i think the first thing _ kathleen fitzgibbon? i think the first thing she _ kathleen fitzgibbon?itzgibbon? i think the first thing she will have l the first thing she will have to do is really meet with our embassy. we have americans that are in niger, we have our own local staff. and i think the first thing is the people that are directly working with you. she will have to make sure that our staff understands what the us government position is, what is going to doing there as a leader, and how much we know that this situation is very straining on all of the families, notjust the american families, notjust the american families, but particularly the knees yarri and families with whom we have worked over decades. —— nigerianfamilies. the second will be to make sure american citizens in the country also know the embassy has an ambassador there. i think those kind of symbols in that order are important. as far as the communication with the people who have seized power and her communication with brett summers m, i imagine she will continue to be the state department's conduit. she wi

it is important for kathleen fitzgibbon, who was a career diplomat, to be posted to niger at this timedea that the united states is sending signals. in fact, kathleen was nominated over a year ago, our own domestic situation held up, i think, her being confirmed. she was finally confirmed i think latejuly, 27july or so and so now they are sending her to post. but this is a crisis period in niger and our embassy needs professional, experienced leadership and kathleen represents that. and i think that's also important for the government to understand, for the nigeriens to see that we are going to make sure that our mission has the right kinds of people in it. if they are going to have a discussion and then you need somebody with experience to help be that conduit. one of the first things they do is present their credentials to the president, the president in this case is obviously under house arrest and the most recent us delegation there was denied access to him, what is the sort ofjob that lies ahead, what does that look like for kathleen fitzgibbon? i think the first thing ambassador

the state department says kathleen fitzgibbon�*s arrival does not mean it accepts the government runre on all of this, i spoke with the former us ambassador to niger, bisa williams. bisa williams, thank you indeed forjoining us this evening. ecowas has activated a standby force ready to invade niger should the military faction continue to hold onto its power and should ecowas deem that that is needed. do you support that use of force? i personally think that that is the most important instrument that ecowas can use as a last resort. they're using the justification for that is the potential for contagion in the region and that is why they have this force on standby. they have used that is the justification as well for closing the borders, shutting off the electricity. are you concerned about that? i think that, rather than say it's the worry about contagion, they also thought it was within the charter that ecowas states had decided to support democratisation in the region, so the imposition of sanctions and the other instruments in their toolbox that they had to use were sort of messa

kathleen fitzgibbon is a career diplomat with extensive experience in africa.s continued engagement with the unfolding crisis. fitzgibbon is expected to arrive later this week. you're live with bbc news. the family of travis king, the us soldier confirmed to be in north korea, has told bbc news that they have not heard from him. in an earlier statement north korea said the american solider wanted to seek refuge in its territory because of the poor treatment and racism he said he had experienced in the us army. a us defense department spokesperson said they weren't able to verify king's comments, but his family's spokesperson said his uncle had received a text in which the soldier had indicated he was experiencing racism. earlier, private king's family spokesman spoke to the bbc about the 23—year—old's detainment. jonathan, thank you for being here. i just want to start off with that statement that was released by north korea and it says this, at least in part, as is travis king confessed he had decided to come over to the dprk, as north korea is called, as he h

kathleen fitzgibbon is a career diplomat with extensive experience in africa.the unfolding crisis. fitzgibbon is expected to arrive later this week. you're live with bbc news. the lead prosecutor in the us state of georgia's election interference case is asking a judge to set the start date for the trial of donald trump and his 18 co—defendants for march 4 of next year. the former president was indicted for the fourth time on monday on 13 charges relating to his alleged attempts to overturn the result of the the 2020 election in the state. mr trump has until the 25th of this month to turn himself in to authorities in georgia. the proposed march fourth trial date falls just one day before voters in 15 states cast their ballots for the republican nomination for president, also known as super tuesday. the start date of the trial is ultimately up to the judge. with the global spotlight focused on these arraignment proceedings, local atlanta residents have been weighing in on whether mr trump should indeed go to jail. have a listen. i don't want to see anybody go do