From the BBC World Service: Niger's elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, has warned that following the coup in his country, the entire Sahel region in Africa could fall under Russian influence — with devastating consequences. Following Fitch's downgrade of US government debt, the picture for investors is becoming clearer. The World Bank has given nearly $5 billion of funding for projects to boost economies across Latin America and the Caribbean. So just how much difference has that made?