Western energy firms are the usual suspects when it comes to criticism about the sector's role in climate change, but a less visible lineup of powerful state companies dominates the industry.
They will all share the limelight at the UN climate talks that opened Thursday in Dubai, as COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber is also the head of ADNOC, the national oil and gas company of the United Arab Emirates.
Couturier Adnan Akbar's past clients included Princess Diana and two French first ladies, but until recently he had never staged a major fashion show in his native Saudi Arabia.
The 74-year-old, dubbed the "Saint Laurent of the Middle East", was among the most decorated designers at this year's inaugural Riyadh Fashion Week, a milestone in a country that used to require women to wear hijab headscarves and abaya robes in public.
It was the original shuttle diplomacy. Nearly 50 years ago, Henry Kissinger was flying across the Middle East, seeking a new US-led order following war between Israel and Arab states.
Kissinger, the titan of US diplomacy who died Wednesday at 100, left a deeply controversial legacy in much of the world but, at least inside the United States, he won wide praise for transforming Middle East politics.
Yet the region has still not found peace, with Kissinger's death dueling for headline space with tales of carnage in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
With the rising of the sun, dozens of people flock to the Mediterranean beaches of the devastated Gaza Strip.
Some come out of necessity, to bathe or fish for food, while others simply hope to take advantage of a brief pause in fighting with a dip in the sea after nearly eight weeks of war between Israel and Hamas.
For Walid Sultan, fishing is at the core of his identity.
Gaza teacher Tareq al-Ennabi arranges his pupils' chairs in a circle, sets out the slates and chalk, and plans his lesson for the day: how to say in English "I love Palestine".
Nearly two months ago, Hamas fighters streamed into Israel from the Gaza Strip in the worst attack in the country's history, taking some 240 hostages and killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Israel's war with Hamas pushed its way to centre-stage at UN climate talks in Dubai on Thursday, with campaigners calling for a ceasefire and Israel taking the opportunity to discuss hostage releases.
More than seven weeks into the deadly war, the COP28 talks opened with a moment's silence announced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 president, for "all civilians who have perished during the current conflict in Gaza".
The Red Cross, which has faced criticism for not doing enough for hostages and prisoners in the Gaza conflict, stresses it has no "superpowers" and relies on the warring parties for access.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, founded 160 years ago to serve as a neutral intermediary between belligerents in conflict and to visit and assist prisoners of war, has been accused by both sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict of not providing adequate help to those being held.
Britain on Thursday announced that it was sending one of its most advanced naval vessels to the Gulf to shore up its presence in the region.
The HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, will conduct operations to ensure freedom of navigation, reassure merchant vessels and ensure the safe flow of trade, the defence ministry said.
"It is critical that the UK bolsters our presence in the region, to keep Britain and our interests safe from a more volatile and contested world," said Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged Israel to create safe zones for Palestinian civilians in Gaza before it resumes "major military operations" in the Hamas-ruled territory.
Speaking on the seventh day of a pause in fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, Blinken also called for a further extension of the truce which included hostage and prisoner swaps and aid deliveries into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Hours after the traumatic October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Michael and his wife knew they had to abandon their Tel Aviv home and flee to the nearest destination, Athens, for the sake of their family.
"We left Israel to protect our children, so that they are (as little) traumatised as possible," the social scientist, who declined to give his surname for security reasons, told AFP.
