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Egypt Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was formally elected as the COP27 President by the Parties during the opening plenary, following which he called on countries to show faith in multilateralism over the next two weeks as they negotiate to deliver on the goals of the Climate Convention and the Paris Agreement. Addressing climate envoys and delegates at what is considered to be one of the largest COPs ever in terms of attendance, COP President HE Sameh Shoukry said: “It comes as no surprise to anyone that the COP is being held this year in a world which is witnessing political turmoil that cast a long shadow on all our nations and has resulted in energy and food crises; however these challenges should be no reason for delaying our collective effort to fight climate change. It is inherent on us all in Sharm El Sheikh to demonstrate our recognition of the magnitude of the challenges we face and our steadfast resolve to overcome it.” Minister Shoukry highlighted that Egypt made sure that COP27 will provide the optimum setting to align and converge multiple views, and facilitate transparent, inclusive, and fruitful discussion to ensure the most positive outcome achievable. He stressed that albeit the challenging economic and geopolitical factors, external circumstances should not be allowed to negatively affect the negotiating process, adding that as a COP hosted in Africa, it must consider the needs of the developing countries and ensure climate justice through availing the appropriate finance and other means of implementation, as countries that are the least responsible for emissions are the most affected by climate change. The new COP President, HE Shoukry acknowledged the tireless efforts of his predecessor, COP26 President Alok Sharma, and thanked Mr. Sharma and his team for their effort and dedication with everything they achieved in hosting COP26 and commended the outcomes and agreements their work helped to secure, reiterating the commitment of the Egyptian Presidency to deliver on an impactful and inclusive COP. The conference of the parties adopted its agenda, and for the first time since the adoption of the UN climate convention, parties agreed to introduce loss and damage funding as an agenda item at the climate conference, after a yearlong work culminating in 48 hours of continuous informal consultations led by the Egyptian COP Presidency on the eve of the COP. Shoukry lauded the sense of responsibility and commitment that parties showed, as well as the collective keenness on preserving the credibility and relevance of the climate process by making the right decision that responds to the suffering of millions of climate calamities’ victims around the world. More than 50,000 attendees are registered and expected to participate at COP27’s Blue Zone and thousands of others at the Green Zone. The Egyptian Presidency has designated several key thematic days that will include pledging opportunities, discussions, roundtables, and side events. The thematic days are part of efforts to advance climate action that can address existing implementation bottlenecks and gaps and deepen engagement with youth, women, civil society and indigenous people. The Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit will start tomorrow and runs for two days, bringing all participating heads of state and government. Following the summit’s inauguration, several roundtables led and attended by tens of world leaders will be held to focus on six key topics: Just Transitions, Food Security, Innovative Finance for Climate and Development, Investing in the Future of Energy, Water Security, and Climate Change and The Sustainability of Vulnerable Communities

The Supreme Court has issued a temporary interim order directing the Election Commission not to take action against the operators of No, Not Again Facebook page and group. A single bench of justice Hari Prasad Phuyal on Sunday issued the order not to take head the process to take action against them. Senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi and Anil Acharya had filed a writ at the apex court arguing that the operators of the No, Not Again Facebook page and group should not be punished. Earlier, the Election Commission had issued a directive to close the No, Not Again Facebook page and group. The Supreme Court has called both sides—plaintiffs and defendants—for a discussion on November 10.        

The Jayanagar-Kurtha railway service will be increased for three days from tomorrow. It will have more trips than the regular ones considering the huge influx of people coming to bathe at the Kamala river on the occasion of Kartik Poornima. Nepal Railway Company has announced untimely train services will be operated on November 7, 8 and 9 at per the convenience of the passengers. Managing Director Niranjan Kumar Jha has issued a notice stating that the untimely service will be operated from Jayanagar to Janakpur for the convenience of the pilgrims who come to bathe in the Kamala River on the occasion of Kartik Poorrnima. During the Kartik Poornima, a large number of pilgrims come from various places in Nepal and even from Indian cities to bathe in the Kamala river. Out of the 70 km railway under construction from Jayanagar to Bardibas in Mahottari, 35 km railway from Jayanagar to Kurtha has been running regularly since it was inaugurated eight months ago. The train service has been running regularly as per the schedule. The train leaves from Jayanagar at 8:30 am and 3:00 pm, while another train leaves from Kurtha at 10:30 am and 5:15 pm. Locals believe that once the train starts operating regularly, tourism, religious areas will develop and the export of local products will increase.

Rape accused Nepal national cricket team captain Sandeep Lamichhane will be kept in the central jail in Sundhara. Following the order of the Kathmandu District Court, Lamichhhane will be kept at the Sundhara-based central jail Jagannath Dewal, Dinesh Mainali, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Kathmandu, said. A government lawyer had filed a charge sheet against Lamichhane at the Kathmandu District Court. A single bench of Justice Madhav Ghimire on Friday had issued an order to keep Nepal’s leg spinner Lamichhane in custody. Earlier, a 17-year-old girl had filed a rape complaint against Lamichhane at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala when he was abroad to play Caribbean Premier League (CPL) from Jamaica Tallawahs. According to the complaint, Lamichhane had allegedly taken the girl to various places in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur on August 21 and raped her in a hotel room the same night.