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US President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for re-election, nine days ahead of Israel's parliamentary elections. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump announced his “Complete and Total Endorsement” of Netanyahu in the upcoming vote. Describing Netanyahu as a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and a key US partner in confronting Iran, Trump said Washington might have to handle the task itself if the Israeli leader failed to win re-election. “If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so,” Trump wrote. Netanyahu thanked Trump for his backing in a post on X. In a phone interview with US news outlet Axios on Sunday, Trump said he had started planning the endorsement earlier in the week. Asked whether he could work with another Israeli leader, Trump said, “Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Who wants to take the chance?” Israel is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on October 27, marking the country's first national vote since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. Trump's endorsement comes as Netanyahu faces a closely contested election, with most opinion polls indicating that his coalition is likely to fall short of the 61 seats required to form a government, according to Axios.

Kenya's Ebola cases increased to eight on Sunday after another person, identified as a contact of the first patient, tested positive while in quarantine. Health Ministry Director-General Dr Patrick Amoth said the latest case involved a 49-year-old patient attendant who had cared for the first Ebola patient. The initial patient died at Nairobi Hospital on October 5, two days after arriving in Kenya from Congo via Uganda. Amoth said people in quarantine were being tested after developing symptoms. He added that the other six patients were in stable condition after receiving supportive treatment. Authorities identified around 130 contacts, including health workers, following the death of the first patient on October 5. Of them, 128 remain in quarantine. Ebola is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, including blood and vomit, or through contaminated materials and surfaces such as bedding and clothing. Congo has been facing its deadliest outbreak, with at least 4,000 deaths since May. Kenya's first case involved a 40-year-old Kenyan man who travelled from Congo through Uganda and arrived in the country on October 3. A relative took him to hospital, where he died on October 5. Three of his close relatives have since tested positive for the virus. Three health workers have also contracted Ebola. Meanwhile, neighbouring Tanzania has tightened border screening measures and introduced mandatory health declarations and 21-day monitoring for travellers arriving from high-risk countries. Kenya's initial case exposed gaps in screening at border checkpoints. Authorities have since strengthened screening measures and established an emergency hotline for people who suspect they may have come into contact with an Ebola patient or develop symptoms. The country has also designated a gate at Nairobi's main airport for all flights arriving from 10 countries identified as being at the centre of the Ebola outbreak.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday vowed to hold accountable those involved in rioting and looting during nationwide protests over rising living costs and poor conditions in schools, as police arrested at least 1,800 people. “Those who looted will have to pay back for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable,” Macron said in a televised address to the nation, expressing public “anger” and “shame” over the violence. He blamed the unrest on “insurrectionist elements from radical far-left groups, joined by numerous criminals”. Macron had earlier held an emergency meeting with senior government officials following Saturday’s violence, when masked groups set fires and attacked public buildings, including city halls, in several cities. He said he had instructed prefects to work with mayors to protect public buildings and businesses in the coming weeks, including by banning demonstrations when necessary. In Limoges, a city in central France, fire engulfed the 19th-century City Hall, causing its roof to collapse and nearly destroying the building. Hundreds of protesters gathered again at Paris’ Place de la République on Sunday amid a heavy police presence. Officers used tear gas as tensions flared, with small groups attempting to set bicycles and rubbish bins on fire. “The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez wrote on X, referring to the looting of hundreds of businesses in cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux. Authorities estimated that around 550,000 people participated in demonstrations across France, while organisers put the figure at about 800,000. The protests followed calls from labour unions, student organisations and activists seeking to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 to protest social injustice. Large demonstrations in France are often marred by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, resulting in clashes with police. The number of arrests reported on Sunday approached the nearly 2,000 recorded nationwide during a single day of yellow vest protests in December 2018. One person died of a heart attack, Paris police said in a statement without providing further details. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it was investigating the death. Parisians shocked by destruction Dislodged cobblestones, shattered shopfronts and broken glass littered the area around Place de la République on Sunday. Looting and damage were also reported in other tourist and shopping districts. Paris police said 855 people had been arrested in the capital region, while the city’s prosecutor’s office reported that 557 remained in police custody. “I am actually stunned by the level of destruction and violence that was expressed,” said Marie Peyreigne, a 57-year-old government employee, questioning what had led to the chaos. Residents surveying the damage photographed the partially dismantled base of the square’s central monument, a statue of Marianne, a symbol of France. Jean Foissy, 74, said he had intended to join the protest but encountered “a wall of riot police and fires everywhere” and returned home. “I was very scared,” he said, adding that the destruction had left him deeply upset as a lifelong Parisian. Margaux Eude, 26, said she supported the protest movement but had not expected the situation to escalate so severely. “It’s the troublemakers who came, and it breaks my heart because it delegitimizes the movement,” she said. Political leaders trade accusations Political leaders across the political spectrum sought to use the fallout from Saturday’s riots to their advantage ahead of next spring’s presidential election. Far-right leader and presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen criticised Macron’s centrist government as “exhausted, disoriented and seemingly incapable of doing anything other than commenting on its own powerlessness”, in a video posted on social media on Sunday. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu of “playing with fire”, arguing that the government’s approach had united young people and labour unions. Mélenchon, who joined Saturday’s march in Paris, said those supporting the movement had no place in looting or destruction. US President Donald Trump also commented on the unrest, posting “France is burning!” on his Truth Social platform and linking the violence to immigration. “Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!” he wrote. French authorities and police have not linked immigrants to the rioting. They have instead attributed some of the violence to radical far-left groups and others who joined the protests to loot businesses.

Egypt’s top security body has agreed to provide support to Saudi Arabia to help it defend itself against escalating attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, marking another front in the ongoing Iran war. Saudi Arabia has been seeking military assistance from its allies as the Houthis continue to target airports and oil infrastructure across the kingdom with drones and missiles capable of changing direction mid-flight, making interception difficult. The attacks have killed at least 19 people, disrupted thousands of flights and shaken global markets. Also on Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister met with the president of the United Arab Emirates to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation, according to the UAE’s state news agency WAM. Relations between the two countries have been strained in recent years as they supported different factions within the Yemeni coalition fighting the Houthis. Egypt’s announcement came a month after a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The National Defence Council, chaired by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, decided to provide “all possible forms of support” to help Saudi Arabia defend its security, according to a presidential statement. The statement did not specify the nature of the assistance. On Saturday, el-Sissi called on parliament to authorise him to deploy troops and military equipment abroad. Civilians killed in Yemen and Saudi Arabia The escalation has threatened civilians in both countries, while Yemen has seen a return to civil war. Aden, the interim capital of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, has come under attack in recent days, with its airport and a government-used palace targeted. On Sunday, an airstrike killed at least nine people, including five children and two women, in the Houthi-controlled northern province of Saada, according to the rebels’ Health Ministry. Ministry spokesperson Anees al-Asbahi said the strike hit a house in Sahar district, wounding 19 others, including 11 children. Some of the injured were in critical condition. Al-Asbahi blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack, but there was no immediate comment from the kingdom. Houthi-run Al-Masirah television broadcast footage showing people clearing debris by hand and pulling two young people from the rubble. The Houthis said Saudi-led attacks had killed or wounded more than 30 people over the past 24 hours. Their military spokesperson, Brig Gen Yahya Saree, claimed that 110 missiles or airstrikes had targeted civilian sites in Sanaa and other cities. The Associated Press could not independently verify the claim. Meanwhile, a Saudi helicopter gunship crashed near the southwestern city of Najran, killing its two crew members, a Saudi military spokesperson said, attributing the incident to a technical malfunction. The Houthis had earlier claimed responsibility for shooting it down. Saudi Civil Defence authorities later said a projectile fired by the Houthis landed in a residential area of Najran province, injuring six people. Both sides trade accusations as mediation efforts emerge The Houthis have resumed attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks over the kingdom’s support for Yemen’s internationally recognised government in the civil war. The rebels have also recently seized more territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz. Houthi chief negotiator Mohamed Abdulsalam on Sunday blamed Saudi Arabia for the escalation, saying the rebels had warned the kingdom against attacking Sanaa airport in mid-July. The strike prevented an Iranian aircraft carrying a Houthi delegation from landing after the group returned from the funeral of Iran’s supreme leader, who was killed in the opening strikes of the war in February. Angered by Saudi Arabia’s longstanding blockade, the Houthis subsequently announced their own blockade against the kingdom. Abdulsalam said Oman had proposed a five-day truce during which the two sides would meet to resolve their differences. He said the Houthis had agreed to halt attacks if Saudi Arabia met their “humanitarian demands”, without elaborating. He accused Riyadh of showing no “indication that it is ready to deal positively” with the demands, adding that the rebels launched their offensive along the Red Sea coast shortly afterwards. A Saudi diplomat said last week that the kingdom had invited the Houthis to a meeting in Oman in July “to resolve outstanding differences and bring an end to this escalation”, but the rebels declined to participate. On Sunday, Al-Azhar, Egypt’s leading Sunni Muslim religious institution, called for the formation of an “urgent mediation committee” to help end conflicts across the Arab region.

Four service members were killed and dozens of others seriously injured in a fire at a military base in Canada's Alberta province, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday, describing the incident as one of the country's worst peacetime military tragedies on home soil. Firefighters rushed to the scene late Saturday as strong winds drove flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright into nearby rural areas. The Canadian military said there was no indication that the fire was linked to terrorism, though its cause remained under investigation. In a televised address, Carney said the families of the four deceased service members had been notified and the situation was still developing. The personnel were taking part in military training when the fire broke out on Saturday. Carney said flags on federal buildings across the country would be flown at half-mast in honour of those affected. The casualties included reservists and soldiers from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, one of Canada's most renowned military regiments. They had travelled from bases across the country to participate in training at Wainwright. The exact number of injured personnel was not immediately known. Carney said the wounded were receiving treatment in Wainwright, Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary. Cathy Keane, a mayoral candidate in Ontario, said her eldest son was among those critically injured and that she was travelling to Alberta to be with him and her family. Dr Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News that hospitals around the base had been overwhelmed by the number of patients requiring treatment. Acute Care Alberta said several hospitals across the province had activated a “Code Orange”, an emergency designation for incidents involving multiple seriously injured patients requiring coordinated care. Emergency medical resources were stretched so thin that very few ambulances remained available in the Edmonton area. The agency urged people to avoid the University of Alberta Hospital emergency department if possible. Wainwright Mayor Bruce Pugh said the town's small hospital was not equipped to handle a mass-casualty incident but praised local medical workers for their response. Helicopters and aircraft were transporting patients to other facilities for treatment. Defence Minister David McGuinty said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were involved in the investigation and described the situation as “very, very active and delicate”. He was travelling to Edmonton on Sunday to receive a briefing on the latest developments. The RCMP said officers were called shortly after 4pm on Saturday following reports of a fire in a training area at the base. Firefighters faced challenging conditions as a windstorm battered large parts of Alberta, with gusts reaching 100 kilometres per hour. The strong winds toppled trees, sent signs flying and pushed rubbish bins along streets. By 11pm, the Municipal District of Wainwright said the fire was being contained and that property and critical infrastructure were protected. No evacuation order had been issued for local residents. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith described the fire as “significant and tragic”, while Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said his province was sending assistance to Alberta. Carney praised emergency crews who battled the blaze overnight, adding that STARS air ambulance helicopters had flown in from Edmonton and Saskatoon. Canadian Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre said he had spoken with Carney and the defence minister to offer support to those affected. He also urged residents to follow emergency instructions and keep roads clear for first responders. The fire also disrupted advance voting ahead of Monday's referendum on whether Alberta should begin a process that could eventually lead to independence from Canada. Elections Alberta said the advance polling station at Wainwright Communiplex closed early on Saturday, with ballots and election materials transported securely. Polling stations in Lloydminster and Vermilion were identified as alternatives. CFB Wainwright is one of Canada's busiest military training facilities, hosting realistic battlefield exercises and training programmes for soldiers preparing for combat operations.

Two people were killed after a light, single-engine aircraft crashed into a dry riverbed in the Pieria region of northern Greece on Sunday, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported. The two occupants, aged 55 and 60, were found unconscious outside the aircraft by firefighters and were later pronounced dead at a hospital in Katerini, according to ERT. The aircraft crashed near the airstrip of the Pieria Aeroclub in the community of Kontariotissa, the fire brigade said. Eight firefighters with four vehicles were dispatched to the scene after the fire brigade was alerted at around 1:50 p.m. (1050 GMT). The firefighters moved the two people to safety before they were transported by ambulances to the hospital. The identities of the two victims and the cause of the crash remain unclear.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to an eighth province in the country’s north, authorities said on Sunday. The Health Ministry has recorded two cases, including one death, in Nord-Ubangi province, which borders the Central African Republic. Both patients are men in their 20s living in the Wapinda health zone, which borders Bas-Uele province, where Ebola cases have previously been reported, the ministry said. Authorities have recorded at least 9,400 cases, including more than 4,500 deaths, since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, making it the deadliest in Congo’s history. The virus has spread to other countries, including neighbouring Uganda, which has since declared itself free of the disease, and Kenya, which recorded its seventh case on Saturday. The Central African Republic has not reported any confirmed cases. Ituri province in eastern Congo remains the epicentre of the outbreak, accounting for nearly three-quarters of confirmed cases, according to the government’s latest data. The outbreak has affected 66 health zones since it began. “We see pockets of Ebola generally going down, but unfortunately geographically it’s spreading out,” World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi told The Associated Press in an interview in Beni, eastern Congo, on Friday. Janabi said one of the biggest challenges has been persuading infected people to seek medical care, adding that some deaths occur in communities outside health facilities. Nord-Ubangi lies between Sud-Ubangi and Bas-Uele, the two provinces the disease had most recently reached along the border with the Central African Republic. Recurring armed violence in the area has forced thousands of people to flee and seek refuge in Congolese border communities. Access to the region is difficult due to poor roads and limited communication networks. The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which no approved vaccine or treatment is available. Its spread has been driven by large population movements, rebel violence, mistrust and poor working conditions for frontline workers.

French police arrested at least 1,800 people across the country after violent groups clashed with officers and looted shops during nationwide demonstrations that drew hundreds of thousands of people protesting rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. Authorities said masked groups set fires and attacked public buildings, including city halls, in several cities on Saturday. In Limoges, a city in central France, flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall, causing its roof to collapse. Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate told LCI television that the fire was deliberately set and nearly destroyed the building. The fire was brought under control on Sunday. French President Emmanuel Macron will hold an emergency meeting with senior government officials on Sunday afternoon before addressing the nation at 8pm, his office said. “The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez wrote on X, referring to the looting of hundreds of businesses in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Nice, Limoges and other cities. Nuñez and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu blamed some of the violence on “radical far-left groups,” saying others later joined in to loot businesses. Paris police said on Sunday that 855 people had been arrested in the French capital region alone. Authorities estimated that around 550,000 people took part in protests across France, while organisers put the figure at about 800,000. More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured, Nuñez said. One person died of a heart attack, Paris police said in a statement, without providing further details. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it was investigating the death. Around Place de la République in Paris, dislodged cobblestones, shattered shopfronts and broken glass were visible on Sunday morning, reflecting the scale of the previous day's unrest. Looting and damage were reported around the square and in other tourist and shopping areas in the city centre. Police said groups ranging from several hundred to more than 1,000 people staged unauthorised marches across central Paris on Saturday. “By late afternoon, a new phase began with the arrival of large numbers of people whose sole aim was to steal and loot, taking advantage of the unrest,” police said. The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon, the country's three largest cities, requested a meeting with the prime minister in the coming days, citing “the extent of the damage and the seriousness of the situation.” In the southern port city of Marseille, some protesters briefly forced their way into the City Hall lobby, while a group of hooded and masked people damaged a police station. In Lyon, a fire broke out inside a tourist office.

Ukrainian drone attacks sparked fires at oil facilities in St Petersburg on Sunday, as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones across Russia in one of its largest aerial offensives of the war. The strikes came amid growing tensions between Ukraine and Washington, with US President Donald Trump criticizing Kyiv for targeting Russian oil infrastructure. One person was killed and five others injured in the attacks, which caused fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchi oil depot, according to local Governor Alexander Beglov. Russian retailer Ozon said its logistics centre was also targeted, while technology company VK confirmed an attack on its data centre. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had intercepted or destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency TASS that Ukraine was resisting Moscow’s invasion but could not alter the current course of events. Meanwhile, Russian attacks on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed a woman and injured at least two others, including a six-year-old girl, local officials said. The strikes damaged two apartment buildings, 18 cars and an educational institution, according to Mykhailo Semikin, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration. Ukraine Accuses Russia of Continuing Energy StrikesOn October 11, US President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” in the war, which has continued for more than four years. However, he provided few details about the arrangement, and Kyiv reported further Russian attacks on energy facilities after the announcement. Ukraine confirmed on Thursday that it had resumed strikes on Russian oil infrastructure following a three-day pause. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised Russia for continuing to target his country's energy infrastructure, apparently disregarding Trump's call for both sides to halt such attacks. Kyiv had initially said it was observing the proposed ceasefire. In a post on X on Sunday, Zelenskyy said Russia had carried out 76 attacks on Ukraine's energy, oil and gas sectors in the week since Trump's announcement. He added that energy facilities in four Ukrainian regions had been attacked overnight, leaving tens of thousands of families without electricity. He accused Moscow of deliberately attempting to cause widespread power outages. “America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements,” Zelenskyy wrote, arguing that Moscow viewed opportunities to earn money as evidence that continuing the war was worthwhile. He also stressed that the conflict was continuing because of Russia's invasion, not Ukraine's efforts to defend itself. “It is Russia that must face pressure for peace to have a chance,” he said, thanking those supporting efforts to achieve peace. Trump Yet to Decide on Further SanctionsTrump said on Saturday that he had not yet decided whether to impose further sanctions on Russia, despite signing an executive order on Friday night waiving planned restrictions on national-interest grounds. “We’ll figure it out, and you’ll figure it out,” Trump told reporters at a fundraising dinner at his Florida estate. He described the decision as beneficial for the United States and potentially for the wider world, without providing further details.

Global efforts to halt biodiversity loss face a common test: whether conservation commitments can withstand the pressures of poverty, conflict and competing economic priorities. At Friday's Leaders' Summit on Biodiversity in Yerevan, those pressures brought the challenge of implementation into focus ahead of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), scheduled to begin Monday in the Armenian capital. The discussions underscored how closely biodiversity protection is tied to security and development, how much shared ecosystems depend on cross-border cooperation, and how implementation hinges on accessible finance and broad participation. NATURE AS A SECURITY CONCERN Speakers at the summit underscored how environmental pressures can compound security risks. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that pollution spreads beyond national borders, while Lebanese Environment Minister Tamara El-Zein cited World Bank estimates putting environmental damage from the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in 2023-2024 at more than 500 million U.S. dollars. The security argument also extended to economic resilience. Britain's representative described nature as critical infrastructure supporting prosperity, security and resilience. European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera said 55 percent of global GDP was highly dependent on nature. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres linked biodiversity loss to conflict, climate disruption, food insecurity and disease, arguing that these crises could not be addressed separately. With nature protection increasingly seen as essential to peace and security, Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu called for win-win cooperation and multi-stakeholder governance to strengthen biodiversity conservation and resilience for sustainable development. GLOBAL GOALS, REGIONAL REALITIES The summit's regional examples exposed another challenge: ecosystems cross borders, while policies and funding are largely organized nationally. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the Caspian seal population had fallen from 1 million to 270,000 over the past century, invoking the ecological disaster of the Aral Sea and urging action to prevent a similar fate for the Caspian. He reiterated Kazakhstan's proposal to establish an international water organization within the UN system, suggesting it could become a joint Central Asian initiative open to other countries. The pressures extend beyond the Caspian. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said his country had lost more than 1,300 glaciers in recent decades. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said only around 30 of the 101 rivers that historically flowed into Lake Issyk-Kul now flowed year-round. Such changes threaten water supplies, ecosystems and livelihoods simultaneously, underscoring the need for cooperation on shared waters and habitats. Proposals included a regional center to combat desertification in Central Asia and an Armenian initiative for a Yerevan platform on biodiversity, mountain and freshwater ecosystems. Yet regional cooperation must also deliver effective protection on the ground. International Union for Conservation of Nature President Razan Al Mubarak cautioned that simply meeting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's target of conserving at least 30 percent of terrestrial and inland water areas, and marine and coastal areas by 2030 would not guarantee lasting conservation outcomes. Protected areas also need effective management, equitable governance, ecological representation and connectivity. Huang, the Chinese environment minister, called for advancing national biodiversity strategies and action plans and translating global targets into national policies and practical measures. FINANCING DELIVERY Even well-designed plans face a financial obstacle: money continues to flow overwhelmingly toward activities that damage nature. Guterres said that for every dollar invested in protecting nature, 30 dollars were spent destroying it, with nature-negative financial flows reaching 7.3 trillion dollars in 2023. The challenge is therefore both to increase conservation funding and redirect investment and incentives that undermine it. Speakers outlined several funding commitments. Ribera, of the European Commission, said the European Union was on track to double its international biodiversity finance to 7 billion euros (7.86 billion dollars) over 2021-2027. Britain said it would allocate around 6 billion pounds (7.98 billion dollars) in international climate finance over the next three financial years, with roughly a quarter expected to support nature. For developing countries, however, the test is whether such commitments translate into predictable and accessible support. Indonesian Environment Minister Mohd Jumhur Hidayat stressed that other funding sources should complement, rather than replace, international public finance. Zimbabwean Environment Minister Evelyn Ndlovu highlighted the priority of delivering at least 30 billion dollars annually in international biodiversity finance by 2030. Beyond funding, Huang said, technological and capacity-building support was also needed, pointing to China's contribution of 1.5 billion yuan (about 224 million dollars) to establish the Kunming Biodiversity Fund. The summit's closing Yerevan Declaration called for political commitments to translate into measurable action and lasting results. As COP17 opens on Oct. 19, the challenge will be to turn that resolve into decisions that give countries the resources and support to deliver on their biodiversity promises.