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☆ Jailed British-Egyptian activist escalates hunger strike by refusing water as COP27 gets underway
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Jailed British-Egyptian citizen Alaa Abdel-Fattah stepped up his hunger strike by refusing water, ratcheting up fears for the life of one of the country's leading rights activists just as world leaders arrive in Egypt for the start of the COP27 climate summit. Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard said Sunday that authorities had less than three days to save Abdel-Fattah's life, warning that failure to intervene would overshadow the U.N.'s flagship climate conference. The 40-year-old has stopped drinking water in a desperate attempt to pressure Egyptian authorities to allow him U.K. consular access. The escalation of Abdel-Fattah's hunger strike has prompted grave concerns for the prominent human rights activist and writer, who had consumed just 100 calories a day for more than 200 days. Egypt is hosting the COP27 climate summit in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh through to Nov. 18.

☆ Where's the money? COP27 climate summit opens with a rallying call for rich nations to pay up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The COP27 summit sees delegates from nearly 200 countries gather in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks on how to address the climate crisis. Climate finance, as it has done since the first U.N. climate conference in 1995, will once again play a pivotal role. Climate reparations, sometimes referred to as "loss and damage" payments, are widely expected to dominate the COP27 talks. Indeed, for the first time ever, the topic of loss and damage finance formally made it onto the COP27 agenda. "AOSIS is here to agree to the establishment of a new Loss and Damage Response Fund at COP27 that is operational by 2024.

☆ A former NBA champion is changing ‘how the world builds’ to fight the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The technology is being put to the test in the Bahamas, where Fox’s company, Partanna Bahamas, is partnering with the government to build 1,000 hurricane-resistant homes, including single-family houses and apartments. Partanna home prototype, built adjacent to Partanna's building material factory in Bacardi, Bahamas. He is due to formally announce the partnership between the Bahamian government and Partanna Bahamas on Wednesday at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. As a country on the frontline of the climate crisis, the Bahamas understands that it’s “out of time,” Fox told CNN Business. “Technology can turn the tide, and at Partanna we have developed a solution that can change how the world builds,” Fox said.

How Putin and Friends Stalled Climate Progress A handful of powerful world leaders rallied around Russia and undercut global cooperation. Mr. Putin has gained from this as the increasingly autocratic Mr. Xi finds common cause with the Kremlin. “Much depends on whether authoritarian leaders perceive climate action to be in their self-interest.”Though their actions help Mr. Putin, their track records on climate are mixed. Mr. Xi called Mr. Putin his “best friend.”He was returning the favor from a year earlier, when Mr. Putin hosted Mr. Xi at the Grand Kremlin Palace and awarded him one of Russia’s highest medals for foreign dignitaries. At a news conference with Mr. Putin, Mr. Bolsonaro thanked his “dear friend,” saying that Mr. Putin had offered him support when other world leaders were criticizing his Amazon policy.

☆ An extraordinary comeback for Brazil’s Lula sees a new ‘pink tide’ take shape in Latin America
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Political analysts said Lula's victory marked the most symbolic shift in a political movement that has seen the region's right-wing governments replaced by leftist leaders. A remarkable return to the presidency for Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva heralds a new so-called "pink tide" in Latin America, but political analysts say the latest leftist resurgence is very different from the one that swept into power in the 1990s. It marked an extraordinary political comeback for the 77-year-old former metalworker, who was jailed in 2017 in a sweeping graft investigation following a two-term 2003-2010 presidency. Speaking at his campaign headquarters after securing victory, Lula described his return to office as a "resurrection." Political analysts said Lula's victory marked the most symbolic shift in a political movement that has seen the region's right-wing governments replaced by leftist leaders.

The COP27 climate summit gets underway in Egypt from Nov. 6. Climate Change Conference will see more than 30,000 delegates convene in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss collective action on the climate emergency. Loss and damage funding, meanwhile, is recognized by many as the third pillar of international climate policy. Kerry's openness to talks on loss and damage funding marked an abrupt change in tone from just one month earlier. Singh said political mobilization over loss and damage funding makes COP27 the most important COP yet.

☆ BP rakes in quarterly profit of $8.2 billion as oil majors post another round of bumper earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Oil and gas giant BP on Tuesday reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter profits, supported by high commodity prices and robust gas marketing and trading. The British energy major posted underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $8.2 billion for the three months through to the end of September. That compared with $8.5 billion in the previous quarter and marked a significant increase from a year earlier, when net profit came in at $3.3 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected third-quarter net profit of $6 billion. The world's largest oil and gas majors have reported bumper earnings in recent months, benefitting from surging commodity prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Traveller fined, refused entry to Australia for 'significant' biosecurity breach
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 30 (Reuters) - An international traveller has been fined and refused entry to Australia after trying to bring meat into the country in what the government said on Sunday was a "significant breach" of biosecurity laws to protect Australia from foot and mouth disease. Australia earlier this year stepped up protection against foot and mouth disease at its international airports following an outbreak in Indonesia. "Australian biosecurity officers uncovered the undeclared meat during a baggage inspection at Perth Airport (on) October 18," the ministers said. “This is why legislation is in place to cancel the visa of any traveller who commits a significant biosecurity breach or repeatedly contravenes biosecurity laws,” she said. The government has estimated a large outbreak in Australia could see revenue losses of up to $A51.8 billion ($33.2 billion) over ten years.

☆ Australia repatriates Australian women and children from Syrian refugee camp
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Australian government has repatriated four Australian women and their 13 children from a Syrian refugee camp to New South Wales state, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said on Saturday. The controversial repatriation, which has sparked criticism from the Liberal-National opposition, is part of bringing back from Syria dozens of Australian women and children who are relatives of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters. Australia first rescued eight children and grandchildren of two dead Islamic State fighters from a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, but has held off repatriating any others until now. read more"The decision to repatriate these women and their children was informed by individual assessments following detailed work by national security agencies," O'Neil said in a statement. The women and children left the al-Roj refugee camp in northern Syria on Thursday afternoon and crossed the border into Iraq to board a flight home, the Sydney Morning Herald and state broadcaster ABC reported on Friday.

☆ Inflation bonds have surged in popularity amid a flight to safety. Why they may also be a good opportunity for younger investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Investments in the U.S. Treasury's Series I savings bonds have surged this year as prices climbed and so far show few signs of easing. I bonds offer holders a standard fixed rate together with a variable rate that shifts every six months, the latter depending on the latest consumer price index numbers. Even putting a few thousand dollars in the bond could offer a decent cash cushion for times ahead, she said. While a safe haven for cash, I bonds are not an alternative to investing, McLoughlin said. Despite the market's dismal performance this year, equities offer much better returns for those with longer time horizons, she said.

The Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) is Europe's main benchmark for natural gas prices. In addition, intraday European gas prices even went negative at the start of the week — meaning that holders of natural gas paid buyers to take the cargo off their hands. Nikoline Bromander, analyst at consultancy Rystad Energy, said high output from wind power and political agreement within the EU on cooperative measures to reduce gas prices and consumption have contributed to lowering gas prices. Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU was obtaining about 40% of all its natural gas from Moscow. Several experts have warned that Europe's high storage levels were to a large extent achieved with Russian gas.

NBC News, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post, and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, interviewed more than 40 current and former employees of contractors at military bases. According to an NBC News analysis, at least 10 companies with substantiated trafficking violations since 2007 have received billions in new government contracts. ‘Mad scramble’Foreign workers are crucial for the more than 700 military bases with U.S. service members around the world. One company that continues to get work at Middle East bases despite past violations documented in an Army compliance agreement is Tamimi, Abdulla’s employer. Lusambu Karim, a 50-year-old Ugandan, told NBC News about trafficking violations he said he encountered working for Aegis in Afghanistan from 2018 to 2020.

☆ Oil giant Shell plans to raise dividend as it reports third-quarter profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Shell on an oil storage silo, beyond railway tanker wagons at the company's Pernis refinery in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. British oil major Shell reported a third-quarter profit Thursday, but lower refining and trading revenues marked an end to its run of record quarterly earnings. Shell posted adjusted earnings of $9.45 billion for the three months through to the end of September, meeting analyst expectations of $9.5 billion according to Refinitiv. It also revealed plans to increase its dividend per share by around 15% for the fourth quarter 2022, to be paid out in March 2023. Shell warned in an update earlier this month, however, that lower refining and chemicals margins and weaker gas trading were likely to negatively impact third-quarter earnings.

☆ Australia signs up to global pledge to cut methane emissions by 30%
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Australia's climate change minister Chris Bowen on Sunday said the government has joined the Global Methane Pledge as part of multilateral efforts to reduce global methane emissions. The government will continue to partner with industry to decarbonise the economy, especially in energy and waste sectors, and capture waste methane to generate power, he said. The senior minister said the pledge would not require Australia to focus only on agriculture, or reduce agricultural production or livestock. The U.S.- and EU-led effort pledges to slash methane emissions by 30% by 2030. The effort now covers 60% of global gross domestic product and 30% of global methane emissions.

☆ More severe weather forecast for Australia's southeast amid flood crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Australia's weather forecaster predicted heavy rain for large swaths of country's flood-hit south and east on Sunday as a flood crisis continues in the two most populous states. The week-long emergency in New South Wales and Victoria comes as Australia endures a third straight La Nina weather event, bringing heavy rains. There were 122 flood warnings in place for New South Wales, Australia's most populous state. Around 750 people have been rescued across the state in the last 10 days, the Victoria State Emergency Service said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday 150 Australian Defence Force personnel were assisting in New South Wales and 350 troops in Victoria.

☆ Australia's Albanese, Japan's Kishida meet for defence, energy talks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Saturday for talks expected to cover defence and energy deals amid China's push for greater influence in the Asia-Pacific region. The summit is the fourth for the leaders, since Albanese took office in May. Locating the meeting in Perth, 3,700 km (2,300 miles) from the national capital Canberra, was meant to showcase Western Australia's importance in supplying Japan's energy needs, including renewable energy. In May, Kishida and Albanese pledged to work toward a new bilateral declaration on security cooperation. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia flags increased penalties for data breaches following major cyberattacks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Australia will introduce laws to parliament to increase penalties for companies subject to major data breaches, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said, after high-profile cyberattacks hit millions of Australians in recent weeks. When Australians were asked to hand over personal data to companies, they had a right to expect it would be protected, the attorney-general said. "Significant privacy breaches in recent weeks have shown existing safeguards are inadequate. It's not enough for a penalty for a major data breach to be seen as the cost of doing business," Dreyfus said. "We need better laws to regulate how companies manage the huge amount of data they collect, and bigger penalties to incentivise better behaviour."

☆ Lesotho election body says it made a mistake over parliament seats
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Marafaele Mohloboli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In Lesotho's national assembly, 80 seats are won through first-past-the-post voting, with the rest allocated using proportional representation, under which parties get seats based on their total national vote. On Saturday, court papers showed the IEC asked the Constitutional Court for an order "reviewing, correcting and setting aside" the allocation of compensatory seats, or those allocated using proportional representation. It said the Democratic Congress party, the main opposition party, had erroneously been awarded 11 compensatory seats instead of eight, while the Alliance of Democrats (AD) was wrongly allocated three compensatory seats instead of two. AD is the only affected party in the RFP-led coalition, holding five of the alliance's 65 seats. Should the court uphold the election authorities' findings, AD would lose one seat.

☆ Uganda court hands life sentence to man caught with elephant ivory
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KAMPALA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A Ugandan court has handed a life sentence to a man caught with nearly 10 kg of elephant ivory, the country's highest punishment ever for wildlife violations, authorities said on Friday. Pascal Achiba was sentenced by the country's Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court on Thursday after being convicted for unlawful possession of protected species, the state-run Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said in a statement. Achiba was arrested in January in a suburb of the capital Kampala alongside two pieces of ivory weighing 9.55 kg. Poaching and illicit wildlife trade is rampant in Uganda where police frequently seize hauls of ivory, rhino horns, pangolin scales and other wildlife products. In July 2020, a man who pleaded guilty to killing Rafiki, a beloved 25-year-old male gorilla in Uganda, was sentenced to 11 years in jail.

☆ A timeline of what happens next following UK PM Liz Truss' resignation
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

It means Truss becomes Britain's shortest-serving prime minister in history and the third Conservative leader to quit in as many years. Her resignation kickstarts the search for a new leader at a time when the country faces a worsening cost-of-living crisis and a looming economic recession. As Conservative candidates race to gather the support of their colleagues, here's a look at how the process of finding the U.K.'s next prime minister is expected to work. Candidates vying to succeed Truss as prime minister have until 2 p.m. London time on Monday to gather the support of at least 100 Conservative Members of Parliament to run. In this scenario, Conservative members would take part in an online vote to choose the next leader of the party.

☆ Liz Truss' 'trickle-down economics' is dead. Now the UK faces an uncertain future
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss holds a press conference in the Downing Street Briefing Room in central London on Oct. 14, 2022. Daniel Leal | Afp | Getty ImagesLONDON — Just six weeks into U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss' tenure and the political future of yet another Conservative leader looks to be in jeopardy. The approach has been sharply criticized by U.K. political opponents — and even U.S. President Joe Biden — at a time when Britain faces a deepening cost-of-living crisis. However, analysts at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group assign only a 10% possibility that Truss is able to hold on as prime minister. "The consensus at Westminster is now that that the Prime Minister is so weak that she can do nothing without the assent of her Chancellor.

☆ 'Powerful explosions' triggered major gas leak on Russian pipelines, Danish police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Climate scientists described the shocking images of gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea as a "reckless release" of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, "amounts to an environmental crime." A preliminary investigation into gas leaks from two underwater pipelines connecting Russia to Germany found "powerful explosions" caused the damage, Copenhagen Police said Tuesday. A flurry of detonations on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines on Sept. 26 sent gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea. The explosions triggered four gas leaks at four locations — two in Denmark's exclusive economic zone and two in Sweden's exclusive economic zone. Many in Europe suspect the Nord Stream gas leaks were the result of an attack, particularly as it occurred during a bitter energy standoff between the European Union and Russia.

☆ Ukraine’s Zelenskyy urges troops to take more prisoners; Russian plane crash death toll rises to 13
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Ukrainian youth activists protest at the Iranian embassy over the use of "Kamikaze" drones after an attack early this morning on Oct. 17, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a new Russian drone strike, calling on international allies to help Kyiv strengthen its air defense systems after a day of drone attacks on cities in which at least four people are known to have died. Zelenskyy also urged Ukrainian troops to take more Russian prisoners, saying this would make it easier to free those held by Russia. His comments came shortly after Kyiv and Moscow carried out the largest prisoner swap of the war to date. Meanwhile, a senior Russian health official reportedly said 13 people have died as a result of a military aircraft crash into a residential building in the southern Russian town of Yeysk.

☆ NHL roundup: Alex Ovechkin, Caps overtake Canucks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

With 7:16 remaining in regulation, Ovechkin slid the puck onto the stick of Sheary, who converted the go-ahead goal. Ovechkin, who had one assist in the first three contests, added some tip-in insurance with 2:58 left to play. Tyler Seguin, Jani Hakanpaa, Joel Kiviranta and Miro Heiskanen each scored a goal and Mason Marchment added two assists for Dallas. Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe each had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who earned their second win in a row. Linus Ullmark made 37 saves for his second win of Boston's three this season.

☆ Australia PM to tour flood-hit Victoria as flood crisis continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during the Australia-New Zealand Leaders' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, July 8, 2022. Steven SAPHORE/Pool via REUTERSSYDNEY, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday he would tour flood-hit parts of Victoria including Melbourne as three states continued to grapple with a flood crisis sparked by days of heavy rain. "This is a very severe weather event that's having an impact in urban communities but also in regional communities right throughout Victoria." In Melbourne, a flood clean-up was under way after the Maribyrnong River burst its banks on Friday, inundating suburbs close to the central business district. In Tasmania, 22 flood warnings were current, with most located near Launceston, the state's second biggest city.

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