US President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to send the military into Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing” if Africa’s most populous country does not stem what he described as the killing of Christians by Islamists.In an explosive post, the Republican leader — who had campaigned unsuccessfully for the Nobel Peace Prize — said on social media he asked the Pentagon to map out a possible plan of attack, one day after warning that Christianity was “facing an existential threat in Nigeria.”Nigeria is embroiled in numerous conflicts that experts say have killed both Christians and Muslims without distinction.”If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump said.”I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians,” he added, warning the Nigerian government that they “BETTER MOVE FAST!”Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, shared Trump’s post and wrote on social media: “Yes sir.””The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Hegseth said.Trump posted on Friday, without evidence, that “thousands of Christians are being killed (and) Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”Conservative politicians have fueled the accusations. In March, US congressman Chris Smith called for Nigeria to be listed by the State Department as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) — a move announced by Trump on Friday over what he called an “existential threat” to the African nation’s Christian population.And in early October, US Senator Ted Cruz and House Republican Riley Moore accused the Nigerian government of turning a blind eye to the “mass murder” of Christians.- ‘Tolerance’ -Claims of Christian persecution have also been pushed by some in Nigeria, where ethnic, religious and regional divisions have flared with deadly consequences in the past and still shape the country’s modern politics.Some US officials argue Christians in Nigeria are facing a “genocide” — a claim that Abuja denies.”The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said on social media Saturday after Trump made his CPC announcement.”Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so,” Tinubu added.Nigeria is almost evenly divided between a Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south.The country is consumed by security issues. Its northeastern region is at the epicenter of a Boko Haram jihadist insurgency, which has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced more than two million since 2009, according to the United Nations.In central Nigeria, majority-Muslim herders have repeatedly clashed with majority-Christian farmers. The conflict is frequently portrayed as inter-religious but generally stems from competition over land access.

Former US president Barack Obama hit the campaign trail Saturday for fellow Democrats ahead of closely-watched state elections, laying into Donald Trump over his “shambolic” policies and warning of the dangers facing American democracy.Obama, who remains a powerful figure in today’s Democratic Party, took the stage to robust applause in Virginia and then New Jersey to stump for two candidates in gubernatorial elections seen as critical bellwethers ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.The 64-year-old quickly noted how Americans frustrated with rising inflation, energy costs and home prices were “willing to take a chance” on a national candidate like Donald Trump who promised relief from such challenges. But nine months into Trump’s second term, “has any of that gotten better?” Obama asked in Norfolk, Virginia as the crowd responded: “No.””Is the economy working better for you? Because it sure has gotten better for Trump and his family,” he said.”For ordinary families, costs haven’t gone down, they’ve gone up — thanks to this shambolic tariff policy,” Obama added, refering to the import duties Trump has imposed on various nations.Four states hold off-year elections on November 4, including New York, where a dramatic mayoral race will determine who runs the country’s most populous city.Until this weekend, Obama had played a relatively subdued role in the campaigning.On Saturday he stumped for two female gubernatorial hopefuls: former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, and current US House Democrat Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey.Spanberger holds a roughly nine point lead over her Republican rival, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, while Sherrill is locked in a tighter race against businessman Jack Ciattarelli, according to poll averages.”New Jersey, it’s time to point America in a better direction,” Obama said in Newark.While Obama described himself as the “hope-and-change guy,” he stressed there was cause for deep concern.”We don’t need to speculate about the dangers to our democracy — they’re here,” he said.Obama also slammed congressional Republicans, whom he said “refuse to buck the president even when they know he is out of line.”And he expressed worry about a US Supreme Court that is showing “no willingness to check this administration’s excesses.”

Approximately one in eight Americans receive food stamp benefits from the US government, a program at risk of losing its funding as of Saturday due to the government shutdown.One such beneficiary is Eric Dunham, a 36-year-old man who became disabled after an accident and needs help from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to live.”If I don’t get food stamps I can’t eat,” Dunham told AFP, explaining that after all his expenses, he has just $24 left over per month.”That’s it,” the father of two teenagers said. “The rest goes to child support.”Since the federal government shuttered on October 1 due to ongoing budget disagreements between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, President Donald Trump’s administration has announced it would no longer be able to fund SNAP as of Saturday — the first cessation since the program began six decades ago.A federal judge stepped in Friday and ordered the government to use emergency funds to keep SNAP running, and Trump said he aimed to comply. But many recipients have had their aid disrupted amid the bureaucratic tug-of-war.Dunham — who works in the service industry, though in a reduced capacity since his accident — was able to receive some sandwiches and drinks on Saturday afternoon distributed by Petit Beignets and Tapioca, a restaurant in northwest Houston.”There’s a lot of layoffs going around, and on top of that, we have the government shutdown and the SNAP benefits — nobody knew what was going to happen, and I made sandwiches for someone who comes and has SNAP benefits, and at least can have one meal for sure,” the restaurant’s owner Nhan Ngo, 37, said.Though Dunham could not use his SNAP card to repay Ngo, he gave him a surprise hug as a show of thanks. – ‘Not something extraordinary or luxurious’ -Elsewhere in the city, thousands of people who did not receive their food stamps or fear they will not get them in the near future lined up in cars outside NRG Stadium, where the Houston Food Bank is distributing fruit and non-perishable food items.The food bank’s president Brian Greene told AFP that the SNAP stoppage affects “about 425,000 households just in the Houston area.””So every community is trying to step up to help these families get by in the meantime.”Despite the judicial order to resume funding SNAP during the shutdown, “it would take several days for the states to restart the program,” Greene explained. “They all had to stop because they were out of money.”The gap in benefits impacted Sandra Guzman, a 36-year-old mother of two, who had placed an order for her food stamps last week but was told there were none available. She had to seek food aid elsewhere in the meantime.”This is not something extraordinary or luxurious, this is something basic as getting food for my kids,” Guzman told AFP. “I’ll say food stamps represent 40 percent… of my expenses.”- Trump’s ballroom or food aid -Mary Willoughby, a 72-year-old Houston resident, waited in line outside the stadium with her granddaughter to receive food. She thinks if the aid freeze lasts, it could cause widespread chaos.”We need our food stamps. We need our social security. We need our Medicare… If you cut all that out, it’s going to be nothing but a big war right now because people are gonna start robbing,” she said. “We need the help.”Another person in line, Carolyn Guy, 51, said she found it absurd that the Trump administration was paying millions to build a new White House ballroom while claiming there was no money to fund SNAP benefits. “Why are you taking our stuff from us? We work hard,” she said. “You can take our food stamps, but here you’re getting ready to build a ballroom? Doesn’t make sense to me.”