When it comes to the Red Sea crisis, the cause has been well documented over the past few months. "Diversions away from the Suez Canal have hit ocean freight trades hard from Asia to the Mediterranean, North Europe and U.S. East Coast. For a standard FEU, the Red Sea surcharge for exports out of the Mediterranean on long-term contracts sits higher than North European exports with a spread of $162. While the market low for both of these trades sits at $400, the market high sits at $1,295 for the Mediterranean and $750 for North Europe. "Bringing a reefer out of North Europe heading for the Far East, the average surcharge sits at $1,007 per box."

The alarm about the “critical state” of solid waste accumulation in Africa was sounded at Africa’s Green Economy Summit on Thursday in Cape Town. She added that more than 70% of solid waste is not collected but directly dumped into the environment, with no recycling. Waste management to rethink South Africa’s employment opportunities“This is affecting health, it causes flooding in certain areas, choking the potential that cities have to grow, develop and be competitive in today’s world. “The good thing is that the solid waste management generates a lot of interest, innovation and a lot of passion,” said Marulanda. Solid waste management practices in Africa need to changeNon-landfill activities and climate funding for solid waste managementDave Morrey, Inland General Manager of EnviroServ agreed that 20 years ago, all waste that was collected and removed ended up in landfills.

For the sake of children, we have to demand an end to the violence and adherence to international law in Palestine. As a Palestinian, I can assure you if there’s one thing Palestinians aren’t short of, it’s words. There are still some words we can and must fall back on, words that anchor us to our collective humanity. In September, a Save the Children report found that 2023 had become the deadliest year for Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank on record. The number of children killed in the first nine months of the year was triple the number killed in 2022- itself previously the deadliest year on record since 2005.

These investments primarily address issues pertaining to water supply and demand management, Sallé de Chou told MAP, on the sidelines of the water masterclasses focusing on innovative financing models and mechanisms. Sallé de Chou highlighted that the Guelmim-Oued Noun region was the first beneficiary of EBRD financing in Morocco, specifically targeting wastewater purification and reuse. In December 2023, the EBRD provided €12 million (MAD130 million) loan to the Guelmim-Oued Noun region to enhance drinking water supply in rural areas and upgrade four existing wastewater treatment plants. She also emphasized various other initiatives and strategies focusing on wastewater treatment to support green space irrigation. Barret applauded the efforts of Moroccan stakeholders in water infrastructure and investment in water conservation programs.

“For nearly a year now, accounts coming out of Sudan have been of death, suffering and despair, as the senseless conflict and human rights violations and abuses have persisted with no end in sight,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. By mid-December, more than 6.7 million people had been displaced by the conflict – both within Sudan and into neighbouring countries. Many of the rapes, according to the report, were committed by RSF members, in homes and on the streets. African ethnic communities, including the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa also reportedly responded to recruitment campaigns by the SAF, the report finds. Read the full report (Advance unedited version in English)Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

A video recently published by a Skopje-based NGO has brought attention to a distressing incident with migrants at the Serbia-North Macedonia border. The footage allegedly shows a group of semi-naked men apparently being pushed back into North Macedonia by Serbian border police. The police noted that since January 13, 2023, the border police have overseen the state border between Serbia and North Macedonia in collaboration with police officers from Austria and Hungary under the trilateral cooperation memorandum. Neither Austrian nor Hungarian police members have reported any incidents or misconduct by the Serbian border police during their joint monitoring efforts along the state border, the Serbian police said. In 2015, the Western Balkan route running via North Macedonia and Serbia emerged as an important pathway for irregular migration from the Middle East and North Africa to the EU member countries.

Mauritanian president returned from a short visit to Algeria without his main bodyguard who was reported dead in a suspicious incident. While Algerian pro-regime media speak of a car accident, Mauritanian media says the President’s convoy was attacked in Tindouf area by armed men loyal to a Mauritanian dissident based in Algeria. Videos on twitter showed the moment a military aircraft brought the body of the bodyguard, Mohamed Ould Chibani, to Nouakchott. The Algerian president said his country will build a road connecting Tindouf to Zouirate in Mauritania. The reported incident comes following warnings by the US to its citizens to avoid Tindouf and southern Algeria in general for fear of terrorist activity.

Are we witnessing the golden age of programmatic advertising in MENA? Compared to its global counterparts, MENA's programmatic advertising landscape is marked by a distinctive blend of growth and opportunity. In the digital advertising landscape of the region, several DSPs stand out as most utilised, and are pivotal in shaping the digital advertising strategies across MENA. A Mobile-First ApproachIn MENA, the rise of a mobile-first landscape is dramatically reshaping the programmatic advertising arena. These regulations complicate traditional programmatic advertising techniques, which rely on third-party tracking cookies for personalised content delivery.

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The Italian Sea Group (TISG) continues to expand its international commercial development plan with the introduction of the first Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63 in North Africa. The iconic motor yacht Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63 offers unparalleled luxury with high-performance capabilities. The region's burgeoning elite tourism sector, driven by entertainment and exclusive water sports activities, has paved the way for the introduction of the Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63. Recognized for its avant-garde luxury and sporty design, the Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63 has earned accolades in the luxury industry. Notably, it was named among the "Best of the Best" in the "Motor Yacht Weekend Cruiser" category by Robb Report and received the "Motor Yacht under 25 meters" award at the 2022 International Yacht & Aviation Awards.

In a collaborative effort to advance expertise in the renewable energy sector, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) Innovation Centre partnered with the Gulf Renewable Energy Lab to organize a comprehensive training program. This initiative focused on key factors crucial for the successful development and implementation of renewable energy projects, aligning with global best practices in the industry. Graduates of the program were awarded the prestigious ‘Financial Modelling & Analysis of Renewable Energy Projects’ international certificate. The focus was on enabling them to develop comprehensive financial models for planning, investments, and financial analysis within the renewable energy sector. Saeed Abubaker Belhaddad, General Manager of Gulf Renewable Energy Lab, expressed pride in the partnership with DEWA, highlighting the lab’s role in supporting the transition to renewable energy through knowledge localization initiatives.

The race towards securing the two spots reserved for Africa at the Paris 2024 Olympics resumes on Friday. Eight nations are vying for the two spots reserved for the continent and CAFOnline takes a look at these encounters in the women’s football edition. Cameroon - Nigeria: African classicIt’s the great classic of African women’s football. Tunisia - Morocco: A North African derby full of promiseQuarter-finalist at the last edition of the CAF TotalEnergies Women's African Cup of Nations, Tunisia faces the ever-improving Morocco who were runner’s up at the TotalEnergies Women’s AFCON in an epic North African derby. Tanzania - South Africa: No walk in the parkIt will be an interesting tie between Tanzania who are fast becoming a force in African women’s football against the reigning African champions South Africa.

ESPOO, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tecnotree, a global digital platform and services leader for AI, 5G, and cloud-native technologies, announced the simultaneous rollout of their digital BSS solutions for telecom service providers spanning across the Middle East and Africa. The milestone included 14 Go-lives globally for some of the largest Telecom, Healthcare and Realty groups across North America, the Middle East, Africa and Latam, delivering large-scale Digital BSS transformation for customers on public and private cloud through the Tecnotree Digital Suite (Tecnotree Edge). By leveraging Tecnotree’s AI-powered, intelligent digital solutions, service providers will be able to align their capabilities with the evolving business needs. We are enabling the next wave of digital transformation, aligning with the rapidly growing markets. Our agile and open-source digital BSS Stack comprises the full range (order-to-cash) of business processes and subscription management for telecom and other digital services industries creating opportunities beyond connectivity.

A ban on the trade of donkey skins announced by the African Union could set a precedent for curbing illegal wildlife trade through the Middle East, conservationists said. Global crackdownThe illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be worth about $20 billion a year. In August, the Emirates Group achieved IEnvA Illegal Wildlife Trade accreditation to acknowledge a commitment to taking action. Mr Bell said financial institutions can leverage technology to detect wildlife trafficking transactions by screening clients and using existing transaction monitoring technology. Read more Interpol: Wildlife trade seizures lead to hundreds of arrests worldwide“Determining whether wildlife trafficking transactions are on the rise is challenging,” said Mr Bell.

Climate Change Mitigation and AdaptationGlobally, there is consensus that upscaling the climate action agenda requires that the means of the implementation (MoI), namely finance, technology transfer, and capacity building be given utmost priority hence, the amplified calls for Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to accelerate ambition through their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) (www.unfccc.int). Following increased scientific evidence pointing to fossil fuels as the major driver of climate change, there were increased calls for a global-phase out thereof at the just ended Twenty-Eighth Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP28) held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. However, most Global South Parties advocate for a gradual ‘phasing down’ (just transition as opposed to an outright ‘phase out’) through the deployment of renewables to replace traditional fossil fuels.