- Bayern hit nine, Real Madrid and Liverpool win as new Champions League kicks off
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- Venezuela arrests fourth American over alleged 'plot' against Maduro
- 'Happy' Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- Man Utd hit Barnsley for seven in League Cup rout
- Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa facing concussion layoff
- Stylish Liverpool strut past Milan in confident Champions league opener
- Kane scores four as Bayern put nine past Zagreb in the Champions League
- Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- More than 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Harris calls Trump as assassination scare sparks tensions
- Dow edges down from record as some eye a smaller Fed rate cut
- Sommer vows Inter will 'defend with all we have' to stop Haaland
- Report links meatpacking companies to 'war on nature' in Brazil
- Bolivian ex-leader Morales, backers set out on weeklong protest march
- Smith grateful to McCullum for launching his England career
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- Villa make perfect start on Champions League return after 41-year absence
- Israeli supply chain infiltration likely behind Hezbollah pager blasts: analysts
- Rodgers backs Celtic to be 'really competitive' in Champions League
- Spacewalk an 'emotional experience' for private astronauts
- Storm Boris toll rises to 22 in central Europe
- Nine dead, 2,800 wounded as Lebanon's Hezbollah hit by pager blasts
- Boeing, union resume talks as strike empties Seattle plants
- Over 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Australia's Zampa accepts Ashes chances remote as 100th ODI looms
- UN General Assembly debates call for end to Israeli occupation
- Marseille complete signing of French international Rabiot
- Easterby to fill in as Ireland coach while Farrell is with the Lions
- Hezbollah in Lebanon hit by wave of deadly pager blasts
- Postecoglou taken aback by criticism of his second season success claim
- US, European stocks rise on retail sales, rate cut expectations
- Fendi sees Roaring 20s at Milan Fashion Week in challenging times
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr part ways with coach Castro
- Scottish government backs Glasgow to stage troubled 2026 Commonwealth Games
- Storm Boris toll rises to 21 in central Europe
- Instagram, under pressure, tightens protection for teens
- Inflation slows again in Canada to 2%
- US, European stocks rise on eve of Fed rate decision
- EU bans Algerian spread toasted on social media
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with racketeering, sex trafficking
- Trump returns to campaign trail after assassination scare
- Activist urges repatriation of Native Americans dead in Paris 'human zoo'
- US retail sales see slight rise, beating expectations
- US Fed begins two-day meeting set to end with rate cut
- Exploding Hezbollah pagers wound hundreds across Lebanon
- Runners-up Yokohama thrashed 7-3 in AFC Champions League goal fest
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs to plead not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking
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- 'I am a rapist,' Frenchman tells trial over mass rape of wife
Floods, fires drive Australian home insurance 'crisis'
Fiercer floods, winds and bushfires whipped up by warmer temperatures mean more than half a million homes in Australia will cost too much to insure by 2030, according to an analysis by a climate advocacy group published Tuesday.
The Climate Council non-profit group issued the report after storms and floods battered Australia's east coast in February-March this year, and following the 2019-20 "Black Summer" bushfires that killed 33 people as well as an estimated tens of millions of wild animals.
"Climate change is creating an insurability crisis in Australia due to worsening extreme weather and sky-rocketing insurance premiums," the report said.
By 2030, about 520,940 properties -- or about one in 25 of the national total -- would suffer projected annual damage equal to one percent of the entire replacement cost, it said, making insurance policies effectively too pricey to afford.
"It's striking how the number of affected properties grows under higher emissions scenarios," said Karl Mallon, chief executive of Climate Valuation, which conducted the analytical work based on property, geographical, extreme weather and climate data for every address in Australia.
"Reducing emissions would potentially save thousands of homes from worsening damage," he said.
The Climate Council analysis echoes similar warnings by Australia's insurance industry, which has called for federal and state governments to invest more heavily in stronger homes and protection, such as flood levees, against extreme weather events.
- 'Big decisions' -
This year's east coast floods cost an estimated 3.35 billion Australian dollars (US$2.4 billion) in insured losses, making it the costliest flood in the country's history, the Insurance Council of Australia said on Tuesday.
"The string of extreme weather, particularly in the last decade, has made us very much at the top of the list when it comes to costly payouts," Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall told AFP.
A 2015 study estimated that about two percent of Australia's housing stock was at risk of constant flooding and 15 percent was at risk of occasional flooding, he said.
During this year's east coast floods, which claimed at least 21 lives, the northeastern New South Wales town of Lismore was among the worst hit.
Record 14.3-metre (47-foot) floodwaters engulfed homes, swept away cars and stranded locals on the roofs of their homes awaiting rescue by boat or helicopter.
This week, Lismore City Council released a "discussion paper", calling for feedback to a series of proposals to rebuild after the floods left thousands of people homeless and damaged many businesses.
It proposed a "retreat" from the highest flood-risk areas of the city, saying it would call on the state and federal governments to pay for a land swap allowing residents to abandon their land and move to higher ground.
"With rising temperatures predicted to significantly increase the likelihood of more frequent and heavier rain events leading to more frequent and severe flooding, Lismore is facing some big decisions about rebuilding and future growth," the council said in a statement.
P.Silva--AMWN