ikpeazu, point out say Gulak na politician, and na im be di chairman of di primary election wey produce Uzodinma as di APC govnorship candidate for Imo State. Ikpeazu ask di witness why e be say di killers kill only Gulak, but dem no touch di driver of im vehicle and di oda passenger wey dey wit am dat time, since na all of dem disobey di sit-at-home order. E also point out say di govment of Imo State later come out to explain say di killing of Gulak dey politically motivated. PW5 - Mr EEE Dis last witness tell di court say im work na to investigate wetin happen during di End SARS nationwide protest of October 2020 for Nigeria. EEE insist say di issue of police brutality na di secondary cause of di protest, but di underlying reasons na bicos say some subversive elements, like Nnamdi Kanu, bin don dey incite di public against di goment. E tender document of dia investigation as evidence, and di document show say about 175 security officers - including policemen, army pipo and DSS pipo - bin die across di kontri during di protest. For di cross-examination, Ikpeazu ask di witness say: Shey you dey categorically tell di court say di End SARS protests na Biafran issue?" Di witness respond say "my assignment no be to investigate Biafra, my assignment na to investigate di End SARS protest to which di defendant bin incite di public." Ikpeazu den point to di report of di panel of enquiry into di End SARS protest for Lagos State, and say di report no mention Ipob or Nnamdi Kanu anywia as di pipo wey dey responsible. E also try to poke holes for di document wey Mr EEE bin tender, as e point out say di document no get di signature or stamp of di pipo wey claim say na dem write am. Also Ikpeazu point out say di document get inconsistencies, like wia e refer to Osun State as Ekiti State, and places wia details of di dead bodies of di security pipo wey dem claim say Ipob/ESN pipo kill durin End SARS no dey clear. As cross-examination end, Awomolo, counsel to di goment inform di court say dem dey close dia case for hia, as dem believe say di evidences dem provide and di witnesses dem call don dey sufficient. No-case submission Kanu Agabi, di lead defence counsel inform di court say dem go file no-case submission, since di prosecution don exhaust dia case. "Chief Awomolo get di misfortune of trying dis case, and we get di misfortune of defending am, bicos we no see any case at all for dis charges against our client," Agabi tok. E ask di trial judge to give dem some days to file dia written address on di no case submission. Justice Omotosho grant di defence team 14 days to fille dia written address, and also 14 days to di prosecution team to file dia own. Omotosho adjourn di matter to 18 July, 2025, for di two sides to come and adopt dia addresses so dat e go rule, perhaps afta Judges come back from dia annual Vacation wey dey start from late July to early September. Di Charges against Kanu Since 2015 wen di Nigeria goment first arrest Nnamdi Kanu, na only April dis year im trial start well-well. Remember say di matter bin dey bifor Justice Binta Nyako of di Federal High Court Abuja, and na she bin grant Kanu bail on health grounds in 2017, but Kanu run for im life comot for Nigeria afta soldiers bin carry out security operation for im House in Umuahia, Abia State for southeast Nigeria. In June 2021, security pipo for Kenya arrest Kanu and carry am by force come bak to Nigeria to face trial. Di initial charges against di ipob leader bin dey 15, but Justice Nyako bring am down to seven. Even though di Court of Appeal later strike out all di charges and discharge Kanu, di Supreme Court reinstated di seven charges as dem tok say di Ipob leader get questions to ansa. Here na di seven charges:

Coin Geek

an hour ago

• Coin Geek

US miners' share grows as Chinese ASIC makers put down US roots

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... America's block reward miners are hoping Chinese ASIC manufacturers move swiftly on expanding U.S. production facilities because mining margins are currently thinner than Melba toast. JPMorgan (NASDAQ: JPM) declared this week that the combined share of the 13 U.S.-listed mining operators they track now accounts for 31.5% of the overall BTC network hash rate, a new all-time high (the overall U.S. miners' share has been estimated at over 40%). The gains reflect the increasingly welcome climate for stateside miners since Donald Trump's second stint as U.S. president began in January. So much for the good news, the BTC network hash rate has dipped below 900 EH/s since June began but continues to hover near all-time highs, which is pushing up production costs. The overall cost to mine a single BTC—including the need to constantly replace/upgrade ASIC mining rigs to keep pace with competitors—is hovering just under $100,000, only a few thousand below the token's current fiat price. It doesn't help that BTC transaction fees have dropped below 1% of total block rewards, a low not seen since January 2022. Simply put, most BTC transactions now occur on exchanges (trading BTC for other tokens or cash), offering zero benefit to miners, and the current mania for so-called 'treasury' companies to buy-and-mothball BTC isn't helping. In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Zhibing 'Tony' Li, VP of Canaan Inc (NASDAQ: CAN), warned that miners 'need to evolve beyond the traditional hash-per-dollar model. As block rewards decline and difficulty rises, mining will face a structural shift. Transaction fees will take center stage, replacing block subsidies as the primary revenue stream.' That may be what miners need, but the current state of BTC offers no sign of this fee/reward flip happening anytime soon. Daily activity on BTC was struggling to stay above 300,000 transactions last week and has rallied only slightly this week. Further complicating matters are the economic tariffs that Trump has imposed on nearly all other countries since he took office. With the leading mining rig manufacturers all based outside the U.S.—primarily in China and other Southeast Asian countries—the costs of importing rigs have taken a big bite out of U.S. miners' margins. That latter category now includes American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), the mining joint venture of the Trump family and miner Hut 8 (NASDAQ: HUT). But relief may be on the way, as Reuters offered an update on efforts by the three largest foreign manufacturers—Bitmain, Canaan, and MicroBT, collectively responsible for over 90% of mining rig production—to establish U.S. bases of operation and ensure a steady tariff-free flow of ASICs to U.S.-based miners. Bitmain began churning out rigs in the U.S. last December, while Canaan started a production trial in April. However, the company cautioned that there's some hesitancy in going full-bore given the mercurial nature of Trump's tariff approach. MicroBT has yet to announce any concrete plans but claims to be 'actively implementing a localization strategy in the U.S.' to minimize tariff impact. While this is music to most miners' ears, U.S. ASIC-maker Auradine, which counts U.S. mining giant MARA (NASDAQ: MARA) among its investors, has been lobbying the government to impose tougher restrictions on Chinese firms to 'strengthen national security in critical infrastructure.' Shortly after Trump took his second oath of office, Auradine suggested 'implementing rigorous compliance standards for imported technology' and mandating 'cybersecurity assessments for foreign-made components in Bitcoin mining and electric grid management.' For what it's worth, Canaan's biz-dev VP Leo Wang rejected this alarmist national security view, telling Reuters that mining rigs 'are useless if not applied to Bitcoin mining.' Regardless, Auradine urged the president to 'expediently' reduce miners' reliance on Chinese vendors 'to ensure economic security.' Auradine also suggested 'expanded incentives, such as tax credits or direct subsidies,' should be offered to U.S. manufacturers (the suggested duration of this proposed corporate welfare went unstated). France rejects (for now) state-run mining Miners rejoiced as Trump made good on his 2024 campaign pledge to loosen environmental restrictions on power generation to ensure America becomes 'the world's undisputed Bitcoin mining powerhouse.' As production costs rise, ensuring access to cheap and plentiful energy can make the difference between profit and loss. Pakistan recently announced plans to reallocate its surplus energy—largely due to Pakistani households going off-grid by deploying cheap solar panels from China—toward mining BTC and powering AI data centers. Other countries have encouraged similar efforts in regions where power is plentiful and demand is slack. But not every country is ready to hop on this bandwagon. France, which has an extensive nuclear power program that generates more power than the country requires, recently entertained a proposal in its National Assembly to study the possibility of devoting some surplus energy to mining BTC. Despite the promise of the state generating additional revenue by launching a state-run mining operation, the proposal was rejected by the National Assembly this week. However, the rejection was not based on the proposal's merits but on procedural grounds (the language was deemed overly broad and unrelated to the legislation it attempted to piggyback). So this proposal may come up again soon, as France's energy surplus isn't going away. And without any other serious solutions on offer, why not choose a path that allows the country to generate revenue? Back to the top ↑ Russia Russia Russia Russia is a country that is lousy with gas and oil, but its creaky electricity grids are routinely teetering on the brink, so much so that the government has imposed both seasonal and geographic restrictions on BTC mining operations in recent years. In February, Russia launched a mandatory registry for mining gear and ordered miners to report their earnings to the Federal Tax Service. However, the TASS news agency reported this week that only 30% of Russian miners have bothered to sign up for the registry, leading Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov to quip that roughly two-thirds of miners need to be 'cleaned up.' Russia has attempted to deal with its recalcitrant miners by drawing up new financial penalties for failing to abide by the rules. This month, the Ministry of Digital Development announced plans to impose new fines of up to RUB 2 million (US$25,500) for companies and RUB 200,000 for individuals. In May, Russia's Ministry of Energy mulled offering registered miners incentives to relocate their operations to the country's northern regions, where the sparse population offers greater grid flexibility. Deputy Energy Minister Yevgeny Grabchak noted that the region was dotted with power centers that once served oil production facilities, but these oil fields are now tapped out, leaving an energy surplus that he believed could be of use to BTC miners. As Russia tries to rein in mining excesses, illegal mining operators are getting creative to frustrate the authorities' efforts. Last week, TASS reported that authorities in the Buryatia region had busted an illegal mining operation being run out of the back of a tractor truck. A routine inspection by local officials discovered 95 mining rigs hooked up to 'a transformer substation capable of providing power to a small settlement.' Two suspects believed to be running this operation fled in an SUV. The authorities said it was the sixth case of 'electricity theft using mining equipment' in Buryatia since the seasonal restrictions were imposed. Back to the top ↑ xAI slammed for passing gas in Memphis A new study claims the electricity demands of AI large language models (LLMs) will account for 49% of global data center power usage by the end of this year, dethroning BTC miners as the preeminent power-hoovering technology. That said, since so many miners have 'pivoted' to the more reliable revenue streams that AI and other high-performance computing (HPC) tasks provide, they're not exactly off the hook just yet. AI's insatiable energy demands have been credited with driving the rush by AI developers, including Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Meta (NASDAQ: META), and others to sign nuclear power deals to ensure their LLMs don't lose ground to more reliably-powered competitors. Enter Elon Musk, who in 2021 famously halted customers' ability to buy Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) vehicles with BTC due to the blockchain's high energy demands and reliance on fossil fuels. Fast forward to 2025, and Musk is being threatened with a lawsuit for allegedly hiding the dirty energy powering his xAI LLM. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed a remarkable letter detailing its evidence of the more than two dozen allegedly unauthorized methane gas turbines in action at xAI's 'Colossus' data center in South Memphis, Tennessee. The letter features aerial thermal imagery of the data center's turbines, which the SELC claims are on pace to emit 'more than 2,000 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides' annually. The turbines were originally installed under what local authorities claim was a '364-day exemption' from having to obtain the necessary permits. The SELC says these same authorities have yet to produce any documentation explaining the rationale behind this claim. The letter gives xAI 60 days to rectify the situation—aka shut down the turbines—or the SELC will sue the company in federal court on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for violating the Clean Air Act. Neither xAI nor Musk have yet to publicly respond to the SELC letter, but given that xAI is building a second, even larger data center in the Memphis area, let's just say this was probably a really bad time for Elon to have had a very public bust-up with the fossil-fuel loving president. Back to the top ↑ Bitdeer borrows, investors punish U.S. miners have been taking on significant debt of late as they try to (a) leap ahead of rivals' ability to mine new blocks, (b) diversify their operations into data centers for AI/HPC tasks, and (c) buy BTC tokens for their treasuries. After turning in a somewhat grim Q1 earnings report, Bitdeer (NASDAQ: BTDR) announced this week that it was looking to raise $300 million, then upsized that total to $330 million the following day, with a possible further boost to $363 million. The company said it will use the proceeds to pay the costs associated with raising new debt, expanding its data center operations, developing new ASIC rigs, and other general expenses. Investors gave an emphatic thumbs-down to the news, pushing Bitdeer's share price down from nearly $13 to $11.50 on Tuesday. The shares staged a minor rally Wednesday but ultimately closed down more than 7% to $11.80. One can't help but wonder if Bitdeer had, like so many of its peers, claimed that it was raising hundreds of millions of dollars in new debt to buy BTC that it would park in some cold wallet and hope for a major appreciation down the road, would its share price have risen? We suspect it would. If you wanted a more damning indictment of the overall mining sector, you couldn't do much better. Back to the top ↑ Watch | Bitcoin mining in 2025: Is it still worth it? title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">

South Wales Guardian

2 hours ago

• South Wales Guardian

UK readies charter flights out of Tel Aviv as Middle East crisis spirals

Downing Street urged Britons in the region to register their presence with the Foreign Office as the crisis deepens and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called on all sides to reach a diplomatic outcome. Number 10 on Friday morning said that the situation remains 'fast-moving' and would continue to be monitored closely as the Government works with Israeli authorities to ready flights out of Tel Aviv. The situation in the Middle East remains perilous. We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. Meeting with @SecRubio and @SteveWitkoff in the White House today, we discussed how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two… — David Lammy (@DavidLammy) June 19, 2025 A spokesman added: 'We are advising British nationals to continue to register their presence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to be contactable with further guidance on these flights. 'The Foreign Secretary will shortly announce that the Government is working with the Israeli authorities to provide charter flights from Tel Aviv airport once airspace reopens.' Foreign Secretary David Lammy said work was under way to provide the flights 'based on levels of demand' from UK citizens when airspace reopens. Land routes out of Israel remain open and British staff are on hand to support UK nationals who have crossed the border, he added. Sir Keir has also urged Donald Trump to step back from military action against Iran after a series of sabre-rattling posts from the US President on his Truth Social platform. The Prime Minister said there is a 'real risk of escalation' in the conflict, adding that there had previously been 'several rounds of discussions with the US' and 'that, to me, is the way to resolve this issue'. Israeli air strikes reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early on Friday, Iranian media reported. Since the conflict erupted last week, at least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Meanwhile, at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. It remains unclear whether the UK would join any military action, although there has been speculation that US involvement could require using the British-controlled base on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands. The B-2 stealth bombers based there are capable of carrying specialised 'bunker buster' bombs, which could be used against Iran's underground nuclear facility at Fordo. Attorney General Lord Hermer is reported to have raised legal concerns about any British involvement in the conflict beyond defending its allies, which could limit the extent of any support for the US if Mr Trump decides to act militarily. Mr Lammy arrived in Geneva for talks with the Iranian foreign minister and European allies as the UK presses for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. The Foreign Secretary is meeting Abbas Araghchi on Friday alongside his counterparts from France, Germany and the EU as he seeks to negotiate a settlement before Mr Trump decides on whether to take military action against Tehran. In a statement read by his press secretary on Thursday, Mr Trump said there was still 'a substantial chance of negotiations' and said he would make a decision on deploying US forces 'within the next two weeks'. Mr Trump had previously said he 'may' join Israeli strikes against Iran and its nuclear programme, but added: 'I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' Friday's meeting with the so-called E3 countries follows Mr Lammy's visit to Washington, where he met US secretary of state Marco Rubio in the White House on Thursday evening to discuss 'how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict'.