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Covid-19 continues cause excess mortality in US and UK, says Swiss Re
Report suggests potential excess mortality in the general...
Strongest typhoon since 1949 hits Shanghai and knocks out power to some homes
Typhoon Yagi hit China’s southern Hainan island earlier this month...
Blocking Google class action would deny justice, UK court told
The case has been called “ground-breaking” and “hugely significant” by lawyers, who say it will trigger copycat claims if businesses are not fair or transparent when harvesting and using troves of personal data for commercial gain.
Claims against Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and hotels operator Marriott are among those awaiting the Supreme Court judgment.
EU calls for rethink of GMO rules for gene-edited crops
Gene-editing technology targets specific genes within an organism to promote certain characteristics or curb others, while genetic modification involves transferring a gene from one kind of organism to another.
China orders fintech firms to stick to the rules as clampdown widens
The companies will have to set up financial holding companies if they meet requirements to do so, as Alibaba’s fintech affiliate Ant Group was recently forced to do, a move that tightens capital requirements.
They should also draft “business rectification” plans to comply with regulations, cut “improper” links between their payment tools and other financial products, break “monopolies” in holding data, and prevent risks in internet mutual aid businesses.
U.S. Labor Secretary supports classifying gig workers as employees
“We are looking at it but in a lot of cases gig workers should be classified as employees… in some cases they are treated respectfully and in some cases they are not and I think it has to be consistent across the board,” Walsh told Reuters in an interview, expressing his view on the topic for the first time.
“These companies are making profits and revenue and I’m not (going to) begrudge anyone for that because that’s what we are about in America. But we also want to make sure that success trickles down to the worker,” he said.
India records highest single-day spike with over 4 lakh new COVID cases
With 3,523 people succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours, the death toll has mounted to 2,11,853.
Scientists say India government ignored warnings amid coronavirus surge
The World Health Organization has not declared the India mutant a “variant of concern,” as it has done for variants first detected in Britain, Brazil, and South Africa. But the WHO said on April 27 that its early modelling, based on genome sequencing, suggested that B.1.617 had a higher growth rate than other variants circulating in India
Indian scientists flag evasive virus mutations
“We are seeing some mutation coming up in some samples that could possibly evade immune responses,” said Shahid Jameel, chair of the scientific advisory group of INSACOG and a top Indian virologist. He did not say if the mutations have been seen in the Indian variant or any other strain.
“Unless you culture those viruses and test them in the lab, you can’t say for sure. At this point, there is no reason to believe that they are expanding or if they can be dangerous, but we flagged it so that we keep our eye on the ball,” he said.
India coronavirus cases may peak next week – govt adviser
“Our belief is that by next week, the daily new cases nationwide would have peaked,” M. Vidyasagar, head of a government-appointed group of scientists modelling the trajectory of infections, told Reuters.
Everything falls on my shoulders but can’t do it alone: Adar Poonawalla on vaccine pressure in India
On the charge of profiteering as the cost of Covishield was recently hiked, he termed it as “totally incorrect” and added that Covishield will still be “the most affordable vaccine on the planet” even at a higher price.
“We have done the best we can without cutting corners or doing anything wrong or profiteering. I’ll wait for history to judge,” he said.
“I’ve always had this sense of responsibility to India and the world because of the vaccines we were making, but never have we made a vaccine so needed in terms of saving lives,” he added.
Germany pledges to adjust climate law after court verdict
Germany’s Constitutional Court said Thursday that the government must set clear goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions after 2030. The verdict was a victory for campaigners, who had argued that the measures put forward so far are insufficient to meet the Paris climate accord’s goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally no more than 1.5 C (2.7 F) by 2100.