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Climate Change Could Erase $1.5 Trillion in U.S. Real-Estate Value: Report

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Climate Change Could Erase .5 Trillion in U.S. Real-Estate Value: Report

Climate change is reshaping far more than just the environment.

Due to climate-related risks, U.S. real-estate values are expected to plunge by $1.5 trillion in the next 30 years, Quartz reported on Monday. That’s according to a new report from First Street, an organization that carries out climate risk financial modeling. It attributes the climate-related decline in property values to two factors in particular: insurance pressures and shifting consumer demand.

When it comes to insurance, premiums are rising as natural disasters become more common and more intense, First Street noted. In some high-risk areas, coverage has been taken away altogether. In those neighborhoods where insurance is available, costs are rising much faster than mortgage payments: From 2013 to 2022, for example, insurance as a percentage of mortgage payments doubled from 7 to 8 percent to more than 20 percent.

Some cities are more vulnerable to these shifts than others, as well, especially when you look at coastal metro areas. Miami has seen a 322 percent increase in insurance premiums, while other Florida cities have experienced the same—Jacksonville with a 226 percent bump and Tampa with a 213 percent rise. New Orleans (with a 196 percent increase) and Sacramento (with a 137 percent increase) round out the top five in that metric.

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Historically, many have viewed the Sun Belt as an attractive place to settle down and buy a home. But that area of the United States is one of the most susceptible to climate risk, with Texas, Florida, and California making up more than 40 percent of the country’s $2.8 trillion in natural-disaster costs since 1980, according to First Street data. As such, people may be less interested in moving to those states and taking on the added risk of living in a natural-disaster zone. First Street believes that more than 55 million Americans will relocate to less vulnerable areas in the next three decades, with 5.2 million moving this year alone.

As the organization says in its report, these trends are resulting in a “feedback loop,” with people moving to avoid climate disasters, thus changing real-estate growth throughout the country and community development along with it. By 2055, First Street expects a whopping 70,026 neighborhoods to see some property value decline because of climate risk. Very few people—if any—seem to be truly immune to it.  

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DR Congo says 1,307 Ebola cases confirmed, including 377 deaths

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DR Congo says 1,307 Ebola cases confirmed, including 377 deaths

Outbreak spreads to a fourth province, Haut-Uele, bordering South Sudan and the CAR, according to a media report.

⁠The Democratic Republic ⁠of the Congo (DRC) says confirmed ‌Ebola cases in the country have reached 1,307 and include ⁠377 deaths.

In an update issued late on Monday, the country said the confirmed cases ⁠have been ⁠recorded ⁠in three provinces – Ituri, ‌North Kivu and ‌South ‌Kivu.

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The announcement comes as the AFP news agency reported that a case has been detected in a fourth province. A source at the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) quoted by AFP said the viral haemorrhagic fever has spread to Haut-Uele, which borders South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

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The source said the case there was detected after an infected person travelled from Bunia, Ituri’s capital, to Haut-Uele.

That person has since died, another health source told AFP.

Authorities are now trying to trace the chain of transmission and identify contacts.

Its spread to Haut-Uele means the DRC’s entire northeast, home to about 15 million people, is now affected.

The conflict-hit province of Ituri is the epicentre of the country’s latest Ebola outbreak, its 17th, which started in May.

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In many cases, the virus has spread at funerals, where the highly infectious bodies of Ebola victims are handled.

For weeks, aid workers, facing mistrust among local communities, have struggled to plan safe burials in affected areas to prevent contact with the dead.

In the DRC, funerals often last several days, during which family members and friends touch the body of the deceased.

Reporting from a treatment centre in Rwampara in Ituri province, Al Jazeera’s Catherine Wambua-Soi said health workers often lack sufficient equipment.

“These centres have been attacked several times. Last month, tents here were set on fire by an angry mob. Some Congolese still distrust those trying to help,” she said.

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“They need more of everything: protective gear, medicines, rapid test kits … and body bags.”

On Saturday, the government issued a ban on public gatherings in four ⁠provinces, including the country’s capital, Kinshasa, as it continues to battle the spread of the outbreak.

That order was issued before a planned protest in Kinshasa on July 8 against constitutional reform, and opposition figures have called the ban “politically motivated.”

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Russia's ruling party runs Ukraine war veteran among lead candidates for September election

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Russia's ruling party runs Ukraine war veteran among lead candidates for September election
Russia’s ruling party on Sunday announced it would run an injured Ukraine war veteran and a television war correspondent, alongside ​the country’s foreign minister and the mayor of Moscow, as ‌lead candidates in a parliamentary election due in September.
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Gunman kills 6 at youth welfare facility in suspected child custody dispute: reports

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Gunman kills 6 at youth welfare facility in suspected child custody dispute: reports

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A suspect is in custody after six people were shot and killed Monday at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany, officials said.

The shooting happened around midday in Stade, a town of about 50,000 people near Hamburg. Authorities said the victims — four women and two men — all worked at the youth center or affiliated organizations. Five were pronounced dead at the scene, while a sixth died later at a hospital, according to The Associated Press, citing authorities.

Several others were wounded in the shooting, which may have been tied to a child custody dispute, the outlet reported.

2 PEOPLE ARE KILLED IN A KNIFE ATTACK IN GERMANY; SCHOLZ SAYS THERE MUST BE CONSEQUENCES

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The shooting happened around midday in Stade, a town of about 50,000 people near Hamburg. (News5/Reuters)

Police said the shooting happened at a facility on Dankersstrasse that houses pregnant women and young mothers with children, according to The Associated Press.

The suspect, a 45-year-old man, had an appointment at the facility earlier in the day before the shooting unfolded around midday. His 3-month-old daughter and the child’s mother were safe, Reuters reported.

The suspected gunman was arrested. Police said two others were also subject to police measures on suspicion of involvement but did not provide additional details, according to The Associated Press.

CHILDREN AMONG 6 WOUNDED IN MARYLAND MASS SHOOTING AS DETECTIVES WORK TO DETERMINE WHAT OCCURRED

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Authorities said the victims — four women and two men — all worked at the youth center or affiliated organizations.  (News5/Reuters)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was “deeply shocked” by the violence at a place meant to protect women and children.

“The horrific act of violence in Stade claimed the lives of six people today. I am deeply shaken by the extent of the violence in a place that is meant to provide protection,” Steinmeier said. 

“My condolences go to the families of the dead and injured, who must endure so much pain. My thanks go to all first responders and doctors.”

SUSPECT ‘NEUTRALIZED’ AFTER MONTREAL SHOOTING LEAVES AT LEAST 2 DEAD INCLUDING OFFICER

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Police warned people to avoid the area after the shooting but later said there was no danger to the public. (News5/Reuters)

Police warned people to avoid the area after the shooting but later said there was no danger to the public. Investigators were still collecting evidence Monday evening, Reuters reported.

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Mass shootings in Germany are rare.

Earlier this year, a car plowed into a pedestrian zone in Leipzig, Germany, killing two people and leaving several others seriously injured.

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Stade Police could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.

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