This week, the Seychelles' delegation at the 16th Conference of Parties under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) in Cali, Colombia, will mainly examine the commitments made at the previous COP, when the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) was signed. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Flavien Joubert, Seychelles' Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, said, «Unfortunately, we were unable to submit our commitments and targets and review NBSAP (National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan) in time, but we are doing our utmost to have it ready by at least the end of the year. During COP16, we intend on facilitating even more engagements for Seychelles, especially regarding finance.» The second week of the Conference is the high-level segment, which includes heads of state and ministers. Joubert arrived at the conference during the weekend and will now participate in the high-level discussions and decide whether to sign off on the document at the end of the proceedings. Apart from the main plenary and working groups, the minister also attended side events, the most recent one about forging coral reef resilience in which he explained the importance of Seychelles building more connections for collaboration. «We will continue to look for partners willing to work with us on different subjects. Here we are working with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), and there are also other stakeholders present. We need to explore new opportunities, to ensure progress for the country. Today, everything is more complex. We will first focus on aspects which have more economic importance for Seychelles,» he said. Joubert further shared his expectations for the second week of COP16 and his thoughts about what needs to be done. «For this week, I think it is important that we establish how countries who have not submitted their targets will do so. Many countries still have not done this and we think that a good baseline is important. We also need a better definition regarding the financial resources that will accompany the targets and where they will come from. Are the commitments from other countries sufficient?» he asked. Joubert also had more bilateral meetings and said, «There are several key partners that we are targeting; these are key actors that we know have the capabilities to help us with our projects, therefore we must build upon the relationship we have with them.» Joubert said that finance was a key component of Seychelles' position and it also included local Seychellois actors who noted certain concerns to him. «There are quite a few concerns from local organisations, namely NGOs who conduct different kinds of research. This is mainly linked with access to financial resources. So, this is another point that I will be inquiring about here at the COP to clarify the situation with these organisations from Seychelles. They've said that they've been told that there is a lot of resources available, however, they feel that it is complicated to access such funding,» he shared. At the moment, Seychelles is being represented by 13 people at the COP16, a group comprising of government representatives and several non-governmental organisations (NGOs). «We have quite an interesting delegation here in Colombia, there is quite a number of Seychellois representatives here. I am interested in seeing how each person will do their part as they each have a component they are following. We do not want to just attend a conference. We also want to go back to Seychelles with concrete solutions and outcomes for the challenges we are facing. This is important for me,» he said.    This story was produced as part of the 2024 CBD COP16 Fellowship organised by the Internews' Earth Journalism Network. 

The Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority's (SPGA) operation centre will be functional next week and will serve as an information base for the conservation work of protected areas. The announcement was made by the chief executive of the SPGA, Allen Cedras, after a training session for its staff to use EarthRanger software. This is a real-time software solution from the Allen Institute in the United States, which helps protected area managers, ecologists, and wildlife biologists make more informed operational decisions for wildlife conservation. It collects, integrates, and displays all historical and real-time data from a protected area - including wildlife, ranger patrols, spatial data, and observed threats. A group of SPGA personnel attended the training held by 51 Degrees' representative, Neil Davidson, the EarthRanger's partner in Nairobi, Kenya, supporting them with this project. So far, 25 SPGA personnel have been trained to use EarthRanger. Cedras told the press that SPGA has been working on the project for the last two years, with the training session being the final touches to have the system up and running. The SPGA has already started to set up some components that will link up with the EarthRanger system at the newly renovated Anse Major trail. There is a camera at the entrance of the trail, which will provide information on persons going in and exiting the trail. The Authority is responsible for managing the marine and terrestrial national parks with associated trails and gardens in Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean. There are two types of sensors being used - one to detect fires and another to detect people visiting different sites. Meanwhile, Cedras said that once the operations centre is up and running at the man-made Perseverance Island adjacent to the main island of Mahe, the Authority will be working with other authorities such as the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency (SFRSA) and the police to share information. «With the information we will be collecting through the system, we will be able to tell where there are fires, and that will assist SFRSA in their duties as well,» he said. 

Nations could agree in December on a world-first treaty to reduce the amount of plastic leaking into the environment which, if nothing is done, is forecast to triple by 2060. How did we get here? And what are the impacts on the environment and the climate? - Plastic boom - Global production of synthetic polymers -- which form the building blocks of plastic -- has increased 230-fold since the 1950s, says the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Total production doubled between 2000 and 2019 to 460 million tons, faster than commodities like steel, aluminium or cement. By 2060, if left unchecked, that figure will have almost tripled to 1.2 billion tons, according to the OECD. The growth in plastic production has mainly occurred in the United States, the Middle East and China. - Demand - The Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crises that followed have had two notable -- and opposing -- impacts on plastic consumption. The first is a surge in consumption of single-use plastics in healthcare, food retail and e-commerce. The second is a decline in sectors affected by inflation and the global economic downturn such as the automotive and construction industries. - Trash problem - The sheer volume of plastic garbage produced around the globe has more than doubled in 20 years, from 156 million tonnes in 2000 to 353 million tonnes in 2019. It is expected to almost triple to just over one billion tonnes by 2060. More than two-thirds of this trash is made up of objects with a lifespan of less than five years like plastic packaging, consumer products and textiles. In 2019, 22 million tonnes of plastic found its way into the environment, including six million tonnes in rivers, lakes and oceans, according to the OECD. Plastics account for «at least 85 percent of total marine litter», according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The majority of the world's plastic trash is caused by poor waste management, with other lesser sources including littering, the abrasion of car tyres, and microplastics. By 2060, the OECD predicts the volume of waste in the environment will double to 44 million tonnes, mostly larger plastics but also tiny particles that have been detected in blood and breast milk. Just nine percent of the world's plastic waste is recycled; 19 percent is burned; and nearly 50 percent ends up in controlled landfills. The remaining 22 percent is abandoned in illegal dumps, burned in the open air or released into the environment, putting human health at great risk. - 'It's everywhere' - The impact on the environment, climate and human health is getting worse, the OECD says. The plastic that accumulates in the environment is non-biodegradable, takes hundreds of years to decompose and breaks down into tiny microscopic particles. They «asphyxiate marine species, have a negative impact on soils, poison groundwater», and can have serious repercussions on health, according to UNEP. «Plastic particles are everywhere, in tap water, in drinking water, in groundwater», adds Greenpeace. Plastics also bear a significant carbon footprint. In 2019, plastics generated 1.8 billion tonnes of planet-warming greenhouse gases, or 3.4 percent of the global total, said the OECD and UNEP. Around 90 percent of these emissions came from the production and processing of plastics, which are derived from crude oil and natural gas, according to the OECD and UNEP. © Agence France-Presse

Southern Africa's diamond-rich nation of Botswana votes in general elections Wednesday, with the ruling party seeking to extend its nearly six-decade rule and hand a second term to President Mokgweetsi Masisi. More than a million people are registered to vote after polls open at 6:30 am (0430 GMT), with four presidential candidates in the race to head the region's oldest democracy, installed on independence from Britain in 1966 when the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) took office. Voters in the arid and sparsely populated country have voiced concerns about an economic slowdown and unemployment that has reached 27 percent, amid claims of government corruption and mismanagement. But the ruling party has batted away the criticism and points to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, with weakened demand for diamonds also chipping away at revenues. «In 2019, we had a clean sweep of Gaborone,» Masisi, 63, told around 400 cheering supporters at a final late-night rally in the capital late Tuesday. «This year, I want to polish,» the eloquent US-educated former school teacher said. Dressed entirely in the red colours of the BDP, Queen Mosiane, 34, said she was loyal to the party because its government had supported her when she became an orphan, including with education and healthcare that is covered by the state. «We live peacefully in this country because of BDP,» she said. «It's not time to change because we don't know what are we inviting.» «The opportunities that we find, and our kids are going to find in the future, are because of the BDP,» said civil servant Refile Kutlwano, 34, at the same rally. «The opposition is not ready to rule.» Masisi was elected in 2019 with around 52 percent of the vote. While the party is not expected to fare much better this time, the opposition is divided. - Divided opposition - The main opposition alliance is the left-leaning Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), led by human rights lawyer, Duma Boko, 54. It lost two key members in the run-up to voting day with the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP) quitting and each fielding their own presidential candidates. It was a blow to voters like Ookeditse Letshwenyo, 23, who saw the UDC offering opportunities to young people struggling to find jobs that pay beyond the minimum wage of around 1,500 pula ($110 dollars) a month. «Since our independence we've been ruled by the same people, with the same mindset, with the same goals,» said Letshwenyo, who has launched an IT start-up. «You can't win against the BDP while you are divided,» he said. While the surprise return six weeks ago from three years of self-exile of the previous president Ian Khama to campaign against Masisi added some energy to the opposition, analysts said his influence was limited to a few districts. In the lead-up to voting day, opposition groups made various claims of irregularities by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), including failing to share a digital version of the voters roll and a shortage of ballot papers in early voting for security personnel. Despite some disillusionment around the ruling party, with its «historical momentum and the limping opposition, the BDP’s path to victory appears not only likely but increasingly evident,» the independent Mmegi newspaper said. With 61 seats up for grabs in parliament, Botswana's first-past-the-post system means that the first party to take 31 seats will be declared the winner and install its candidate as president. Counting will start in the hours after polling stations close at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) Wednesday with results due late Thursday, IEC spokesperson Osupile Marob said. © Agence France-Presse

The Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) on Tuesday officially inaugurated a new tugboat that was added to its operations in mid-October, increasing its fleet to four. The new tugboat, which cost SCR86 million ($6.3 million), is a modern, state-of-the-art vessel, equipped with an Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) system. It has an overall length of 21.02m, a draft of 4.5m, and a beam of 10.81m. Additionally, it has a bollard pull of 50 tonnes and can reach a maximum speed of 12 knots. The cutting-edge technology and remarkable capability will help Seychelles enhance its port operations and ensure maritime safety, according to the SPA. «This vessel is equipped with the latest technology and designed to navigate our waters safely, helping us respond to emergencies, assist larger vessels, and maintain the vitality of our shipping routes,» said the chief executive of the SPA, Sonny Payet. He added that the tugboat's «presence will undoubtedly strengthen our maritime operations, support our local economy, and bolster our community's connection to the sea.» It has been named «Silwet» (the Creole spelling of the word silhouette, which is also the name of an island in Seychelles), a name chosen among 96 submissions from a school competition launched to name the vessel. The winning entry was from nine-year-old Ila David from Takamaka School. The Minister for Transport, Antony Derjacques, and the chairman of the SPA Board, Brian Loveday, unveiled the name of the boat. David and the First Lady, Linda Ramkalawan, inaugurated the tugboat, in a ceremonial smashing of a champagne bottle on the hull of the vessel. Derjacques said the vessel's 50-tonne bollard pull and a top speed of 12 knots «will greatly enhance our port's capabilities to manage a variety of vessels—regardless of size and complexity – to cater for the larger vessels expected to call in Port Victoria after the completion of the ambitious Port Victoria Rehabilitation & Extension Project.» . During the event, SPA took the opportunity to reward its staff members who were recently part of two operations. One was a fire at the man-made Ile Du Port and the other was the removal of a cargo vessel that was grounded near Ste Anne Island. The new tugboat was part of the removal operation of the cargo vessel. «On behalf of the government, I extend sincere gratitude to all SPA personnel who showed exceptional courage and professionalism during the recent incidents on 18 and 19 October,» said Derjacques. He added: «Whether it was managing the fire outbreak at Zone 14 or responding to the grounding of a container vessel near Ste. Anne Island, these events tested our readiness and resilience.» Additionally in the ceremony, the chairman of the SPA's Board handed over several artefacts to the secretary general of the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts, David Andre. These are expected to be added to the Marine Museum, which will be constructed in the near future. «These artefacts tell the stories of our rich maritime heritage, showcasing the skills and artistry of those who came before us. By preserving and celebrating these pieces of history, we are not only honouring our past but also inspiring future generations to appreciate and understand the importance of our cultural identity,» said Payet. These artefacts included the remains of one of SPA's former pilot launches, Riga, which served over 45 years in its fleet before being decommissioned. The other artefacts are from old lighthouses and some were salvaged from the sea during operations.  

Global business leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a glitzy investor forum as conflict shakes the region and scepticism mounts over the Gulf kingdom's most ambitious development projects. The Future Investment Initiative (FII) debuted in 2017 as a showcase for de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's dream of diversifying the economy of the world's largest crude exporter away from oil. This year's three-day event is expected to draw more than 7,000 delegates including TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and the chief executives of Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. It kicked off with a performance by South African opera singers and remarks from Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, about the kingdom's attempts to be a leader in artificial intelligence and the energy transition. But for the second year in a row, conflict in the Middle East was sure to shape panel discussions and side meetings. Last year's FII took place just weeks after Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, with high-level speakers warning about economic turmoil should the fighting draw in other countries. A year later those fears have been realised, as Israel presses operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon and carries out tit-for-tat strikes with Iran. Muhammad al-Jasser, chairman of the Islamic Development Bank, told a panel on Tuesday that the Gulf region was «a bright spot in the region» but that the ongoing wars have been a drag on growth. «The potential that was sitting there waiting to be cultivated is evaporating with all these conflicts and this level of uncertainty,» he said. - 'Show must go on' - While most speakers refrained from overtly political messages, American economist Jeffrey Sachs used his speaking slot to issue a full-throated call for the establishment of a Palestinian state. «Why is there war in Gaza and in Lebanon and possibly spreading to Iran and further in this region? Because there's no state of Palestine, obviously,» he said. «Because Israel blocks it, the United States blocks it, and until there is, there's going to be no peace in the region.» FII Institute CEO Richard Attias told a press conference in Riyadh this month that the gathering is not meant to focus on «politics» and should instead tackle big-picture investments «to build a better world». «We are an independent platform and we don't want to be, forgive me for the word, polluted by any political events,» said Attias, former producer of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. «I am curating events for 35 years now, and I learnt one thing: The show must go on.» On Tuesday Attias announced that this year's FII would be his last as CEO of the institute. - 'Doubters beware' - This year's FII, sometimes referred to as «Davos in the Desert», also comes as Saudi officials try to demonstrate progress on signature elements of Prince Mohammed's Vision 2030 reform agenda. Authorities have reportedly scaled back 2030 size and population targets for NEOM, a planned futuristic megacity in northwest Saudi Arabia meant to feature a ski resort and twin skyscrapers 170 kilometres (105 miles) long. On Sunday, NEOM announced the opening of its «first physical showcase», a luxury Red Sea island known as Sindalah featuring restaurants, hotels and yachting berths. «There was so much scepticism over NEOM in the Western media that the Saudis had to do something to demonstrate their commitment,» said Jim Krane of Rice University's Baker Institute. «The early opening at NEOM is probably designed to embarrass the naysayers by telling the world that Saudi Arabia is moving ahead. It's a 'doubters beware' message.» Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said in May that «shocks» including the war in Gaza were prompting officials to «reprioritise» some aspects of Vision 2030. At a briefing with journalists in December last year, Jadaan said officials had decided to push the timeframe for some major projects past 2030, though he did not provide details and also noted that others would be accelerated. Saudi Arabia has enacted a series of oil cuts since 2022 in a bid to hike prices and is currently producing around nine million barrels per day, well below its declared capacity of 12 million bpd. Last month, the finance ministry said it anticipated a budget deficit of 2.3 percent of GDP in 2025, citing increased government spending and lower oil revenues. Additional spending commitments meanwhile continue to pile up for events such as Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup, for which Saudi Arabia is the sole bidder. © Agence France-Presse

North Korea has sent 10,000 troops to train in Russia and likely fight Ukraine in weeks, Washington said, as Seoul warned Tuesday that the accelerating deployment posed a «significant security threat.» Seoul has long accused the nuclear-armed North of sending weapons to help Moscow fight Kyiv, and after Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defence deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, Pyongyang is alleged to have moved to deploy soldiers en masse. North Korea has denied sending troops, but in the first comment in state media last week, its vice foreign minister said that were such a deployment to happen, it would be in line with international law. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned North Korea could «soon» have as many as 12,000 soldiers on Russian soil, while US President Joe Biden slammed the deployment as «very dangerous.» North Korea «has sent around 10,000 soldiers in total to train in eastern Russia that will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the next several weeks,» Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists. The deployment is «a dangerous expansion of Russia's war», NATO chief Mark Rutte said, adding it was «a sign of Putin's growing desperation.» Rutte said more than 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the conflict started in 2022, adding the Kremlin was unable to sustain the invasion without foreign support. Speaking in Brussels after a briefing with South Korean intelligence officials, Rutte said he could confirm that North Korean military units had been deployed in the field in Russia's western Kursk region. - Satellite launch? - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that growing military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang was «a significant security threat to the international community,» and warned Seoul was considering «countermeasures.» Seoul's spy agency told lawmakers that even high-ranking North Korean generals «could move to frontline areas», as it flagged acclerating military cooperation between the two countries. It also warned that the North was preparing for another satellite launch after a failed bid in May, «using advanced components and Russian technological assistance,» lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said after an NIS briefing, according to a transcript obtained by AFP. Experts have said that in return for the troops, North Korea is likely aiming to acquire military technology, ranging from surveillance satellites to submarines, plus possible security guarantees from Moscow. The North is also clamping down domestically on the spread of information about the Russia deployment, Lee said citing the spy agency, with «families of deployed soldiers being falsely informed that they are in training.» North Korea's foreign minister travelled to Moscow this week, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday, without giving details. - Growing threats - South Korea, a major arms exporter, has previously said it would reconsider whether to supply weapons directly to Ukraine, something its Western allies have long called for. Seoul has so far resisted the move due to longstanding domestic policy. Seoul has already sold billions of dollars of tanks, howitzers, attack aircraft and rocket launchers to Poland, a key ally of Kyiv. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen also warned that North Korea sending troops for the first time represented «a significant escalation of the war against Ukraine and threatens global peace.» She made the comments after a phone call with Yoon, during which she assured the leader that «the EU's response to this development will center on cooperation with the Republic of Korea and other like-minded partners.» The United States likewise told China -- an ally of both Moscow and Pyongyang -- it should be «concerned about this destabilizing action by two of its neighbors, Russia and North Korea,» State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. © Agence France-Presse

Tinned tuna in many European countries is contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury, according to two environment pressure groups who called on retail stores and governments to take «urgent» measures. The Foodwatch and Bloom groups said that authorities had to cut the permitted levels of the heavy metal. Bloom said all of the 148 tins of tuna randomly selected in Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Spain it tested at an independent laboratory «were contaminated with mercury». The group, which campaigns for protection of the oceans, said that in more than half of the tins, the mercury level was higher than the 0.3 milligrams per kilogramme maximum limit for mercury in other fish. Bloom said that current accepted mercury levels of 1 milligram per kilo had been set to make sure that «95 percent» of tuna caught is sold. «That is the reason why tuna, among the most contaminated species, is given maximum tolerance in mercury three times higher than less contaminated species,» it said. Bloom and Foodwatch, a consumer rights group, said there was no «health reason» to justify the difference in levels between tuna and other fish. «Mercury is not less toxic if it's ingested through tuna, only the concentration of mercury counts,» they said. Mercury is often spread by atmospheric deposits from coal power stations. The World Health Organisation considers it one of the 10 most worrying substances for public health. In the ocean it mixes with bacteria to become methylmercury which is even more toxic and considered a threat to the nervous system and a cause of neurological troubles, according to the WHO. The groups said the European Commission must toughen permitted mercury levels in tuna to make it in line with other fish at 0.3 milligrams per kilo. «We demand that the public authorities strengthen regulation and, without delay, that distributors do not sell products over the most protective level,» said Foodwatch campaign director Camille Dorioz. © Agence France-Presse

Seychelles aims to achieve its target of net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050, a target set under the Paris Agreement, with the development of its «Long Term Vision towards Net Zero.» To tackle climate change and its negative impacts, world leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris reached a breakthrough on December 12, 2015, namely the historic Paris Agreement. As per the Agreement to keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C, emissions need to be reduced by 45 percent by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. The term net zero is important because, for carbon dioxide (CO2) at least, this is the state at which global warming stops. Seychelles' first step to developing this vision took place in a workshop held on Monday at the Savoy Resort, Beau Vallon, where all relevant agencies and departments met to discuss the short, medium and long-term targets towards achieving it. The workshop is being led by two consultants from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dr. Laurent Sam and Rishi Basak. «The workshop today has brought together various parties, including the private sector, government, NGO's and other agencies, and this is important because everyone has a part to play in this work,» said Sam, explaining that all sectors must work together, as whatever one does, will have an impact on another. He added that the workshop will also bring everyone on the same page and if this happens, he believes that Seychelles will in fact reach that target, despite the difficulties that are present. These include finance and the technologies required to implement the changes needed. «The aim of the workshop will see us set targets for each relevant sector and after that, we will use all these targets to set the long-term vision, which will be implemented, so that Seychelles reaches its goal by 2050,» he added. Achieving net zero requires a two-part approach, with the first being the reduction of human-caused emissions - such as those from fossil-fueled vehicles and factories - to as close to zero as possible. Any remaining emissions should then be balanced with an equivalent amount of carbon removal, which can happen through natural approaches like restoring forests or through technologies like direct air capture and storage (DACS), which scrubs carbon directly from the atmosphere. Speaking to the media, the programme and operations specialist at UNDP Seychelles, Sujitha Sekharan, shared that is part of UNDP's Climate Promise programme, which covers about 140 countries, where they support climate change goals. «We know that Seychelles is aiming to have net-zero emissions by 2050 and so climate promise is helping through technical expertise, and also funding programmes to help Seychelles reach that goal,» said Sekharan.  

Seychelles has been ranked among the countries with the highest levels of information and communication technology (ICT) development in Africa, according to a report published at the end of June by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Seychelles retains its ranking as the third in Africa in the 2024 report, while the island nation sits 78th in the world. The country has gained 3.8 more points compared to last year, moving from 80.9 points in 2023, to 84.7 points in 2024. Libya steps up to top place in the African continent with a score of 88.1 points, with Morocco occupies the second step of the podium with a score of 86.8 points, ahead of Seychelles (84.7 points), Mauritius (84.2), which lost its first place, South Africa (83.6), Algeria (80.9), Botswana (78.7), Tunisia (77.2) and Egypt (76.8), while Gabon closes the African Top 10 with a score of 74.7 points. The report, titled «Measuring digital development – ICT Development Index 2024,» evaluates the state of ICT development in 170 nations and territories worldwide using ten indicators. These indicators include the percentage of people who use the Internet, mobile broadband penetration, the volume of traffic on mobile broadband, the cost of mobile data and voice services, and the rate of ownership of mobile phones. Each indicator is assigned a score between 0 and 100 points, depending on the countries and territories under investigation. An overall score, also ranging from 0 (complete lack of connectivity) to 100 points (excellent connectivity), was then generated for each country by adding the scores of the various indicators with the same importance. In Seychelles, since June 2020 to date, internet traffic data has increased by 254 percent, to its current value of 17,644,347GB, from only 4,989,210 GB, while the amount of international internet bandwidth purchased by service providers, has increase from 17.870 megabytes per second (Mbps), in 2020 to 221,774 Mbps, in June 2024. The increase in data consumption is on par with the amount of internet subscriptions in the country, which has also increased significantly over the last five years, rising from 112,334 in 2020, to 139,850 in June 2024, which includes personal and business subscriptions in the country of a population approximately 120,500. Meanwhile, globally, Kuwait leads the ranking with 100 points, followed by Finland with 98.1, while the rest of the top ten is made up of Estonia (97.9), Qatar (97.8), Singapore (97.8), UAE (97.5), Bahrain (97.5), Hong Kong (97.4), Denmark (97.1) and the U.S. (96.7).

The iconic Victoria clock-tower in the Seychelles' capital of of the same name was lit in pink on Friday highlighting the end of a month-long cancer awareness activities organised by the Soroptimist International Club of Victoria.   Members of the club's Seychelles chapter linked hands around the clock tower in a symbol of solidarity, unity and unwavering support for those battling cancer. The Pink Link event highlighted the importance of raising awareness of cancer diseases, which according to the Annual Health Sector Performance Report for 2022, were the second leading cause of death in 2022. Cancer diseases were attributed to 159 deaths in Seychelles, which is 17 percent of total deaths in the island nation. The president of the Soroptimist Club of Seychelles, Janick Durup-Bibi, said the non-governmental organisation was very pleased with the turnout throughout the months. The event highlighted the importance of raising awareness of cancer diseases. (Seychelles Nation)  Photo License: CC-BY  She explained that «cancer concerns all of us. It impacts us all as we are a very small community and we all know someone who has cancer. It might be a family member, a friend, or a colleague, so we are all coming together to show support for those who are living with cancer, to spare a moment of reflection for those who have left us because of the illness.» Rosabelle Mederick, who has just joined the club, said that the month of activities has not only been «fruitful as she is giving back to the community, but also a learning curve.» While a previous president of the club, Euricka Naidoo, told the press in an interview, that «the efforts the club has put into educating the public about the disease are evident, as when we talk to people about it, we see that they are more aware». Among other popular activities held during the months was a march along Beau Vallon beach and selling pink ribbons in town. Durup-Bibi explained that the funds raised during their events would go towards cancer, which will include helping people suffering from the illness.  

The experts' assessment is clear: humans are the major threat to Earth's land, seas and all the living things they shelter, including ourselves. The COP16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, enters its second week Monday to assess, and ramp up, progress towards achieving 23 targets agreed in Canada two years ago to halt and reverse nature destruction by 2030. The science in numbers: - 2/3 of oceans degraded - Three-quarters of Earth's surface has already been significantly altered and two-thirds of oceans degraded by humankind's rapacious consumption, according to the IPBES intergovernmental science and policy body on biodiversity. Globally, over a third of inland wetlands declined from 1970 to 2015 -- a rate three times that of forest loss. «Land degradation through human activities is undermining the well-being of at least 3.2 billion people,» according to the IPBES's latest report. But it highlights that not all is lost, and the benefits of restoration would be 10 times higher than the costs. One of the 23 targets of the so-called Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is for 30 percent of degraded land, inland water, marine and coastal ecosystems to be under «effective restoration» by 2030. - A million species threatened - Over a quarter of plants and animals assessed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species risk extinction. According to the IPBES, about a million species are at risk. Pollinators, essential to the reproduction of plants and three-quarters of crops that feed humanity, are at the forefront, dying off fast. Corals -- on which the food and labor of some 850 million people depend -- are another striking example. These animals, whose reefs provide feeding and spawning grounds for a multitude of creatures, could all but disappear in a world 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial levels. This is the upper limit of average planet warming the world is seeking not to exceed under the 2015 Paris Agreement on curbing Earth-warming greenhouse gases. - Five horsemen of the apocalypse - For the UN, the biodiversity crisis has five causes, all human-induced and nicknamed the «Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse.» They are habitat destruction (for agriculture or human infrastructure), over-exploitation of resources such as water, climate change, pollution and the spread of invasive species. Climate change is likely to become the main driver of biodiversity destruction by 2050, experts say. - Half of GDP - More than half (55%) of the world’s gross domestic product, some $58 trillion, depends «heavily or moderately» on nature and its services, according to auditing giant PwC. Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, the food and beverage industry and construction are the sectors most exposed to nature loss. Pollination services, safe water, and disease control are other, nigh-incalculable, benefits derived from nature. Indian economist Pavan Sukhdev, who led a research project entitled The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) had estimated that biodiversity loss comes at a cost of between 1.35 trillion and 3.1 trillion euros ($1.75 trillion and $4 trillion) per year. - $2.6 billion in subsidies - A report in September by the Earth Track monitor said environmentally harmful subsidies to industries were worth at least $2.6 trillion, equivalent to 2.5 percent of global GDP. This dwarfs the Kunming-Montreal framework's target of mobilizing $200 billion per year by 2030 for nature protection. Harmful industries that benefit from subsidies include fisheries, agriculture and fossil fuel producers. Another target of the biodiversity framework is to reduce harmful subsidies and tax benefits by «at least $500 billion per year» by 2030. © Agence France-Presse

Every rainy season for the past 12 years, floods have swept through 67-year-old Idris Egbunu's house in central Nigeria. It is always the same story -- the Niger River bursts its banks and the waters claim his home for weeks on end, until he can return and take stock of the damage. The house then needs cleaning, repairs, fumigation and repainting, until the next rainy season. Flooding is almost inevitable around Lokoja in Nigeria's Kogi state, where Africa's third-longest river meets its main tributary, the Benue. But across vast areas of Africa, climate change has thrown weather patterns into disarray and made flooding much more severe, especially this year. Devastating inundations are threatening the survival of millions of residents on the continent. Homes have been wrecked and crops ruined, jeopardising regional food security. Torrential rains and severe flooding have affected around 6.9 million people in West and Central Africa so far in 2024, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). - 'Very, very bad' - Residents and officials around Lokoja said floods first became more severe in Kogi state in 2012 and have battered the area each year since. In 2022, Nigeria's worst floods in a decade killed more than 500 people and displaced 1.4 million. Sandra Musa, an emergency agency adviser to the Kogi state governor, believes this year's flooding has not yet reached the level seen in 2022, but warned it was «very, very bad». «Usually at this time of year the water level drops, but here it's rising again,» she told AFP, estimating that the floods have affected around two million people in the state. Fatima Bilyaminu, a 31-year-old mother and shopkeeper, can only get to her house in the Adankolo district of Lokoja by boat as a result of the waters. The swollen river rises almost to the windows, while water hyacinths float past the crumbling building. «I lost everything. My bed, my cushioned chair, my wardrobe, my kitchen equipment,» she told AFP. With no money to rent a house elsewhere, she has little choice but to keep living in the small concrete building and repair it, flood after flood. - Damage and displacement - Africa is bearing the brunt of climate change, even though it only contributes around four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent report by the World Meteorological Organisation. This year is set to overtake 2023 as the world's hottest on record. «This year has been unusual in terms of the amount of rainfall, with many extreme events, which is one of the signs of climate change,» said Aida Diongue-Niang from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In the Sahel region bordering the Sahara desert, the volume, intensity and duration of rainfall was «unprecedented,» according to Amadou Diakite from the Mali Meteo weather service. In Niger, some regions recorded up to 200 percent more rain than in previous years, the national meteorological service said. The waters put at risk the historic city centre of Agadez, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the desert north. Over the border in Chad, torrential rains since July have killed at least 576 people and affected 1.9 million, more than 10 percent of the population, according to a report published by the OCHA. In neighbouring Cameroon, the UN body said torrential rains had destroyed more than 56,000 homes and flooded tens of thousands of hectares of crops. Floodwaters swept through the capital Conakry in Guinea, while floods in Monrovia reignited debates over building another city to serve as Libera's capital. Entire districts of Mali's capital Bamako were submerged, leaving waste and liquid from septic tanks seeping across the streets. In August, downpours caused the roof of the centuries-old Tomb of Askia in the Malian city of Gao to collapse. Several countries have postponed the start of the school year as a result of the floods. - 'Keep getting worse' - «It used to be a decadal cycle of flooding, and we're now into a yearly cycle,» said Clair Barnes, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London. «This is only going to keep getting worse if we keep burning fossil fuels,» she said. As global temperatures rise, extreme weather events will increase in frequency and intensity, scientists warn. Experts estimate that by 2030, up to 118 million Africans already living in poverty will be exposed to drought, floods and intense heat. Building along riverbanks also poses a risk, Youssouf Sane of Senegal's meteorology agency said, urging governments to think about the relationship between climate change and urbanisation. But the IPCC's Diongue-Niang said the only way to tackle extreme weather was to limit greenhouse gas emissions. «That doesn't fall to the region -- it falls to the whole of humanity,» she said. © Agence France-Presse

Seychelles is celebrating the 39th edition of the Creole Festival, an event that President Wavel Ramkalawan has said brings the Seychellois nation great pride to see the progress and achievements made in this field. Ramkalawan made the statement in his message on the occasion of International Creole Day, which is celebrated every year on October 28. The International Creole Day, proclaimed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), is celebrated on October 28. Since 1983, the day has been an opportunity to celebrate the Creole language and culture across countries and communities sharing Creole, with more than 10 million people around the world. «As we celebrate International Creole Day, commemorated by various activities, this is also a time for us to reflect on what this means for each of us and how we continue to preserve the Creole culture and heritage of our ancestors,» he said. Ramkalawan said that it is essential that at all times «we continue to remain proud of our Creole heritage. Seychelles has become the Creole-speaking capital of the world and the Creole Festival has become an event that has helped us to appreciate more our culture and share its richness with the rest of the world.» The President congratulated the Seychellois nation for preserving and promoting its Creole culture. «Our Creole language that cradles us since our childhood, it forms a large part of the Creole heritage. Today we have several linguistic tools that help us develop our ability to write Seychellois Creole. I also thank all those who have worked with conviction to safeguard, develop, and promote our Creole culture. Let us as a people value our Creole identity which makes us unique in the world. Happy Creole Celebration Day!» he concluded. David Andre, the secretary general of the Seychelles National Institute of Culture, Heritage and the Arts, also sent a message for the occasion. «This festive moment is also an opportunity for us to salute and honour all individuals or groups who are or have continuously fought with conviction and determination to safeguard, develop and promote the Seychellois Creole language, our cultural identity, and our heritage,» said Andre.   In Seychelles, the Creole Festival is celebrated in October, an event that Andre said, «The Seychellois community together with other Creole communities in the world, take the opportunity to enhance and share knowledge and transmission of knowledge and skills.  Every year a series of intellectual, cultural and artistic events are organised to reach all groups and ages.» The secretary general said that there are various reasons why such a day and celebration of this day.   First, to value Creole nations and peoples, their cultural and linguistic identity of each individual that is often illustrated through their cultural practices. Secondly, to commemorate the memories and achievements that have been made. Thirdly, to recognise and respect the laws that govern each individual, such as the right to use and learn his or her mother tongue, which in the context of the majority of Seychellois is Seychellois Creole, access to information and information content written in Creole.   «I take this opportunity to thank the staff of the Seychellois Creole Academy with the support of the Creole Language Committee who make it their duty to develop linguistic and scientific tools for the teaching and learning of the Creole language,» said Andre. The leader of United Seychelles, the main opposition party, Dr. Patrick Herminie, said, «This day has historical and cultural importance for us because the roots of the Creole language started when masters and slaves began to find ways to communicate with each other. So the Seychellois people in all their diversity and spread all over the world are united with other Creole peoples through the Creole language.» Herminie said the Creole language is also one of the pillars of the Seychellois  culture as it «reflects our cultural diversity because we not only speak Creole but we live Creoleness through our way of doing things, cuisine and art, among others.» He added that is why «the United Seychelles Party places great importance on the preservation and development of the Creole language so that future generations will continue to enjoy their cultural identity as a Seychellois.» Herminie said, «Our Party will encourage the development and use of digital technology to develop and promote the Creole language through academic research, teaching and the arts. Singers and musicians are already using digital platforms such as Spotify and YouTube to promote their Creole songs to an international audience. We will continue to create favourable conditions and environment for Seychellois artists to continue to flourish on the international platform.» He concluded by saying, «On behalf of the United Seychelles Party, I would like to wish all Creoles and all those who support and promote Creole culture a happy International Creole Day. Remember that it is our Creoleness that unites us as a people.»

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that Israel's «precise and powerful» strikes on Iran had been a success, as his country's forces pounded targets in Gaza and Lebanon. The previous day's strikes by Israeli planes on military targets in Iran had fed fears that the Middle East was spiralling towards an even wider conflict and triggered global calls for restraint. But Iranian leaders played down their importance, saying the strikes had caused only limited damage and killed four soldiers, while Netanyahu stressed that the raids had served their purpose of avenging an earlier Iranian missile barrage against Israel. «The attack in Iran was precise and powerful, achieving all of its objectives,» Netanyahu said, in a speech marking the official Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year. Israel's strikes were in retaliation for an October 1 attack by Iran, which fired about 200 missiles at Israel, though most were intercepted by the country's air defences. Netanyahu said: «We kept our promise. The air force attacked Iran and hit Iran's defence capabilities and missile production.» His speech was interrupted by shouting from relatives of victims of the Hamas attack in the crowd. Netanyahu stood silently for more than a minute during the ceremony, which was broadcast live. There has been public and diplomatic pressure on the Israeli premier’s administration to do more to strike a deal to secure the release of the remaining captives held in Gaza. - 'Painful concessions' - Israeli spy chief David Barnea is scheduled to head to Qatar on Sunday for talks aimed at restarting negotiations towards a hostage deal. Families of the hostages have called on the Israeli government to broker an agreement in the wake of the killing of Hamas' leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this month. Israeli and US officials as well as some analysts said Sinwar had been a key obstacle to a deal allowing for the freeing of up to 97 hostages still held by militants in Gaza. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said «painful concessions» would be needed to secure their release and that military action alone would not achieve the country's war aims. Despite talk of negotiations, Israel continued to fight in Gaza and Lebanon. Dense smoke hung over the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sunday after a night of bombardment in the southern suburbs, while there were reports of strikes in and around the southern cities of Sidon, Tyre and Nabatiyeh. Lebanon's health ministry said at least eight people were killed and 25 others wounded near Sidon. The war has left at least 1,615 people dead in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally based on official figures, though the real number is likely to be higher due to gaps in the data. The Israeli military said early on Sunday it had killed 70 Hezbollah fighters and struck 120 targets in southern Lebanon, while losing four of its own soldiers in ground fighting. It warned residents that they must evacuate more villages said to be housing Hezbollah sites. «For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Awali River,» military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a social media post. The Awali is the northern border of Lebanon's southern governorate. - 'Gaza is unbearable' - Heavy bombing also continued in the densely populated Palestinian territory of Gaza. The Israeli military said it had killed another 40 militants in the territory, despite Gallant saying on Sunday that: «In the south (Gaza), Hamas has ceased to act as a military structure.» United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern for the fate of Gaza's civilians. «The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in north Gaza is unbearable,» Guterres's spokesman said. Israel several weeks ago began an ongoing major operation in the north of Gaza, in particular around Jabalia and its neighbouring refugee camp. «The Secretary-General is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving health care and families lacking food and shelter.» At the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, Jihad Muqat mourned the death of his wife and two baby daughters whose bodies were pulled from under the rubble in Jabalia camp. «My darling Lulu, she was three and a half years old and Sama was 12 days old,» he said, adding that he'd already had to bury his two-year-old Lara earlier in the war. Israel launched the offensive in Gaza a year ago after Hamas's October 7 attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. At least 42,924 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in the Israeli offensive on Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry, which the UN considers reliable. The war has since drawn in Iran-backed groups across the region, most notably Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also militias in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Iran's missile barrage and Israel's air strikes have raised concerns of a direct war but Tehran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to social media to say that the attack «should neither be exaggerated or minimised». Earlier, the Iranian armed forces general staff said that while it was «reserving its legal and legitimate right to respond at the appropriate moment, Iran is prioritising the establishment of a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon». © Agence France-Presse

A Seychellois fashion designer, Oushna John Labrosse, launched the inaugural edition of the Women Empowerment Fashion Week, focused on supporting women who have experienced domestic violence, on Thursday. The event, which was opened at The Boardwalk, Eden Island, is titled «Fashion With a Purpose,» and its overarching message is empowerment and awareness. Designers showcasing their work are from various countries, including Turtlehorn (Spain), Nyuzicad (Tanzania), and Minina (Germany). Local designers are also participating, such as textile designer Tony Souffre and craftsman Marco Germain. The grand fashion show will take place on Saturday, 26 October, free of change. It will commence with a fishing competition organised by the Seychelles Yacht Club, with the fashion show running concurrently as the fish are weighed. The goal is to attract as many attendees as possible to help spread the event's important message to the public. Another event will take place on La Digue at the Fish Trap restaurant on Saturday, October 26, at 2.30 p.m.  Designers showcasing their work are from various countries. (Juliette Dine) Photo License: CC-BY  The outfits featured in the show aim to raise awareness about domestic violence and child mortality, issues that Labrosse, the founder and chief executive of the Women Empowerment Fashion Week, has personally encountered. «I believe that many women are crying in silence, and we need to reach out to them. We are doing something about it,» she said. Labrosse has also included two male artists in the show, Tony and Marco, to highlight the role of men in supporting women's empowerment. They are portrayed as exemplary figures who stand in solidarity with women, contributing to Labrosse's cause. Unlike other fashion events, the Seychelles Women Empowerment Fashion Week has waived any registration fees. This is to make the international platform more accessible to designers who might not be able to afford high industry costs. Drawing from her own experience at New York Fashion Week, where she paid a registration fee of $6,000, Labrosse felt compelled to create a more inclusive opportunity for others. «I believe that there are women who want to make it to the international level but with the high cost set by fashion agencies, it makes it difficult for startups and women who are struggling to get their names out there,» she added. Oushna expressed her gratitude to all who supported this initiative, dedicating the event to her late friend June Barbe, who continuously encouraged her to make the project a reality. 

The European Union on Saturday called for all parties to exercise utmost restraint to avoid an «uncontrollable escalation» in the Middle East, after Israel carried out deadly air strikes in Iran. Earlier Israel said its warplanes carried out raids targeting Iranian military facilities in retaliation for a missile barrage -- further stoking fears of a full-scale regional war. «The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliations risks causing a further expansion of the regional conflict,» the EU said in a statement. «While acknowledging Israel's right to self-defence, the EU calls on all parties to exercise utmost restraint to avoid an uncontrollable escalation, which is in no one's interest.» Iran warned it would defend itself after the strikes, which the Israeli military said hit Iranian missile factories and military facilities in several regions, killed two soldiers. Israel in turn cautioned that Iran would «pay a heavy price» if it responded to the strikes, which it said came in retaliation for Iran's October 1 missile attack, which saw the country launch around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. The EU called for calm saying the strikes came amid «severe and growing regional tensions». «The EU remains fully committed to lowering tensions and contributing to de-escalation and, to this end, remains in close contact with all relevant actors,» the 27-nation bloc added. © Agence France-Presse

Visitors to Camion Hall in the Seychelles' capital of Victoria were treated to an array of locally made products  on Wednesday, which included Tanne's Delight's variety of jams. The fair was held by the Enterprise Seychelles Agency (ESA) and SNA spoke to Tanne's Delight's owner, Gaetanne Payet, from Baie Lazare, about her spin on well-known local sweets. Payet revealed that she started her business about a year ago when a friend ordered 15 jars of pawpaw jam, locally called 'Konfitir Papay Trounen'. The jam is made with coarsely grated semi-ripe papaya cooked in caramelised brown sugar and flavoured with nutmeg and vanilla. In the past, it was mainly served as a dessert at weddings. «My first client worked for a company and they approached me to fill an order of 15 jars of Konfitir Papay Trounen, and now they are taking over 100 jars from me,» she said. Tanne's Delight offers a variety of local products. (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY  Since her initial order, Payet said that the enterprise has since then expanded, and she is now making coconut jam and banana nougat - coconut candy made of freshly coarsely-grated coconut and ripe bananas with freshly flavoured vanilla and nutmeg. «Although we have a lot of demand for Konfitir Papay Trounen, it takes a lot of time to produce,» she explained to SNA. She said it would take a whole day to make a few jars of the product and in addition to the well-packaged and presented products, everything is made by hand, and «we take the time to prepare our ingredients in the traditional way.» The jams and assortments of other sweets are then put in containers that Payet said they buy brand new. «The preparation and production itself was not too difficult, we sometimes find it hard to find the containers we have begun using to put them in,» she explained. Tanne's Delight's products are packaged in a way to attracts not only local clients but also visitors who happen to see them on display. «When we do not get the containers, we are then forced to change the packaging,» she explained. Payet revealed that so far the 'Konfitir Papay Trounen' and the 'Nouga Banann' are her best-sellers.

Seychelles has officially become the first country to pilot UNESCO's IslandWatch programme, which aims to enhance ecosystem monitoring through a citizen science approach. The launching event took place at Coral Strand Hotel on Friday in a two-day workshop with the participation of various partners. Participants include representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, the Blue Economy Department, the Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT), among others. The IslandWatch programme will involve the use of digital technologies to gather and manage data, broadening its scope beyond coastal ecosystems to encompass biodiversity, freshwater management, and other environmental issues in line with national strategic priorities. In his address, the Minister for Education, Justin Valentin, said that the workshop and programme show Seychelles' intent to research and use data collected scientifically for evidence-based decision-making and policy development. «Far too much policy decision-making, in many instances, are driven by people or organisations with power, occasionally failing to consider real evidence. It is hoped that training people to engage with IslandWatch data, will alleviate that trend,» said Valentin. The IslandWatch programme is an extension of a previous one called Sandwatch, which was first launched by UNESCO in 2001, based on an environmental education experience in Saint Lucia, in 1998. It quickly expanded to more than 50 countries worldwide, including some small island developing states (SIDS). Sandwatch provided a framework for children, youth, and adults, with the help of teachers and local communities, to work together to scientifically monitor and critically evaluate risks and challenges for the thriving of the beach environment, and then design and implement activities to address them. The Sandwatch programme is now being relaunched as the IslandWatch programme with an initiative based on the lessons learnt, the acknowledgement of the need to better profit from contemporary digital and technological advances. It is also supporting countries in tackling challenges linked to new and arising vulnerabilities in SIDS. The overall purpose of IslandWatch is to contribute to the effective implementation of the Accelerators Programme planned within UNESCO's SIDS Operational Strategy, especially as regards to promoting and enhancing environmental education, ocean literacy, coastal resilience and climate change adaptation. «The Sandwatch programme has helped a lot of our students, where they were trained in data collection,» said Jeanette Larue, the focal person in Seychelles. She added that during the two-day workshop, participants will see presentations based on various areas of the programme, while on Friday, they will have practical sessions. «UNESCO has created an App, which will be used to enter the data collected, which will then allow all involved to have access to it and help in research,» added Larue. The main launching of IslandWatch was made in June in Antigua and with Seychelles being the first country to launch it officially, others will join in in the near future. Alongside Seychelles, the programme's pilot phase will also include Mauritius and Cabo Verde, with the first two building on a partnership with the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), which is currently implementing a large programme for coastal resilience. IOC's work on the ground will allow the test of activities linked with the renewal of the content and methodologies, the training of the new generation trainers as well as the mainstreaming of IslandWatch into the national curricula.

The vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) national committee and head of the China-Africa Friendship Group, Mu Hong, met with Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan on Friday. Ramkalawan extended a warm welcome to Mu and his delegation, underscoring that the visit would bolster the enduring friendship between Seychelles and China, according to a press release from State House. Mu is heading a 14 member-delegation to Seychelles from October 22 to 25. He conveyed greetings from President Xi Jinping, «noting that this visit represents the first high-level Chinese delegation to Africa following the recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in September 2024. The delegation’s aim is to advance the execution of agreements established between the two heads of state during their meeting at the summit in Beijing.» Discussions between highlighted «the exemplary cooperation between Seychelles and China, emphasizing both nations’ dedication to advancing their citizens' well-being. They also reviewed ongoing projects supported by China in Seychelles, recognizing the shared benefits of this partnership and reiterating their commitment to deepening these longstanding ties,» said State House. According to a press statement from the National Assembly, during the visit, on Wednesday, Mu met with the Speaker Roger Mancienne, who welcomed the delegation and noted that the Assembly has had the honour this year of hosting multiple delegations from China.  He said these forms of parliamentary cooperation serve to underscore the sustained relationship between Seychelles and China. «Mancienne added that in areas of mutual cooperation such as agriculture, fisheries, tourism, health, and maritime security, China has been a reliable and respected partner of the Seychelles,» said the National Assembly. On his side, Mu expressed his appreciation for the warm welcome to the Seychelles parliament, remarking that Seychelles is a pearl of the Indian Ocean offering not only exceptional beauty but bountiful opportunities. The strength of the bilateral relations between China and Seychelles was emphasised, with the recent meeting of President Xi Jinping and President Wavel Ramkalawan in China, illustrating the fruitful discussions for mutual growth. The plans for direct air travel between the two countries were also discussed, with the prospects of increased tourism and cultural exchanges, as well as capacity-building and training opportunities. The CPPCC is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China. Its members advise and put proposals for political and social issues to government bodies. The CPPCC holds a yearly meeting at the same time as the National People's Congress, known as the Two Sessions. 

The Mozambican capital Maputo awoke to wreckage on Friday as protests overnight turned violent following ruling party Frelimo's re-election after 49 years in power. Hundreds of opposition supporters demonstrated, rejecting what they called a ballot «stolen» by a «corrupt» electoral commission, which on Thursday announced candidate Daniel Chapo had won the October 9 election with 71 percent of the vote. As the election authority, widely accused of acting in favour of Frelimo, was announcing the results, crowds gathered in multiple cities. Protests escalated, with rioters setting fire to tyres to block avenues in Maputo and scaling Frelimo's election billboards and destroying them. Some also threw stones at anti-riot police, who fired tear gas to disperse them, an AFP reporter witnessed. Chapo, a 47-year-old former provincial governor with no experience in national government, was little known before his surprise nomination as candidate for the ruling Frelimo party. He will take over from President Filipe Nyusi in January. Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, has who declared himself the winner and claimed irregularities, officially won just over 20 percent. «We absolutely reject these results,» said Mondlane, who has urged demonstrations, during a Facebook live broadcast Thursday evening. «They do not reflect the will of the people,» he added, calling the political situation in the southern African country «rotten, doctored and fake». A European Union poll observer mission earlier this month noted «irregularities during counting» and «net favouritism» in favour of Frelimo. © Agence France-Presse

President Wavel Ramkalawan has expressed satisfaction that Seychelles has been ranked first in the continent on the Mo Ibrahim Index African Governance Report of 2024. «We received good news, with Seychelles being ranked first in Africa on the Index, which is very important as it is an authority about Africa,» said Ramkalwan in a press conference on Thursday. This year's report gathers data over 10 years from 2014 to 2023. This includes the years under the leadership of three presidents, namely former President James Michel, former President Danny Faure and the incumbent President Wavel Ramkalawan. The Index was released on Wednesday and Seychelles is ranked first in the Overall Governance category with a score of 75.3 out of a possible 100 points in the category ahead of Mauritius with 72.8 out of 100.  At the other end of the ranking, in second before last and last place, are Somalia and South Sudan. Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, also ranks among the top 10 most improved countries between 2014 and 2023, along with The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Angola, Mauritania and Djibouti. Ramkalawan explained that despite it being a great source of pride, there is also room for improvement. «We as an administration are telling the people that we must improve in the areas that we can do better in,» he stated. Among areas Seychelles has not scored highly are law enforcement with 36 points, sustainable use of land and forests with 54.7 points, ranking it 37th on the continent, and health quality with 45.3. The President noted that where law enforcement is concerned the country is ranked 26th despite a 9.6 increase in points. «This means all agencies concerned with law enforcement will have to work to rectify this and everyone must play their part,» he added. Ramkalawan said that the categories «we have been ranked lower than 10th are areas that we have to work harder to improve our scores. In the case of quality of health, the minister concerned has certain questions that need to be answered.» The Mo Ibrahim Foundation said on its website that the 2024 report «shows that Africa's overall governance progress came to a halt in 2022, following four years of almost complete stagnation, as substantial advances in both human and economic development are undermined by the ongoing deterioration of the security and democratic landscape.» It added that Africa's governance landscape should not be summarised under a single average. «Ours is a huge continent of 54 countries, with highly diverging trends, some with strikingly successful trajectories, others with concerning warning signs,» said the report. The Mo Ibrahim Index is the most comprehensive assessment of governance performance in 54 African countries, incorporating an expanded governance scope, including environment and equality; strengthened indicators, and a section fully dedicated to Africa's Citizens' Voices. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation was established in 2006 with a focus on the critical importance of political leadership and public governance in Africa. By providing tools to support progress in leadership and governance, the foundation aims to promote meaningful change on the continent.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday told leaders of BRICS emerging economies the world was facing «serious challenges» and urged the group to be a «stabilising force». Xi was speaking on the final day of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan, a forum Moscow hopes will help forge a united front of nations against the West. Addressing assembled leaders, Xi said the «common march of the global South towards modernity is a major event in world history». «We must be a stabilising force for peace, strengthen global security governance and explore solutions to hotspot issues that address both the symptoms and the root causes,» Xi said. «The world still faces serious challenges to its peaceful development,» he warned. He also called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the prevention of further conflict in Lebanon. «We need to continue to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, relaunch the two-state solution and stop the spread of war in Lebanon,» Xi said. «There should be no more suffering and destruction in Palestine and Lebanon,» he said. © Agence France-Presse

Seychelles and The Bahamas formalised diplomatic relations through the signing of a joint communiqué in Apia, Samoa, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday. The agreement was signed by Sylvestre Radegonde, Seychelles' Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, and Frederick A. Mitchell, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Both are in Samoa for meetings leading up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Seychelles and The Bahamas share several common priorities, particularly in addressing climate change, advocating for the unique challenges of small island developing states (SIDS), and strengthening their participation in international organisations such as the Commonwealth and the United Nations, according to the statement. «The establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries paves the way for increased bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including people-centered development, environmental protection, and sustainability,» said the Department of Foreign Affairs.  

Thousands of people living along India's eastern coast fled to inland storm shelters on Wednesday ahead of the expected arrival of a powerful cyclone later this week. Cyclone Dana is likely to hit the coasts of West Bengal and Odisha states -- together home to around 150 million people -- as a «severe cyclonic storm», India's weather bureau said. It is forecast to make landfall near Puri, a popular tourist destination, late on Thursday night. «Authorities have begun evacuating more than 100,000 people in coastal areas,» West Bengal state government minister Bankim Chandra Hazra told AFP. «Authorities have ordered the shutdown of all educational institutions» in nine districts of the state until Sunday, he added. The Indian Meteorological Department warned fishing crews to stay off the water, and authorities in Odisha state cancelled around 200 trains, according to local media reports. A senior official at the international airport in Kolkata, India's third-biggest city by population, said authorities there were weighing whether to stop all air traffic from Thursday. Tourists in coastal areas of both states were told to leave beach resorts and move to safe shelters. «There was a rush of tourists at the railway station in Puri to leave,» railway spokesman Kaushik Mitea told AFP. Cyclones -- the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific -- are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean. Powerful Cyclone Remal killed at least 48 people in India in May, according to government figures. While better forecasting and more effective evacuation plans have reduced death tolls, scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer with climate change. © Agence France-Presse

Seychelles is among the member states that are yet to officially submit their revised National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) that was given as a task at the  United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in December 2022. At the COP16 taking place in Cali, Colombia, a number of pertinent subjects are being discussed, including the submission of the member states' revised NBSAP. Only around 18 percent of the member states have officially submitted theirs. Speaking to SNA in Colombia, the CBD Focal point for Seychelles, Indira Gamatis, said one of the issues was a delay in receiving funding that was earmarked for the development of the country's action plan. «Seychelles is being supported under the GEF (Global Environment Fund) project to develop the national targets and the NBSAP. There were delays there,» she said. Gamatis stated that Seychelles had previously two other NBSAPs in place - the last one being from 2016 until 2020 and it was in line with the Aichi biodiversity targets which had been adopted in Japan in 2010. «Following a review during the last COP in 2022, it was recommended that we come up with another NBSAP. This NBSAP process itself involves a lot of stakeholder consultation with the whole society approach, including the government, private sector, individuals and communities to ensure that everyone is represented in this action plan,» she explained. Gamatis added that the NBSAP will not only focus on ecosystem and species conservation, it will also detail how to use resources in a more sustainable manner. It will also look at other factors that affect biodiversity as a whole, resource mobilisation and capacity building. «The NBSAP will have countries actually deliver on their commitments with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and support the implementation of the new global framework for biodiversity,» said Gamatis.  She confirmed that Seychelles' NBSAP will be ready by next year, and clarified that even though the action plan is not complete, that does not mean that nothing is being done for biodiversity conservation. «For example, Seychelles had already completed the 30 by 30 target by 2020. This is a worldwide initiative for governments to designate 30 percent of Earth's land and ocean area as protected areas by 2030. In fact, in our case, this number is around 32.6 percent of our ocean and around 48 percent of our land mass. There are also several other projects being done that already align with the global framework. Now we need to focus on implementation and ensuring that these protected areas are being effectively managed and protected.» «In addition, with the new NBSAP, we are supposed to conduct a comprehensive biodiversity assessment and in fact, this is being done currently. This is being done by a consultant, who is looking at the status of biodiversity in Seychelles, the gaps, issues as well as impacts on biodiversity,» she said. Gamatis said the next crucial step will be implementation and mentioned the Biodiversity Finance Plan being developed under the GOS-GEF-UNDP «Prioritising Biodiversity Conservation and Nature-based Solutions as Pillars of Seychelles' Blue Economy.» This Blue Economy project is administered by the United Nations Development Programme and the Seychelles' Ministry responsible for the environment is is implementing it. The project manager, Victoria Alis, said, «Under this project, there are funds allocated to support the Biodiversity Finance Unit, or BFU, to develop the biodiversity finance plan -BFP- as well as supporting the Ministry of Environment in implementing a biodiversity needs assessment. That is doing the costing of the NBSAP. Some funds have already been secured under this project to essentially support the NBSAP.» Alis is also in Colombia to learn more about the GBF and CBD reporting requirements and also innovative ways to report and monitor the BFP and NBSAP. This story was produced as part of the 2024 CBD COP16 Fellowship organised by Internews' Earth Journalism Network.

Seychellois Jade Micock and Wes Jean-Charles are participating in the International Boxing Association (IBA) Youth World Boxing Championships 2024 in Budva, Montenegro. The two young boxers are competing alongside some of the top young boxers in the world in the competition, which is taking place from October 22 to November 3. The boxers had intense preparation for the tournament and trained twice a day with breaks on Sundays only.   Micock, 17, has not lost in six bouts this season, and speaking to the media recently, he shared his desire to keep that streak going and look for a win in Montenegro.   He shared that in boxing, only winning matters, and that is what he will aim for. Meanwhile, Jean-Charles has fought three times this year and won only one. He shared that this will not be an easy competition, as boxers worldwide will be competing and will use this opportunity to do their very best.   The Seychellois boxers will be accompanied by coach Jerry Legras, who said that he expects them to do well even if it is the first time Seychelles takes such an elite level challenge. The competition is reserved for boxers under the age of 18 and brings together the best boxers from around the globe. In the last edition in 2022, over 600 boxers took their talents to the ring. In that tournament, held in La Nucia, Spain for both male and female boxers,  Uzbekistan dominated, winning five gold medals, three silver, and two bronze. They led the medals table, ahead of India and England. The tournament is one at which many people scout for the next generation of top boxers. When Budva, Montenegro, was announced as the host of the competition, IBA president Umar Kremlev mentioned that the event is crucial for the next generation of elite boxers. «The names we hear at the Budva event will soon become well-known in the world of elite boxing, as we already know some stories of success based on La Nucia 2022 and Kielce 2021 championships. I am extremely looking forward to the highest standard of event in Montenegro,» he added. 

World leaders called for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine at the BRICS summit in Russia on Wednesday, as President Vladimir Putin told them he welcomed offers to mediate in the Ukraine conflict. The Russian leader is casting the gathering as a sign that Western attempts to isolate Moscow have failed, but faced direct calls to end the Ukraine conflict from some of his closest and most important partners. The meeting of around 20 world leaders in the central city of Kazan is the largest diplomatic forum in Russia since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022. Starting in 2009 with four members -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- BRICS has since expanded to include other emerging nations such as South Africa, Egypt and Iran. Chinese President Xi Jinping told the summit there must be «no escalation of fighting» in Ukraine. «We must adhere to the three principles of 'no spillover from the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no adding oil to the fire by relevant parties', so as to ease the situation as soon as possible,» Xi said. Russia and China signed a «no limits» strategic partnership days before Moscow ordered troops into Ukraine and Putin and Xi both hailed close ties in a bilateral meeting on Tuesday. Without referring to any specific conflict, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also issued a call for peace. «We support dialogue and diplomacy, not war,» he said. - Mediation offers - On the Middle East, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian urged BRICS members to «use all their collective and individual capacities to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon». Xi repeated his call for a ceasefire, saying: «We need to... stop the killing and work tirelessly for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue.» Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also called for escalation in both the Middle East and Ukraine to be avoided. «As we face two wars that have the potential to become global, it is essential to restore our ability to work together toward common goals,» he said in an address to the summit via video conference. In private talks, Putin welcomed offers by several of the BRICS leaders to mediate in Ukraine, even as he told them his forces were advancing, his spokesman said Wednesday. Many countries «expressed a desire to contribute more actively» to resolving the conflict, state media cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as telling reporters. Putin had also used the meetings to tout «the very positive dynamics on the front for the Russian armed forces,» Peskov said. Russia's troops have been slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine for much of 2024, though neither side has been able to make a decisive breakthrough and the conflict appears locked in an attritional phase. «Avoiding escalation and initiating peace negotiations is also crucial in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia,» Brazil's Lula said. - Multipolar order - Xi and Modi have previously touted their own peace initiatives for Ukraine, though there has appeared to be little progress. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also at the summit, is another casting himself as a possible peacemaker. He will hold direct talks with Putin later on Wednesday. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was also at the summit, his first visit to Russia for more than two years. He will on Thursday hold talks with Putin over Ukraine. Moscow promotes the BRICS platform as an alternative to Western-led international organisations like the G7. «The process of forming a multipolar world order is underway, a dynamic and irreversible process,» Putin said at the official opening of the summit. He also blasted the West for hitting BRICS members, including Russia, with sanctions, saying they could trigger a global crisis. «Significant crisis potential also remains. And it is not only about the ever-increasing geopolitical tensions, but also ... the practice of unilateral sanctions, protectionism and unfair competition is expanding,» Putin said. Putin also called on the leaders of emerging economies to explore alternative payments and trading platforms to reduce their reliance on Western infrastructure. © Agence France-Presse

A global treaty to curb plastic pollution will be secured at a summit in South Korea next month, the chair of the talks pledged Wednesday, although he cautioned there were still complex disputes and the time frame was a «big challenge». Ecuador's Luis Vayas Valdivieso said the clock was ticking if nations are to seal a potentially groundbreaking agreement at final UN-convened talks in South Korea late November, adding that divergences remain between countries. Vayas Valdivieso said his mandate is «to achieve an effective treaty, an effective legally binding instrument» and «we're going to deliver on that mandate at the end of Busan». However, «I am in the hands of the members,» he told a lecture in Japan. «We do have divergences still in our negotiation, still some complex issues that still need to mature a bit more.» Negotiators have met several times to discuss a deal that could include production caps, rules on recyclability, and bans on certain plastics or chemical components. At previous talks, oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia objected to limiting plastic production, wanting to instead focus on recycling. Meanwhile, dozens of countries in a «high-ambition» coalition, including the majority of the European Union, are calling for tougher measures. Vayas Valdivieso said that with only seven days of negotiations in Busan, time will be a «big challenge». But he expressed hope for a deal «with credible rules to end plastic pollution». «We must succeed in Busan for the wellbeing of our planet, for the wellbeing of human health,» he said. Plastic production has doubled in 20 years and at current rates it could triple by 2060, according to the OECD. Yet over 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with much of it dumped in nature or buried in landfills. In an attempt to whittle down the unwieldy draft document and speed up negotiations in Busan, Vayas Valdivieso has been producing so-called «non-papers» based on talks with countries. The papers have no legal basis as negotiating documents but could serve as a starting point for the last round of talks if the parties agree to accept them. Vayas Valdivieso said on Wednesday he hoped to publish a third non-paper in the coming days with «as much text as possible». But Busan does not mark the end of efforts to tackle plastic pollution, he added, as any treaty should be «a living convention that will get stronger and stronger in the future.» © Agence France-Presse

Seychelles and Malaysia are working on diplomatic agreements in air services, according to a press statement from the Ministry of Transport on Tuesday. This was one of the main topics of discussions between the Seychelles' Minister for Transport, Antony Derjacques, and his counterpart from Malaysia, Anthony Loke. Discussions were held at the Global Air Services Negotiation event (ICAN-2024), taking place in Kuala Lampur. In order to provide insightful information as Seychelles proceeds with its proposed airport master plan, Loke also invited Derjacques and his delegation to tour Malaysia's airports. The purpose of the tour was to exchange design and best practices with Seychelles in order to modernise the Seychelles International Airport. The Seychelles Airport Masterplan was completed earlier this year and the last presentation was made to the Cabinet on June 26. As the Cabinet still had some reservations about certain infrastructures and the financial plans, these two components are being explored further. The major upgrade for the Seychelles International Airport to accommodate the increase in traffic was unveiled in 2022 by Garry Albert, chief executive of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA), on the 50th anniversary of the airport's existence. In November 2022, EGIS Emirates was appointed to review and prepare an updated 30-year airport master plan for the Seychelles International Airport. Aside from discussions relating to air travel, both ministers stressed the value of people-to-people exchanges, highlighting the growing number of Seychellois students pursuing their studies in Malaysia. The ministers agreed that this academic engagement represents a vital avenue for capacity building in Seychelles, contributing to the nation's future development. To conclude their meeting the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation and continuing to engage on issues of common interest in the transportation and aviation sectors.

Seychelles has received approval of $2.76 million for a project proposal by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to advance its National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process. In a press release on Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment (MACCE), said this landmark project, approved on October 10, will be implemented over the next three years. It will focus on enhancing the island nation's capacity to respond to the growing challenges of climate change. The project aims to address key barriers hindering effective adaptation planning, developed with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH). These include limited institutional capacity, insufficient collaboration, and inadequate funding mechanisms. By building on the progress made in national strategies such as the Seychelles National Climate Change Policy and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), this project will ensure that Seychelles is equipped to plan for a sustainable, climate-resilient future. Flavien Joubert, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Climate Change, said access to climate finance is one thing but the implementation and execution of the project is another milestone that the country has to achieve. «The project represents a significant step forward for Seychelles in our journey toward climate resilience. It will enable us to build the necessary structures and engage stakeholders across all sectors to ensure that climate adaptation is integrated into our national development planning,» he said. The MACCE will serve as the executing entity, while UNEP will be the implementing partner. Seychelles, as a small island developing state, faces unique vulnerabilities to climate change, with vital sectors such as tourism, fisheries, and agriculture directly affected by rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, and extreme climate events. This project will ensure a comprehensive approach to adaptation planning, benefitting both government institutions and communities at all levels. Key outcomes of the project will include, strengthening adaptation planning governance and institutional coordination as well as developing a robust evidence base to design impactful adaptation solutions, catalysing private sector engagement in climate adaptation and increasing adaptation finance to support resilience efforts. The NAP project will also engage the private sector and civil society to foster investment in adaptation-related initiatives, ensuring that all stakeholders are equipped to contribute to building resilience to climate change. Additionally, it will focus on building resilience in the country's health systems through health adaptation planning and creating awareness on the three main islands, with a special focus on vulnerable communities.

Seychelles and India have signed an agreement for better training opportunities and information sharing between the Auditor General's Offices of the two countries. The agreement was signed on Monday by the Seychelles' Auditor General, Gamini Herath, and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Chandra Murmu. The agreement will provide the two institutions with a collaboration platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience amongst auditing professionals to develop the capacity for carrying out audits Speaking to those attending the event, Herath stated that it was his «sincere hope that the MoU we are signing today will pave the way for better training opportunities, information sharing, exchange of fruitful ideas and sharing resources between our two SAIs (supreme audit institutions).» The two entities have been working together for over 40 years and over 50 auditors from Seychelles have been trained through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme (ITEC). Herath added that many of those trained have shared their expertise in both the public and private sectors. Furthermore, Murmu stressed the importance of audit institutions and their adherence to international standards. Both countries are members of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) as well as the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). Chandra, who has been on an official visit to the small island state, also met the Speaker of the National Assembly, Roger Mancienne, and the head of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) in the National Assembly, Sebastien Pillay, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the institution. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel Tuesday to push for a ceasefire in Gaza after his administration called for an end to the war in Lebanon «as soon as possible». It is his 11th trip to the Middle East since Hamas's attack on Israel more than a year ago triggered the Gaza war, and his first since Israel's conflict with Hezbollah escalated late last month. He is due to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, as Israel weighs its response to Iran's October 1 missile attack. In Lebanon, Israel hit an area of south Beirut housing the country's largest public health facility, killing 13 people, according to the health ministry. The Rafic Hariri Hospital, located outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds, sustained minor damage in the strike which flattened four buildings in its vicinity, said an AFP correspondent in the area. Previous US efforts to end the Gaza war and contain the regional fallout have failed, as did a bid spearheaded by President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to secure a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon. After Israel, Blinken will visit Jordan on Wednesday and discuss humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip, an official on the plane with him said. Blinken also plans to speak to Israeli leaders about the expected strike on Iran and discourage any move that could massively escalate regional conflict, the official said. - Night of strikes - On Monday, US envoy to Lebanon Amos Hochstein said his administration was seeking an end to the war «as soon as possible» as he pushed for a ceasefire based on a UN resolution that had ended an earlier Israel-Hezbollah war. Under resolution 1701, Hezbollah should have withdrawn from areas in south Lebanon near the Israeli border, leaving only the country's weak military and UN peacekeepers deployed there. But Hezbollah remained south of Lebanon's Litani River, and in October last year began launching low-intensity cross-border strikes into Israel, in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas. After nearly a year of war in Gaza, Israel shifted its focus to Lebanon, vowing to secure its northern border to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by the cross-border fire to return to their homes. Israel ramped up its air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around the country and on September 30 sent in ground troops, in a war that has killed at least 1,489 people since September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures. The strike on Monday night came as Israel targeted Beirut's southern suburbs with heavy fire following evacuation warnings. The densely populated Ouzai neighbourhood a few kilometres (miles) from the city centre was hit for the first time in the conflict, sparking an exodus of residents. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hezbollah's naval unit, and that it had issued an evacuation warning. A Lebanese security official told AFP that the country's national airline had to switch landing strips after Israeli strikes near Beirut's only international airport hit close to the main runway. Hezbollah on Tuesday said it launched rockets targeting two positions in the suburbs of Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv, including an intelligence base. It also said it targeted Israel's «Stella Maris naval base» near the northern city of Haifa, and that its militants had clashed with Israeli troops near a village at the border. In a war-hit area along the Lebanese border, AFP footage showed huge clouds of smoke rising following Israeli strikes on the village of Khiam, as trails of smoke from Hezbollah rockets fired towards Israel could also be seen. The wars in Gaza and Lebanon have also drawn in other Iran-aligned armed groups, including in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Iran on Tuesday said it had received assurances from its neighbours that they would not allow the use of their airspace for any attack against it, after Israel pledged to hit back against its October 1 missile attack. - 'We will die of hunger' - In the Gaza Strip, Israel launched a major air and ground assault in northern Gaza earlier this month, vowing to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in the area. Gaza's civil defence agency said four Palestinians were killed in strikes on Monday, while several homes were blown up in the northern area of Jabalia, a focal point of the recent fighting. A displaced resident said Jabalia «is being wiped out». «If we don't die from the bombing and gunfire, we will die of hunger,» said 42-year-old Umm Firas Shamiyah, demanding aid be sent to the north. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have fled the assault on northern Gaza, and according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees around 400,000 people were trapped in the area last week. The UN has warned of the risk of famine in Gaza, its figures showing that 396 aid trucks have entered the territory so far this month -- far below the 3,003 seen in September. The war was sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed 42,718 people, a majority civilians, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers reliable. © Agence France-Presse

 Joyce Lakela runs a nursery in Tembisa, a Johannesburg township, but these days she spends most of her time trying to find water. «It's been going on for five days,» she said, lamenting shortages affecting South Africa's largest city where temperatures are rising with the beginning of summer. «This is a big challenge,» the elderly woman said, after filling up a large bin with water from a tanker. «The kids have to wash their hands, we have to flush the toilets, and we also have to wash the kids.» The crisis is the result of daily restrictions imposed by the city to stop what they say is over-consumption and to allow maintenance work. While there is enough water in the country's reserves, for individuals like Lakela, who already faced months of electricity shortages last year, the reality is that taps are going dry for hours and sometimes days. Last week, residents of Westbury and Westdene, suburbs to the west of the central business district, blocked the streets in protest against water outages. They burned tyres and blocked a road with rocks and debris. Businesses and services have also been affected, including at least one hospital in northern Gauteng, the province of 16 million people which includes Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria. - Delays, leaks - This comes after Rand Water, the water supplier for Gauteng, this month warned over high water consumption and instructed municipalities to impose daily limits. «Water storage could soon be depleted if municipalities do not implement our recommendations. It is essential to act now to prevent the impending disaster,» Rand Water said in a statement on October 12. The water company is not just worried about consumers leaving taps on. There are also leaks and «illegal connections», or theft by individuals who divert pipelines and do not pay bills. «We are losing an average of over 40 percent (of our water) if you look at it in Gauteng,» Makenosi Marooa a spokeswoman for the utility told AFP. Leaks are often cited by the municipalities as a reason for maintenance-related outages. «We're not replacing anywhere near as much infrastructure as we should be,» said Craig Sheridan, director of the Centre in Water Research and Development at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. For Chris Herold, another water expert, «one of the main problems is that they (the municipalities) are incompetently run, and there's also a lot of corruption which is hindering the efficient running of water systems.» Municipalities insist that they are doing what they can with the resources they have. According to at least one city in the province, Ekurhuleni, it is the utility that is not providing enough water and leaving the reservoirs empty. But Rand Water is only licensed to withdraw a fixed amount approved by the Department of Water and Sanitation. Already back in 2009, it was clear that more was needed as Gauteng's population was rapidly expanding. The government made a deal with neighbouring Lesotho to expand the bulk water supply to Rand Water. The project initially meant for 2018 has been delayed until 2028 and as a result, sporadic restrictions to reduce demand are likely to continue. - Climate change - The rules could become more severe if South Africans do not change their habits, authorities have warned, adding that there could also be «financial implications». The country is already considered water scarce, with an average annual precipitation of 450mm per year compared to the global annual average of 786mm per year, and a warming planet will exacerbate the issue. Under a moderate climate change scenario, in which global emissions peak around 2040 and then decline, the amount of precipitation could fall by as much as 25 percent in South Africa by the end of the century. The estimates were released in a report published this month by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. «There's definitely a sense of urgency,» said Sheridan, who is particularly concerned by the health risks linked to turning water systems on and off, which has been South Africa's short term solution. «When a pipe is full of water, the water leaks out of it. If the pipe is empty, then a leaking sewer next to it can potentially contaminate the supply.» © Agence France-Presse

Peace with Nature is the overarching theme chosen for the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) being held in Cali, Colombia of which plenary discussions and working groups began on Monday. Around 23,000 pre-registered delegates representing almost every country on Earth are attending. The COP16 follows the COP15's historic adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) in 2022. The two-week meeting in Cali is expected to be a defining event in the implementation of the framework's ambitious goals and 23 targets for 2030. This includes the protection of 30 percent of the world's land and seas by 2030, reducing harmful subsidies and restoring degraded ecosystems. Seychelles is also represented in Colombia with the local CBD focal point Indira Gamatis.  Gamatis told SNA, «So far there has not been much consensus on quite a few of the main important topics such as mobilistion of resources, digital sequence information (DSI), capacity building or means of implementation for the KMGBF. The negotiations will be intense over the next few days.» Gamatis added that apart from the main plenary, the Seychelles' delegation will be taking part in side events as well as engaging with international partners. The delegates at the event have significant work ahead of them as countries are expected to demonstrate progress in the implementation of the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). They will negotiate to operationalise the multilateral mechanism established by COP15. This is for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of Digital Sequence Information on genetic resources (DSI), including a global fund.  Negotiators are also expected to find common ground on how to mobilise additional resources for biodiversity protection and ensure they are delivered in a timely fashion where they are most needed. The focus will also be on recognising and leveraging the contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities as custodians of biodiversity and key partners in its conservation, restoration, and sustainable use. The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, stated: «For humanity to thrive, nature must flourish. Destroying nature inflames conflict, hunger and disease; fuels poverty, inequality, and the climate crisis; and damages sustainable development, green jobs, cultural heritage, and GDP. The Global Biodiversity Framework promises to reset relations with Earth and its ecosystems. But we are not on track. Your task at this COP is to convert words into action.» The Colombian Environment Minister, Susana Muhamad, and current COP President said, «Under the legacy of the Kunming-Montreal Framework, we must therefore take a step further. It is not just about implementation mechanisms, it is about fundamentally recomposing the way we live, recomposing the development model, recomposing, rethinking, and rediscovering how we live together in diversity, in a system that does not permanently make nature a victim of development, but rather our own reproduction as a society reproduces life.» This story was produced as part of the 2024 CBD COP16 Fellowship organised by Internews' Earth Journalism Network.