A report from the charity on hurricanes, floods, typhoons and storms influenced by climate change warns that the top 10 disasters each cost more than 4 billion US dollars in damage (£3.2 billion). The figures are based mostly on insured losses, so the true costs are likely to be even higher, Christian Aid said, as it called for action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and finance for poor countries to cope with climate change. Politicians who “downplay the urgency of the climate crisis only serve to harm their own people and cause untold suffering around the world”, climate expert Joanna Haigh said. While developed countries feature heavily in the list of costliest weather extremes, as they have higher property values and can afford insurance, the charity also highlighted another 10 disasters which did not rack up such costs but were just as devastating, often hitting poorer countries. Most extreme weather events show “clear fingerprints” of climate change, which is driving more extreme weather events, making them more intense and frequent, experts said. The single most costly event in 2024 was Hurricane Milton, which scientists say was made windier, wetter and more destructive by global warming, and which caused 60 billion US dollars (£48 billion) of damage when it hit the US in October. That is closely followed by Hurricane Helene, which cost 55 billion US dollars (£44 billion) when it hit the US, Mexico and Cuba just two weeks before Milton in late September. The US was hit by so many costly storms throughout the year that even when hurricanes are removed, other storms cost more than 60 billion US dollars in damage, the report said. Three of the costliest 10 climate extremes hit Europe, including the floods from Storm Boris which devastated central European countries in September and deadly flooding in Valencia in October which killed 226 people. In other parts of the world, floods in June and July in China killed 315 people and racked up costs of 15.6 billion US dollars (£12.4 billion), while Typhoon Yagi, which hit south-west Asia in September, killed more than 800 people and cost 12.6 billion dollars (£10 billion). Events which were not among the most costly in financial terms but which have still been devastating include Cyclone Chido which hit Mayotte in December and may have killed more than 1,000 people, Christian Aid said. Meanwhile, heatwaves affected 33 million people in Bangladesh and worsened the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, flooding affected 6.6 million people in West Africa and the worst drought in living memory affected more than 14 million in Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe, the charity said. Christian Aid chief executive Patrick Watt said: “There is nothing natural about the growing severity and frequency of droughts, floods and storms. “Disasters are being supercharged by decisions to keep burning fossil fuels, and to allow emissions to rise. “And they’re being made worse by the consistent failure to deliver on financial commitments to the poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries. “In 2025 we need to see governments leading, and taking action to accelerate the green transition, reduce emissions, and fund their promises.” Dr Mariam Zachariah, World Weather Attribution researcher who analyses extreme events in near-real time to discern the role of climate change, at Imperial College London, said: “This report is just a snapshot of climate devastation in 2024. “There are many more droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and floods not included that are becoming more frequent and intense. “Most of these disasters show clear fingerprints of climate change. “Extreme weather is clearly causing incredible suffering in all corners of the world. Behind the billion-dollar figures are lost lives and livelihoods.” And Prof Haigh, emeritus professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, said: “The economic impact of these extreme weather events should be a wake-up call. “The good news is that ever-worsening crises doesn’t have to be our long-term future. “The technologies of a clean energy economy exist, but we need leaders to invest in them and roll them out at scale.” The 10 costliest climate disasters of 2024 were: – US storms, December to January, more than 60 billion US dollars; – Hurricane Milton in the US, October 9-13, 60 billion US dollars (£48 billion); – Hurricane Helene in the US, Mexico, Cuba, 55 billion US dollars (£44 billion); – China floods, June 9-July 14, 15.6 billion US dollars (£12.4 billion); – Typhoon Yagi, which hit south-west Asia from September 1 to 9, 12.6 billion US dollars (£10 billion); – Hurricane Beryl, in the US, Mexico and Caribbean islands from July 1-11, 6.7 billion US dollars (£5.3 billion); – Storm Boris in central Europe, September 12-16, 5.2 billion US dollars (£4.1 billion); – Rio Grande do Sul floods in Brazil, April 28-May 3, 5 billion US dollars (£4 billion); – Bavaria floods, Germany, June 1-7, 4.45 billion US dollars (£3.5 billion); – Valencia floods, Spain, on October 29, 4.22 billion US dollars (£3.4 billion).Wayne Rooney has encouraged I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! viewers to vote for his wife to do a Bushtucker Trial as he feels she would want to “put herself to the test”. The former England footballer and Plymouth Argyle Head Coach said he was “proud” of how Coleen was doing in the Australian jungle in a post on social media on Saturday. The couple, who first met at school and began dating aged 16, share four sons – Kai Wayne, Klay Anthony, Kit Joseph and Cass Mac. “Proud of @ColeenRoo on @imacelebrity she’s doing great”, he wrote on X, formerly , alongside a collage of photos of her on the show. “Me and the boys would love to see her doing a trial and we know she’d want to put herself to the test. “If you can download the #ImACeleb and let’s get voting!” During the first task of the series, Radio 1 presenter Dean McCullough chose to partner up with TV personality Coleen as he hailed her as “Wagatha Christie”. Rooney, 38, was given the nickname when she accused Rebekah Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, of leaking her private information to The Sun in a viral post on social media. In July 2022, a judge at the High Court found the post was “substantially true”. During Vardy’s stint on I’m A Celebrity, she became the third celebrity to leave, saying the series helped her become more tolerant. Earlier this week, Liverpool-born Coleen told her fellow campmate that going to court over her feud with Vardy was her “worst nightmare” as she felt she was “putting on a show for the whole world”. However, she said she was not scared about making the viral post which kicked off the dispute, saying: “I just didn’t think it would have the impact it did, because I was just that sick and tired of it, it was draining.” Later in the episode, Rooney became emotional over the loss of her sister Rosie, after boxing star Barry McGuigan spoke about the death of his daughter. I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV1 and ITVX.Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel says he was surprised by reports of Shaq Barrett's unretirement plan
ACLU Slams AI Police Reports, and Axon in Particular
A report from the charity on hurricanes, floods, typhoons and storms influenced by climate change warns that the top 10 disasters each cost more than 4 billion US dollars in damage (£3.2 billion). The figures are based mostly on insured losses, so the true costs are likely to be even higher, Christian Aid said, as it called for action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and finance for poor countries to cope with climate change. Politicians who “downplay the urgency of the climate crisis only serve to harm their own people and cause untold suffering around the world”, climate expert Joanna Haigh said. While developed countries feature heavily in the list of costliest weather extremes, as they have higher property values and can afford insurance, the charity also highlighted another 10 disasters which did not rack up such costs but were just as devastating, often hitting poorer countries. Most extreme weather events show “clear fingerprints” of climate change, which is driving more extreme weather events, making them more intense and frequent, experts said. The single most costly event in 2024 was Hurricane Milton, which scientists say was made windier, wetter and more destructive by global warming, and which caused 60 billion US dollars (£48 billion) of damage when it hit the US in October. That is closely followed by Hurricane Helene, which cost 55 billion US dollars (£44 billion) when it hit the US, Mexico and Cuba just two weeks before Milton in late September. The US was hit by so many costly storms throughout the year that even when hurricanes are removed, other storms cost more than 60 billion US dollars in damage, the report said. Three of the costliest 10 climate extremes hit Europe, including the floods from Storm Boris which devastated central European countries in September and deadly flooding in Valencia in October which killed 226 people. In other parts of the world, floods in June and July in China killed 315 people and racked up costs of 15.6 billion US dollars (£12.4 billion), while Typhoon Yagi, which hit south-west Asia in September, killed more than 800 people and cost 12.6 billion dollars (£10 billion). Events which were not among the most costly in financial terms but which have still been devastating include Cyclone Chido which hit Mayotte in December and may have killed more than 1,000 people, Christian Aid said. Meanwhile, heatwaves affected 33 million people in Bangladesh and worsened the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, flooding affected 6.6 million people in West Africa and the worst drought in living memory affected more than 14 million in Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe, the charity said. Christian Aid chief executive Patrick Watt said: “There is nothing natural about the growing severity and frequency of droughts, floods and storms. “Disasters are being supercharged by decisions to keep burning fossil fuels, and to allow emissions to rise. “And they’re being made worse by the consistent failure to deliver on financial commitments to the poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries. “In 2025 we need to see governments leading, and taking action to accelerate the green transition, reduce emissions, and fund their promises.” Dr Mariam Zachariah, World Weather Attribution researcher who analyses extreme events in near-real time to discern the role of climate change, at Imperial College London, said: “This report is just a snapshot of climate devastation in 2024. “There are many more droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and floods not included that are becoming more frequent and intense. “Most of these disasters show clear fingerprints of climate change. “Extreme weather is clearly causing incredible suffering in all corners of the world. Behind the billion-dollar figures are lost lives and livelihoods.” And Prof Haigh, emeritus professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, said: “The economic impact of these extreme weather events should be a wake-up call. “The good news is that ever-worsening crises doesn’t have to be our long-term future. “The technologies of a clean energy economy exist, but we need leaders to invest in them and roll them out at scale.” The 10 costliest climate disasters of 2024 were: – US storms, December to January, more than 60 billion US dollars; – Hurricane Milton in the US, October 9-13, 60 billion US dollars (£48 billion); – Hurricane Helene in the US, Mexico, Cuba, 55 billion US dollars (£44 billion); – China floods, June 9-July 14, 15.6 billion US dollars (£12.4 billion); – Typhoon Yagi, which hit south-west Asia from September 1 to 9, 12.6 billion US dollars (£10 billion); – Hurricane Beryl, in the US, Mexico and Caribbean islands from July 1-11, 6.7 billion US dollars (£5.3 billion); – Storm Boris in central Europe, September 12-16, 5.2 billion US dollars (£4.1 billion); – Rio Grande do Sul floods in Brazil, April 28-May 3, 5 billion US dollars (£4 billion); – Bavaria floods, Germany, June 1-7, 4.45 billion US dollars (£3.5 billion); – Valencia floods, Spain, on October 29, 4.22 billion US dollars (£3.4 billion).Trend Vision OneTM – Email and Collaboration Security is a critical part of Trend's centralized attack surface risk management (ASRM) platform DALLAS , Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Trend Micro Incorporated ( TYO: 4704 ; TSE: 4704 ), a global cybersecurity leader, today announced its positioning as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Email Security Platforms (ESP) . Rachel Jin , Chief Enterprise Platform Officer at Trend: "While technology continues to evolve, email remains the number one form of business communication—and a critical threat vector. Centralizing visibility and control as part of a fully integrated security architecture enables our customers to accelerate compliance and mitigate risk." Trend's flagship ESP product, Trend Vision OneTM – Email and Collaboration Security, is seamlessly integrated as part of a comprehensive ASRM and XDR platform for correlated intelligence and enhanced cross-layer security delivered from a single source. According to Gartner, "Leaders have a strong vision for the future of ESPs, balanced with the Ability to Execute on those visions. While Leaders may vary in product efficacy or functionality, their services offered are consumable by broad swathes of the email market and have strong commitments to customer success. Leaders are early to identify new attack trends and move quickly to fill gaps created by an evolving threat landscape, either by innovation or acquisition. Leaders excel with technical capabilities, infrastructure that supports progressive product strategies, and an emphasis on customer success." Trend has always prioritized continuous customer feedback, starting early on in the development lifecycle, in order to drive innovation, generate new product ideas and align solutions with user expectations. Core capabilities of Trend's ESP include: Trend's sales strategy is built on deep industry expertise and extensive intelligence. This enables the company to anticipate and rapidly respond to market shifts. *Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Email Security Platforms, By Max Taggett , Nikul Patel , Franz Hinner , Deepak Mishra , 16 December 2024 Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Trend Micro Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fueled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro's AI-powered cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organizations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, Trend's platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defense techniques optimized for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 70 countries, Trend Micro enables organizations to simplify and secure their connected world. www.TrendMicro.com . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trend-micro-named-a-magic-quadrant-leader-for-email-security-platforms-302334254.html SOURCE Trend Micro Incorporated
Q&A: Don't allow stress to ruin holiday family time, says psychology professor
A report from the charity on hurricanes, floods, typhoons and storms influenced by climate change warns that the top 10 disasters each cost more than 4 billion US dollars in damage (£3.2 billion). The figures are based mostly on insured losses, so the true costs are likely to be even higher, Christian Aid said, as it called for action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and finance for poor countries to cope with climate change. Politicians who “downplay the urgency of the climate crisis only serve to harm their own people and cause untold suffering around the world”, climate expert Joanna Haigh said. While developed countries feature heavily in the list of costliest weather extremes, as they have higher property values and can afford insurance, the charity also highlighted another 10 disasters which did not rack up such costs but were just as devastating, often hitting poorer countries. Most extreme weather events show “clear fingerprints” of climate change, which is driving more extreme weather events, making them more intense and frequent, experts said. The single most costly event in 2024 was Hurricane Milton, which scientists say was made windier, wetter and more destructive by global warming, and which caused 60 billion US dollars (£48 billion) of damage when it hit the US in October. That is closely followed by Hurricane Helene, which cost 55 billion US dollars (£44 billion) when it hit the US, Mexico and Cuba just two weeks before Milton in late September. The US was hit by so many costly storms throughout the year that even when hurricanes are removed, other storms cost more than 60 billion US dollars in damage, the report said. Three of the costliest 10 climate extremes hit Europe, including the floods from Storm Boris which devastated central European countries in September and deadly flooding in Valencia in October which killed 226 people. In other parts of the world, floods in June and July in China killed 315 people and racked up costs of 15.6 billion US dollars (£12.4 billion), while Typhoon Yagi, which hit south-west Asia in September, killed more than 800 people and cost 12.6 billion dollars (£10 billion). Events which were not among the most costly in financial terms but which have still been devastating include Cyclone Chido which hit Mayotte in December and may have killed more than 1,000 people, Christian Aid said. Meanwhile, heatwaves affected 33 million people in Bangladesh and worsened the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, flooding affected 6.6 million people in West Africa and the worst drought in living memory affected more than 14 million in Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe, the charity said. Christian Aid chief executive Patrick Watt said: “There is nothing natural about the growing severity and frequency of droughts, floods and storms. “Disasters are being supercharged by decisions to keep burning fossil fuels, and to allow emissions to rise. “And they’re being made worse by the consistent failure to deliver on financial commitments to the poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries. “In 2025 we need to see governments leading, and taking action to accelerate the green transition, reduce emissions, and fund their promises.” Dr Mariam Zachariah, World Weather Attribution researcher who analyses extreme events in near-real time to discern the role of climate change, at Imperial College London, said: “This report is just a snapshot of climate devastation in 2024. “There are many more droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and floods not included that are becoming more frequent and intense. “Most of these disasters show clear fingerprints of climate change. “Extreme weather is clearly causing incredible suffering in all corners of the world. Behind the billion-dollar figures are lost lives and livelihoods.” And Prof Haigh, emeritus professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, said: “The economic impact of these extreme weather events should be a wake-up call. “The good news is that ever-worsening crises doesn’t have to be our long-term future. “The technologies of a clean energy economy exist, but we need leaders to invest in them and roll them out at scale.” The 10 costliest climate disasters of 2024 were: – US storms, December to January, more than 60 billion US dollars; – Hurricane Milton in the US, October 9-13, 60 billion US dollars (£48 billion); – Hurricane Helene in the US, Mexico, Cuba, 55 billion US dollars (£44 billion); – China floods, June 9-July 14, 15.6 billion US dollars (£12.4 billion); – Typhoon Yagi, which hit south-west Asia from September 1 to 9, 12.6 billion US dollars (£10 billion); – Hurricane Beryl, in the US, Mexico and Caribbean islands from July 1-11, 6.7 billion US dollars (£5.3 billion); – Storm Boris in central Europe, September 12-16, 5.2 billion US dollars (£4.1 billion); – Rio Grande do Sul floods in Brazil, April 28-May 3, 5 billion US dollars (£4 billion); – Bavaria floods, Germany, June 1-7, 4.45 billion US dollars (£3.5 billion); – Valencia floods, Spain, on October 29, 4.22 billion US dollars (£3.4 billion).The Radio 1 DJ was at the centre of controversy on a dramatic episode I'm A Celebrity fans are convinced Dean McCullough's days are numbered on the show. 12 celebrities have travelled Down Under for the latest season of TV's toughest entertainment challenge The Radio 1 DJ has been the most controversial campmate so far as he has been voted to compete in the majority of Bushtucker Trials so far. He was involved in a number of spats on Saturday's episode, which was the most dramatic of the season so far. Dean tried to get McFly star Danny Jones to give up his bed in the main camp, refused to leave his bed for the the Reverend Richard Coles and snapped at Alan Halsall towards the end of episode. As per camp rules, Dean needed to go and help Jane Moore collect firewood. The DJ was fast asleep and was unresponsive to the Coronation Street star's wake up calls. Tyrone Dobbs star Alan accompanied Jane to collect the firewood, but soon felt the wrath of Dean. The DJ said: "Listen to me. If you’re gonna wake me up, you need to give me a minute, alright? It takes a couple of minutes for my contact lenses to get back working again, alright, so you don’t need to turn around to me and say ‘do you not fancy it?’ ok? And then turn around and walk away.” Viewers following the show on social media platform X were shocked at Dean's behaviour and said they will vote all the other campmates to remain on the show once the programme enters the elimination stage. Lee said: "Dean is just something else!! Give up the bed for the rev. Showing his true colours here" Kiera said: "Me voting to save everyone except Dean when we can start voting people out of this show" Briony commented: "The ONLY time anyone should be voting for dean is when we’re voting for people to leave" Kay added: "When can we start voting for Dean to leave asking for a friend" Amanda posted: "When can we vote out because dean needs to leave." Zola added:" Dean’s true colours are starting to showing ! Leave Alan alone mate"Watch Orlando Magic vs. New York Knicks: NBA Cup free live streamSANTA CLARA, Calif. , Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Couchbase, Inc. (NASDAQ: BASE ), the cloud database platform company, today announced it has granted equity awards under its 2023 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan to new employees who joined Couchbase. On November 21, 2024 , Couchbase granted 9 non-executive employees equity awards in the form of service-based restricted stock units ("RSU Awards"), representing the right to receive up to 19,905 shares of Couchbase, Inc. common stock in the aggregate, with fifty percent (50%) of the shares subject to such RSU Awards vesting on the first quarterly vesting date following the one (1) year anniversary of the vesting commencement date, and twelve and one-half percent (12.5%) of the shares subject to such RSU Awards vesting on each quarterly vesting date thereafter conditioned upon each employee's continued employment on the vesting date(s). The inducement grants were approved by Couchbase's Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, as required by Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4), and were granted as a material inducement to employment in accordance with Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4). About Couchbase Modern customer experiences need a flexible database platform that can power applications spanning from cloud to edge and everything in between. Couchbase's mission is to simplify how developers and architects develop, deploy and run modern applications wherever they are. We have reimagined the database with our fast, flexible and affordable cloud database platform Capella, allowing organizations to quickly build applications that deliver premium experiences to their customers– all with best-in-class price performance. More than 30% of the Fortune 100 trust Couchbase to power their modern applications. For more information, visit www.couchbase.com and follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @couchbase . Couchbase ® , the Couchbase logo and the names and marks associated with Couchbase's products are trademarks of Couchbase, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE Couchbase, Inc.
NoneI decided to buy myself a present just before Christmas in the form of two (ASX: XKO) shares. If I have the funds, I like to regularly invest money in my portfolio to help accelerate wealth-building. By consistently putting my money to work, I can hopefully find what I view as the best opportunities at the time. It has been trickier to find appealing stocks in the last few months following a strong rally in share prices, which has pushed plenty of ASX 300 shares into what I'd describe as overpriced territory. Tuas Ltd ( ) Tuas is one of the stocks I'm most excited about in my portfolio. This is an that operates in Singapore. There are three key reasons why I'm bullish about the business. First, it's delivering impressive revenue growth. The ASX 300 share is winning over Singaporeans with its low-cost mobile offering active mobile services to 1.1 million. This drove a 33% increase in revenue to $35.5 million, showing the business continues to scale rapidly. The company is also gaining traction with a home broadband offering, unlocking another growth avenue. Second, becomes larger. Third, I believe the company could eventually grow its customer base beyond Singapore. If Tuas expands to a country like Indonesia or Malaysia, it would significantly extend its growth runway and mean it could make a lot more profit in the future. I had been buying Tuas shares for the last several months, and I decided to buy more after the stock dropped more than 10% from its peak on 9 December 2024. Brickworks Ltd ( ) High have been a painful headwind for building product demand, debt cost, and commercial property valuation. Brickworks is exposed to all of these areas. This ASX 300 share is one of the largest building product manufacturers. It manufactures bricks, pavers, stone and masonry, roofing, specialised building systems, cement and capital battens. It also owns half an industrial property trust alongside partner ( ). I view building product demand as cyclical, so this period of weakness could be an opportunistic time to invest in the ASX 300 share while sentiment is lower. Additionally, if the decides to cut the interest rate in 2025, this could spur demand for building products. A rate cut could also help the industrial property trust by lowering financing (debt) costs and possibly increasing the value of those properties. I'm excited by the industrial property trust's potential to grow rental profit through organic rental increases and the completion of additional warehouse properties in the next few years, which are currently in the pipeline. When those projects are built, they could also improve the underlying value of the land. Finally, I also like Brickworks's exposure to the appealing investment business ( ). Brickworks owns approximately a quarter of Soul Patts. This investment gives Brickworks a relatively stable and growing capital value and rising dividend compared to its cyclical building product earnings. I decided to invest in this ASX 300 share after the Brickworks share price fell more than 10% between 30 September 2024 and 20 December 2024.
