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International News

7.2 magnitude earthquake hits Haiti; at least 304 killed

The epicenter of the quake was about 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the US Geological Survey said, and widespread damage was reported in the hemisphere’s poorest nations as a tropical storm also bore down.

Haiti’s civil protection agency said on Twitter that the death toll stood at 304, most in the country’s south. Rescue workers and bystanders were able to pull many people to safety from the rubble. The agency said injured people were still being delivered to hospitals

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Retail sector top target for ransomware attack in 2020: Report

“The retail sector has always been an attractive target for cyberattacks, with its complex, distributed IT environments, including a multitude of connected point-of-sale devices, a relatively transient and non-technical workforce, and access to a wide range of personal and financial customer data,” said Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist at Sophos, in a statement.

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Worst Algeria wildfires in decades kill 65

While wildfires are a relatively regular occurrence in Algeria, this week’s were the country’s biggest and deadliest in several decades. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced three days of national mourning on Wednesday.French-language TSA Algerie, which visited Kabylie on Wednesday, said the wildfires left a trail of desolation all along the usually lush road linking Tizi Ouzou to Bouira. Several villages were abandoned.

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Severe weather events drive global insured cat losses of $ 42 billion in first half of 2021, Swiss Re 

Jérôme Jean Haegeli, Swiss Re’s Group Chief Economist, said: “Climate change is one of the biggest risks facing society and the global economy. The recent analysis from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms expectations of more extreme weather in the future and urgency to act to limit global warming. Working with the public sector, the re/insurance industry plays a key role in helping to strengthen communities’ resilience by steering development away from high-risk areas, making adaptation investments, maintaining insurability of assets and narrowing protection gaps.“

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Sompo Global Risk Solutions to offer Epidemic and Pandemic protection

Triggered by civil authority restriction resulting from international public health emergencies declared by the World Health Organization, the new Sompo GRS Epidemic and Pandemic Protection Program provides insurance based on a number of available pre-set coverage options including loss of income, extra expense, debt servicing, supply chain disruption and other fixed costs.

In its first year, limited capacity for the program is available to Sompo GRS clients and their captives in the real estate, hospitality, financial services, professional services, technology and life sciences industries, as well as the unit’s Asian-interest accounts.

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