Nigeria has joined 10 other countries in a global counter-terrorism operation coordinated by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), in which artificial intelligence was used to help identify 126 Foreign Terrorist Fighters.

Known as Operation Shams II, the five-day operation was conducted from June 1 to 5, 2026, in Tunis, Tunisia, and brought together 28 specialised officers and experts from 11 countries.

According to INTERPOL, law enforcement officers extracted 108,076 facial images from visual content published by jihadist groups during the operation.

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Programmed AI agents and advanced AI-generated scripts were then used to automate parts of the data collection and investigative process, including deduplicating and quality-checking the images.

The technology helped narrow the dataset to 6,362 unique, high-quality facial images, which were subsequently processed through INTERPOL’s Facial Recognition System.

INTERPOL said the AI-generated results were reviewed and verified by trained officers and analysts in accordance with its Rules on the Processing of Data.

“To date, 126 Foreign Terrorist Fighters have been identified from the images processed during Operation Shams II,” the organisation said.

INTERPOL explained that the matches would help enrich existing intelligence on the suspects, including information on their potential locations and social networks.

The intelligence is now being integrated into INTERPOL’s global databases as part of efforts to detect, track and disrupt terrorist movements worldwide.

The operation also received a large intelligence dataset related to terrorism suspects from officers at INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau in Baghdad, Iraq.

INTERPOL said hundreds more images were extracted from the dataset for processing.

Investigative leads generated during the operation are already being used to support judicial procedures in participating countries, including a case involving two currently detained suspected Foreign Terrorist Fighters.

INTERPOL said thousands of additional images are still awaiting processing, meaning further comparisons could produce additional investigative leads.

Beyond facial recognition, Operation Shams II also deployed cryptocurrency tools to trace illicit funding.

According to INTERPOL, the effort resulted in three urgent requests to a Virtual Asset Service Provider for customer data aimed at disrupting terrorist financing flows.

Participating countries also engaged representatives of the online gaming industry on the issue of youth radicalisation in online environments, with discussions focused on strengthening cooperation and information sharing.

INTERPOL Director of Counter-Terrorism, María Carmen Muñoz González, said the operation demonstrated the value of combining international law-enforcement cooperation with responsible AI-assisted analytical capabilities.

The participating countries were Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Qatar, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.

INTERPOL said Operation Shams II was carried out under the CT TECH+ Project, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Policy Instruments and supported by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to a private dinner at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Thursday night, as Nigeria and France seek to deepen their longstanding bilateral relationship.

The meeting was disclosed on Friday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.

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According to Onanuga, the private dinner reflected the “enduring relationship” between Nigeria and France and the shared commitment of both countries to strengthening bilateral cooperation.

The engagement took place as President Tinubu continues his stay in France as part of his three-week working vacation in Europe.

Recall that Tinubu arrived in Paris on September 13, 2026, for the second leg of his European vacation after spending the earlier part of his leave in London.

The meeting comes amid continued high-level diplomatic engagements involving France and other international partners in Paris.

UN Women has renewed its call for equal pay for work of equal value, saying women around the world still earn, on average, 20 per cent less than men.

UN Women made the call on Friday, September 18, 2026, to mark International Equal Pay Day, warning that the persistent gender pay gap continues to affect women’s lifetime earnings, economic security and retirement benefits.

According to the organisation, the disparity is even wider for some groups of women, including migrant women, women with disabilities, and women from racial and ethnic minorities.

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UN Women said equal pay for work of equal value remains critical to reducing poverty, advancing women’s economic rights and building more inclusive economies.

“This gap is neither inevitable nor acceptable,” the organisation said, stressing that equal pay for work of equal value cannot wait.

The organisation also pointed to renewed momentum in 2026, noting that governments, employers, workers and private-sector leaders strengthened their commitments to addressing structural barriers affecting women in the workplace at the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

It also highlighted the adoption in June of International Labour Organization Convention No. 193, the first international labour standard focused on decent work in the platform economy.

According to UN Women, the convention could provide stronger protections for women working through digital platforms against issues including unfair pay, harassment, discrimination and opaque algorithmic decisions.

UN Women, alongside the International Labour Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, continues to work through the Equal Pay International Coalition to support efforts by governments, employers and workers’ organisations to translate equal-pay commitments into action.

The organisation said closing the gender pay gap is possible, but called for greater action to ensure that women are valued equally for work of equal value.

At a time of economic uncertainty and widening inequality, UN Women said equal pay is not only a matter of justice but also contributes to stronger families, economies and societies.

The statement comes as the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly opens in New York, with UN Women reaffirming women’s economic empowerment as a key priority under its Strategic Plan 2026–2029.