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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).
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).
One of the 39 people pardoned by President Joe Biden’s administration is a Utah woman who has turned her life around after struggling with substance abuse. Stevoni Doyle of Santaquin is a wife, mother and grandmother who also fosters animals and volunteers. "I'm a therapist with Wasatch Behavioral Health, with the jail transition program,” said Doyle. "If you would have asked me 20 years ago if I would be here today, I never would have imagined that,” said Doyle. She has come a long way. "In 2000, I was introduced to meth, and I instantly become addicted,” explained Doyle. “It was the one thing that I felt like just completed me. Within a year, I lost custody of my 4 kids to DCFS and I had racked up a bunch of charges." Doyle served time at the Utah State Prison and then at a federal prison in Arizona. There, she decided to make some changes. "I started to take accountability for my actions and realized that I didn’t want to live this lifestyle," she said. RELATED STORY | Biden commutes 1,500 sentences in largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history Doyle started helping people who were struggling with substance abuse and even went back to school to study social work. "I never thought I would graduate college, let alone get a master’s degree,” Doyle said. On Wednesday, she got a special phone call and was pardoned by President Biden. "I was like, no way, I can’t believe this is happening.” She said. "I won’t have to explain myself all the time. Even though I don’t have a problem sharing it, it’s part of my story, it’s part of who I am, it’s still nice to not have to do that." RELATED STORY | January 6 defendant tells Scripps News he may not accept a potential pardon from Trump This story was originally published by Mythili Gubbi at Scripps News Salt Lake City .
In the 13 months of Western-backed Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip, ongoing, more than 44,000 Gazan civilians have been recorded killed while more than another 100,000 are considered “missing presumed dead”. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) had already officially ruled this continuous massacre of humans as “plausible genocide”. This ‘kill ratio’ by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza compares favourably (if one is comfortable with such inane idiom describing mass murder) with the far more intensive pace of killing of about 245,000 killed per month on average in the half-year of genocide in Rwanda in 1994. But Nazi Germany bettered Rwanda’s racist murder rampage in the 1941-45 period with an estimated rate of ‘extermination’ that peaked at 400,000 per month in just three of the six ‘death camps’ run so industriously by the Nazi forces. Some six million European Jews were ultimately killed in this five-year massacre, as well as around two million others designated as unsuitable to live. They were differently-abled people and also homosexuals and, people of the minority ethnic group Roma. Secretive An interesting difference between the handling of the victims of the Nazi human extermination in those infamous ‘death camps’ and the way the victims of Rwanda and Gaza were treated was that the Nazis attempted to be very secretive in their ‘Final Solution’ operation. The secrecy was also ensured by the non-existence of audio-visual recording technology (except expensive film cameras) and, the easy accessibility of media systems, that we enjoy today. Thus, the tens of thousands of Jews and others rounded up in the ghettos of Eastern Europe and herded into trains and transported to the Nazi death camps, did not realise their terrible fate even as they were hurried directly from the trains into the gas chambers. They were told that they were to undergo ‘disinfection’ showers. It was only in the final few seconds of their lives that the bulk of these millions of victims realised that it was toxic gas that poured out of what they thought were overhead shower spouts. Children, women and men died in this way after spending days travelling in trains under the pretence of being ‘transferred’ to new camps or to work sites. Only a smaller number – still totalling at least an estimated million victims – died in more traumatic circumstances under fire by Nazi shooting squads, the infamous Einsatzgruppen. Those victims, herded into large dug trenches, thousands at a time, would certainly have had to anticipate their imminent death as they saw the waiting machine guns and watched them open fire. The ethnic Tutsi victims in Rwanda also did not have the luxury of that orderly pretence and ghoulish charade in the Nazi death camps with their toxic ‘showers’ followed by the incinerator ovens that then burned the massed corpses. As in any violent ethnic riot (as in South Asia), the Tutsis knew what was coming as they fled the mobs or were cornered and mutilated. Certainly, those efficient Nazi mass murderers met their own fates at the hands of the victors of World War 2. Justice Then, too, the world experienced the justice of the victors when the defeated nations were subjected to punishment (including spontaneous punishments) ranging from imprisonment to death sentences. However, the victors did not undergo any judgment of the crimes of war perpetrated by them. The perpetrators of nuclear bombing of Japan were not subjected to prosecution although the defeated Japanese military were punished. Likewise, the perpetrators of the ‘strategic bombing’ campaigns that saw the ‘carpet bombing’ of German and Japanese cities that deliberately targeted civilians, enjoyed hero-worship instead of war crimes tribunals. In the much earlier colonial era, the Western powers of today were the perpetrators of genocide of whole indigenous populations. In that world, free of any form of news media, the colonial massacres were possibly even more bloody and on a larger scale. Instead of carpet bombing or gas chambers, the colonial methods of ethnic cleansing were forced starvation and the deliberate spread of European diseases unfamiliar to the indigenous peoples. The 20th and 21st century victims of genocide and war crimes must suffer very public, and, indeed, formally announced, massacres. The IDF kindly sends phone calls and air-drops leaflets minutes before to enable Palestinian families “escape” missile bombardment and shelling. Those who survive are few. A single medium calibre bomb’s blast radius is at least 50 metres or even 100 metres. Thus, many have neither the time nor the human ability to run that far. Only a very few are sprinters, no? Such experiences of forewarned bombardment are now many – in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon – and, thanks to social media and professional journalism (by the victim nations themselves), the world is learning about such macabre military ‘courtesies’ of postmodern inhumanity. Pious The globalised human society of these postmodern times enables an emotionally acrid juxtaposition of violently conflicting human experiences. We learn about devastating bombardment and massacres in virtually the same instance as we learn about the pious ‘self-defence’ of the perpetrators and their warm enjoyment of safe lives. After all, on that fateful October 7, young Israelis were ‘raving’ in musical ecstasy barely kilometres distant from the besieged, suffering, deprived, traumatised Gazans in the veritable concentration camp that is their Strip home. Are we not reminded of a military-sponsored ‘moto-cross’ tamasha being conducted just kilometres away from the bitterly contested Northern frontlines of our own war zone? What a brutal military debacle did that moto-cross suffer when the enemy used the festive distraction to inflict costly damage to our airforce! This bizarre intimacy between two differently violent worlds – one an internalised, self-borne violence (Gaza) and the other, an externalised violence inflicted on others (Israel, West), is the emotive political foreground for last week’s long overdue, miserably symbolic, issuing of arrest warrants against possibly the two most, directly destructive, politicians currently doing their sick bit. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are now internationally “wanted” criminals and must hide from arrest in much of the world even as their regime in Occupied Jerusalem continues to wreak mass murder and war in West Asia. The evidence for the International Criminal Court’s indictments is there for all to see, as most of world humanity, traumatised by 13 months of televised unspeakable carnage, might point out. With over 44,000 dead, most of them women and children in the devastated Gaza Strip, and the rest of the Palestinians literally starving inside that tiny enclave already under military siege for nearly two decades, Premier Netanyahu (75) and former Minister Gallant (66) who have jointly executed the current Israeli military campaign, have much to answer for. Last Thursday, November 21, Pre-Trial Chamber No. I of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in its decision on the ‘Situation in the State of Palestine’, unanimously issued two rulings in relation to Israel’s role in West Asia. The ICC first rejected legal challenges by Israel brought under articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute. Arrest Warrants of arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant, are for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least October 8, 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.The Court also issued warrants of arrest for three Hamas militant leaders, all of whom have already been killed in action. Gallant had been Israeli Defence Minister serving 2022-2024 until he departed the post earlier this month. The ICC has so far publicly indicted 67 people since its establishment. Proceedings against 35 are ongoing: 30 are at large as fugitives, four are on trial, and one is in the appeals stage. Proceedings against 32 have been completed: two are serving sentences, seven have finished sentences, four have been acquitted, seven have had the charges against them dismissed, four have had the charges against them withdrawn, and eight have died before the conclusion of the proceedings against them. The ICC’s arrest warrants are classified as ‘secret’, in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations. The Court’s media release said that, however, the ICC decided to release the information about the investigations since criminal conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest “appears to be ongoing”. In short, the International Criminal Court finds itself initiating a prosecution of crimes previously committed but also of crimes ongoing. The two indicted criminal suspects, both Israeli citizens, are safely immune from arrest while they remain within their country’s borders as Israel is not a party to the ICC’s jurisdiction. Neither is the USA, Israel’s main backer and, in a real sense – as many justice activists argue – a state complicit in Israel’s “ongoing” crimes. However, some 124 States are party to the ICC and are now legally bound to immediately arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they set foot on their soil. They include nearly all European Union states which are also major allies of the Israel and are supporting it in its current many wars. Already, legal circles are poised to see how many countries will now cease providing military supplies to Israel for fear of being implicated in those same “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes”. But most justice activists point out that it took the ICC nearly a year before it issued arrest warrants during which tens of thousands of people have died, and whole territories laid waste. They said that the same ICC was far quicker to respond to the Russo-Ukraine war and indict Russian President Vladimir Putin.TORONTO — Losses in the tech sector led Canada's main stock index lower in late-morning trading on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also fell. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 93.03 points at 24,753.79. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 437.35 points at 42,888.45. The S&P 500 index was down 86.37 points at 5,951.22, while the Nasdaq composite was down 402.43 points at 19,617.93. The Canadian dollar traded for 69.39 cents US compared with 69.51 cents US on Tuesday. The February crude oil contract was up 66 cents at US$70.28 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was up five cents at US$3.37 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was down US$19.70 at US$2.634.20 an ounce and the March copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.12 a pound. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian PressUnlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost. For Griffin, the hardest part of using the new drugs wasn’t access. It was finding out that the much-hyped medications didn’t really work for her. “I have been on Wegovy for a year and a half and have only lost 13 pounds,” said Griffin, who watches her diet, drinks plenty of water and exercises regularly. “I’ve done everything right with no success. It’s discouraging.” In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were “nonresponders” who lost less than 5% of their body weight. Now that millions of people have used the drugs, several obesity experts told The Associated Press that perhaps 20% of patients — as many as 1 in 5 — may not respond well to the medications. It's a little-known consequence of the obesity drug boom, according to doctors who caution eager patients not to expect one-size-fits-all results. “It's all about explaining that different people have different responses,” said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital The drugs are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists because they mimic a hormone in the body known as glucagon-like peptide 1. Genetics, hormones and variability in how the brain regulates energy can all influence weight — and a person's response to the drugs, Stanford said. Medical conditions such as sleep apnea can prevent weight loss, as can certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids and contraceptives. “This is a disease that stems from the brain,” said Stanford. “The dysfunction may not be the same” from patient to patient. Despite such cautions, patients are often upset when they start getting the weekly injections but the numbers on the scale barely budge. “It can be devastating,” said Dr. Katherine Saunders, an obesity expert at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of the obesity treatment company FlyteHealth. “With such high expectations, there’s so much room for disappointment.” That was the case for Griffin, who has battled obesity since childhood and hoped to shed 70 pounds using Wegovy. The drug helped reduce her appetite and lowered her risk of diabetes, but she saw little change in weight. “It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she said. “You want it to work like it does for everybody else.” The medications are typically prescribed along with eating behavior and lifestyle changes. It’s usually clear within weeks whether someone will respond to the drugs, said Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Weight loss typically begins right away and continues as the dosage increases. For some patients, that just doesn't happen. For others, side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea force them to halt the medications, Dushay said. In such situations, patients who were counting on the new drugs to pare pounds may think they’re out of options. “I tell them: It's not game over,” Dushay said. Trying a different version of the new class of drugs may help. Griffin, who didn't respond well to Wegovy, has started using Zepbound, which targets an additional hormone pathway in the body. After three months of using the drug, she has lost 7 pounds. “I'm hoping it's slow and steady,” she said. Other people respond well to older drugs, the experts said. Changing diet, exercise, sleep and stress habits can also have profound effects. Figuring out what works typically requires a doctor trained to treat obesity, Saunders noted. “Obesity is such a complex disease that really needs to be treated very comprehensively,” she said. “If what we’re prescribing doesn’t work, we always have a backup plan.” The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Taliban's supreme leader has issued an order banning the construction of windows in residential buildings that overlook areas used by Afghan women and saying that existing ones should be blocked. According to a statement released by the Taliban government spokesman, new buildings should not have windows through which it is possible to see "the courtyard, kitchen, neighbour's well and other places usually used by women". "Seeing women working in kitchens, in courtyards or collecting water from wells can lead to obscene acts," according to the decree posted by government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on social media platform X. Municipal authorities and other relevant departments would have to monitor construction sites to ensure it is not possible to see into neighbours' homes. In the event that such windows exist, owners would be encouraged to build a wall or obstruct the view "to avoid nuisances caused to neighbours", the decree states. COMMENTS Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our
Mr Bayrou, 73, a crucial partner in Macron’s centrist alliance, has been a well-known figure in French politics for decades. His political experience is seen as key in efforts to restore stability as no single party holds a majority at the National Assembly. Mr Macron’s office said in a statement that Mr Bayrou “has been charged with forming a new government”. During the handover ceremony, Mr Bayrou said that “no one knows the difficulty of the situation better” than he does. “I’ve taken reckless risks all along my political life to raise the issue of debt and deficits in the most important elections,” he said. France is under pressure from the European Union’s executive body and financial markets to reduce its colossal debt, estimated to reach 6% of its gross domestic product this year. “I know that the risks of difficulties are much greater than the chances of success,” Mr Bayrou said, adding that he hopes to lead the country towards a “needed reconciliation”. “I think this is the only possible path to success,” he said. The new prime minister is expected to hold talks with political leaders from various parties in the coming days in order to choose new ministers. Former prime minister Michel Barnier resigned last week following a no-confidence vote prompted by budget disputes in the National Assembly, leaving France without a functioning government. Mr Macron in an address to the nation vowed to remain in office until his term ends in 2027. Mr Macron’s centrist alliance does not have a majority in parliament and Mr Bayrou’s Cabinet will need to rely on moderate lawmakers from the left and the right to be able to stay in power. Some conservatives are expected to be part of the new government. Mr Macron’s strategy aims at preventing far-right leader Marine Le Pen from holding “make or break” power over the government. Ms Le Pen helped oust Mr Barnier by joining her National Rally party’s forces to the left to pass the no-confidence motion last week. Mr Bayrou’s appointment is also in line with Mr Macron’s efforts to build a non-aggression pact with the Socialists so that they commit not to vote against the government in any future confidence motion. Mr Bayrou leads the centrist Democratic Movement, known as MoDem, which he founded in 2007. In 2017, he supported Mr Macron’s first presidential bid and became a weighty partner in the French president’s centrist alliance. At the time, he was appointed justice minister, but he quickly resigned from the government amid an investigation into the MoDem’s alleged embezzlement of European Parliament funds. Mr Bayrou this year was cleared in the case by a Paris court, which found eight other party officials guilty and sentenced the party to pay a fine. Mr Bayrou became well known to the French public when he was education minister from 1993 to 1997 in a conservative government. He was three times a candidate for president: in 2002, 2007 and 2012.India News Today Live Updates: Trending India News brings you the most significant stories and developments from across the nation, covering everything from politics and economy to culture and technology. Whether it's a major policy change, a groundbreaking legal verdict, or the latest in entertainment and sports, we ensure you don't miss out on the news that's shaping the nation. Our in-depth coverage and timely updates keep you informed about the trends that are making headlines in India today. Stay connected to the pulse of the nation with Trending India News. India News Today Live: Punjab bandh today: From govt offices to bank and rail, road and airport services — what's open, what's closed? India News Today Live: Jammu and Kashmir Weather Forecast and AQI Today on December 30, 2024: Today's temperature is -27.27 °C., Here's the latest weather forecast India News Today Live: Pune Weather Forecast and AQI Today on December 30, 2024: Warm start at 19.82 °C., Find out the complete weather forecast India News Today Live: Delhi Weather Forecast and AQI Today on December 30, 2024: Check out the predicted minimum and maximum temperatures
TORONTO — Losses in the tech sector led Canada's main stock index lower in late-morning trading on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also fell. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 93.03 points at 24,753.79. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 437.35 points at 42,888.45. The S&P 500 index was down 86.37 points at 5,951.22, while the Nasdaq composite was down 402.43 points at 19,617.93. The Canadian dollar traded for 69.39 cents US compared with 69.51 cents US on Tuesday. The February crude oil contract was up 66 cents at US$70.28 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was up five cents at US$3.37 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was down US$19.70 at US$2.634.20 an ounce and the March copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.12 a pound. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian Press