Neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, which are also both run by military juntas, strongly rebuked regional bloc ECOWAS for weighing the option of using force to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.

Niger closed its airspace on Sunday until further notice, citing the threat of military intervention from the West African regional bloc, after leaders of its recent coup rejected a deadline to reinstate the country’s ousted president.

Artificial intelligence is an exciting and fast-changing technology. But it has a big CO2 footprint and is being used to boost activities that make climate change worse.

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Niger's military junta said on Wednesday evening that it was open to a negotiated resolution to the regional crisis sparked by last month's coup d'état. West African military chiefs will meet on Thursday to discuss a possible intervention.

A new report by the UN's International Labor Organization found that AI can help with certain duties rather than take over entire jobs. However, clerical workers remain exposed to full automation.

The use of digital biometric identification — recognizing people by their unique features — is growing in the Middle East. There's concern it provides an opportunity for repression.

The pact allows Mali and Burkina Faso to provide military assistance to Niger in the event of military intervention against the putschists there.

Several Chinese companies have now made AI chatbots publicly available, with Baidu first off the blocks with its ERNIE. But the bots will be subject to extreme censorship on certain topics.

The regional bloc CCAS, and the country's opposition coalition, have urged international partners to push for a rapid return to civilian rule. Also in this edition: In Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 48 protesters are reported to have been killed in the eastern city of Goma. And finally: In South Africa, the death toll rises to 76 after the devastating Johannesburg fire at an abandoned apartment block that housed dozens of homeless people and squatters.

A video of Kilian Mbappé seemingly being told off at school created an online storm, spreading far and wide when it was posted to X, formerly Twitter, at the end of August. But it is in fact AI-generated. Its creator tells us how and why he made the video, and how he lost control of it, once it started going viral.

Three West African countries ruled by military juntas have signed a mutual defense pact. Mali and Burkina Faso had previously promised to come to Niger's aid in the event of an attack.