{"id":563439,"date":"2021-07-04T04:00:17","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T04:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/07\/04\/this-morning-ever-given-hearing-today-opec-postpones-supply-talks-us-hit-by-ransomware-attack-ebrd-climate-pledge-two-weeks-until-eid\/"},"modified":"2021-07-04T04:00:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T04:00:17","slug":"this-morning-ever-given-hearing-today-opec-postpones-supply-talks-us-hit-by-ransomware-attack-ebrd-climate-pledge-two-weeks-until-eid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/07\/04\/this-morning-ever-given-hearing-today-opec-postpones-supply-talks-us-hit-by-ransomware-attack-ebrd-climate-pledge-two-weeks-until-eid\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: Ever Given hearing today; OPEC+ postpones supply talks; US hit by ransomware attack; EBRD climate pledge; Two weeks until Eid."},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another full work week, ladies and gentlemen. <\/strong>And if you haven\u2019t yet melted in the last few days, we hope you enjoyed the long weekend.<\/p>\n

You will have two more full work weeks before the Eid break<\/strong>, which should take place on the week of the 18 July.<\/p>\n

We also want to wish our readers in the US a happy 4 July holiday.<\/strong> And it is quite an eventful one for the US, with a number of key events shaping the news across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

Most important of which has to be the end of the US\u2019 longest war<\/strong>, as American troops emptied their main military bases in Afghanistan on Friday, bringing an end to the US\u2019 involvement in the 20-year war, Reuters<\/a> reports. Far from a joyous event, the narrative in the press is one of \u2018mission failed\u2019 as the Taliban look set to fill the void left by allied troops. Everyone from the Associated Press<\/a> and Reuters<\/a> to the Financial Times<\/a> had the story on Friday.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s looking for WMDs in heaven now: <\/strong>One of the architects of that war and the war in Iraq, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld passed away last Tuesday. His legacy and responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq, his endorsement and legal justifications for torture, as well as his reign as among the most powerful secretaries of defense is leading coverage in the global press<\/a>. And of course, he was the man that gave us this gem of a line when called out on Iraq not having WMDs: \u201cthe absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence.\u201d<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY OF THE DAY- CIB kicked off Egypt\u2019s first corporate green bond issuance<\/strong>, which we\u2019ve been waiting for since 3Q2020. The issuance, which saw the IFC invest USD 100 mn, was larger than the initially announced USD 65 mn.<\/p>\n

Egypt also signed up to join the world\u2019 first global corporate tax framework<\/strong>, which was developed by the OECD. The agreement could see us get additional tax revenues from tech companies for income generated here in Egypt.<\/p>\n

Expect GERD to dominate the conversation all week long: <\/strong>The UN Security Council is expected to meet sometime this week to discuss the deadlock between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. An exact date has yet to be set, but Sudanese sources report that it will take place on Thursday.<\/p>\n

We have more on all three stories in the news well, below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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THE BIGGEST STORY ABROAD- <\/strong>Large ransomware attack hits hundreds of US <\/strong>companies:<\/strong> REvil, a Russia-linked ransomware cartel, has been accused of carrying out ransomware attacks on at least 20 managed-service providers, affecting more than 1k SMEs, according to Bloomberg<\/a>. The story is getting coverage everywhere<\/strong> from the Financial Times<\/a> and the Wall Street Journal<\/a> to the BBC<\/a> and the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

GREEN ECONOMY- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will <\/strong>not invest in upstream oil and gas projects from the end of 2022<\/strong> as part of its drive to meet the Paris climate goals, the lender said in a statement<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not quitting all fossil fuel projects though:<\/strong> EBRD Managing Director Harry Boyd-Carpenter told Reuters<\/a> that it will still finance midstream and downstream projects, and didn\u2019t specify whether its new policy towards upstream assets will apply to new or existing investment.<\/p>\n

***CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> with the top stories from Wednesday\u2019s edition of EnterpriseAM:<\/strong><\/p>\n