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More than 1,000 tech experts, scientists and researchers have written a letter warning about the dangers of autonomous weapons. In the latest outcry over “killer robots”, the letter warns that “a military AI [artificial intelligence] arms race is a bad idea”. Among the signatories are scientist Stephen Hawking, entrepreneur Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The letter will be ...

Chad’s former President Hissene Habre has been forcibly brought to court for the second day of his trial for crimes against humanity. The trial has been suspended until 7 September after Mr Habre and his lawyers refused to speak to the judge. The court in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, has now appointed new lawyers to represent him. Mr Habre denies responsibility ...

Dozens of people in Egypt have apparently disappeared after being detained secretly by security forces, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned. The US-based group said in some cases state officials either denied holding individuals or refused to reveal their fates. It called on the authorities to immediately disclose their whereabouts and hold those responsible to account. Enforced disappearances constitute a ...

A man in China has admitted stealing more than 140 paintings by Chinese masters from a university and replacing them with his own forgeries. Xiao Yuan, 57, a curator at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in southern China, sold 125 of the exhibits for more than 34m yuan (£4m, $6m). In his defence, he told Guangzhou People’s Intermediate Court there ...

A Lufthansa plane nearly collided with a drone as it was approaching Warsaw’s international airport in Poland, officials say. The incident happened on Monday afternoon with the drone coming within 300ft (100m) of the plane from Munich, Germany, an airport spokesman said. The crew of the Lufthansa Embraer ERJ-195 reported the near collision with the drone at 2,500ft (760m). Police ...

A suspect has been identified in the suicide bomb attack that killed 32 young activists in Turkey, the country’s prime minister has said. Ahmet Davutoglu, who is due to visit the scene of the blast in Suruc near the Syrian border, said the suspect’s international and domestic links were being investigated. He said there was a “high probability” the Islamic ...

Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov has gone on trial in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don accused of plotting terrorist acts in Crimea. He was arrested weeks after the Ukrainian peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014. Mr Sentsov denies the charges against him and his cause has been taken up by other directors, including Mike Leigh, Stephen Daldry and ...

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has reportedly asked the National Disaster Management Authority ( NDMA) to reinforce relief and expedite rescue efforts in coordination with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority ( PDMA) and other concerned departments in areas affected by the floods that hit Chitral. Expressing grief over the loss of property due to floods, Prime Minister Sharif also directed ...

Nasa’s New Horizons spacecraft has made the first visit to Pluto, speeding past at 14km per second. Earlier, the space agency released the most detailed picture yet as it hurtled towards the dwarf planet on Tuesday. The probe was set to grab more pictures and other data as it passed 12,500km from Pluto at 11:50 GMT (12:50 BST). Controllers got ...

At least 27 pilgrims have died in a stampede on the banks of a holy river in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, local officials say. The Hindu pilgrims had gathered to take a dip in the Godavari river at the start of the Maha Pushkaralu festival. The stampede occurred at 08:00am (02:30 GMT) in the Rajahmundry district. Nearly ...