20/10/2026

TUESDAY | OCT 20, 2026

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Biodiversity summit opens o ‘Paris agreement’ nature goals off track lives are being upended by the impacts of biodiversity loss depend on progress being made here in the next two weeks.” of the pact, such as cutting subsidies for fossil fuels and other powerful industries, have made little progress.

12 die in Aegean sea crossings ATHENS: Twelve migrants died yesterday attempting to cross the Aegean Sea, including six people on a boat which collided with a police vessel, authorities said. A baby and four women were among six people who died off the island of Lesbos following the collision, said a coast guard official. The other six dead – five men and a woman – were on a small boat that capsized off the island of Samos, the coast guard said. Fourteen people on the boat, one of them a presumed organiser, were rescued. The coast guard official said that in the incident off Lesbos, “a speed boat carrying migrants collided with the port side of a police patrol vessel”. The official said eight people were rescued. There was no indication of the nationalities of either the victims or people rescued. The Aegean is a much-used route for migrants setting out from Turkiye hoping to reach Europe. There have been many deaths. At least 15 migrants died in February off the island of Chios when their boat collided with a coastguard patrol vessel. One person died and 25 remain missing after a boat filled with migrants sank off the island of Gavdos, near Crete in September. “Smugglers are putting migrants in grave danger,” Migration Minister Thanos Plevris, who backs a very strict migration policy, told Ertnews public broadcaster, praising the coast guard. “They are doing everything they can to save lives whilst at the same time protecting our borders,” he said. – AFP GAZA: The UN World Food Programme has said funding shortages are forcing major cuts to its aid programme in Gaza, leaving about 500,000 people without monthly food support. The WFP said it was reducing the number of recipients of its monthly assistance to 1.1 million people from 1.6 million. In addition, food rations have been halved, cash assistance has been cut for 75,000 families, and the number of daily hot meals for those unable to cook has fallen to 150,000 from 250,000, with some families in hard-to-reach areas now receiving a hot meal only every other day. The WFP said about 1.4 million people, or two-thirds of Gaza’s population, face crisis levels of food insecurity or worse, including roughly 200,000 people in emergency conditions. Last year’s US-brokered Gaza ceasefire calls for the eventual reconstruction of the territory. But little progress has been made towards implementing a deal to end the conflict that includes terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops. “It’s a year into the agreement of this ceasefire. Lfe is still brutal here. There is no proper shelter ... no basic services. There is no safety, no security,” said acting Executive Director of the WFP Carl Skau. “These cuts are happening just as we are facing the fourth winter.” The WFP said it urgently needs US$450 million (RM1.8 billion) over the next six months to maintain critical operations in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “Now is not the time to look away. This is the time to step up to sustain support, to protect the progress that has been made to push for early recovery.”– Reuters WFP cuts Gaza food aid

Matevosyan told AFP on Friday that success at COP17 “will not be measured simply by the number of participants, high-level statements or decisions adopted” but whether nations turn pledges into action. A major tension at the summit will be money, with the report finding that the effort to close a yawning gap in necessary finance “falls far short” of what is needed. European and other wealthy nations obligated to provide biodiversity finance have been pushing for large emerging economies to contribute also. But attention is likely to focus more on how private capital might help plug the shortfall. A key priority will be encouraging corporations to donate a share of profits to a near-empty UN fund to support conservation in developing countries. – AFP

The summit is one the largest international events ever hosted in Armenia, a mountainous country in the Caucasus region. The hosts expect up to 15,000 attendees at different events during the biodiversity summit, which ends on Oct 30. The summit comes at a difficult time, with public finances under strain and political attention fixed on conflicts, geopolitical tensions and a global energy crisis. Only a handful of world leaders, including UN chief Antonio Guterres but mostly heads of state from nearby Central Asian nations, turned up for a high-level session on Friday ahead of the formal negotiations.

Armenia Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan, who is presiding over the political negotiations known as COP17, said nations had “a unique chance to correct the course” in Yerevan. “Over the next two weeks our task will be to bridge the differences, build consensus and ensure that COP17 ... deliver results commensurate with the urgency of the challenges before us,” he said at the summit’s opening session. UN biodiversity chief Astrid Schomaker said that progress toward the 2030 nature goals “is not yet occurring at the pace and scale needed” and a reset was needed. “What happens here in Yerevan matters. Billions of people whose

YEREVAN: Nearly 200 nations kicked off crucial UN biodiversity talks in Armenia yesterday as governments face pressure to salvage a landmark nature pact whose goals are slipping out of reach. Most countries joined a historic call four years ago to halt and reverse the destruction of nature by 2030 but governments have been slow to act on these pledges. Many goals of the “Paris Agreement for Nature” are falling behind, including a centrepiece commitment to protect 30% of Earth’s land and oceans. Some of the toughest objectives

A Palestinian speaks with Israeli forces as they detain another Palestinian during the olive harvest at Palestinian-owned olive groves in Deir Abu Mashal, near Ramallah yesterday. – REUTERSPIC West Bank settlers arrested over attacks

TEL AVIV: Israeli police said yesterday they had arrested 10 suspects as part of an investigation into violent incidents in the occupied-West Bank over the weekend, including separate attacks on a Washington Post photojournalist and European diplomats. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, had urged a crackdown on settler violence and the arrest of the perpetrators of the attack on the Washington Post photojournalist. France, Belgium and Poland, whose diplomats were attacked, also called on Israel to take action. Police said the suspects were arrested in a pre-dawn operation on suspicion of involvement in acts of

“The Israel police is committed to professional, equal, and impartial law enforcement, based on evidence and in accordance with the law,” he said in a statement. Masked Israeli settlers were filmed on Friday assaulting Levine, a US citizen, who was covering a Palestinian olive harvest in the West Bank. Levine was taken to hospital and underwent surgery on a finger. On Saturday, French, Belgian and Polish diplomats as well as a French mayor were attacked by masked settlers in another part of the West Bank. A Belgian diplomatic vehicle was also damaged. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the military have blamed “Israeli rioters” for the attack. – Reuters

wearing ritual tassels known as tzitzit, which are often worn by observant Jewish men. The video also appeared to show two slingshots, which can be used to hurl stones, being found at one property. On Friday, when the Washington Post journalist was attacked, dozens of masked settlers, some armed, descended on a Palestinian olive harvest, with some settlers hurling stones with slingshots. Police, military forces and the Shin Bet domestic security service took part in the operation. Israeli police commissioner Daniel Levy said the law applied to everyone, “regardless of identity or affiliation”.

violence, violating a closed military zone order and illegal construction. The suspects, whom police did not identify, were taken into custody for questioning. Israel’s Army Radio reported that they were Israeli citizens. Prosecutions of Israeli settlers are rare. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on X that the arrests were “a very positive development in finding and punishing those who severely attacked and beat” Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine. A video released by the police of the pre-dawn operation appeared to show at least one arrested suspect, whose face is not seen,