- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
EU summit looks to boost strained ties with Africa
EU and African leaders meet for a two-day summit on Thursday, seeking to reboot ties with pledges of major investment in the face of competition from China and Russia.
Relations between the two continents have been hampered by a raft of problems: from disputes over coronavirus vaccines, to curbing illegal migration, a wave of coups in Africa, and the growing clout of Russian mercenaries on the continent.
"Our common ambition, Africans and Europeans, for this summit, is to achieve a renewed, modernised and more action-oriented partnership," said Senegal's President Macky Sall, who currently chairs the African Union.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, hopes the first joint summit since 2017 can burnish his grand ambition of forging an "economic and financial New Deal with Africa".
The EU is aiming to convince the 40 African leaders in Brussels that Europe is their "most reliable partner" by fleshing out an investment initiative that aims to mobilise 150 billion euros ($170 billion) of public and private funds over the next seven years.
The scheme is the first regional part of the EU's Global Gateway -- a $300-billion-euro ($340-billion) worldwide investment blueprint meant to rival China's Belt and Road initiative.
The EU is eyeing a dozen ambitious projects to bolster internet access, transport links and renewable energy as it seeks to provide an alternative to cheap loans from Beijing.
But details on funding remain vague, and the projects are still to be agreed on with the African side.
African leaders are instead pushing for a far more concrete step of getting EU nations to allow the International Monetary Fund to allocate tens of billions of dollars in further aid.
- Coups, mercenaries, Mali -
The summit -- which will involve a series of roundtable discussions -- comes at a worrying time for Africa after a wave of military coups and as regional powerhouse Ethiopia is wracked by conflict.
Burkina Faso last month joined Guinea, Mali and Sudan as the fourth country frozen out by the AU after disgruntled soldiers toppled the elected president.
Those four will not be represented in Brussels.
As Europe grapples with a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is also unsettled by the rising clout of Russian mercenaries in some of Africa's most volatile hotspots.
Shadowy paramilitary outfit Wagner, alleged to have close ties to the Kremlin, is accused of bolstering Moscow's geopolitical ambitions.
Western nations have condemned the reported arrival of its mercenaries in Mali's capital Bamako to help protect a junta that seized power last year. Mali's rulers deny hiring Wagner.
Macron is looking to redeploy France's forces in Mali to elsewhere in the Sahel amid the breakdown in ties, ending a nine-year mission there battling jihadists.
European governments fear turmoil among the region's rulers risks leaving a vacuum that movements tied to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group could exploit.
An EU official said the bloc would "remain engaged" in Mali, but there are still major questions over its military training mission there.
The official said that in a bid to bolster broader stability, the EU planned to increase funding for African Union peacekeeping missions across the continent.
- Vaccines -
The fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is also expected be a major topic.
Africa has been angered by what it sees as the unfair distribution of coronavirus vaccines worldwide that has left it lagging woefully behind.
South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa has accused the West of giving his continent only the "crumbs from their table" as the EU has rebuffed a push for a temporary patent waiver to allow the generic production of vaccines.
The EU -- the world's biggest vaccine exporter -- points to over 400 million jabs it has contributed to the global Covax vaccine-sharing initiative and is promising to give Africa 450 million doses by mid-2022.
It says it will increase funding to help health systems on the continent get jabs into arms, and has pledged one billion euros (around $1 billion) to bolster future vaccine production in Africa.
P.M.Smith--AMWN