Egypt Financial News

The Middle East plays host to its second straight U.N. climate conference over the next two weeks, with countries hoping to agree on new ways to keep the planet from catastrophic heating by the end of the century

UN climate talks here opened with a bang with countries clinching an early deal on how to compensate developing and poor nations that bear the brunt of the climate crisis despite contributing little to it, a decision welcomed by climate activists with caution. The agreement on the operationalisation of the Loss And Damage Fund on the first day of the annual climate negotiations, called COP28, sets the stage for ambitious decisions over the next 12 days.

Zahra Hankir's «Eyeliner: A Cultural History» takes readers on a global investigation of how the cosmetic product is used worldwide

New Delhi: COP27 (Conference of Parties) at Sharm el-Sheikh, the Egyptian city, was scheduled to wrap up last year on 18 November after two-weeks of talks. Hard-fought negotiations, however, went down to the wire at the global climate conference attended by about 100 heads of State and over 190 countries, and when it eventually closed almost two days later, had a breakthrough to show—a loss and damage (L&D) fund— financial assistance for countries vulnerable to climate change impacts. It is not unusual for COP negotiations—the annual conference convened under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—to go into extra time.

cotton farmers to the global level, it said on Wednesday. “We are trying to gradually raise the productivity of Indian cotton farmers from the average 450 kg per hectare to global levels of 1,500-2,200 kg per hectare,” said Rachna Shah, textile secretary. The evaluation of the study, which started last year and covers 15,000 farmers across ten major textile-producing states, will be available in January 2024. The ministry noted that it will be featuring more such innovations at the 81st Plenary Meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), which will be held in Mumbai from December 2-7. The ministry pointed out that the focus for the conference hosted by India, after nearly eight years, will be on local innovations and cutting-edge technologies which can have global implications for the cotton value chain. The ministry also plans to launch India’s premium cotton, “Kasturi cotton”, at the inter-governmental event featuring participants from 28 member countries and seven invitee countries. “ICAC will be a platform to present Kasturi cotton before the global audience.

COP28 climate talks on Tuesday as world leaders including US President Joe Biden signalled they would not be attending the negotiations that come during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war roiling the wider Middle East. The two-week meeting of international leaders aims to assess where the world stands when it comes to limiting emissions to slow global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times. Emirati officials said on Tuesday they expect over 70,000 attendees at the talks, including heads of state. Britain's King Charles and Pope Francis will be among the leaders to attend the talks, even as the 86-year-old Francis battles a lung inflammation.

Researchers working inside a unit of BlackRock Inc. estimate that a reform of public financial institutions could free up as much as $4 trillion in additional spending to help emerging markets tackle the fallout of climate change.

The European Union’s border protection agency Frontex has joined the search for 12 crew members missing after a cargo ship sank in rough weather near the Greek island of Lesbos

The ship was on its way to Istanbul from Egypt, carrying 6,000 tons of salt.

A shaky cease-fire between Israel and Hamas has allowed a surge of aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza, but humanitarian groups and civilians in the enclave say the convoys aren’t nearly enough to address the needs of the strip’s two million people. Despite the pause in fighting, Palestinians in Gaza are burning door frames and piles of garbage to cook, sleeping crammed into school classrooms and strangers’ homes, and scrambling onto trucks bringing aid from Egypt in a desperate grab for supplies, residents say. The cease-fire has also allowed Gazans a chance to bury the dead and to take stock of entire neighborhoods that have been reduced to rubble during seven weeks of Israeli bombing.

Israel and Hamas in Gaza appeared set to continue for a fifth day on Tuesday, there are expectations that Hamas will release more hostages seized on October 7 in exchange for increased aid and the release of imprisoned Palestinians by Israel, Reuters reported. As per the report, following the release of 11 Israelis on Monday, Hamas has now freed 69 hostages out of approximately 240 taken during an incursion into southern Israel, resulting in about 1,200 casualties according to Israeli figures. Early on Tuesday, media affiliated with Hamas reported that Israel had released 30 Palestinian children and three women in the fourth exchange of the truce.

Israel’s operations in Gaza, and accelerate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza," the US State department said. It will be his third trip to the region since October 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killed more than 1,200 people, and took 240 hostages.

Israel and Hamas will be extended by two days, mediator Qatar said on Monday as the initial four-day truce in Gaza was set to expire. «The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip,» said Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X. Over the course of the humanitarian pause and in weeks prior, Qatar, with the support of the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza, which mediators had said was designed to be broadened and expanded. The announcement comes on the final day of a four-day truce between the warring sides, as they were preparing for a fourth exchange of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 more hostages — 14 Israelis and three Thais — in a third exchange under the four-day truce. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. Israel has indicated it will prolong the ceasefire for each release of 10 additional hostages.

Antonio Guterres pushed on Monday for a full humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas instead of a temporary truce, as the «humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is getting worse by the day.» Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. negotiators closed in on an extension of a four-day truce in Gaza that expires on Monday, Egyptian security sources said, amid growing global pressure to roll over a deal which has paused seven weeks of fighting.

Hamas released 17 hostages in Gaza, including a 4-year-old American girl, as part of a truce with Israel as Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners on the third day of the ceasefire. As reported by Reuters, the International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated the successful transfer of the hostages, consisting of 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one individual with Russian citizenship, according to Hamas. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the release of the hostages - part of a larger group captured when Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel on Oct.

Click here! Israel was to free 39 Palestinian prisoners later Sunday as part of the deal. Red Cross representatives transferred the hostages out of Gaza late Sunday.

Scores of hostages have been freed, and the pause in the fighting has also allowed humanitarian relief to reach thousands. This may not be the end of the conflict, which has claimed over 11,000 lives since Hamas’ 7 October terror attack. But how exactly did we get here? The truce was brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.

By Ateeq Shariff

By James Mackenzie

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said there was «reason to believe» a U.S. hostage would be released from captivity in Gaza on Sunday.

SIS) said in a statement on Sunday that Egypt has received lists of 13 Israelis and 39 Palestinians scheduled for release on Sunday. This will be the third batch in the four-day truce deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar. "The truce is proceeding without roadblocks," the SIS was quoted by Reuters as saying in a statement.