Niger's coup leaders have tried to expel France's ambassador, but Paris says it doesn't recognize their authority to order him out. Macron said on TV he was "literally" a "hostage," stuck in the French Embassy in Niamey.

The US embassy in Niamey will provide limited emergency services after a military coup in the West African country. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was committed to restoring Niger's elected government.

The Ukrainian foreign minister says grizzly packages that arrived at Kyiv's diplomatic missions across Europe seem to have been mailed from a car dealership in Germany.

With an embassy in Tel Aviv, the UAE has plans to broaden economic ties with Israel after tourism, aviation and financial services deals. Israel's president called diplomatic ties to the UAE a milestone toward peace.

Israel's top diplomat Yair Lapid opens the Jewish state's first embassy in the Gulf, during a trip to the United Arab Emirates after the countries normalised ties last year. "Israel wants peace with its neighbours. With all its neighbours. We aren't going anywhere. The Middle East is our home. We're here to stay. We call on all the countries of the region to recognise that. And to come talk to us," Lapid says during the opening ceremony. Since their US-brokered normalisation agreement was announced in August last year, Israel and the UAE have signed a raft of deals ranging from tourism to aviation and financial services.

The move comes after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to limit the number of Russians employed at embassies of countries deemed to be "unfriendly."

Romania has become the most recent country to eject Russian diplomatic officials from its territory, in solidarity with the Czech Republic over its dispute with Moscow.

Mynamar's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Kyaw Zwar Minn, says an embassy defence attache has 'occupied' the country's London embassy in what he describes as 'a kind of coup'. The ambassador is left unable to enter the building, waiting outside in his car.

Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has cited "deep disagreements" with Germany over Berlin's stance on Western Sahara, according to local media.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday. ⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣

Five years after the United States reopened its embassy in Havana during the Obama administration, Cubans share their expectations for both countries ahead of the US elections, amid a deep freeze in bilateral relations following new sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump's government.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Friday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.⁣⁣⁣