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Qatar among countries imposing Covid tests for Chinese travellers

Authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travellers from China as coronavirus cases in the country surge following its relaxation of “zero-Covid” rules. International health experts predict at least one million deaths in China this year. However, China has played down concerns, saying decisions by some countries to impose a requirement for […]

Ministers deliver statements during the closing plenary at Cop27

Cop27 deal delivers landmark on ‘loss and damage’, but little else

Countries adopted a hard-fought final agreement at the Cop27 climate summit early on Sunday that sets up a fund to help poor countries being battered by climate disasters – but does not boost efforts to tackle the emissions causing them. After tense negotiations that ran through the night, the Egyptian Cop27 presidency released the final […]

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who won Brazil's presidential election in October, is meeting climate envoys and leaders in Egypt

Lula arrives at Cop27 to deliver message that ‘Brazil is back’

Bringing the message that “Brazil is back” in the fight against global warming, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived at Cop27 in Egypt on Tuesday – his first foreign trip since his presidential election victory. Brazil’s president-elect planned to hold meetings with envoys from Washington and Beijing on Tuesday, an aide said, as he seeks […]

Cop27 sign in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Sticking points slow crunch talks to agree final deal at Cop27

Government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries began working towards a Cop27 final deal on Tuesday, with the summit host Egypt issuing assurances that the slow-moving talks remain on track. On the conference floor in Sharm El Sheikh, however, some delegates have begun to speculate that the UN talks could run over time into […]

There are many ways the financial world can help slow climate change

Decoding Cop27: the many shades of green bonds

Banks, governments and businesses say financial markets can play a crucial role in driving the shift to a lower-carbon world. At the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt, companies and country delegates are discussing ways of enhancing the market for green bonds, or bonds that are linked to projects deemed environmentally beneficial. Green bonds have their […]

President of Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

Egypt and IMF working out ‘remaining points’ on loan

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund are discussing remaining points in negotiations over a new extended fund facility, finance minister Mohamed Maait told Al-Arabiya on Wednesday. Asked if there were differences between Egypt and the IMF, Maait said: “In talks with anyone you go from one point of view to another. The talks are ongoing, […]

Word, Symbol, Wall

IMF cuts global growth forecast, warns of recession from inflation

The International Monetary Fund have cut global growth forecasts again, warning that downside risks from high inflation and the Ukraine war were materializing and could push the world economy to the brink of recession if left unchecked. Global real GDP growth will slow to 3.2 percent in 2022 from a forecast of 3.6 percent issued […]

Tie, Accessories, Accessory

US special envoy for Yemen travels to the Middle East

The US special envoy for Yemen will visit Saudi and Jordan this week, as part of diplomatic efforts in support of the United Nations-mediated truce in Yemen. The US State Department reported on Monday. Tim Lenderking’s “engagements will focus on expanding, extending, and renewing the current truce agreement that will further the tangible benefits already […]

Saudi Arabia helps fund $100m emergency food aid for Sudan

The World Bank has agreed to provide the UN’s World Food Programme with $100 million for an “emergency safety net project” to address food insecurity in Sudan, it said in a statement on Thursday. The programme, whose funding comes from the European Union, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and several other Western nations, aims to provide […]

Person, Human, Clothing

UN aid to Syria from Turkey to be allowed until January

The UN Security Council appears set to allow UN deliveries of aid to some four million people in northwest Syria from Turkey until January, diplomats said on Monday, after days of wrangling with Russia over how long to let the huge operation continue. The mandate for the operation, which has been delivering food, medicine and […]

Symbol, Clock Tower, Building

IMF says it held productive talks on new programme for Egypt

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday it had held productive discussions during a staff visit to Egypt on economic policies and reforms to be supported by an extended fund facility. “In the period ahead, we are continuing our close engagement with the authorities towards reaching staff-level agreement,” the IMF statement said. The IMF […]

Clothing, Apparel, Person

Cost-of-living crisis driving surge in extreme poverty, says UN

The global cost-of-living crisis is pushing an additional 71 million people in the world’s poorest countries into extreme poverty, a new report published by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday has warned. Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, said an analysis of 159 developing countries showed that the surge in key commodity prices this year was […]

Handrail, Banister, Building

One in five IMF staff say they were ‘unduly influenced’

Nearly 20 percent of International Monetary Fund staff say their work has been “unduly influenced” by supervisors, according to an internal survey released on Thursday as part of a review of data integrity standards that generally found “robust mechanisms” for institutional governance. The review was launched last year by the IMF’s Executive Board following allegations […]

Solar panels

Gulf defies oil financing trends as UN calls for end to fossil fuels

The Middle East is boosting investment in oil and gas, bucking the global trend even as the United Nations calls for an end to the funding of fossil fuel projects. The MENA region is forecast to invest $879 billion in energy projects from 2022 to 2026, an increase of 9 percent over the previous five […]

Yemen famine aid

New financing urgently needed to aid famine relief in Yemen

Yemen is searching for new wheat suppliers but will need help to pay for increasingly costly imports, an official and a main importer said, as the World Food Programme (WFP) warned of cuts to food aid for millions already living on the brink of famine. Disruption to global wheat supplies due to the Ukraine war […]

Person, Human, Room

King Abdullah joins Biden to defuse Jerusalem tension

Jordan’s King Abdullah agreed with U.S. President Joe Biden on the need to prevent a repeat of recent confrontations in Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites that sparked concerns of wider conflict, state media said. In a phone call on Monday, Abdullah was quoted as saying the cornerstone of peace was a comprehensive Arab Israeli settlement based […]

Jordan’s king agreed with U.S. Biden on need to defuse Jerusalem tension

Jordan’s King Abdullah agreed with U.S. President Joe Biden on the need to prevent a repeat of recent confrontations in Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites that sparked concerns of wider conflict, state media said. In a phone call on Monday, Abdullah was quoted as saying the cornerstone of peace was a comprehensive Arab Israeli settlement based on a two-state solution […]

Humanity on ‘spiral of self-destruction’ as disasters rise

The world is set to face 1.5 disasters a day – 560 a year – by 2030, as humans put themselves on a “spiral of self-destruction” by heating up the climate and ignoring risk, pushing millions more people into poverty, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. In the past two decades, between 350 and 500 medium-sized to major disasters were […]

Person, Human, Clothing

U.S. asset freezes worsen Afghan women’s suffering

The United States, as well as the Taliban authorities, is contributing to the suffering of women in Afghanistan through asset freezes, U.N. independent experts said on Monday. The United Nations and foreign governments, including Washington, have condemned moves by the Taliban to backtrack on women’s rights commitments such as on girls’ education in the months […]

Clothing, Apparel, Person

World Bank to push ahead with some Afghan projects

The World Bank has resumed work on three projects in Afghanistan focused on health, agriculture and livelihoods, but will maintain a hold on some $150 million for education projects, two sources familiar with the decision said Tuesday. The multilateral development bank had put all four projects, valued at around $600 million, on hold in late […]