This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Janet Jalil and at 14 hours GMT on Thursday the 3rd of August, these are our main stories.

Supporters of last week's coup in Niger have gathered in the capital to denounce international sanctions.

North Korea has for the first time confirmed it's holding a US soldier who dashed across the border from South Korea last month.

Germany, who are among the favourites who win the Women's Football World Cup, have been knocked out.

Also in this podcast, heavier than a blue whale, scientists find the remains of a marine animal which lived 40 million years ago.

Well, there's only 18 of these bones, but just take the vertebra that they have.

Each one of those big backbones is over 100 kilos.

That's all coming up, but first let's go to Niger.

Hundreds of people turned out in a central square in the capital Niami to demonstrate in support of the recent military coup.

Many of them carried Russian flags and chanted slogans calling for France to leave.

Niger, a former French colony, is a vast country with lucrative uranium reserves.

But its people consistently rank as having the lowest standards of living of anywhere in the world.

Western countries have been evacuating hundreds of their nationals after the French Embassy was attacked by protesters on Sunday.

We got more from our Africa Regional Editor, Bull Ross.

A large crowd gathered at Independence Square.

This was a rally really called by a coalition of civil society groups that have for quite some months now been calling for protests against the presence of French troops in the country and against the fact that Niger has become this pretty close ally of western nations who are trying to fight the jihadist insurgency across the region.

A large crowd and amongst the crowd quite a lot of chance against France, but also against the sanctions that have been imposed by the regional block, ECOS, and some chance and flags supporting Russia.

But ought to stress, you know, in Niger the country is pretty split on whether they're in support of this coup or not.

There are many people who believe that the coup leaders themselves were really in danger of being replaced and losing their jobs, and so they move for their own protection really, and that's what this is all about.

I was going to ask you about that because it's very difficult to assess how much popular support there really is for the coup.

But also this waving of the Russian flags that started right from the beginning, didn't it?

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