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A commissioner for the Economic Community of West African States, a regional block, told Army officials it is prepared to use force to restore democracy in Niger.

Quote, if everything else fails.

It had met in Ghana to discuss a standby force.

Army officers in Niger overthrew President Mohammed Bazoum on July the 26th and have so far ignored calls from ECOWAS, the United Nations and Western powers to reinstate him.

Walmart, the world's largest retailer, reported revenue of $162 billion in the three months to July, surpassing analysts' expectations of $161 billion, and up 5.7% on the same period last year.

The American retail giant revised its sale-growth forecast to 4.5% this year, up from 3.5%.

The firm credited its strong numbers to easing inflation and high demand for low priced groceries, but warned that rising fuel prices and high borrowing costs could still hurt consumer confidence.

Lenovo, the world's biggest maker of personal computers, reported a 24% drop in revenue to $12.9 billion in the April to June quarter,

increasing analysts' estimates of $13.8 billion. The Chinese giant has seen a 14% drop in annual profit for the year to march.

Its first annual decline since 2019. The Lenovo is suffering from an industry-wide slump as customers hit by inflation, rain in spending.

Residents in parts of Northwestern Canada were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire raged in the region. In Yellowknife, a city in the fires' path, all 20,000 residents were leaving on Thursday.

No deaths have been reported, but several buildings have been destroyed. In Hawaii, meanwhile, officials defended their decision not to sound sirens during recent devastating wildfires, saying people associate the sirens with tsunamis.

Israel will go ahead with the sale of the Arrow III, its most advanced long-range missile defense system, to Germany for $3.5 billion after America approved the deal.

It is the largest military export agreed in Israel's history. The money will come from a $100 billion euro or $109 billion fund Germany set up for military modernization after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Delivery is expected in late 2025.

The drinking water of up to 26 million Americans is contaminated with toxic per and polyfluoroalcul substances according to new data from the Environmental Protection Agency.

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