It was a mixed bag on talk shows yesterday: Leading the coverage was the final agreement at COP27, the “historic” handshake between El Sisi and Erdogan at the World Cup, and Qatar’s defeat to Ecuador in the opening game of the tournament.

COP wrap: In an interview on Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 15:12), Egypt’s chief negotiator, Amb. Mohamed Nasr, recapped some of the key sticking points to sealing a climate agreement at COP27 and highlighted the achievement of finally bringing developed and developing countries together on loss and damage. A transitional committee will work out the details on the loss and damage fund agreed at the summit, including who should pay into the fund and which countries would benefit from it among other aspects, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid told Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 17:24). He said Egypt will continue to follow up on progress until it hands the presidency over to the UAE for COP28 next year.

That handshake: President El Sisi’s meeting with Erdogan in Doha yesterday was greeted with enthusiasm by the talk shows. Ala Mas’ouleety’s firebrand talk show host Ahmed Moussa expressed his glee about members of the Muslim Brotherhood crying at the site of the two leaders shaking hands (watch, runtime: 4:19) while Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi described it as the “most important picture of the opening ceremony” (watch, runtime: 4:02). “Politics are never absent,” she said, in reference to the first handshake between the duo in over nine years. She asks the big question: “Are we talking about a breakthrough in relations [between Egypt and Turkey] under Qatari support?” (watch, runtime: 2:47). The handshake is also getting coverage from Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 3:04) and Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 5:13).

The World Cup opening ceremony and Qatar’s 2-0 defeat to Ecuador got coverage: El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 2:25) and Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 10:25) covered the pre-match performance which featured US actor Morgan Freeman and K-pop star Jungkook alongside Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubais. Meanwhile, Moussa vented about VAR disallowing Ecuador’s opening goal (and BeinSports for not giving it more attention) (watch, runtime: 3:55). Masaa DMC also took note of Qatar’s disappointing loss (watch, runtime: 8:04).

Also getting attention on the talk shows last night:

• A wage hike for the private sector? A decision to raise the minimum wage to EGP 3k for private-sector workers could be announced soon if an agreement is reached with industries in the private sector, Supreme Council for Wages member Magdy Badawy told Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 11:06). Civil servants and employees at state-owned enterprises saw the minimum wage rise to EGP 3k per month by the government starting this month in response to rising inflation.