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cairo — Rival Sudanese political factions formally attended reconciliation talks in Cairo on Saturday — the first since a conflict in the country began almost 15 months ago — but admitted there was little prospect of quickly ending the war.  During the conference, the Democratic Bloc, which is aligned with the army, refused to hold joint sessions with the Taqaddum faction, which it accuses of sympathizing with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Neither the army nor the RSF attended.  The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023 and has forced almost 10 million people from their homes, sparked warnings of famine and waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF.  The force this week swept through the state of Sennar, causing new displacement. In response, army head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army would not negotiate with the RSF or its supporters.  "The stark deterioration in the humanitarian situation and the catastrophic consequences of this crisis call on all of us to work to immediately and sustainably to stop military operations," said newly-appointed Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty.  Talks in Jeddah between the army and RSF that were sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia broke down at the end of last year.  Taqaddum is a coalition of pro-democracy parties, armed groups, and civil society that has called for an end to the war. The army-aligned Democratic Bloc includes several armed group leaders participating in the fighting.  While Egypt was able to wield its influence to assemble the group, the main attendees were seated at opposite sides of the hall at the conference's opening. The two political factions agreed only to form a small subcommittee to come up with a final communique expected late Saturday.  "We told them not to have high ambitions from this meeting," said finance minister and Democratic Bloc leader Jibril Ibrahim to Reuters.  "Given the situation on the ground, if we sit and eat and drink and laugh — with the people who are allied and partners in the crimes that are happening — we would be sending the wrong message to our citizens and to our soldiers on the field," he said.  He added that an end to the war was not realistic without the withdrawal of the RSF from civilian areas, in line with an agreement signed in Jeddah last year, and the end of material support to the RSF by the United Arab Emirates. U.N. experts have said that accusations of such support are credible though the UAE has denied them.  Former Prime Minister and Taqaddum head Abdalla Hamdok rejected accusations that the coalition was linked to the RSF, saying he awaited the army's agreement to meet.  "A crisis this complicated and deep is not expected to end in one meeting... The lesson is for us to be patient and to build on anything positive that comes out of it," he told Reuters, echoing sentiments from diplomats at the meeting.  U.S. Special Envoy Tom Perriello said he hoped momentum from Saturday's talks would carry on to another meeting called by the African Union next week, another of several initiatives. 

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PARIS — French voters face a decisive choice Sunday in the runoff of snap parliamentary elections that could produce the country's first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation — or no majority emerging at all.  Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration, nationalist party National Rally stands a chance of winning a legislative majority for the first time, but the outcome remains uncertain because of a complex voting system and tactical maneuvers by political parties.  What's happening Sunday?  Voters across France and overseas territories can cast ballots for 501 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, the lower and most important of France's two houses of parliament. The other 76 races were won outright in the first round of voting.  The National Rally and its allies arrived ahead in Round 1 with around one-third of the votes. A coalition of center-left, hard-left and greens parties called the New Popular Front came in second position, well ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's struggling centrist alliance.  In the frantic week between the two rounds, more than 200 centrist and left-wing candidates pulled out of races to boost the chances of their moderate rivals and try to keep National Rally candidates from winning.  Final preelection polls suggest the tactic may have diminished the far right's chances of an absolute majority. But Le Pen's party has wider and deeper support than ever before, and it's up to voters to decide.  What are the possible outcomes?  Polling projections suggest the National Rally is likely to have the most seats in the next National Assembly, which would be a first.  If it wins an absolute majority of 289 seats, Macron would be expected to appoint National Rally President Jordan Bardella as France's new prime minister. Bardella could then form a government, and he and Macron would share power in a system called cohabitation.  If the party doesn't win a majority but still has a large number of seats, Macron could name Bardella anyway, though the National Rally might refuse out of fears that its government could be ejected in a no-confidence vote.  Or Macron could seek to build a coalition with moderates and possibly choose a prime minister from the center-left.  If there's no party with a clear mandate to govern, Macron could name a government of experts unaffiliated with political parties. Such a government would likely deal mostly with day-to-day affairs of keeping France running.  Complicating matters: Any of those options would require parliamentary approval.  If political talks take too long amid summer holidays and the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics in Paris, Macron's centrist government could keep a transitional government pending further decisions.  How does cohabitation work?  If an opposition force wins a majority, Macron would be forced to appoint a prime minister belonging to that new majority. In this cohabitation, the government would implement policies that diverge from the president's plan.  France's modern Republic has experienced three cohabitations, the last one under conservative President Jacques Chirac, with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, from 1997 to 2002.  The prime minister is accountable to the parliament, leads the government and introduces bills.  The president is weakened at home during cohabitation, but still holds some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense and is in charge of negotiating and ratifying international treaties. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces and holds the nuclear codes.  What about a hung parliament?  While not uncommon in other European countries, modern France has never experienced a parliament with no dominant party.  Such a situation requires lawmakers to build consensus across parties to agree on government positions and legislation. France's fractious politics and deep divisions over taxes, immigration and Mideast policy make that especially challenging.  That would likely derail Macron's promises to overhaul unemployment benefits or legalize life-ending procedures for the terminally ill, among other reforms. It could also make passing a budget more difficult.  Why is the far right rising?  While France has one of the world's biggest economies and is an important diplomatic and military power, many French voters are struggling with inflation and low incomes and a sense that they are being left behind by globalization.  Le Pen's party, which blames immigration for many of France's problems, has tapped into that voter frustration and built wide online support and a grassroots network, notably in small towns and farming communities that see the Paris political class as out of touch.  Why does it matter?  The National Assembly is the more powerful of France's two houses of parliament. It has the final say in the law-making process over the Senate, dominated by conservatives.  Macron has a presidential mandate until 2027 and said he would not step down before the end of his term. But a weakened French president could complicate many issues on the world stage.  During previous cohabitations, defense and foreign policies were considered the informal domain of the president, who was usually able to find compromises with the prime minister to allow France to speak with one voice abroad.  But both the far-right and the leftist coalition's views in these areas differ radically from Macron's approach and would likely be a subject of tension during a potential cohabitation.  Bardella said that as a prime minister, he would oppose sending French troops to Ukraine — a possibility Macron has not ruled out. Bardella also said he would refuse French deliveries of long-range missiles and other weaponry capable of striking targets within Russia itself. 

Mandalay, Myanmar — Myanmar ethnic minority fighters were battling their way into a town housing a regional military command, one of their leaders said Saturday. Meanwhile, the junta’s second-in-command arrived in China for an official visit. Vice Senior General Soe Win arrived in Qingdao in Shandong province to attend a "Green Development Forum" hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the junta's information office said in a statement. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has not visited China since the 2021 coup that plunged the country into turmoil. Myanmar’s ethnic soldiers were surrounding the northern Shan state town of Lashio, home to the junta's northeastern command, General Tar Bhone Kyaw of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) told AFP. Lashio also sits on a major highway that runs from Myanmar's second city of Mandalay to China's Yunnan province. Clashes first broke out Wednesday as the ethnic fighters moved into the area. A member of a local group of volunteers helping to treat the injured and bury the dead told AFP on Saturday that at least 16 civilians had been killed since fighting broke out in Lashio. "There has been very strong fighting around the town," the rescuer said. "The fighting is still going on." "We heard they (the TNLA) entered the town yesterday from the south." Flights to the town from commercial hub Yangon had been canceled since Wednesday morning, an airport source in Yangon told AFP earlier this week. The so-called "Three Brotherhood Alliance" of ethnic armed groups launched an offensive last October against the military near Lashio and along the Chinese border. Ethnic minority armed groups were also making progress against junta troops in the town of Mogok, to the west of Lashio, Tar Bhone Kyaw said. "The western part is got," the general said of Mogok, which is surrounded by hills rich with rubies, sapphires, spinel, aquamarine and other semi-precious stones. "We are trying to get the eastern part," he said. The alliance has seized swaths of territory and lucrative border crossings, dealing the junta its biggest blow since it seized power in 2021. China brokered a cease-fire in January between the military and the alliance — made up of the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the TNLA. But late last month, the TNLA launched fresh attacks in Shan state and the neighboring Mandalay region. Myanmar's borderlands are home to a myriad of ethnic armed groups, many of which have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 over autonomy and control of lucrative resources.

Beirut, Lebanon — An Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon killed a Hezbollah member Saturday. The Israeli army said he was part of the militant group's air defense unit, as tensions run high between the foes.  Hezbollah has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army across Lebanon's southern border since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, triggering the war in Gaza.   "A local Hezbollah official" was killed in an "Israeli drone" strike on a vehicle near the eastern city of Baalbek, a source close to the group told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.   Lebanon's official National News Agency reported one person was killed when an "enemy drone" targeted a vehicle in the Shaat area, around 15 kilometers north of Baalbek.    The area is northeast of Beirut, about 100 kilometers from Lebanon's southern border with Israel.   The Israeli military said in a statement that the air force "operated in the area of Baalbek to strike and eliminate ... a key operative in Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit."   The Hezbollah operative "took part in the planning and carrying out of numerous terror attacks" against Israel and helped build up the group's "arsenal of Iranian weapons," the statement added.    Hezbollah announced that a fighter from the area had been killed.    Recent Israeli strikes in south Lebanon have killed two senior Hezbollah commanders — one of them this week — with the Shiite Muslim movement raining rockets on northern Israel in response.    The cross-border exchanges of fire have largely been restricted to border areas, although Israel has repeatedly struck deep inside eastern Lebanon.   Hezbollah on Saturday claimed several attacks on Israeli positions near the southern border, including one with "explosive drones" that it said came in response to "Israeli enemy attacks" on south Lebanon villages.   Lebanon's news agency reported several Israeli strikes on areas in south Lebanon later Saturday.    Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Palestinians and Hamas with its attacks, which began on October 8.   The escalating violence has raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which last went to war in 2006.    The cross-border exchanges have killed at least 497 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters but also including 95 civilians, according to an AFP tally.   Israeli authorities say at least 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed on their side of the border.  

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Japan's foreign minister on Saturday announced a joint project with Cambodia to share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with countries around the world, including Ukraine.  Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa made her comments during a visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Center, which was formed in the 1990s at the end of the Southeast Asian nation's decades of civil war. It seeks to deal with an estimated 4 million to 6 million land mines and other unexploded munitions left strewn around the countryside.   "Cambodia, which has steadily advanced mine removal within its own country, is now a leader in mine action around the world," she noted, adding that Japan has consistently cooperated in Cambodia's mine removal since the civil war.  Cambodian deminers are among the world's most experienced, and several thousand have been sent in the past decade under U.N. auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East. Cambodia in 2022 began training deminers from Ukraine, which also suffers from a high density of land mines and other unexploded munitions as the two-year Russian invasion drags on.  "As a concrete cooperation under the Japan Cambodia Landmine Initiative, Japan will provide full-scale assistance to humanitarian mine action in Ukraine," she said. "Next week, we will provide Ukraine with a large demining machine, and next month, here in Cambodia, we will train Ukrainian personnel on how to operate the machine."  The NGO Landmine Monitor in its 2022 report listed both Cambodia and Ukraine among nine countries with massive mine contamination, meaning they had more than 100 square kilometers of uncleared fields.  Since the end of the fighting in Cambodia, nearly 20,000 people have been killed and about 45,000 have been injured by leftover war explosives, although the average annual death toll has dropped from several thousand to less than 100.  Despite a very active demining program, many dangerous munitions remain in place, posing a hazard to villagers.  Cambodia's training of Ukrainian deminers, in Poland as well as Cambodia, came after former Prime Minister Hun Sen — in an unusual move for a nation that usually aligns itself with Russia and China — condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, saying "Cambodia is always against any country that invades another country."  Cambodia was one of nearly 100 U.N. member countries that co-sponsored a resolution condemning Russia's invasion.  Several other countries, including the United States and Germany, have already provided Ukraine with demining assistance.  Kamikawa also held talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Hun Sen, his father who stepped down last year after ruling for 38 years.  She and her Cambodian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, signed agreements for a concessional loan from Tokyo of up to $51.6 million for upgrading the highway between the capital, Phnom Penh, to the border with Thailand, and grant aid up to $2.4 million to support junior administrative officials to study in Japan, a Japanese Embassy statement said.  Kamikawa next goes to the Philippines, where she and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara will hold talks on Monday with their Philippine counterparts. They are set to discuss signing a mutual defense pact that would allow each country to deploy troops on the other's territory. 

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MAYREAU, St. Vincent and the Grenadines — Mayreau is one of the smallest inhabited islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It's so small that it's barely visible — a dot on the map of the Caribbean. Hurricane Beryl nearly erased it from the map.    Beryl pummeled everything along its path, ripping up roofs of schools, crumbling homes and stripping trees of almost every leaf on the 0.46 square miles (1.2 square kilometers) of this island of about 360 people.    "Everything was flying all over the place," Mayreau resident James Alexander said as he recalled the storm. "I saw a tank full of water lifted up and swirl in the air."    Beryl made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Monday on the Caribbean island of Carriacou in Barbados and close to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, leaving a swath of destruction as it kept moving west and strengthening later into a Category 5.  The storm is the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. On Friday, it moved over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula after battering the resort of Tulum and reemerged in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting Texas officials to urge coastal residents to prepare as the storm headed their way. Beryl has caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands.  Other islands in the Grenadines archipelago, like Canouan, also suffered extensive damage. But tiny Mayreau has been mostly ignored in its pleas for help.  Most lost it all: 98% of the island's structures were severely damaged, according to the latest report from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Agency.   When the storm hit, some of the people of Mayreau sought refuge in The Immaculate Conception Church. But the sturdy building built more than 100 years ago with local stone did not have a chance against the wrath of the Category 4 hurricane.    People sheltered in the church barely made it out. Almost miraculously, they escaped unharmed but for a few minor injuries. With only one small clinic, which has also been damaged, and one nurse, that the injuries were minor was the only good news for the people of Mayreau.   The storm ripped every roof off every home on the island. Many were left as piles of dust and rubble.   "This church suffered an awful fate as a result of the passage of Hurricane Beryl and it's an indication of what has happened throughout this island," Luke Browne, St. Vincent and the Grenadines' former minister of health, said as he stood in front of the rubble of The Immaculate Conception Church.   Browne said he had been visiting Mayreau since he was a child and had seen the congregation "grow and thrive." He pleaded for help rebuilding the island.   Mayreau residents are now stranded without electricity or shelter — not even a roof — to protect them from the sun and rain.   Islanders are badly in need of everything, from food and water to tents and baby formula for its 14 youngest inhabitants.   Mayreau is far from the mainland, accessible only by a four-hour boat trip from St. Vincent.   Although some aid is expected to trickle in from nearby islands, the need is enormous, and the aid is only guaranteed for the short term. There are no vehicles on Mayreau, so residents form human chains, passing vital bottles of water hand-to-hand to the improvised shelter.   The small population depends on tourism and fishing, both of which were disrupted by the storm.   "I'm just happy," Alexander said, "to be alive." 

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — For the first time since 2020, three female suicide bombers attacked the Nigerian border town of Gwoza, where Boko Haram extremists declared a short-lived caliphate 10 years ago, signaling that the world's longest war on militancy is still ongoing.  This came two days after officials touted success in their war against extremists, with Nigerian military spokesperson Major General Edward Buba telling reporters the often-used phrase: "We have greatly degraded the terrorists."  The first of the three coordinated suicide bombings on June 30 targeted a well-attended wedding, the second was detonated at the victims' funeral, and the third at a hospital attending to the injured.  At least 32 people were killed in the attacks, including nine family members and friends of Mohammed Kehaya, a resident who is now worried about his safety in the state of Borno, a hotbed of Islamic militancy, where extremists once kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in 2014.  No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but blame quickly fell on Boko Haram, which since 2009 has launched an insurgency to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in northeastern Nigeria. They have since splintered into different factions, together accounting for the direct deaths of at least 35,000 people and the displacement of more than 2 million amid a humanitarian crisis with people in dire need of foreign aid since 2009.  Nigerian authorities maintained that the attacks were not a setback.  Nigerian Defense Chief General Chris Musa said the bombings were rather "a sign of desperation" and described them as a one-off by the militants.  "Some individuals would do everything possible for us not to succeed," he said.  However, several security analysts and locals interviewed about the bombings echoed concerns that the attacks must have taken a lot of planning and coordination and portend danger in Borno, where some villages lack a security presence.  One of the extremists' goals could be to distort the narrative that the security situation in the region has normalized, said Vincent Foucher, consulting senior analyst for West Africa at the International Crisis Group.  "It's a way to show the war goes on," Foucher said.  In Borno, the three bombings sent shock waves across families and left many wondering whether they should pack what was left of their belongings and flee once again.  "Parents have been calling in to ask if their kids would be safe going back to school," said Yusuf Ibn Tom, a public school teacher in Maiduguri. "Everyone here is scared."  At the height of the insurgency in 2014, Boko Haram was considered the world's deadliest terrorist group, killing at least 6,000 people that year alone, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace's Global Terrorism Index. A lot has changed since then, making the extremists far less lethal.  The military has pushed them further into the fringes of the Lake Chad axis, and the 2021 death of the group's founding leader, Abubakar Shekau, demoralized some members and made suicide bombing less popular. Clashes between Shekau's faction and the one linked to the Islamic State group have made the extremists turn against themselves, sometimes shifting the focus of attacks from the military and civilians and even contributing to the defection of thousands who are undergoing a reintegration program.  But what has not changed over the years is the "operational prowess" of the extremists, said Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  Attacks like the latest one "are rarely one-off incidents and are often part of a wider series," Hudson said. He did not rule out future attacks. "That will give a better indication of the relative strength of the insurgency today as well as the Nigerian military's ability to respond," he added. 

Berlin — The German army will end operations at its air base in Niger by August 31 following the breakdown of talks with the Sahel country's ruling junta, Germany's defense ministry said Saturday.  All Bundeswehr soldiers stationed at the base will be withdrawn by August 31 and German military cooperation with Niger will end, the ministry added.  The breakdown in negotiations marks Niger's latest diplomatic shift away from the West since a coup d'etat in July 2023 ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and brought the current military leadership to power.  Since then, Niger has turned toward Russia and Iran and away from the United States and former colonial ruler France.  A similar shift has taken place in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, which are likewise ruled by military leaders and faced with violence from jihadi groups.  At the end of May, Germany and Niger reached an interim agreement allowing the Bundeswehr to continue operating the air transport base in the capital, Niamey, until the end of August.  But negotiations to extend that agreement broke down, notably because the base's personnel would no longer benefit from immunity from prosecution.  Only 38 Bundeswehr soldiers were stationed at the base in recent times, along with 33 staff from German and foreign companies.  It was notably used for operations to evacuate German nationals in Africa. 

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 Bangkok, Thailand — Journalists reporting on illicit activity connected to the billion-dollar scam center industry in Cambodia say they are facing security risks.  Physical and online harassment, surveillance and legal threats related to media coverage have all been reported by local and foreign journalists.  Reporting on the centers, along with the associated allegations of fraud, human trafficking and other abuses is becoming a "risky endeavor," said American freelancer Danielle Keeton-Olsen.  Details of the scam centers operating throughout the Southeast Asia region, including Cambodia, are outlined in a May report by the United States Institute of Peace, or USIP.  In Cambodia alone, the USIP report found 100,000 scammers generating an estimated $12.8 billion in 2023 — close to half the country's formal GDP. Most compounds that house the scammers are operated by Chinese gangs, though some are allegedly linked to local elites, the report found.  Those working in the centers are often lured into phony business ventures, becoming victims themselves. Reports have highlighted evidence of human trafficking.  VOA contacted the Cambodian government by email and phone but didn't receive a reply.    But Chou Bun Eng, deputy chair of the government's police-led National Committee for Counter Trafficking said earlier this year that 80% of cases alleging human trafficking are "false."   Journalists reporting on the centers say they've been harassed and, in one case, detained.  Journalists risk physical harm  Cambodian journalist Mech Dara says police detained him while he was investigating a scam center in the city of Sihanoukville. At the time, Dara worked for the now shuttered Voice of Democracy, or VOD.   Keeton-Olsen also reported on the scam centers for VOD English.   "We would go around in a site in Sihanoukville and try to figure out everything that we could, get some eyewitness testimonies, try to, like, assert who the ownership is and triangulate from there. That was a really risky endeavor," she told VOA. "There were some close calls, you could get scolded by a security guard or just in general the hair standing up on the back," she said.  While journalists often face difficulties accessing information in Cambodia, they risk the possibility of physical harm reporting on scam centers.  "It's a dangerous industry, and there's evidence that there are gangs involved," she said. "There's evidence of violence happening toward workers or people associated with it. In terms of threats to safety [for journalists], they definitely exist."  With one story, said Keeton-Olsen, a company threatened them with legal action.   "We actually ended up writing about that for VOD because [the company] came in and they were saying 'we might serve you with a legal letter,' so my editor wrote a story about it," she said.  Nathan Paul Southern, a Scottish journalist based in Phnom Penh, said he also received threats.  "We've been told by people who are connected to the government that we do need to watch our backs, that we are in danger," he told VOA. "We have been followed quite a few time ... [and] we've had a few physical altercations in and around the scam centers, where essentially various different gangsters have tried to grab us or stop us from leaving and get close to violent with us."  Thousands 'held against their will' While reporting on an online gambling site working out of a compound in the city of Bavet, Southern said he learned that "thousands of people were being held against their will."  The company denied the allegations, he said, then served him with a cease-and-desist letter.  "It seemed it was to scare us financially," he said. "Most of it, whether that's from the criminal groups or the government, has been them letting us know that they're watching us."  Risks associated with scam center reporting add to an already tough reporting environment, where government officials have cracked down on independent media.  "Journalism continues to be a dangerous profession in Cambodia," said Aleksandra Bielakowska, advocacy officer at Reporters Without Borders, also known as RSF.  "Reporters can be arrested and sometimes spend months in prison on trumped-up charges of 'terrorism,'" she told VOA. "At the same time, covering corruption cases that directly or indirectly implicate the government has become virtually impossible."  The country ranks 151 out of 180 on the RSF World Press Freedom Index, where 1 signals a good media environment. In the past year, three media outlets were stripped of their licenses, including VOD. 

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Niamey, Niger — The military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso marked their divorce from the rest of West Africa Saturday as they signed a treaty setting up a confederation between them.  The first summit of the three countries, who all pulled out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) this year, also saw calls for greater cooperation across a wide range of sectors.  "Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS," Niger's ruling General Abdourahamane Tiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen at the gathering's opening in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.  The three leaders, who took power through coups in recent years, "decided to take a step further towards greater integration" and "adopted a treaty establishing a confederation," they said in a statement issued at the end of the summit.   The Confederation of Sahel States, which will use the acronym AES and be headed by Mali in its first year, totals about 72 million people.    Shift away from France  Their ECOWAS exits were fueled in part by accusations that Paris was manipulating the bloc and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.   "The AES is the only effective sub-regional grouping in the fight against terrorism," Tiani declared on Saturday, calling ECOWAS "conspicuous by its lack of involvement in this fight."  The exit came as the trio shifted away from former colonial ruler France, with Tiani calling for the new bloc to become a "community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers."  All three have expelled anti-jihadi French troops and turned instead toward what they call their "sincere partners" — Russia, Turkey and Iran.  In early March, the AES announced joint anti-jihad efforts, though they did not specify details.  Insurgents linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have carried out attacks for years in the vast three borders region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihad forces.  ECOWAS is to hold a summit of its heads of state in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Sunday, where the issue of relations with the AES will be on the agenda.  Relations between ECOWAS deteriorated following a July 2023 coup that brought Tiani to power. The bloc imposed sanctions and even threatened to intervene militarily to restore the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum.   The sanctions were lifted in February but relations between the two sides remain frosty.   United front  After several bilateral meetings, this is the first meeting of all three Sahelian strongmen since coming to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.  Niger's Tiani first welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in the capital on Friday, followed by Malian Colonel Assimi Goita who arrived Saturday.  "The aim is to show that this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their solidarity," said Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi.  The trio have made sovereignty a guiding principle of their governance and aim to create a common currency.   ECOWAS summit  Sunday's summit comes as several West African presidents have called in recent weeks for a solution to resume dialogue between the two camps.  Notably, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible.  In June, his newly reelected Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, called on West African countries to unite again against the expansion of jihadism.  But the successive summits on the same weekend raise fears of a stiffening of positions between the AES and ECOWAS.  Beyond military cooperation, the leaders Saturday also talked about "mutualizing" their approach to strategic sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and transport.  They also asked that indigenous languages be given greater prominence in local media.    The question of creating a common currency to replace the CFA franc was not mentioned in the final communique. 

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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — Hamas has given its initial approval of a U.S.-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel commit up front to a complete end to the war, a Hamas official and an Egyptian official said Saturday. The apparent compromise by the militant group, which controlled Gaza before triggering the war with an October 7 terror attack on Israel, could deliver the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks on ending a devastating nine months of fighting. But all sides cautioned that a deal is still not guaranteed. Inside Gaza, the Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 16 people and wounded at least 50 others in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Children were among the dead and wounded. Israel's military said it was looking into the report. The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said Washington's phased deal would start with a "full and complete" six-week cease-fire during which older, sick and female hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During those 42 days, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza, the officials said. Over that period, Hamas, Israel and mediators would negotiate the terms of the second phase that could see the release of the remaining male hostages, both civilians and soldiers, the officials said. In return, Israel would free additional Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The third phase would include the return of any remaining hostages, including bodies of the dead, and the start of a yearslong reconstruction project. Hamas still wants written guarantees from mediators that Israel will continue to negotiate a permanent cease-fire deal once the first phase goes into effect, the officials said. The Hamas representative told The Associated Press the group's approval came after it received "verbal commitments and guarantees" from the mediators that the war won't be resumed and that negotiations will continue until a permanent cease-fire is reached. "Now we want these guarantees on paper," the representative said. Both sides wary Months of on-again off-again cease-fire talks have stumbled over Hamas' demand that any deal include a complete end to the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to pause the fighting but not end it until Israel reaches its goals of destroying Hamas' military and governing capabilities and returning all hostages held by the militant group. Hamas has expressed concern that Israel will restart the war after the hostages are released. Israeli officials have said they are worried Hamas will draw out the talks and the initial cease-fire indefinitely without releasing all the hostages. Netanyahu's office did not respond to requests for comment, and there was no immediate comment from Washington. On Friday, the Israeli prime minister confirmed that the Mossad spy agency's chief had paid a lightning visit to Qatar, a key mediator, but his office said "gaps between the parties" remained. "For the first time in many months, we feel hopeful," a statement by many families of hostages said. "Netanyahu, we have seen how you repeatedly thwart deals in real time. Don't you dare break our hearts again." Cease-fire would include aid Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas' October terror attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages — about a third of them now thought to be dead. Since then, the Israeli air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The offensive has caused widespread devastation and a humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine, according to international officials. The cease-fire deal would see around 600 trucks of humanitarian aid entering Gaza daily, with half of them bound for the enclave's hard-hit north, the two officials said. Since Israel's assault on the southernmost city of Rafah, aid supplies entering Gaza have been reduced to a trickle. "We want to eat, but from where we can eat? The country is exhausted. The country is destitute. It is not suitable for living," said Walid Hegazi, a resident of the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. "We're sorry for the donkeys because we ate their wheat and barley."

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