World news
Climate Disasters Cause Global Economic Losses To Soar – UN
Economic losses caused by climate-related disasters have soared by about two and a half times in the last 20 years, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
From 1998 to 2017, direct losses from all disasters totalled $2.9 trillion, of which 77 percent was due to extreme weather that is intensifying as the world warms, the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) said in a report.
That compares with overall losses of $1.3 trillion from 1978 to 1997, 68 percent of that accounted for by climate and weather hazards, including storms, floods and droughts.
“We can see that climate change is playing an increasingly important role in driving up disaster losses around the world, and that probably will be the case in the future as well,” said Ricardo Mena, an official at the Geneva-based UNISDR.
On Monday, climate scientists warned that if global average temperatures rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, it would lead to more suffering – especially among the world’s poorest.
The planet has already heated up by about 1 degree Celsius.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather, and disasters will continue to set back sustainable development, the UNISDR report warned.
Climate-related disasters accounted for about 90 percent of the 7,255 major disasters between 1998 and 2017, most of them floods and storms, it said.
Losses were greatest in the United States at $945 billion, followed by China at $492 billion and Japan at $376 billion.
In the past two decades, 1.3 million people were killed and 4.4 billion were injured, left homeless, displaced or required emergency help.
More than half the deaths were caused by 563 earthquakes and related tsunamis, said the report drawing on data from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Belgium.
Although rich countries shoulder the highest absolute economic losses, the report noted the disproportionate impact of disasters on low and middle-income countries.
People in poorer nations are seven times more likely to be killed by a disaster than in wealthier ones, Mena told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
In developing countries, economic losses are not analysed for many disasters, meaning the new data was just the “tip of the iceberg”, he noted.
Puerto Rico was the only high-income territory ranked among the top ten places for annual losses as a percentage of economic growth, alongside Haiti, Honduras, Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Georgia, Mongolia, Tajikistan and North Korea.
Mami Mizutori, U.N. special representative for disaster risk reduction, called for greater efforts to tackle high fatalities in regions prone to earthquakes.
The 2,000 deaths and widespread destruction caused by last month’s earthquake and tsunami on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island exposed the need to raise public awareness and apply high standards for construction in seismic zones, she added.
The report ramped up the urgency for countries to put into practice a global plan for managing disaster risk hammered out in 2015 in Sendai, Japan, UNISDR’s Mena said.
![]()
World news
Trump Slams ‘Unpatriotic’ US House Vote To End Iran War
President Donald Trump on Thursday slammed a vote in the US House seeking to order the withdrawal of American troops from the Iran war, suggesting the “unpatriotic” move disrupted negotiations with Tehran.
The largely symbolic vote came “right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“Who would do such an unpatriotic thing. They know where the negotiations stand.”
In a notable rebuke of Trump, four members of his majority Republicans joined Democrats on Wednesday in backing the measure, which passed 215-208 and now heads to the Senate.
The measure, which will ultimately face a presidential veto, marked the first time the Republican-controlled House approved a measure seeking to force Trump to wind down military operations against Tehran since the war began three months ago.
Democrats accuse Trump of violating the constitution by launching strikes on Iran alongside Israel in late February without congressional authorization.
Under the War Powers Act, presidents have 60 days to obtain congressional approval after introducing US forces into hostilities. That deadline passed weeks ago, and Democrats say Trump is now breaking the law.
“(Democrats) would rather have our Country fail than give me another, of many, victories,” Trump said.
“The four Republicans, that’s a whole other story — They’re GRANDSTANDERS! They should be ashamed of themselves.”
![]()
World news
US, Iran Exchange Fire As Negotiations Stall
The United States and Iran said Monday they had again traded strikes, straining an already fragile ceasefire as negotiations between the two sides have stalled.
Weeks of complicated talks marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence have not managed to reach a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is essential to oil supplies.
Washington and Tehran have sharp differences on questions like Iranian nuclear efforts and the fighting in Lebanon, which Iran has demanded must stop as part of a broader agreement.
The latest exchange of fire coincided with Israel expanding its offensive in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Netanyahu vowing to push deeper into the country.
This picture, taken from a position in northern Israel on the border with southern Lebanon, shows an Israeli soldier taking position on the balcony of a building on May 31, 2026.
The US military announced that it had carried out “self-defense strikes” on Iranian radar and drone control sites in the southern part of the country over the weekend — its third such wave in just over a week.
The strikes were in response to the downing of a US MQ-1 drone, it added.
Shortly after, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted an “air base from which the attack originated” used by the US military, state broadcaster IRIB reported Monday, without specifying the location of the base.
The Guards’ announcement came on the heels of the Kuwaiti military saying its air defences intercepted “hostile missile and drone attacks”, without mentioning where attack originated.
Sticking Points
Iran was already in talks with the United States about the fate of its nuclear programme in February when the US and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic Republic’s senior leadership.
While Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies suspect it aims to develop a weapon.
The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a “tougher” new framework to be considered by Iran, though details remain unclear.
Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from developing any nuclear weapons and reopening the Hormuz shipping lane, which Iran has blockaded since the war began.
“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, in an interview on her Fox News show.
Late Sunday, Trump stressed on Truth Social that the proposed deal “states, very clearly, that Iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon”.
Tehran, however, has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions, and the sides remain far apart on key issues.
“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a video broadcast on state television.
According to the Tasnim news agency, exchanges on the text “are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments”.
![]()
World news
Iran Rules Out US Deal Without Protection Of National Interests
Iran’s chief negotiator said Sunday that Tehran would not agree to any deal with the United States unless it fully secures Iranian rights, as reports emerged that Washington had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran.
Any tweaks to the proposal could further delay an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.
The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though details remain unclear.
“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, in a video broadcast on state television.
Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Hormuz shipping lane.
“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News program on Saturday night.
But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the sides remain far apart on key issues.
Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear program, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as “baseless”, according to Iranian media.
Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any deal, despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched-earth policy” as it expands operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
After previously signalling a deal was close, Trump struck a less urgent tone, hinting at renewed military action in the Fox interview.
“I’m in no hurry,” he said. “If we don’t get what we want, we’re going to end in a different way.”
![]()
-
Entertainment5 years agoBBNaija: “Shameful For A Married Woman” – Boma, Tega Doing ‘Stuff’ Under Duvet Sparks Outrage (See Video)
-
Entertainment4 years agoSinger, Oxlade In Big Mess After His Sex Tape With A Strange Lady Surfaces Online (Watch Video)
-
Entertainment6 years agoBBNaija: Kiddwaya Sucks Erica’s Boobs, Licks Dorathy’s Neck In Truth Or Dare Game (Video)
-
Entertainment3 years agoI’m Not Ashamed Of My Leaked Nude Photos, Ifunanya Confesses (See Photos)
-
Crime11 months agoNDLEA intercepts Saudi, UK-bound cocaine in lipsticks
-
Entertainment6 years agoI’m Not Sick But Only Lost Some Weight – Kiss Daniel
-
Crime1 year agoNDLEA seizes N3.4bn worth of opioids in Lagos, PH, uncovers drugs in chocolate tins
-
Entertainment5 years agoHow Women Should Act During Sex – Actress, Blessing Okoro Reveals (Vdeo)



