DUBAI: Egypt plans to issue a new national target to cut its greenhouse gas emissions within weeks, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Friday.
The country prepares to take the lead on global climate negotiations as host of a UN summit in November.
Last year, countries agreed at the COP26 UN summit in Glasgow to revisit and strengthen their 2030 climate targets in time for the COP27 meeting to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
But so far virtually no country has submitted an enhanced target since Glasgow, according to David Waskow, a director of the non-profit World Resources Institute, who tracks the talks.
Egypt could be among the first. Shoukry, who also serves as COP27 president, called on all countries to submit their new targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and urged stronger action to stop climate change.
“Egypt will be declaring its revised NDCs, hopefully within a matter of weeks,” he said.
“I hope others will pay attention to what we will demonstrate in terms of ambition and commitment when our revised NDCs are issued.”
Waskow said that Egypt has lagged other countries in submitting climate targets. Egypt submitted its most recent NDC in 2017 and failed to submit a new one by a deadline last year for COP26.
But depending what the new target says, it could still be helpful in driving others to act, Waskow said.
“It is helpful for (Egypt) to get the ball rolling and to, we hope, set an important marker for what countries do need to do,” Waskow said.
Shoukry spoke alongside Great Britain’s Alok Sharma, president of COP26, at the conclusion of two days of meetings among ministers from more than 40 countries, held to discuss progress toward meeting climate commitments.
Sharma said that last year’s Glasgow climate deal was a “fragile win.” He said countries must now follow through on their commitments for there to be any hope of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the threshold beyond which climate change will become significantly worse.
Egypt to be among first to issue new climate targets ahead of UN summit
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Egypt to be among first to issue new climate targets ahead of UN summit
- Waskow said that Egypt has lagged other countries in submitting climate targets
- Egypt submitted its most recent NDC in 2017
Protests in Libya disrupt oil loadings at 2 ports
BENGHAZI: Local protesters blocked crude oil loadings at the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports in Libya on Tuesday, five engineers said, putting about 450,000 barrels per day of exports at risk.
Laer, Libya’s National Oil Corporation said operations at all oil terminals were continuing normally after communication with protesters.
In a statement to the NOC dated Jan. 5, the protesters demanded the relocation of several oil company headquarters to the Oil Crescent region, calling for fair development of their coastal area to improve living conditions.
Ports in Libya’s hydrocarbon-rich Oil Crescent include Es Sider, Brega, Zueitina and Ras Lanuf, accounting for about half of the total exports from the country, while several oil companies are based in the capital Tripoli.
“All we want is equality,” one of the protesters Houssam El Khodor said. “The oil is produced in our regions and all we get from it is the toxic fumes.”
The disruption came as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Libya is a member, is due to discuss its policy of gradually increasing oil output after US President Donald Trump’s calls for OPEC to lower oil prices.
NOC said on its official X account that its crude production had reached more than 1.4 million bpd, about 200,000 bpd short of its pre-civil war high. It was not immediately clear if the blockade had affected production so far.
A loading program showed that Es Sider was on track to export about 340,000 bpd of crude in January, with another 110,000 bpd slated to ship from Ras Lanuf.
Israel frees nine Lebanese prisoners, PM seeks release of nine more
- Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister thanked the ICRC for its role in the release of the nine prisoners
- The ICRC welcomed the release of the first batch of Lebanese prisoners
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Tuesday that Israel had freed nine Lebanese prisoners under the terms of a more than six-week-old ceasefire and urged the release of another nine.
Israeli forces had been due to withdraw from southern Lebanon by Sunday under the terms of the ceasefire agreement with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah but that deadline was extended until February 18.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Mikati thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for its role in the release of the nine prisoners of war freed by Israel so far.
He also asked the ICRC to work for the release of “nine other Lebanese still held in Israel.”
Mikati had already appealed to the United States on Sunday to use its influence with its ally to secure the release of Lebanese detained by Israel during the war.
In a statement on Tuesday, the ICRC welcomed the release of the first batch of Lebanese prisoners.
The ICRC “remains ready to fulfil its role as a neutral intermediary in facilitating the release, transfer and repatriation of individuals detained in connection with the conflict,” a spokesperson said.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP on Monday that seven of its fighters had been captured during the war.
Israeli forces have also detained a number of Lebanese since Sunday who were attempting to return to their homes in the south without waiting for the army to complete its delayed withdrawal.
Forces killed 24 returning residents on Sunday and another two on Monday, Lebanese authorities said.
On Tuesday, Israeli fire wounded a Lebanese soldier who was deploying to the south in accordance with the ceasefire, along with three civilians, an army statement said.
An Israeli air strike also wounded 14 people in the southern city of Nabatiyeh Al-Fawqa on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Jordan launches air corridor for life-saving medicines into Gaza
- Jordan’s air force launches 16 helicopter flights daily for medical aid
- King Abdullah blames Israel for aid delays, Israel denies impeding flows
GAZA STRIP: Jordan’s air force launched on Tuesday the biggest air bridge so far to bring urgent medical supplies to Gaza under a US-sponsored deal to step up deliveries following a ceasefire, officials said.
The operation involves 16 helicopter flights a day that will at first deliver at least 160 tons of life-saving medical supplies over a week to hospitals and medical centers, army officials said.
Under an agreement sponsored by the US, Israel had allowed Jordan to deliver aid to a designated location near Israel’s Kissufim border crossing with the devastated Gaza Strip.
A helicopter pad in a spot that lies in a central area connecting the northern and southern parts of the enclave would help facilitate speedier deliveries, according to aid officials.
UN agencies led by the World Food Programme would then deliver them directly to medical centers and hospitals.
“More aid is needed for the Palestinian people in Gaza. There is a terrifying state of destruction. There is a terrifying state of suffering that the Palestinian people are living,” Jordan’s Minister of State for Communications Mohamed Momani told reporters at an air base where Black Hawk helicopters were taking off. Throughout the 15-month war, the UN has described its humanitarian operation as opportunistic — facing problems with Israel’s military operations, access restrictions by Israel, and more recently looting by Gazan armed gangs.
Since an agreement on a ceasefire, Jordan has sent seven overland convoys with at least 540 trucks through a corridor across the Israeli-occupied West Bank to Gaza, officials said.
“In this air corridor we deliver that urgent aid that could be damaged by their transport on trucks,” Brig. Gen. Mustafa Al-Hayari said.
The staunch US ally has arranged at least 147 convoys comprising 5,569 trucks since the conflict and also spearheaded 391 air drops by its air force alongside a coalition of Western and Arab countries.
King Abdullah has been lobbying Washington to push Israel to expand the aid corridor from Jordan to allow large volumes of aid to quickly cross.
The monarch has said Israel is to blame for delaying aid by hurdles and delaying tactics that have worsened the humanitarian plight of over 2 million people who live in the enclave. Israel denies it impedes aid flows.
Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon’s Nabatieh injures 14, health ministry says
- Sources said the first strike targeted a vehicle loaded with weapons, while the target of the second was still unclear
BEIRUT: An Israeli airstrike on Nabatieh, a major town in southern Lebanon, injured 14 people on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Security sources reported a second strike in a nearby area. They said the first targeted a vehicle loaded with weapons, while the target of the second was still unclear.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israeli forces killed at least 24 people and wounded at least 141 in southern Lebanon on Sunday and Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as thousands of people tried to return to their homes in the area in defiance of Israeli military orders.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group and Israel agreed on a ceasefire in late November, ending to a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war in 2023.
The US said on Sunday the agreement between Lebanon and Israel, which included an initial 60-day period for the withdrawal of Israeli troops, would remain in effect until Feb. 18, an extension to the Jan. 26 deadline previously agreed.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Monday that the group would not accept any justifications to extend the period for Israeli troops’ withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Sultan of Oman welcomes Qatari emir to Muscat
- Leaders discussed cooperation between Muscat, Doha
- Sheikh Tamim’s motorcade was greeted upon entering Muscat Gate
LONDON: Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq welcomed Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at Al-Alam Palace in Muscat on Tuesday.
Sultan Haitham expressed his happiness about Sheikh Tamim’s visit, wishing him and his delegation an enjoyable stay in Oman.
The two leaders discussed cooperation between Muscat and Doha to enhance economic ties, and meet the aspirations of their peoples, the Oman News Agency reported.
They discussed the global situation and its potential impacts on the Middle East, as well as strategies for achieving peace, security and stability, the ONA added.
Sheikh Tamim’s motorcade was greeted by a military, cultural and musical display upon entering Muscat Gate to Al-Alam Palace, the Qatar News Agency reported.
He was welcomed by camel and cavalry teams, along with folk arts that celebrate Omani heritage. The Royal Artillery fired 21 rounds to greet Sheikh Tamim before the national anthem of Qatar was played, the QNA added.
