"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Coup leaders in Niger have overturned an eight-year-old law criminalising migrant smuggling in the country.

The legislation allowed authorities to take action against smugglers who transported migrants through Niger's vast desert on to Libya and Europe.

But President Mohamed Bazoum - who had worked with the EU to stem the flow of people across the Mediterranean - was overthrown in July in a coup.

Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani has since declared himself the new head of state.

The U.S., Norway, and the UK are urging the government of South Sudan to withdraw its troops from the disputed region of Abyei amid violence in which at least 27 people have been killed in recent days.

“We renew our calls upon the transitional government (of South Sudan) to urgently withdraw its troops in line with its commitments" as part of the deal for South Sudan's independence in 2011, their embassies in South Sudan said in a statement Monday.

Inter-communal and cross-border clashes have escalated since South Sudan deployed its troops to Abyei in March.