The agreement, reported in advance by Bloomberg, will allow diplomats and leaders to officially debate the issue for the first time during the two week-long conference in the Egyptian seaside town of Sharm el-Sheikh. 

Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who took up Sunday his position as president of COP27, said the breakthrough was reached after 48 hours of intense talks and would aim to reach a conclusive decision on loss and damage no later than 2024. 

This creates for the first time an institutionally stable space on the formal agenda of the COP and the Paris Agreement to discuss the pressing issue of funding arrangements needed to deal with existing gaps in responding to loss and damage, he said.

Inclusion of this agenda reflects a sense of solidarity and empathy with the suffering of the victims of climate-induced disasters.

Developing countries and small island states, which contributed a tiny amount to historical emissions of planet-warming gases but have suffered some of the worst effects of climate change, stepped up in recent weeks a push for the issue to be discussed. 

The demand has been on the table since Conference of Parties, or COP, meetings started in the early 1990s. However, industrialized nations that have prospered for two centuries at the expense of the planet had repeatedly blocked efforts to even debate the issue, fearing that it would open up demands for billions of dollars in compensation to poor nations.

Recent climate disasters, such as the floods in Pakistan, have given new impetus to the push. 

The smooth adoption of the agenda followed sustained behind-the-scenes negotiations to reach a compromise and avoid a messy skirmish during the first hour of the conference. The opening session was delayed for more than an hour to accommodate final talks over the wording and content of the agenda item.

An advance version of the official agenda showed an item entitled: Matters relating to funding arrangements responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including a focus on addressing loss and damage.

Shoukry said a compromise had been reached to ground the discussion in cooperation and facilitation and not liability or compensation.  

A year of record heat waves, drought and floods has added a new urgency to this years climate talks, which are taking place in a developing country already suffering some of the more severe effects. 

Egypt already suffers suffocating heat. The flow of the Nile is dwindling and rising sea levels are damaging some of its most fertile farmland. 

While an agreement on an agenda item is a diplomatic success, countries will now have to work out how best to measure loss and damage and how much money will be put on the table by the wealthiest. Those from developing nations have been burned before. A plan announced in 2009 to provide an annual $100 billion of mitigation and adaptation finance has never been met.

A reasonable sum is more than zero,Saleemul Huq, a professor at the Independent University in Bangladesh, said in an interview. Right theyre offering zero, which is absolutely unacceptable.

As Egypt formally took the presidency at the opening session on Sunday, one official after another called for the global gathering to move from a forum of talks, to one of implementation. 

This is an historic step toward ensuring that vulnerable countries have the financial need to address the increasingly severe climate impacts theyre facing, said David Waskow, director of the World Resources Institutes international climate initiative.

With assistance by Laura Millan Lombrana, Mirette Magdy and Akshat Rathi

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In the chaos that has enveloped Twitter the platform and Twitter the company since Elon Musk took over, it has become clear this isnt changing anytime soon. In fact, its likely to get much worse before it gets better if it gets better at all.

Musk, with his band of tech industry loyalists, arrived at Twitter just over a week ago ready to tear down the blue birds nest and rebuild it in his vision with breakneck speed. He quickly fired top executives and the board of directors, installed himself as the companys sole director (for now) and declared himself Chief Twit, then Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator on his bio.

On Friday, he began mass layoffs at the San Francisco-based company, letting go about half of of its workers via email to return it to staffing levels not seen since 2014.

All the while, hes continued to tweet a mix of crude memes, half-jokes, SpaceX rocket launches and maybe-maybe not plans for Twitter that he seems to be workshopping on the site in real time. After floating the idea of charging users $20 a month for the blue check and some extra features, for instance, he appeared to quickly scale it back in a Twitter exchange with author Stephen King, who posted, If that gets instituted, Im gone like Enron.

We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8? Musk replied. On Saturday, the company announced a subscription service for $7.99 monthly that allows anyone on Twitter to pay a fee for the check mark just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow as well as some premium features not yet available like getting their tweets boosted above those coming from accounts without the blue check.

The billionaire Tesla CEO also has repeatedly engaged with right-wing figures appealing for looser restrictions on hate and misinformation, received congratulations from Dimitry Medvedev, Russian President Vladimir Putins top associate and tweeted then deleted a baseless conspiracy theory about House Speaker Nancy Pelosis husband, who was attacked in his home.

More than three dozen advocacy organizations wrote an open letter to Twitters top 20 advertisers, calling on them to commit to halting advertising on the platform if Twitter under Musk undermines brand safety and guts content moderation.

Not only are extremists celebrating Musks takeover of Twitter, they are seeing it as a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery. This includes clear threats of violence against people with whom they disagree, the letter said.

One of Musks first moves was to fire the woman in charge of trust and safety at the platform, Vijaya Gadde. But he has kept on Yoel Roth, Twitters head of safety and integrity, and has taken steps to reassure users and advertisers that the site wont turn into a free-for-all hellscape that some fear it might.

On Friday, he tweeted that Twitters strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged. In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline (asterisk)below(asterisk) our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press. A growing number of advertisers are nevertheless pausing spending on Twitter while they reassess how Musks changes might increase objectionable material on the platform.

Musk also met with some civil rights leaders about how Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies, according to a tweet he sent Nov. 1.

But representatives of the LGBTQ community were notably absent from the meeting, even though its members are far more likely to be victims of violent crime than those outside of such communities. Twitter did not respond to a message for comment on whether Musk plans to meet with LGBTQ groups.

The mercurial billionaire has said he wont make major decisions about content or restoring banned accounts such as that of former President Donald Trump before setting up a content moderation council with diverse viewpoints. The council, he later added, will include the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence. But experts have pointed out that Twitter already has a trust and safety advisory council to address moderation questions.

Truly I cant imagine how it would differ, said Danielle Citron, a University of Virginia law professor who sits on the council and has been working with Twitter since its infancy in 2009 to tackle online harms, such as threats and stalking. Our council has the full spectrum of views on free speech.

Some amount of chaos is expected after a corporate takeover, as are layoffs and firings. But Musks murky plans for Twitter especially its content moderation, misinformation and hate speech policies are raising alarms about where one of the worlds most high-profile information ecosystems is headed. All that seems certain is that for now, at least, as Elon Musk goes, so goes Twitter.

I hope that responsibility and maturity will win the day, said Eddie Perez, a former Twitter civic integrity team leader who left the company before Musk took over. Its one thing to be a billionaire troll on Twitter and to try to get laughs with memes and to yuk it up. You are now the owner of Twitter and theres a new level of responsibility.

For now, though, the memes appear to be winning. This concerns experts like Perez, who worry Musk is moving too fast without listening to people who have been working to improve civility on the platform and instead using his own insular experience as one of the platforms most popular users with millions of fawning fans who hail his every move.

You have a single billionaire that is controlling something as influential as a social media platform like Twitter. And you have entire nation states (whose) political goals are inimical to our own, and they are trying to create chaos and they are directly courting favor with Musk, Perez said.

Theres just no world in which all of that is normal, he added. That should absolutely concern us.

Twitter didnt start out as a cesspool. And even now there are pockets of funny, weird, nerdy subgroups on the platform that remain somewhat insulated from the messy and confrontational place it can appear to be if one follows too many hotheaded agitators. But as with Facebook, Twitters rise also coincided with growing polarization and a measurable decline in online civility in the United States and beyond.

The big understanding that occurred between 2008 and 2012 is that the way to get traction, the way to get attention on any social media, Twitter included, was to use incendiary language to challenge the basic humanity of the opposition, said Lee Rainie, director of internet and technology research at the Pew Research Center.

Things continued to devolve as the 2016 U.S. presidential election approached and passed, and the new president cemented his reputation as one of Twitters most incendiary users. After it was revealed that Russia used social media platforms to try to influence elections in the U.S. and other countries, the platforms found themselves became central figures in the political debate.

Do they have too much power? Do their content moderation policies privilege one side or another? Rainie said. The companies themselves found themselves in the thick of the most intense arguments in the culture. And so thats the environment that Elon Musk is entering now.

And beyond the bluster and the outsized personality, Musks own description of his new job Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator may turn out to be his biggest challenge yet.

AP Technology Writer Frank Bajak contributed to this story.

Investment accounts, or more specifically brokerage accounts, are used to buy and sell investments such as stocks and bonds. These types of accounts are designed to allow individuals to invest in the stock market without the limitations often associated with other types of accounts, such as retirement accounts that come with withdrawal and contribution restrictions. And when managed wisely, brokerage accounts can be a valuable way to invest for short, medium, and long-term financial goals.

Steps to open an account 

There are many factors to consider as you prepare to open an investment account including deciding what type of investor you want to be and which brokerage firm is the best match for your needs and financial goals, and not to be overlooked, its important to understand the fees associated with brokerage accounts. 

1. Choose the type of investment account you want

Identifying the right brokerage account for you will depend largely on your financial objectives and how activelyor notyou plan to manage your investments. Here are two big questions you can ask yourself as youre comparing accounts to try and pick the right one:

What are your goals for the money?

Its not unusual for investors to use brokerage accounts to bolster retirement savings in 401ks or IRAs, meaning the brokerage account is being used for long-term financial goals, such as retirement. In other cases, brokerage accounts are established to help fund short-term or medium-term financial needs, such as paying college tuition for children or to cover the costs of a wedding.

Which account type to choose will depend on your situation and what you are investing for. Talking to a financial planner, or tax advisor can be helpful if you have no clue how to decide, says Corbin Blackwell Donahue, a senior financial planner at Betterment, a financial advisory company providing digital investment and cash management services.

Investment accounts are also used simply to grow money by those who are willing to take on some risk in order to achieve more aggressive financial gains.

Unlike savings or checking accounts which are your everyday bank accounts that pay a steady but small amount of interest, investment accounts can help you generate significant wealth over time if you invest in a prudent manner, says Blackwell Donahue. 

What type of investor do you want to be? Hands on or hands off?

For some investors, theres nothing more satisfying than monitoring investments closely and being engaged in the day-to-day decision-making of buying and selling. While for others, that type of approach is simply not practical or appealing. Deciding which category you fall into is another important consideration.

If you intend to be more hands-on, then a robo-advisor platform, which allows for largely managing investments yourself with some minimal guidance, may be more suitable. These types of services often provide suggested investment portfolios based on your general preferences and input. Some of the well-known platforms in this space include SoFi Automated Investing, Betterment, and Vanguard Digital Advisor, to name a few.

If however, you prefer to have the heavy lifting handled by investing professionals, then a full-service brokerage firm may be a better choice. Firms such as Edward Jones, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, Vanguard and more offer full-service accounts. When opening an account with a full-service firm, you will typically have an advisor who actively manages your investments, including all trades, and provides individualized guidance and advice.

Investors have a lot of options these daysthey can use a financial advisor or robo advisor, they can open a brokerage account and invest on their own, or they can create a hybrid approach, says Jon Klaff, general manager at Magnifi, a digital investing platform. You can be hands on or hands off with any of these approachesI think the question is really about how you want to spend your time and your money.

A financial advisor might charge you 1% of your portfolio,  but if the peace of mind and time savings is worth it to you, then that is a good investment, adds Klaff. If you have the interest and confidence to invest on your own, then that 1% is better spent in the market.

2. Compare fees, pricing schedules, and minimum balance requirements

No matter which type of account youre considering, there may be minimum balance requirements, fees, and other pricing schedules to be aware of as you decide how to proceed.

No minimum balances
Some brokerage accounts have no minimum balance requirements to get started, which can be a benefit if you want to start conservatively. 

Most of the larger custodians do not require a minimum investment to open an account, says Tom Koleski, certified financial planner, AIF, and head of financial planning at Cedar Capital, an investment management and income planning advisory firm. 

Still others may require thousands of dollars in order to work with a particular advisor or firm or to access a specific type of brokerage account.  

Commission-free trading

Commissions are fees charged by a brokerage each time a stock or other investment is bought or sold. Theyre essentially the cost you are paying for a service. Some brokerages charge a flat fee for such services, while others charge a percentage of the transaction, such as 1%. 

Commission-free trading, on the other hand, you will not be charged a fee for buying or selling stocks or other types of investment. Fees can quickly add up, especially if you plan to be an active trader, so be sure to read the fine print and consider them carefully as you decide on an account.

Additional fees

Theres often many other types of fees associated with brokerage or investment accounts, so its important to read the fine print. Some of the fees you might be charged include annual maintenance fees, monthly maintenance fees, inactivity fees, transfer fees, and research fees.

Some accounts are known for being less fee intensive, which makes shopping around an important part of the process, as these fees can begin to cut into the money you are earning by investing.

Fractional investing options

Fractional investing involves buying a portion of a whole share. For example, if one share of a particular company is worth $1,000 per share, you can buy half of a share for $500. Buying fractional shares  allows investors who have smaller amounts of money available to buy less than one whole share of a stock or security. This type of investing can also be a good way to get started if youre new to investing.

Many brokers and robo platforms allow for fractional investing, but not all of them. Its a good idea to ask about or look for this option as youre considering where to open a brokerage account.

3. Review account services offered

The services offered in association with your investment account are another important factor. Accounts that include such features as investment research or easily accessible mobile trading features, can make your investment experience more successful and convenient.

Investment research and stock ratings

Many platforms these days offer a full online library of educational investment articles and regularly updated information about market trends and developments. Often this information is free if you open an account with a particular platform or brokerage. If youre new to investing or simply like to stay on top of the market movements, this can be an invaluable benefit. 

Foreign trading options

If you plan to invest in global stocks or mutual funds, its important to find out whether the brokerage account youre considering provides access to this type of buying and trading. Not all do. Some may offer more limited options in terms of the foreign stocks or investments youre able to access or in some cases you may be required to go through an international broker.

Mobile trading

Most companies these days have a mobile app from which you can monitor your account and investments, make trades and more. If this is important to you, be sure to find out whether the platform youre considering offers this feature.

4. Complete application

Once youve decided on the brokerage company or platform that best suits your financial goals and needs, its time to complete an application to open the account. While this step is typically quick and easy, you will be required to provide a variety of personal information and documentation.

This often includes:

• Your name
• Social Security number
• Address and telephone number
• Email address
• Date of birth
• Drivers license, passport or some other official, government identification
• Employment status and occupation 

In some cases you may also be required to provide such information as your net worth, annual income, and details about your investment goals and risk tolerance.

5. Deposit funds into the account

There are typically many different options for providing initial funding for your brokerage account. This usually includes wire transfers, or an electronic transfer from another linked bank account. You may also be able to simply mail a check to the brokerage firm.

Once the funds have arrived in the account you can begin buying stocks and other assets and making trades either on your own or through your advisor.

Other ways to invest 

While brokerage accounts can be a great way to invest freely and build wealth, theyre not the only option. There are many other types of investment accounts designed for specific needs and phases of life.

Retirement accounts
Personal investment accounts tailored toward building a retirement nest egg are another important option. The most well-known of these are Individual Retirement Accounts(IRAs.) There are two primary types of IRAs: traditional and Roth. These accounts allow users to set aside money on their own in a tax advantaged way.

Unlike a traditional brokerage account, IRAs offer tax benefits that are hard to find elsewhere when it comes to retirement savings, says Koleski.

Using a traditional IRA, you can contribute money untaxed and wont pay taxes on any interest or gains earned in the account until you take the money out. In addition, when you contribute money to these accounts each year, you may earn a deduction on your annual income taxes. Youll be required to begin making withdrawals at age 72.

Using Roth IRAs, you contribute after-tax dollars, and as a result when you withdraw money from the account during retirement, there are no taxes to be paid. In addition, the earnings in a Roth account are not taxed.

The important point to understand about these accounts however, is that the money is intended for your retirement years, rather than more short-term goals.

These are awesome vehicles for investing for retirement, but not as great if you are trying to put away money to buy a new car next year for example, says Blackwell Donahue. 

Education accounts 

With the skyrocketing cost of college in this country, preparing for college tuition costs is another important use for investment accounts. 529 accounts are specifically designed to help families with this goal. 

Account holders can make after-tax contributions to these accounts and invest the cash in mutual funds, ETFs or other similar types of investments. The concept behind the accounts is that money in a 529 plan grows as your child grows and can later be withdrawn to cover education-related costs. However, the money can only be used for qualified, education-related expenses such as tuition or books.

529 plans are state sponsored education accounts, says Blackwell Donahue. They are great if you know you want to save for your kids college education, but if you need the money to buy a house for example, I would avoid using a 529.

Investment accounts for kids

Investment accounts created to benefit your children are referred to as custodial brokerage accounts. Similar to traditional brokerage accounts, you can use this type of account to invest freely in a variety of options including stocks and bonds.

The main difference is that the account is set up in the minors name, with an adult administering setup and management of the account. If youre considering this type of account its important to know that the account is irrevocable, meaning it legally belongs to the child.

Custodial brokerage accounts are similar to traditional brokerage accounts in that they are easy to set up and provide investors with a variety of investment options, says Koleski. They typically offer more investment options and greater flexibility when compared to 529 plans and can be a great way to save money for a minors future.