The climate summit in Madrid earlier this month did not collapse — but by almost any measure it certainly failed. Five years after the fragile UN process yielded the world s first universal climate treaty, COP25 was billed as a mopping-up session to finish guidelines for carbon markets, thus completing the Paris Agreement rulebook. Governments faced with a crescendo of deadly weather, dire alarms from science and weekly strikes by millions of young people were also expected to signal an enhanced willingness to tackle the climate crisis threatening to unravel civilization as we know it. The result? A deadlock and a dodge. The 12-day talks extended two days into overtime but still punted the carbon market conundrum to next year s COP26 in Glasgow. A non-binding pledge, meanwhile, to revisit deeply inadequate national plans for slashing greenhouse gas emissions was apparently too big an ask. The European Union was the only major emitter to step up with an ambitious mid-century target (“net zero”), and even then it was over the objection of Poland and without a crucial midway marker. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres labelled COP25 “disappointing”. Others were more blunt. “The can-do spirit that birthed the Paris Agreement feels like a distant memory,” said Helen Mountford of Washington-based think tank World Resources Institute (WRI). “The world is screaming out for climate action but this summit has responded with a whisper,” noted Chema Vera, executive director of Oxfam International. So what went wrong? At least five factors contributed to the Madrid meltdown. – Amateur hour – To an unsettling degree, the outcome of a UN climate summit — where 196 nations must sign off on every decision — depends on the savvy and skill of the host country, which acts as a facilitator. The stars were not aligned for the chaotic Copenhagen summit of 2009 and the Danish prime minister s less-than-deft maneuvering did not help. By contrast, the 2015 climate treaty was in no small measure made possible by France s diplomatic tour-de-force. This year, Chile s environment minister Carolina Schmidt wielded the hammer after the conference was moved at the last minute to Madrid due to massive protests on the streets of Santiago. From Day One, when Schmidt s mishandling of a request from the African negotiating bloc mushroomed into a diplomatic incident, veteran observers worried that she was not up to the job. For Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan, “an irresponsibly weak Chilean leadership” enabled Brazil and Saudi Arabia to push agendas destined to derail the talks. “Chile played a bad hand poorly,” noted another insider. A marginal factor, perhaps, but not a negligible one. – Fox in the henhouse – Among the nearly 30,000 diplomats, experts, activists and journalists accredited to attend the summit were hundreds of high-octane fossil fuel lobbyists. They are collectively the elephant in the room: everyone knows what causes climate change but it is considered impolitic within the UN climate bubble to point fingers. Even the Paris Agreement turns a blind eye: nowhere in its articles does one find the words oil, natural gas, coal, fossil fuels or even CO2. “We need to engage with them,” UN Climate executive secretary Patricia Espinosa told AFP when asked whether it was time to exclude such lobbyists from the room. “There is no way we will achieve this transformation without the energy industry, including oil and gas.” But the incongruity of their participation in a life-and-death struggle to wean the world from their products has become harder to ignore. “Is there no space free from greenwashing,” asked Mohamed Adow, director of climate think tank Power Shift Africa. “The UN climate negotiations should be the one place that is free from such fossil fuel interference.” – The Trump effect – On November 4, 2020 — the day after US voters will renew Donald Trump s mandate or turn him out of office — the United States is set to formally withdraw from the Paris Agreement. It will be the second time that a Republican White House has plunged a dagger in the heart of a climate treaty nurtured by the Democratic administration that preceded it — the Kyoto Protocol was the previous one. From the moment Trump was elected — on Day Two of COP22 in Marrakesh — advocates of climate action have played down the negative impact of the world s largest economy and second biggest carbon polluter pulling out of the Paris deal. But the corrosive “Trump effect” was palpable in Madrid, as was the anger at Washington for twisting arms even as it walked out the door. “There are one or two parties that seem hell-bent on ensuring any calls for ambition, action and environmental integrity are rolled back,” said Simon Stiell, Grenada s environment minister. Poor and small-island nations exposed to climate-addled weather — drought, heatwaves, super-storms, rising seas — were especially incensed at behind-the-scenes US efforts to block a separate stream of money for “loss and damage”. Rich nations have promised developing ones $100 billion (90 billion euros) annually starting next year to help them adapt to future climate impacts, but there is no provision in the 1992 bedrock climate treaty for damages already incurred. No one, it seems, imagined that climate talks would drag on for 30 years. The US withdrawal has also crippled the coalition that delivered the landmark Paris treaty, said Li Shuo, a senior policy analyst for Greenpeace East Asia. “The US-China-EU climate tricycle has had a wheel pulled off by Trump,” he told AFP. “Going into 2020, it is critical for the remaining two wheels to roll in sync.” – China at the wheel – When it comes to climate change, Beijing holds the fate of the planet in its hands. China accounts for 29 percent of global CO2 emissions, more than the next three countries — the US, Russia, India — combined, according to the Global Carbon Project. Its carbon footprint has tripled in 20 years from 3.2 to 10 billions tonnes in 2018. The core commitment of China s voluntary carbon cutting plan, annexed to the Paris treaty, is to stabilise its CO2 output by 2030. Experts agree that China could hit that mark earlier and more countries are asking Beijing — ever so gingerly — to promise it will. Granada s minster Stiell called out half-a-dozen rich and emerging economies — including China and India — for not revising their voluntary plans in line with a world in which warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius. Failure to do so, he said, “shows a lack of ambition that also undermines ours”. “China s emissions, like the rest of the world s, need to peak imminently, and then decline rapidly,” for the world to stay under 1.5C or even 2C, according to the Climate Action Tracker, a consortium that analyses climate commitments. But Beijing has been coy about its intentions. Going into Madrid, it hinted at a revised target ahead of COP26. But during the Madrid meeting, China dug in its heels and — backed by India — invoked the principle that rich countries must take the lead in addressing climate change, calling out their failure to deliver on promises made. “Ambition of Parties is measured first and foremost by the implementation of its commitments,” said a joint statement from China, India, Brazil and South Africa. The statement said commitments made by developed countries in the pre-2020 period — especially for money and technology — must be honored. China s lack of enthusiasm is also rooted in changes on the domestic front. “When an economy slows, it is more difficult to be as single-minded about leadership on climate change,” said WRI s Andrew Steer referring to China s position. China is only likely to follow with measures of its own if the European Union confirms its mid-century “net zero” goal and vows to slash emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, several experts said. “If the EU doesn t come through, we re screwed,” said one observer with more than 20 COPs under her belt. – Spitting into the wind – Perhaps the most daunting headwind facing UN climate talks is rising nationalism, populism and economic retrenchment — all at the expense of the multilateralism. “The stalemate over carbon markets is a symptom of a more general polarization and lack of cooperation among countries,” said Sebastien Treyer of the IDDRI think tank in Paris. Street protests, meanwhile, against the rise in cost-of-living in France, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt and more than two dozen other countries in 2019 have given governments already reluctant to invest in a low-carbon future another reason to baulk. “These cases highlight how sensitive populations are to change in the price of basic commodities like food, energy and transport,” noted Stephane Hallegatte of the World Bank. “This is the context in which most countries have committed to stabilize climate change.” Even the diplomats and activists deeply invested in the UN climate process have begun to wonder if it is fit for purpose. Negotiations are transactional by nature, and may not be suited to an emergency situation, some noted. “We are standing and watching our house on fire,” said Steer from the WRI. “I ve got a fire hose, you ve got a fire hose, but I m not going to turn mine on until you do.” But nations with the most to lose have few alternatives. “It is the only space where poor countries — who have done the least to pollute and yet are suffering first and worst from its destruction — have a voice,” said Power Shift Africa s Mohamed Adow. “But, sadly, it is proving inadequate.” The key to unlocking the diplomatic deadlock may lie within civil society, said Johan Rockstrom of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), who wonders whether a wave of moral outrage could push governments toward more decisive action. “Are we approaching a tipping point where it will no longer be acceptable to shorten the lives of people with fossil fuel pollution?”, he asked, noting that breathing the air in the Indian capital New Delhi is like smoking 10 cigarettes a day. The Fridays for Future youth movement sparked by teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg saw millions of people spill into the streets demanding climate action. If their numbers rise to tens or hundreds of millions, maybe leaders in democratic and autocratic governments alike will begin to take note.

The end of 2019 signals the beginning of a new decade. Maybe it s being on that precipice that prompted our nostalgic pick for favorite tech gadget of the year. The Nintendo Switch Lite, which debuted in September, is a throwback to a simpler time when you could play games on the go from a dedicated handheld device. In a world of increasingly powerful smartphones that pull our attention in numerous directions at once, it s nice to have a device built solely for gaming fun. It recalls Nintendo s iconic Game Boy devices, which dominated the 90s and made gaming popular among even the most casual players. Game Boys eventually were featured in a variety of bright colors to appeal to gamers of all sensibilities. In a similar move, the Switch Lite comes in three colors: gray, turquoise and yellow. It s strictly a handheld device, unlike its predecessor the Nintendo Switch, which can be played standalone or docked to use with a TV. The Lite is also smaller, lighter and cheaper. It costs $200 whereas the Switch costs $300. The Lite can play most Switch games, as long as they re handheld compatible. The Switch Lite should bolster the already-successful Switch family of devices. The Switch was the best-selling video-game hardware platform of 2019 in the United States and the only platform showing year-over-year growth, according to Mat Piscatella, executive director of games at research firm NPD Group. "Nintendo Switch Lite has certainly helped with this performance since launching in September," said Piscatella. "It s a perfect Pokemon machine, and with the record setting launch of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield in November, Switch is almost certain to finish the year as the best-selling video game hardware of the holiday season." Piscatella said the affordability of the Lite version makes it easier for multiple people in a household to own one. The other factor helping Nintendo is that Sony and Microsoft aren t set to launch their next generation of hardware until late 2020. Over Thanksgiving week, the Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite sold a combined total of more than 830,000 units in the United States, according to Bill Trinen, Nintendo of America s senior director or product marketing. It was the single best week of US sales in the history of the Nintendo Switch, which launched in 2017.

The Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS) in Egypt announced it will organize awareness training courses regarding safe practice for divers to interact with oceanic white-tip sharks, during January 2020. The dates and locations of the courses have been set in Hurghada for January 19, 2020. A statement from the CDWS said that these courses target professional dive guides, dive instructors and technical managers.

Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad in a Saturday statement said that noise pollution poses a significant problem, and that noise monitoring devices show that Cairo is the most noise-polluted city in Egypt due to its high population density. She explained that her ministry is preparing a database and map of the noise levels across Egypt, to help with establishing new facilities and major national projects such as highways, bridges, hospitals, schools and residential areas. Devising the database and the map comes within the framework of Egypt s “Vision 2030” sustainable development strategy, she said. Fouad explained that the map will be useful in implementing the plan to combat noise and in urban planning for new structures, and to reduce noise rates in existing areas. The selection of monitoring sites is carried out according to international standards, she said. The national network monitoring environmental noise has been established since March 2007 until now, Fouad explained. It consists of 30 stations for monitoring noise within Cairo, Giza, and Qalyubiya, in addition to a monitoring station on the Suez Canal in Ismailia. She added that on Saturday the ministry finalized the installation of a noise monitoring station in Damanhour in Beheira governorate, as part of the ministry s plan to develop the noise monitoring network.

Immunologist Ali Ellebedy was working on a study analyzing the immune response to flu infection in humans. During his research, he spotted a new type of powerful antibody in a blood sample from a patient infected with human influenza virus. Ellebedy then sent samples of the antibody to Florian Krammer — a microbiologist who proved the effectiveness of the antibodies by testing them against extensive samples of virus proteins dating back to the 1970s. These proteins, called neuraminidase, enable the virus to spread through the human body.

A marathon UN summit wrapped up Sunday with little to show, squeezing hard-earned compromises from countries over a global warming battle plan that fell well short of what science says is needed to tackle the climate crisis. The COP25 deal “expresses the urgent need” for new carbon cutting commitments to close the gap between current emissions and the Paris treaty goal of capping temperature at below two degrees, host country Spain said in a statement.

Egypt s first lady Entissar al-Sisi, spouse of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, welcomed humanoid robot Sophia attending the World Youth Forum being held at Sharm el-Sheikh. “It s a new extraordinary experience, meeting Sophia, talking to her and listening to her smart responses,” the first lady wrote in a Facebook post. “I loved her abilities to simulate the mental capabilities of humans, which represents a turning point in the relationship between humans and robots and a real beginning for a new era for humanity,” she said.

A number of users reported experiencing the loss of crucial login data in third-party apps after installing Chrome 79 on their devices. The tech giant confirmed any app that accesses Chrome via Android s built-in WebView system could be affected and said it could take a week to resolve. The update has already been rolled out to 50% of Android users worldwide. A number of apps rely heavily on WebView, while some - including Twitter Lite, a scaled-down version of the social media platform - are run entirely using the system. The latest update hasn t deleted the data, but it has changed its location and rendered it impossible to find. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin step back from top roles An outpouring of complaints from users began appearing on Google s forum after the update went live on 10 December. "This is a catastrophe. Our users data are being deleted as they receive the update," said one frustrated developer. Others complained that their apps had been inundated with overwhelmingly negative reviews on Google s Play Store after the bug rendered them unusable. Google said in a statement that it was looking for ways to resolve the issue but said a fix could take up to a week.

A marathon UN summit wrapped up Sunday with little to show, squeezing hard-earned compromises from countries over a global warming battle plan that fell well short of what science says is needed to tackle the climate crisis. The COP25 deal “expresses the urgent need” for new carbon cutting commitments to close the gap between current emissions and the Paris treaty goal of capping temperature at below two degrees, host country Spain said in a statement. “Today the citizens of the world are asking for us to move ahead faster and better, in financing, adaptation, mitigation,” Carolina Schmidt, Chilean environment minister and President of COP25, told the closing plenary. Following a year of deadly extreme weather and weekly strikes by millions of young people demanding action, negotiations in Madrid were under pressure to send a clear signal that governments were willing to double down. The summit — moved at the last minute from Chile due to unrest — at times teetered on the brink of collapse as rich polluters, emerging powerhouses and climate-vulnerable nations groped for common ground in the face of competing national interests. “Based on the adopted text, there is a glimmer of hope that the heart of the Paris Agreement is still beating,” said Mohamed Adow, Director of Power Shift, referring the treaty inked in the French capital. “But its pulse is very weak.” Negotiators from nearly 200 nations came to Spain s capital with the aim of finalizing the rulebook for the 2015 agreement, which enjoins nations to limit global temperature to below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). – Missing in action – With the accord set to become operational next year, it had been hoped COP 25 would show the world that governments would be moved by protests, irrefutable science, and deadly storms and wildfires that marked 2019 to redouble their efforts. But greater ambition — how far each country is willing to slash carbon emissions or assist less wealthy peers to do likewise — has largely failed to materialize. Veteran observers of UN climate talks were stunned by the state of play. “Never have I seen such a disconnect between what the science requires and what the climate negotiations are delivering in terms of meaningful action,” said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a 28-year veteran of the climate process. “Most of the world s biggest emitting countries are missing in action and resisting calls to raise their ambition.” The push for a strengthening of voluntary carbon cutting plans is led by small-island and least-developed states, along with the European Union. These have called out nations they see as blocking consensus for all countries to step up, notably the United States, Australia and Saudi Arabia. China and India, the world s No. 1 and No. 4 carbon emitters, made it clear they see no need to improve on their current emissions reduction plans, which run to 2030. These emerging giants chose instead to emphasize the historical responsibility of rich nations to lead the way and provide financing to poor countries. “Major players who needed to deliver in Madrid did not live up to expectations,” said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and, as France top negotiator, a main architect of the Paris Agreement. “But thanks to a progressive alliance of small island states, European, African and Latin American countries, we obtained the best possible outcome, against the will of big polluters.” Loss and damage The summit was also meant to finalize a chapter on carbon markets in the Paris rulebook. Some nations, notably Brazil and Australia, want to count carbon credits accumulated under a previous climate deal as part of their commitments under the Paris goals. Discussions over markets ended in impasse Sunday and the issue will to be handed over to next year s COP 26 in Glasgow. The US, which is leaving the Paris deal next year, was accused of playing spoiler on a number of issues vital to climate-vulnerable nations. This included so-called “loss and damage” funding to help disaster-hit countries repair and rebuild. “The US has not come here in good faith,” said Harjeet Singh, climate lead with charity ActionAid. “They continue to block the world s efforts to help people whose lives have been turned upside down by climate change.” Even if all countries implement their current plans under Paris, Earth is on course to warm more than 3C by 2100. The failure to get the rulebook finalized in Madrid mean all eyes will be on Glasgow 2020 — when the true Paris deal deadline falls. “We must all act quickly, working in partnership to decarbonise our economies and adapt to the impact of climate change,” Archie Young, Britain s Head of International Climate Change Negotiations.

Do you bathe in milk, gobble up kimchi or dress in getups straight out of the 80s? If you don t, you might soon -- Facebook predicts those trends could go global in 2020. For its 2020 Topic and Trends Report, Facebook collected country-specific topics users in 13 countries had shared that it says could become mainstream next year. When patterns in topics emerged, the company said it relied on third-party researchers to "inform and validate" the findings. This year s edition predicts everything from DIY projects in Brazil to scaled-back skincare in the Philippines to craft coffee in Thailand. Last year s report focused solely on the US and predicted everything from a zero-waste economy and cerebral horror films to ASMR and healthy soul food. We ll have to wait a year to find out how accurate their 2020 trends forecasts are, but until then, browse through a few of the trends Facebook says could break through. Americans are talking more about methane emissions associated with animal agriculture, but they re not willing to give up meat entirely. Facebook says the rise of flexitarianism -- a majority plant-based diet that occasionally incorporates meat and fish -- could become a 2020 movement. Another major topic of conversation in North America -- houseplants and succulents. Canadians are greening up living spaces with indoor plants and sharing the results widely -- "plant parent" influencers are encouraging their followers to get greener. Self-care is now synonymous with luxuriating in the US, so it s fitting that baths could come back in a big way. Specifically, Facebook predicts, milk baths will become en vogue. Rumored to be a pastime of Cleopatra, the baths are supposedly moisturizing for dry skin some centuries later. Podcasts already seem like they rule the world. But they ll increasingly inform what US viewers see on screen, Facebook predicts. Pointing to "The Farewell," the acclaimed film based on a segment in NPR s "This American Life" and podcasts like "Dirty John" and "2 Dope Queens" that were adapted as TV series, the company says we ll see the audio medium become so massive that Hollywood will increasingly capitalize on its fandom and creative freedom. Australia could see a surge in gut-friendly foots like kimchi and ghee, or clarified butter. They re packed with probiotics that strengthen the "gut biome" -- the good bacteria that live in the gastrointestinal tract. The country s also a major purveyor of high-fiber foods like chickpea and lentil pasta, a protein-packed alternative to traditional wheat flour fare. The US adopted avocado toast from the Aussies, so maybe the American masses will follow Australia s lead again. Kimchi, a stalwart of Korean fare, and kombucha have already crossed over into the US. Astrology isn t all horoscopes and zodiac signs. In Argentina, Facebook users are considering how their birth charts impact their emotional intelligence, with a Buenos Aires hospital even incorporating astrological personalities into its workshops for mental health patients. Top searches included "tarot" and "Mercury" -- when the planet s in retrograde, astrology buffs believe the backward movement causes changes in mood and a greater likelihood for errors and frustration. Millennials and Gen Zers in Brazil are embracing the nostalgia of a time they never lived in. Facebook says 1980s cultural touchstones, like neon and lamé clothing and vintage tech like cassettes and 8-bit video games, hearken back to a "simpler time." Adults who lived through the 80s might beg to differ, but Facebook says callbacks to the decade could be big in Brazil.

The Arctic has experienced its second warmest year since 1900, according to a report published Tuesday, raising fears over low summer sea ice and rising sea levels. The North Pole has been warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet since the 1990s, a phenomenon climatologists call Arctic amplification, and the past six years have been the region s warmest ever. The average temperature in the 12 months to September was 1.9 degrees Celsius higher than the 1981-2010 average, according to the Arctic Report Card of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA). The end-of-summer sea ice cover measured that month was the second lowest in the 41-year satellite record, tied with 2007 and 2016, the annual report said. “2007 was a watershed year,” Don Perovich, a Dartmouth engineering professor who co-authored the report, told AFP. “Some years there s an increase, some years there s a decrease, but we ve never returned to the levels we saw before 2007,” he added. The year up to September has been surpassed only by the equivalent period in 2015-16 — the warmest since 1900, when records began. In the Bering Sea between Russia and Alaska, the last two winters have seen maximum sea ice coverage of less than half the long-term average. The ice is also thinner, meaning airplanes can no longer land with supplies for the residents of Diomede, a small island in the Bering Strait, who now depend on less reliable helicopters. Melting permafrost Thick ice is also vital for locals who travel by snowmobile and stow their boats, or hunt seals and whales. As the ice forms later in the fall, the inhabitants are isolated for a greater part of the year. The “shorefast ice,” anchored to the sea floor, is increasingly rare, and it is on this ice that fishermen and hunters store their equipment. “In the northern Bering Sea, sea ice used to be present with us for eight months a year. Today, we may only see three or four months with ice,” indigenous residents wrote in an essay included in the report. It is not just sea ice that is receding, according to the report: ice on Greenland is also melting. For the rest of the world this melt is measured by rising sea levels. Each year ice melting from Greenland alone raises global sea levels by 0.7 millimeters. The snow reflects the sun s rays back to space, but when it melts it uncovers more area for the sun s heat to be absorbed and melts the permafrost, the soil that remains constantly frozen. Greenland has the world s second largest ice sheet after Antarctica, which is melting at a slower pace. Scientists noted Tuesday that Greenland is struggling too, however. It has lost 3.8 trillion tonnes of ice since 1992, enough on its own to add 10.6 millimeters (1.06 centimeters, 0.4 inches) to sea levels, according to a study in the journal Nature. If all of Greenland s ice melted, or were diverted into the ocean as icebergs, the world s oceans would rise by 7.4 meters, scientists say.

Choices made today on how to grow Africa s economies will determine not only if the continent prospers but if global warming can be tamed, diplomats and experts told AFP at UN climate talks in Madrid. With two-thirds of its population lacking electricity, much of Africa s energy future remains a blank slate. But unless the continent s leaders can forge a development pathway fuelled by clean and renewable energy, they risk following the same pollution-laden trajectory that causes two million premature deaths in India and China every year. Growth driven by oil, gas and especially coal would also heat the planet well beyond the safety threshold dictated by science, and enshrined in the Paris climate treaty. So far, Africa is essentially blameless when it comes to climate change. The continent is home to 17 percent of the world s population and more than a quarter of its nations, but only accounts for four percent of the greenhouse gas emissions pushing the planet toward runaway warming. Remove South Africa and the oil- and gas-fuelled economies of north Africa from the picture, and the share of CO2 pollution drops to one percent. But this negligible carbon footprint is due mostly to poverty and underdevelopement — something, experts say, that could rapidly change. “Africans have not been responsible for the beginning of the story of the climate crisis, but they will have a huge impact on how the story ends,” Mohamed Adow, Director of Power Shift Africa and a veteran of UN climate talks, told AFP. “The continent is on the cusp of sweeping development that can either go down a clean energy path, or one based on fossil fuels.” Not an outrageous ask As that transformation unfolds, Africa will accommodate at least half the projected global population growth over the next 30 years, according to the UN. The number of people — overwhelmingly young — in Sub-Saharan Africa will likely double. For Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, senior negotiator at the climate talks for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the path Africa takes depends heavily on the help it gets from other countries and international institutions. “If we are going to live in a world where warming is limited to 1.5C, Africa has a role to play,” he told journalists. “But we have to receive means of implementation, financial resources, technology transfer — these are not outrageous asks.” Mohamed Nasr, an official in Egypt s foreign ministry and chair of the 54-nation Africa Group, a negotiating bloc at the climate talks, agrees. “We need to understand the dilemma our policymakers are facing,” he told journalists in Madrid. “We want to take action on climate change,” he said. “But poverty is very high, there is a need for education, for health care. And most African countries are highly indebted.” In many regions, the resources most readily available to fuel the growth that can satisfy those needs are the same ones overheating the planet. Africa s fossil fuel vs renewables dilemma is, perhaps, best encapsulated in Nasr s home country. On the one hand, Egypt has almost completed the world s largest solar park, with funding from the World Bank s investment arm, the International Finance Corporation. Avoided emissions But it s estimated 2,000 megawatt capacity will be dwarfed by the Hamrawein coal-powered station, under construction with funding from Chinese banks and state-run investment corporations. China is also behind coal-fired development — for electricity and to power mining operations — in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, according to the Global Coal Finance Tracker. “Chinese finance is backing 30 gigawatts of coal-fired power projects currently under development in Africa,” Christine Shearer, program director for coal at the Global Energy Monitor, told AFP. “Many of these projects would come online in the next five to ten years — locking the countries into coal use precisely at the time when prices for solar and wind power are projected to fall below coal power.” Currently, South Africa is the only country on the continent with a large coal industry — and all the public health problems that come with it. “At the same time, there are budding renewable energy sectors and projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco and Algeria,” noted Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst for the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. The tug-of-war across Africa between fossil fuels and renewables is sure to continue, and it may be years before a clear winner emerges. For clean energy to prevail, however, the rest of the world must recognize the value of avoiding carbon emissions, not just cutting them, said Adow. “The UN needs to incentivize Africa to stay on a clean path,” he told AFP. “But to do this it needs finance and technology so it can leap-frog fossil fuels.”

Apple s new Mac Pro is about to go on sale. The top-of-the-line Mac, anticipated by power users for its jaw-dropping specs, and by Apple design fans for its cheese-grater-like appearance, will be available for preorders beginning Tuesday. It s the computer s first update in six years and it looks drastically different than its predecessor. Apple ditched the previous "trash can" cylinder design for a more traditional tower shape that has several holes for cooling and a handle on top. The computer is loaded with a 28-core Intel (INTC) and 1.5 TB of system memory. It comes at a cost: $6,000 for the computer alone. Cusotmers can also have to buy the 32-inch 6K retina LCD display, called the Pro Display XDR, for an additional $4,999. There s also a $999 monitor stand, but the computer can be used without it if you lean the monitor against the computer or purchase a mount adapter. Apple (AAPL) first showed off the Mac Pro at its World Wide Developers Conference in June. Although it preorders will be available Tuesday, when it will actually ship remains unclear. The computer is built in the United States because of a federal tariff exclusion it received for several key parts of the device. Over the summer, reports indicated Apple might move assembly of the product from a Texas plant to China because of the US-China trade war. President Donald Trump toured the plant in November, where he falsely claimed he "opened" it despite the fact that Apple has been making the Mac Pro at the Austin facility since 2013.

As the world grapples with a climate emergency, scientists are exploring satellite technology solutions to help us combat climate change and the damage already done. DW visited the Space Tech Expo in Bremen. For more than three decades, space agencies like NASA and ESA have been observing Earth from space and monitoring weather patterns and the global climate. The most comprehensive European earth observation program, Copernicus, includes a satellite fleet operated by ESA. Its Sentinel satellites are monitoring Earth s environment, including CO2 levels in the atmosphere, rising sea levels, floods, earthquakes, and rising global temperatures. However, one of the upcoming satellite missions presented at the Space Expo, called the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMap), is promising an even greater potential when it comes to observing Earth from above. Developed by the German satellite manufacturer OHB , the mission is managed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). EnMap uses a high-resolution hyperspectral sensor technology to monitor Earth s ecosystem. It s designed to serve as a successor to the current multispectral technology that has far lower resolution, and limited possibilities in capturing images. The new satellite captures much more than what is visible to the naked eye. Satellite imagery also contains physical evidence about minerals and other materials on the surface, and enables scientists to draw conclusions about any potential change that may have occurred. For example, if the ocean s surface contains microplastics, a hyperspectral satellite can detect evidence of existing polymer molecules by capturing the data contained in the reflected sunlight. Cornelius Schalinski, OHB s business developer, told DW that the new EnMap technology is highly advanced, and it would replace the traditional "in situ" measurements that require digging and analysis out in the field. Schalinski pointed out that the new generation of satellites would be supplementing information about the global environment provided by the existing Copernicus program. "We want to measure environmental parameters every day, or at least every few days, globally. Climate scientists can only work if they have all the information," Schalinski said. EnMap, which is set to launch in 2021, is an instrument to measure the effects of climate change on both the Earth s ocean and land ecosystems. Harmful effects of the climate emergency, like prolonged drought and heavy flooding, are increasingly impacting agriculture. It s becoming more and more difficult to feed a growing population, which is expected to reach 11 billion people by the end of this century. EnMap creators say they aim to provide continuous data that could help farmers prevent crop failures by predicting nutrient deficiency, pest infestations, and water shortages. The satellite data could also be used by decision makers, like EU institutions, to create better policies for agricultural subsidies, as it would be possible to monitor farmers declarations on food production. It s also important to protect the world s forests, since they are capable of absorbing 2.6 billion tons of CO2, or around one third of all carbon emissions each year. These new satellites could identify whether the management of forests is done in a sustainable way by monitoring deforestation. In comparison to the current measurement tools that use the Moisture Stress Index (DRMSI), the new satellite could also detect early signs of drought, map tree species, and the structure of forests. Rising sea levels are increasingly affecting coastlines, as well as both coastal and inland water quality. If the melting continues, there could be a 30-60 cm rise in sea levels by 2100. The planned satellite mission will monitor the erosion of fragile coastlines, as well as detect pollution and particles in water, from organic matter to plankton and dominant algae species. Managing urban areas, especially those increasingly affected by climate change catastrophes, is also a top priority. It s predicted that by 2050, almost 70% of the global population will be living in cities. The new satellite could be used to plan sustainable cities by measuring the extent to which areas are covered in vegetation, as opposed to concrete and buildings. But it s not all good news Despite offering powerful solutions, satellite technology doesn t come without a price. Launching satellites still requires rockets burning solid and liquid fuel. While liquid hydrogen fuel emits water vapor and is less damaging for the environment, solid fuel emits black carbon, as well as other particles like aluminum oxide that damage the climate and the ozone layer. Although emissions from rocket launches have until now been insignificant compared to aviation, this is only because we have been launching far fewer rockets than we have been flying aeroplanes. "Indeed there s a pollution effect by satellite launches, but the effect is so small that it does not contribute significantly. If we look at the global scale, there is absolutely not a measurable change in the atmosphere from rockets," Schalinski told DW. He added that the benefits of satellites and observations from space for society are far bigger than aviation, because they enable climate scientists to better understand and measure the effects of climate change, as well as inform their climate models. In reality, the carbon footprint of rocket launches remains mostly unknown. Extensive scientific research is still required in order to comprehend the scale of the environmental impact of rockets. One thing, however, is certain. The space industry is growing with accelerating speed after a period of stagnation. Last year saw 114 rocket launches, mostly coming from China and the US. It s predicted that by the year 2030, there will be around 400 launches per year, and with it, an inevitable surge in harmful emissions if a sustainable solution is not found. Crucial for reporting on climate progress Paradoxically, satellites remain a crucial and most efficient instrument in providing valuable environmental data. The conference on the new perspectives in Earth observation in Cologne brought together numerous start-ups, firms and organizations that are further developing tools that use satellite imagery. Read more: Better vision with two eyes - ESA s Sentinel-3b satellite marks the next step in the Copernicus earth observation program Among the instruments presented there was the GEO Classifier Toolbox that was supported by several projects including the Satellite-based Wetland Observation Service (SWOS). The tool uses data provided by Copernicus satellites and enables viewing, downloading, and analyzing images of remote, inaccessible places on Earth. Wetlands are a crucial part of our natural environment as they mitigate sea level rise, serve as a carbon sink, provide nursery for wildlife, filter pollutants, and provide fertile farm land for agriculture. The GEO Toolbox can track the extent and status of wetlands, as well as their potential to degrade. Wetlands serve as a carbon sink, filter pollution, and support fertile farm land There s a booming market of similar software applications to help governments track and report their progress when it comes to achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals. But the political will to actually use such technology is still lacking. Read more: International development: Poor data holds back human progress The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands obliges its signatories to report on their progress in protecting wetlands. And the satellites can provide national governments with the necessary data to file their reports. Kathrin Weise is a project manager at the company Jena-Optronik GmbH. Her company developed the GEO Classifier Toolbox. She would hope that more signatories start using such satellite based geoinformation services. But she acknowledged that more could be done. One reason holding us back, Weise told DW, is that if signatories don t report, there aren t any penalties.

YouTube has revealed the videos most popular with the UK public in 2019. Football fans made Liverpool s 4-0 win against Barcelona in the Champions League the most-watched non-music video of the year, as the Reds made a dramatic comeback to reach the final of the competition. Next up on the UK top trending list was beauty creator James Charles video "No More Lies," which detailed his response to a spat with fellow creator Tati Westbrook. The most popular music video of the year was "Vossi Bop" by UK grime star Stormzy, followed by "Dancing With A Stranger" by Sam Smith and Normani, and "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish. Ariana Grande s "7 rings" was the fourth most popular music video, followed by a remix of "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, and "Boasty" by Wiley, Sean Paul and Stefflon Don, featuring actor Idris Elba. YouTube, which is owned by Google (GOOGL), also ranked the most-subscribed UK creators for the year, with dancer Dianne Buswell, who performs on the TV show "Strictly Come Dancing," gaining 230,000 subscribers since launching her channel in March. Other breakthrough creators include Connor and Liana, who make video skits, and Grace Sharer, who uploads comedy videos. "Whether it s unbelievable football comebacks, the continued popularity of Grime music or mainstream Strictly stars turning their hand to YouTube, the 2019 Rewind lists demonstrate the true variety of content now being consumed by UK audiences," Roya Zeitoune, head of YouTube trending for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in a statement. "As more people continue to seek out entertaining and informative content in different ways, YouTube is constantly evolving to provide an accessible and varied video platform that everyone can enjoy." Earlier this week Spotify revealed the most-streamed musicians of the decade, with audiences listening to Drake more than any other artist.

The gene editing performed on Chinese twins last year meant to immunize them against HIV may have failed in its purpose and created unintended mutations, scientists said Tuesday after the original research was made public for the first time. Excerpts from the manuscript were released by the MIT Technology Review for the purpose of showing how Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui ignored ethical and scientific norms in creating the twins Lula and Nana, whose birth in late 2018 sent shockwaves through the scientific world. He made expansive claims of a medical breakthrough that could “control the HIV epidemic,” but it was not clear whether it had even been successful in its intended purpose — immunizing the babies against the virus — because the team did not in fact reproduce the gene mutation that confers this resistance. A small percentage of people are born with immunity because of a mutation in a gene called CCR5 and it was this gene that He had claimed he had targeted using a powerful editing tool known as CRISPR which has revolutionized the field since bursting on the scene in 2012. Fyodor Urnov, a genome-editing scientist at the University of California, Berkeley told the MIT Technology Review: “The claim they have reproduced the prevalent CCR5 variant is a blatant misrepresentation of the actual data and can only be described by one term: a deliberate falsehood. “The study shows that the research team instead failed to reproduce the prevalent CCR5 variant.” While the team targeted the right gene, they did not replicate the “Delta 32” variation required, instead creating novel edits whose effects aren t clear. Moreover, CRISPR remains an imperfect tool because it can lead to unwanted or “off-target” edits, making its use in humans hugely controversial. Here, the researchers claimed they had searched for such effects in the early-stage embryos and found just one — but this glossed over the fact that it would be impossible to carry out a comprehensive search without inspecting each of the embryo s cells and thus destroying it. Further ethical concerns included that the parents of the babies might have wanted to take part for the wrong reasons. The father was HIV positive, which carries a significant social stigma in China and makes it almost impossible to have access to fertility treatment, even though a well-established technique known as “sperm washing” prevents the infection from being passed on to unborn children. Their lack of access to any kind of fertility treatment may have motivated them to take part in the experiment despite the huge risks to their children, Jeanne O Brien, a reproductive endocrinologist at Shady Grove Fertility told the MIT Technology Review. The authors also appeared to have taken steps to make it hard to find the family, like leaving the names of the fertility doctors off the paper, and including a false date of birth (Hu claimed November 2018 while multiple reports have indicated it was in fact October 2018). He attempted to shop his manuscript around to prestigious journals including Nature and JAMA, but it remains unpublished.

Apple is expected to release four 5G-capable iPhones in 2020, according to a forecast report from JPMorgan released Monday. According to analysts at JPMorgan, the new iPhones will likely roll out in the second half of 2020 and come in a number of sizes, including one measuring 5.4 inches, another at 6.7 inches and two at 6.1 inches. The report noted the largest iPhone will likely have sensor shift technology, allowing for better quality videos and photos when capturing motion. None of the projections detailed in the report, which are based on supply chain checks, are a certainty. The report s predictions differ a bit from other speculation, some of which suggest the 2020 iPhone lineup will resemble the 2019 models with higher-end iPhones at 5.4 and 6.7-inches and a cheaper 6.1-inch phone. The report comes as companies including Samsung and OnePlus launch 5G-capable devices and carriers such as Verizon, AT&T (which owns CNN s parent company WarnerMedia) and T-Mobile (TMUS) work on expanding their 5G networks. 5G technology, the next generation of ultra-fast wireless connections, is expected to usher in more smartphone innovation, including better video streaming, and encourage significant technical advancements, such as connecting self-driving cars. Following the iPhone 11 launch in September, some critics questioned Apple (AAPL) s decision to hold off on launching a 5G-capable device this year, arguably giving rivals such as Samsung -- with its two existing 5G-capable models -- and OnePlus an edge in the market. At a time when Apple s smartphone sales are slumping and its new models look the same as older models, a 5G iPhone could have provided a jolt to the business. But Apple s shift away from Qualcomm (QCOM) components to those made by Intel (INTC) over the past couple of years reportedly stalled development for 5G modems in time for this year s cycle. The delay may also represent a calculation that consumers are not clamoring for 5G just yet. It s also worth noting that although Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T) and T-Mobile (TMUS) are expanding their 5G networks in the US, service is still somewhat limited.

Amazon has removed a number of Christmas ornaments featuring images of the Auschwitz concentration camps from sale, amid anger from the museum that manages the site. Pictures of the Nazi death camp complex were used on a variety of tree ornaments, a mouse pad and a bottle opener, which the Auschwitz Memorial described as "disturbing and disrespectful." Images used showed the train tracks leading to the entrance of Auschwitz II-Birkenau and a number of scenes inside the camps, where around 1 million Jewish people are estimated to have been killed during World War II. Amazon removed the products, which were being offered by third-party sellers, when the Auschwitz Memorial tweeted about them. The memorial then noticed more products for sale also bearing images of the death camp, which operated in Nazi-occupied Poland. Those products also appear to have been pulled from sale. Most of the sellers products feature pictures from tourism sites around the world. One company, which offered a tree ornament showing a freight car on the tracks to Auschwitz, is also still selling Christmas ornaments featuring the Genbaku Dome on the Hiroshima bomb site. An Amazon (AMZN) spokesperson told CNN Business in a statement: "All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action, including potential removal of their account. The products in question have been removed." This is not the first time the site has been forced to pull products from its marketplace. Earlier this year, a range of products were removed after complaints that they were offensive to Muslims. In March, a number of anti-vaccination documentaries were taken down from its Amazon Prime Video streaming services following a CNN Business report.

Thousands of activists on Saturday occupied several opencast coal mines in eastern Germany, seeking to put pressure on the government to phase out the fossil fuel — a divisive issue in the country s rust belt. Wearing masks and dressed in white, hundreds of campaigners stormed into the Jaenschwalde Ost mine while another 450 sat down on a railroad connected to the site. Similar action hit the Welzow-Sued mine, also in the Lausitz basin. Meanwhile, MIBRAG which operates another mine — the Vereinigtes Schleenhain site — south of Leipzig said about 1,200 protesters blocked a coal-excavator, forcing the group to halt operations. “We have nothing against peaceful protests and the exercise of democratic rights, but we reject all forms of breach of laws and violence,” MIBRAG chairman Armin Eichholz said in a statement. Both MIBRAG and Czech-controlled LEAG which operates the two Lausitz mines said they were filing legal action against the protesters. Police were able to clear the mines only after several hours. In these mining regions, thousands of jobs depend on coal. But some residents are also threatened with the loss of their homes over a planned expansion of mining. Underlining the division over the coal industry, dozens of pro-coal militants also gathered in the Lausitz basin. “Ende Gelaende wants to destroy our infrastructures, it s not the right way to do it… we need coal in the region,” Thomas Hauke, 62, told AFP, referring to the anti-coal group organising the protest. – Lost year – All three mines hit Saturday produce lignite, a low-grade type of brown coal that is considered the most harmful to human health and the environment. Calling Saturday s coordinated action a success, a spokeswoman Ende Gelaende (Game Over) said around 4,000 turned up for the blockades and related protests. “Despite all the nice speeches and promises, 2019 was another lost year for the climate,” said Nike Malhaus. The occupation is being supported by other environmental groups, including the German branch of Fridays for Future which is also holding a protest at a power station in the region. It marks the second time this year that Ende Gelaende has occupied a coal mine. In June, several hundred climate activists carrying sleeping bags blocked the vast Garzweiler lignite mine near Cologne for several days. Campaigners say the government s plans to phase out coal by 2038 announced this year do not go far enough. They want that date brought forward for Germany to meet its international commitments to slash carbon pollution. “Germany pretends to be a pioneer in climate protection abroad, yet its climate policy making is disastrous. We will not be standing by while politicians and corporations destroy our future,” said Malhaus. – Far-right surge – The mining industry in the Lausitz basin, which stretches all the way into Poland, is vital to the local economy. LEAG is one of the region s largest employers with 8,000 workers. Opposition to the government s plants to shut down coal mines was seen as a factor behind a surge for the far-right AfD party in regional elections in September. The AfD is now second after the center-left Social Democrats in the Brandenburg region where the Lausitz mines are located. The local council in Cottbus, a city a few kilometers from the Lausitz basin, passed a motion condemning the occupation with the support of all parties except the Greens. Malhaus admitted there was “a climate of defiance towards our movement on the local level”. But she also pointed to local support in the Lausitz. “We have a lot of campaigners here so it s not true to say that all inhabitants of this region are in favour of coal,” she said. LEAG has also faced strong opposition to its plans to expand lignite mining in the region, which would result in the resettlement of two villages. Germany s decision in 2011 to abandon nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster in Japan has made the country more dependent on coal as renewables struggle to fill the gap.

A potential breakthrough discovery of new antibodies could lead to a universal vaccine. If successful, it could protect against all types of deadly influenza viruses and even prevent pandemics, a study shows. Immunologist Ali Ellebedy was working on a study analyzing the immune response to flu infection in humans. During his research, he spotted a new type of powerful antibody in a blood sample from a patient infected with human influenza virus. Ellebedy then sent samples of the antibody to Florian Krammer — a microbiologist who proved the effectiveness of the antibodies by testing them against extensive samples of virus proteins dating back to the 1970s. These proteins, called neuraminidase, enable the virus to spread through the human body. The study, which was jointly conducted by Scripps Research, Washington University s School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Icahn School of Medicine in New York, was published in the October issue of Science. Future vaccine could survive antiviral resistance Krammer told DW that the beauty of this new antibody, called 10G1, is that it binds to the parts of the virus that never change. This means that even if new strains of influenza viruses are detected, a potential vaccine containing new antibodies would still be effective. Moreover, the antibody has a powerful potential to attack both A and B subtypes of influenza viruses, making it an even better candidate for a universal vaccine that would combat human, swine, and bird strains, as well as other rarer strains of lethal flu viruses. There are three types of influenza viruses that affect humans. These are A, B, and C. Type A causes epidemics of seasonal flu. Among these are swine H1N1, bird H5N1, and human influenza flu H3N2. Type A viruses circulate between humans and other species, whereas type B and C are only known to exist in humans, causing mild infections and usually without symptoms. DW analyzed data about virus activity throughout the US and Europe, sourced by the World Health Organisation s Global Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). The results, presented in the heatmap below, show that there has been a steady rise in influenza virus activity for both A and B virus subtypes, especially in the US, the UK, Portugal, Germany and Croatia. Moreover, the results point to a high activity in the first and last weeks of the year. Not only to prevent, but also to cure Even though commonly mistaken for a cold due to similar symptoms— like coughing, a runny nose, sneezing, and experiencing a high fever — seasonal flu can be very dangerous. Untreated influenza can have fatal outcomes, as it can lead to severe respiratory infections. This is particularly the case for sensitive groups like infants, pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic diseases. One of the biggest problems with current vaccines is that they usually last one season before the virus mutates. However, researchers working on this study also tried to create resistant viruses in the lab to test whether the new antibody would still work. The results proved that the antibodies still bound to the virus and neutralized it. The antibodies proved to be effective even against strains of the virus resistant to Tamiflu, a powerful cure used to treat severe cases of influenza viruses like swine and bird flu. "Infected mice [in the study] reacted very well to these antibodies even three days after they were infected, and the window for Tamiflu was closed. This means that the discovered antibodies would have a potential for the development of both vaccine and a cure," Krammer told DW. Rise in global deaths from flu There is a steady rise in global annual deaths from influenza viruses. Now, there are an estimated 290,000 to 600,000 mortality cases per year, but it is still hard to determine real numbers. "There is pretty good data for North America and Europe, so it really depends on how good the surveillance systems are. Unfortunately there are a lot of countries that don t have good surveillance systems for influenza." Further data analysis by DW shows that the year 2018 saw particularly high influenza virus activity compared to the past several years. The most common flu infections were caused by the virus A, which was not subtyped. Krammer told DW that unsubtyped A viruses mean that it is hard to identify if the virus belongs to the H1N1 swine flu, or H3N2, which is human influenza virus. A new report from the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention also suggests that influenza season in the United States started earlier this year, and that widespread virus type A activity has been recorded in Puerto Rico, and seven other states including Texas, Alabama, and Nevada. On the other hand, Krammer explained that flu seasons vary in the northern and southern hemispheres. In the north, flu seasons are common in winter, but in countries like China and Singapore, influenza is spread throughout the year because there is no real winter. That makes it even more difficult to determine the real burden of influenza. "It s still not quite clear to what extent influenza seasons are influenced by the changing weather and to what extent they are influenced by the changing behavior of humans during these weather changes," said Krammer. High risk of pandemic Krammer pointed out that the chances for a global pandemic are increasing. It s hard to predict when the next big pandemic will happen, he said, but he is certain it will happen again. He also explained that the most deadly influenza virus type, which dominated flu seasons over the past few years, is the human influenza virus H3N2. But it s impossible to say which virus will cause the next big outbreak and cause the most deaths. "We have approximately three to four pandemics per century. We had the one in 1918, 1957, 1968 and one in 2009, so it s not very predictable," he said. "The chances for a pandemic are, however, increasing because there is a lot more global interaction. Pandemic viruses come from avian species, like wild birds, chickens, ducks, where all these influenza viruses circulate. If we look at the number of chickens we raise for food, they are increasing, because the global population is increasing and we need to feed people." Prevention best way to avoid lethal flu infections Even though newly discovered antibodies have enormous potential for the development of a truly universal vaccine and cure for influenza, it will take years of costly clinical trials before it hits the market, Krammer said. The first step is to examine if it s possible for all humans to develop the 10G1 antibodies. Until a universal vaccine is developed, one of the best ways to stay safe is to take precautionary measures, Krammer suggested. "First, get vaccinated. The vaccines we have now are not perfect, but they really work. The second step is to keep ourselves healthy. If we are healthy, infections have less impact. The new generation of a vaccine we have now is against four viruses which circulate in humans which are H1N1, H3N2 and two types of influenza B viruses."

The Red Sea Protected Area will begin collecting fees from visitors in implementation of the Ministry of Environment s decision #204 of 2019. The areas included in this decision are Wadi al-Gemal in Marsa Alam, Jabal Elba, and the Hamata Islands, also known as the remote islands of the Red Sea. The Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS) rejected the decision, saying it would resort to court. Numerous other owners of tourist boats and diving centers in Hurghada also slammed the decision and threatened to stop organizing diving trips. Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad defended the move, saying that its goal was to manage the reserves more professionally. Legal disputes arose between the board of directors of the CDWS and the ministry over the ministry imposing fees on areas outside the borders of the nature reserves. The CDWS said that increasing costs on tourists coming to Egypt will send them to competing tourist destinations, which will harm the already faltering tourism sector. Jabal Elba and the Hamata Islands do not fall under the authorization of the Environment Ministry, the CDWS added, thus it has no right to impose entry fees on the two areas. The CDWS, in partnership with a number of companies owning diving centers, yachts, and hotels filed a lawsuit, demanding the cancellation of the ministry s decision. The court set December 8 to consider the case. The decision set the fees for daily visits from eight am until sunset, while visits after sunset see all categories of fees doubled. Fees were set at five dollars for foreigners and at LE25 for Egyptians. Children less than seven years old were exempted from paying fees. Large car fees were set at $10 for foreigners and LE50 for Egyptians, while smaller car fees were set at LE25. According to the new decision, $10 will be charged for diving and snorkeling yachts from 17 to 20 meters long, $20 on yachts from 20 to 25 meters long, $40 on yachts from 25 to 30 meters long, and $60 on yachts over 30 meters long.