US sending senior officials to Niger to discuss troop exit

WASHINGTON — The United States will send a delegation to Niger on Thursday to begin face-to-face talks with officials in Niamey on withdrawing the more than 1,000 American personnel in the military-ruled country. Niger has been a key base for regional counter-terrorism operations, but the government — a military junta that ousted the country's president last year — said in March it was ending a military cooperation agreement with Washington. The United States said it had agreed to remove its...