- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
- Uniqlo owner reports record annual earnings
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as markets track Wall St record
- Indonesia biomass drive threatens key forests: report
US VP Harris brings aid package to Ghana on Africa tour
US Vice President Kamala Harris met with Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday, bringing an aid package to shore up security, economic and development cooperation as part of a three-nation African tour.
The trip to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia until April 2 follows a December summit hosted by President Joe Biden in Washington with leaders from Africa, where Washington hopes to balance the rising influence of China and Russia.
After a brief meeting at the presidential palace in the capital Accra, Akufo-Addo and Harris said the visit would strengthen ties and opportunities with historic partner Ghana, playing down concerns the trip was motivated only by countering Chinese investments.
"This trip is motivated by the importance of the direct relationship between the United States and Ghana, and as I travel the continent, those countries as well," Harris told reporters.
Struggling with an economic crisis, burgeoning debt and inflation of over 50 percent, Ghana has agreed a $3 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Ghana's finance minister also returned this month from a trip to China, where the two governments discussed debt issues.
"China is one of the many countries with whom Ghana is engaged," Akufo-Addo said. "The relationship between America and Ghana is a relationship which has its own dynamic."
Earlier on Monday, Harris' office said the US would provide Ghana with $139 million (128 million euros) in bilateral assistance next year, including for economic, business and culture initiatives, and for the health sector such as an anti-malaria programme.
Washington will send a special advisor to Ghana to help Akufo-Addo's government with its debt profile management this year, it said.
- Regional cooperation -
Ghana is one of the Gulf of Guinea nations, along with Ivory Coast and neighbours Benin and Togo, suffering from the fallout from jihadist violence over their northern borders in Burkina Faso.
A French troop withdrawal from Mali after disputes with the ruling junta there and two coups and instability in Burkina Faso have helped refocus Western partners to aid Gulf of Guinea nations to counter the southward spillover of militant violence.
Ghana has pushed for more regional military cooperation among West African coastal states as well as initiatives to help development and aid in vulnerable northern border regions.
Harris said the Biden administration would invest $100 million as part of a plan to help Ghana, Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast in stabilisation and countering the threat of jihadism.
Asked about a bill currently in Ghana's parliament that critics say will severely restrict LGBTQ rights, Harris said she had addressed the issue with Akufo-Addo and said the US considered LGBTQ rights a human rights matter.
Other programmes announced by Harris' office will include small business development funds especially for women and youth, financing to help combat child labour in Ghana's cocoa industry and investments in weather and climate early warning systems.
Harris will also meet entrepreneurs, students, women and farmers while in Ghana and will also visit the historic Cape Coast Castle where slaves were kept 400 years ago.
After Ghana, she will travel on Wednesday to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
O.Ignatyev--CPN