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StarkNet, the Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum, has announced significant updates to its roadmap, with key developments set for release in 2024. These updates focus on enhancing network efficiency, reducing transaction costs, and introducing new transaction types.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Economists like to preach prudence, but they do not always practise it. Ibrahim Oweiss was a young economist in Egypt’s Ministry of Industry when he offered some frank advice to his bosses. He warned against a suffocating overconcentration of industry in Cairo and Alexandria.

Humanity’s future lies in some of the most vulnerable spots on the planet. We’ve seen that in stark relief of late. A United Nations report last month concluded that the world’s population is increasingly crowded into a group of often low-lying, middle-income megacities in Asia and Africa.Jakarta and Dhaka dethroned Tokyo’s long-held status as the world’s biggest city, with 42 million, 37 million and 33 million people respectively.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation formally adopted early Saturday an Arab League counter-proposal to US President Donald Trump's plan to take over Gaza and displace its residents, calling on the international community to support the regional initiative. The decision by the 57-member grouping came at an emergency meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three days after the Arab League ratified the plan at a summit in Cairo. The Egyptian-crafted alternative to Trump's widely condemned takeover proposes to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority.

To determine the busiest international and domestic flight routes, OAG analyzed the volume of scheduled airline seats from January to December 2024. The routes listed reflect round trip flights rather than one-ways in a single direction. “With the Asia Pacific region very close to a full recovery, the busiest routes are concentrated in the familiar major hubs of Hong Kong, Seoul Incheon and Singapore,” said John Grant, chief analyst at OAG, in a release.

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiators discussed new compromise proposals in Cairo on Saturday, seeking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas as the UN reported worsening humanitarian conditions, with malnutrition soaring and polio discovered. Israeli military strikes in Gaza killed 50 people on Saturday, Palestinian health authorities said. Victims of hostilities over the past 48 hours remain lying on roads where fighting continues or trapped under rubble, the authorities said.

Hamas said it was «keen» on reaching a cease-fire agreement with Israel, denying what it said were US claims it is stalling negotiations to end the devastating conflict in Gaza. The Palestinian militant group Tuesday said remarks by US President Joe Biden and his top diplomat, Antony Blinken, were «misleading and don't reflect the reality of the movement's position.» The comments came a day after Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said the next step toward a truce is for «Hamas to say yes.» Blinken said Netanyahu had accepted a proposal the US is calling a «bridging agreement» to tide the sides over until they iron out the final details. Hamas said the proposal was different from a Biden-led plan unveiled in May, suggesting they are unhappy with Israel's latest demands. The two sides are meant to start a new round of negotiations in Cairo this week, but no date's been set for that yet. Egypt is mediating, along with the US and Qatar.

Israeli strikes killed at least 21 people in Gaza on Sunday, including six children, Palestinian health authorities said, ahead of a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to try to push forward ceasefire talks. The children and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the central town of Deir Al-Balah, health officials said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The Israeli military said it destroyed rocket launchers used to hit Israel from the southern city of Khan Younis, the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks, and killed 20 Palestinian fighters.

Antony Blinken left Saturday on a mission to the Middle East to push ahead a Gaza ceasefire deal, as cautious optimism rises. The top US diplomat, who is putting off vacation plans for his ninth trip to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, will fly to Tel Aviv ahead of expected meetings with the Israeli leadership. He has routinely visited Arab states on previous trips but no further stops were immediately announced.

Gaza cease-fire deal is imminent, a US official said Friday that Mideast negotiators are working out logistics for the potential release of hostages and distribution of aid as part of any agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity in keeping with rules set by the White House, said the proposal currently on the table basically bridges every gap between Israel and Hamas and mediators were making preparations before a final deal is approved. It was unclear what measures were being taken, but the official said a new «implementation cell» was being established in Cairo in advance. The cell would focus on logistics, including freeing hostages, providing humanitarian aid for Gaza and ensuring that the terms of the pact are met, the official said. The comments came hours after mediators expressed hope that a deal was within reach. They said two days of talks had wrapped up in Qatar and that they plan to reconvene in Cairo next week to seal an agreement to stop the fighting.

West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants on Saturday, Israel's army said, as violence flared again in the Israeli-occupied territory with tensions high over the war in Gaza and a potential regional escalation. Cease-fire discussions on Gaza continued, with an Israel delegation led by the Mossad chief briefly visiting Cairo, an Egyptian official said. The U.S. has urged Israel to seize the chance for a cease-fire after the shock killing of Hamas' political leader in Iran, which Tehran blames on Israel. That killing and Israel's assassination of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon have the region holding its breath for retaliation against Israel on either front, or both, after Iran and its proxies vowed to act. Hamas said its command had begun discussions on choosing a new leader.

ancient Egyptian woman have preserved what may have been her final expression before death: an anguished shriek.The mummy, known as the “Screaming Woman,” has been the subject of intense curiosity since it was first discovered in 1935. Her mouth hangs wide open with her mostly-intact top teeth bared, as if she were howling in pain.

Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to troops in southern Gaza on Thursday, his office said, just days before he was set to give a speech to the US Congress. Netanyahu's visit to the southern city of Rafah was announced hours after Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site. Ben Gvir's move could disrupt sensitive talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire in the 9-month-old Israel-Hamas war. Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist settler leader, said he went up to the flashpoint site to pray for the return of Israeli hostages «but without a reckless deal, without surrendering.» Israeli negotiators landed in Cairo on Wednesday to keep working on the talks. Tensions over the compound have fuelled past rounds of violence. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Ben-Gvir's visit as a «provocative intrusion» that endangered the fragile status quo regarding the Jerusalem compound, which is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, a holy site and important national symbol.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has reappointed Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly to form a new government

Egypt will host Israeli and US officials on Sunday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing, a vital conduit for aid into Gaza, a state-linked news outlet reported.

traffic between Egypt and India, Egyptair is looking to operate daily flights connecting Delhi and Cairo, according to a senior executive. Currently, the Egyptian carrier, which started operations in India more than four decades ago, has nine weekly flights to Cairo. Out of them, five flights are from Mumbai and the remaining four are from the national capital. «We hope to operate daily flights from Delhi to Cairo,» the airline's Country Manager Amr Aly told PTI on Sunday. He said that air traffic between the two countries has improved and there is also transit traffic to other places.

Trump pledges ‘upper class’ tax cut if he returns to White House The president raised the issue after warning Israel on Wednesday that he would stop supplying artillery shells and other weapons if its forces attacked the city of Rafah, Gaza, as he deplored the fact that civilians had been killed by the dropping of US bombs. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group on Friday said efforts to find a Gaza Strip truce deal were back at square one after Israel effectively spurned a plan from international mediators.

India sent a special envoy to Israel during its war with the Hamas terror group, to urge them to maintain peace rather than engage in combat during the month of Ramadan. In an interview with Republic TV, PM Modi stressed on Friday that Israel should not fight, at least during the auspicious month of Ramadan. «The time when Israel and Hamas were at war. I sent my special envoy to Israel to explain that Ramadan is going on. At least don't fight in Ramadan, don't attack anyone,» PM Modi said.

Gold prices ticked up on Friday and were on track for a weekly gain, as recent economic data prompted traders to raise bets of an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve later this year.

Israel called on Palestinians to leave eastern Rafah Monday ahead of a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city, amid increasing global alarm about the consequences of such a move. The evacuation call followed disagreement between Israel and Hamas over the Palestinian militant group's demands to end the seven-month war, during weekend negotiations in Cairo.

truce were expected to resume Sunday after Hamas rejected any deal that failed to end the war in the Palestinian territory and accused Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu of «personally hindering» an agreement. Negotiators seeking to halt the devastating seven-month war have proposed a 40-day pause in the fighting and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, according to details released by Britain.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh discussed the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in separate phone calls with Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. A statement by the Palestinian Islamist group on Thursday said a delegation is set to visit Egypt soon for further ceasefire talks in the Gaza war. The statement added that Haniyeh had affirmed the group's «positive spirit in studying the ceasefire proposal» in the phone call with Egypt's Kamel.