Biden, Sisi Pledge to Confront Climate Crisis

President El-Sisi receives his US counterpart Biden in Sharm El-Sheikh yesterday.
President El-Sisi receives his US counterpart Biden in Sharm El-Sheikh yesterday.
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Biden, Sisi Pledge to Confront Climate Crisis

President El-Sisi receives his US counterpart Biden in Sharm El-Sheikh yesterday.
President El-Sisi receives his US counterpart Biden in Sharm El-Sheikh yesterday.

US President Joe Biden held bilateral talks on Friday with President Abdul Fatah El-Sisi on the margins of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Bassam Rady, the official spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, said that Sisi stressed during his meeting with Biden "the extended strategic partnership between the two countries, and its pivotal role in supporting security and stability in the Middle East.”

For his part, Biden valued the strong and deep Egyptian-US relations and confirmed that the US considers Egypt a strong and reliable friend and ally in the region.

The White House announced in a statement that the two presidents affirmed their commitment to addressing the climate crisis.

Before meeting Sisi, Biden delivered a speech at the Conference.

He pledged that the United States is “on track” to achieve its pledge of cutting emissions by 2030, calling on the countries of the world to do more to face the "climate crisis" that "threatens life on the planet".

Biden delivered a speech at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), in which he linked the climate crisis to human economy and security.

He said climate change is about human security, national security, and life on the planet as a whole. "Good climate policies are good economic policies," he added.



Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful.”

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

"We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians," the text said, according to Reuters.
"We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit."

The pope, 88, was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope's 'state of the world' speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and has suggested
the global community should study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.

The pope's text said he condemns anti-Semitism, and called the growth of anti-Semitic groups "a source of deep concern."
Francis also called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has killed tens of thousands.