International

NIAMEY: Niger’s armed forces chief on Thursday declared his support for troops who said they had overthrown the government, despite a defiant stand by the country’s elected president and an outcry from the world community. The latest target of a coup in the deeply troubled Sahel, President Mohamed Bazoum was confined at his residence on Wednesday by members of his …

ISLAMABAD / STOCKHOLM: Pakistan and Egypt on Thursday continued to condemn successive acts of sacrilege across Europe, which have prompted widespread anger and condemnation across the Muslim world. Meanwhile, the Swedish government has ordered 15 government agencies to strengthen the country’s ability to prevent terrorism, in response to a worsening security situation following protests involving the desecration of the Holy Quran. …

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers have suggested neutral monitoring to ensure that the next elections in Pakistan are fair and free, while at least one of them demanded that “the oversight should come from the United Nations”. The Wednesday afternoon briefing at the Rayburn building in the US Congress on ‘Human Rights and Democracy in Pakistan’, jointly sponsored by Demo­crat congressmen Brad …

Flanked by visiting Russian and Chinese officials, Kim Jong Un oversaw a North Korean military parade featuring new drones and Pyongyang’s nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, state media reported on Friday. At least four new North Korean military drones were towed on trailers through Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square at the parade late on Thursday, state media images showed, while another drone appeared …

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday told African leaders he would gift them tens of thousands of tonnes of grain within months despite Western sanctions, which he said made it harder for Moscow to export its grain and fertilisers. Speaking at a two-day summit in St Petersburg devoted to Russian-African ties, Mr Putin said Russia was expecting a record …

Meta Platforms executives are heavily focused on boosting retention on their new Twitter rival Threads, after the app lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its buzzy launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday. Retention of users on the text-based app was better than executives had expected, though it was “not perfect”, said Zuckerberg, speaking at …

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s main opposition party said on Thursday police had arrested hundreds of supporters in a sweeping crackdown a day before of anti-government protests planned in Dhaka. “Police have arrested at least 538 of our people since Wednesday,” Zahirud­din Swapan, the spokesman for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said, alleging a former councillor had also been beaten. Faruq Ahmed, a …

SAN FRANCISCO: Four US leaders in artificial intelligence (AI) announced on Wednesday the formation of an industry group devoted to addressing risks that cutting edge versions of the technology may pose. Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said the newly created Frontier Model Forum will draw on the expertise of its members to minimise AI risks and support industry standards. …

KABUL: Neckties worn by men were a sign of the Christian cross, a senior Afghan Taliban official said on Wednesday, adding they should be eliminated. “Sometimes, when I go to hospitals and other areas, an Afghan Muslim engineer or doctor uses a necktie,” said Mohammad Hashim Shaheed Wror, head of the Invitation and Guidance Directorate, a department that seeks to …

NEW YORK: Six people were injured in New York on Wednesday when the top portion of a construction crane caught fire and crashed into a Manhattan street during the morning rush hour, authorities said. Firefighters and rescue personnel arrived at the scene just as the crane fell, apparently responding to the blaze that had erupted in the cabin and caused …